Add Stats, Bench Warmer for League Debut

[Body Data: Speed 99, Acceleration 99, Burst 93, Strength 70, Jumping 85, Hang Time 75, Stamina 70, Balance 80, Agility 78, Injury Resistance 99]

[Technical Data: Shooting 83, Dribbling 85, Ball Control 81, Short Pass 82, Long Pass 50, Crossing 65, Long Shot 70, Header 55, Shot Power 75, Set Pieces 60]

[Other Data: Mentality 80, Football IQ 75, Poaching 75, Vision 63, Anticipation 60, Creativity 72, Aggression 75, Off-the-Ball Movement 60, Tackling 40, Interceptions 25, Sliding Tackle 20, Goalkeeping 10]

After a quick glance at his stats, Li Yufei decided to first make his strengths even longer.

Since Li Yufei was a Forward Player, the requirement for a forward was to have standout advantages, not necessarily all-around ability.

Even if there were obvious weaknesses, as long as his strengths were strong enough, he could still hold his own.

For defensive players, the requirement was to minimize weaknesses as much as possible, with no glaring flaws.

As a Forward Player, Li Yufei naturally had to prioritize boosting his strong points.

Li Yufei currently had 200 Beginner Soft Rice Points, 300 Intermediate Soft Rice Points, and 100 Advanced Soft Rice Points.

He put the Beginner Soft Rice Points into his [Strength] stat.

After all, the foundation of a football match was physical confrontation. If his physicality wasn't up to par, no amount of technical skill would matter!

The system's exchange rate was 100:1, meaning 100 points could be exchanged for 1 stat point.

So Li Yufei's [Strength] increased by 2 points, going from 70 to 72.

Due to the increase in [Strength], Li Yufei's weight inevitably rose slightly.

His original weight of 77KG increased to 78.5KG.

Then Li Yufei exchanged 300 Intermediate Soft Rice Points for 3 stat points, adding 2 to Dribbling and 1 to Shooting.

[Dribbling] went from 85 to 87, and [Shooting] went from 83 to 84.

As for the Advanced Soft Rice Points, Li Yufei exchanged them for stat points and added them to [Burst].

After all, Li Yufei currently only had four stats at 90 or above.

Three of them were already maxed at 99, so he couldn't add points there.

So he could only invest in [Burst], and a value of 94 was definitely excellent!

With the increase in Burst, Li Yufei's Jumping also rose, going from 85 to 86.

This was a case of one change affecting the whole system.

After all, when a fundamental physical attribute like Burst improved, it was impossible for other stats closely tied to it to remain completely unchanged—that wouldn't align with human physiological laws.

If Li Yufei's Speed and Acceleration weren't already maxed out, this increase in Burst would have also raised those stats.

In effect, a single boost to Burst could lead to increases in two or even three different attributes.

It was definitely a huge win!

Still, Li Yufei was puzzled why his increase in Strength didn't trigger growth in other stats like [Shot Power] or [Long Shot].

Maybe the increase in Strength wasn't enough yet, or perhaps Shot Power and Long Shot didn't depend entirely on Strength and involved other factors.

But Li Yufei didn't want to dwell on it too much, because his first official match of his career was just a few days away.

Two days before the first round of the Premier League, all the Arsenal first-team players were seated in the meeting room at the Colney Training Centre.

After a few days of rest, the Arsenal players' morale was pretty good.

Although the warm-up matches had been lively, many people were uncertain about Wenger's starting lineup.

There was bound to be a lot of overthinking, and Li Yufei was no exception.

Even though he had started all three friendly matches.

Li Yufei was sure that was just the Old Man testing his level.

As the saying goes, friendlies and official matches were two completely different things!

They couldn't be lumped together!

Performance in friendlies only proved that Li Yufei had ability, not that he was guaranteed a starting spot.

After all, this was Arsenal. Even if they were gradually declining, they weren't comparable to ordinary teams!

The starting position at Arsenal wasn't that easy to secure!

Fabregas seemed to sense Li Yufei's unease and patted him on the shoulder, comforting him:

"Bro, no need to be so nervous. You're strong enough. Even if you don't start right away, the Boss will give you plenty of playing time."

Li Yufei nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, I have confidence in myself. Worst case, I'll start on the bench~~~"

If you can't find the book by its title, try searching by the author—maybe it's just been renamed!

A few minutes later, Wenger walked in with a few assistant coaches and spoke to everyone about some match precautions.

Then, without further ado, he immediately announced the starting lineup for the first round of the Premier League.

"Goalkeeper: Almunia."

"Defenders: Sagna, Eboue, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Clichy."

"Midfielders: Nasri, Diaby, Wilshere."

"Forwards: Arshavin..."

At that point, Wenger paused, then swept his gaze between Li Yufei and Chamakh before announcing the final decision:

"Chamakh."

The moment he heard his name, Chamakh's heart surged with excitement, and he stole a glance at Li Yufei.

Li Yufei's expression remained unchanged, revealing nothing, but inwardly, he felt a twinge of disappointment.

"Forget it, it's no big deal. Just a substitute for now. This old man will claim the starting spot sooner or later."

After giving himself a mental pep talk, Wenger continued by announcing the seven substitute players on the roster.

"Van Persie!"

"Walcott!"

"Frimpong!"

"Rosicky!"

"Fabregas!"

"Alex Song!"

"Fabianski!"

There were basically no surprises among the substitutes.

Captain Fabregas was short on rest after playing in the World Cup.

The Professor placed him on the bench purely to lighten his load.

Once Fabregas's form was back, he'd be a guaranteed starter.

Van Persie, on the other hand, had that glass-body trait—he was nursing a minor injury and wasn't fully fit.

So he started on the bench.

Walcott's issue was his level; when Arsenal played a two-striker formation, he was always a substitute.

Only in a 4-3-3 setup did he have a shot at starting.

Rosicky and Song had always been key rotational players, so being on the substitute list was normal.

Fabianski, as Arsenal's second-choice goalkeeper, was on the bench just for show.

He basically had nothing to do with the match.

Unless starting goalkeeper Almunia had an accident and couldn't continue, only then would he get his turn.

As for Li Yufei making the substitute list, honestly, it was the biggest surprise.

If Li Yufei were an ordinary youth player, he might not have made the roster for such a crucial match against Liverpool.

But he was, after all, the son of Arsenal's majority shareholder, and with sufficient ability.

Not getting the starting spot was one thing, but if he couldn't even get on the substitute list, Wenger would be too tactless.

Fortunately, Wenger wasn't that kind of rigid person; there was a reason he was called "The Professor."

High emotional intelligence was one of Wenger's most notable traits.

After the meeting, Wenger pulled Li Yufei aside to offer some reassurance:

"Kid, I'm putting you on the bench this time, not because I don't believe in your ability."

"But the pace and intensity of the Premier League are nothing like the youth matches you've played before!"

"Especially since our first league opponent this season is Liverpool, and their physicality and running ability have always been outstanding."

"I need you to observe from the sidelines first and really soak in the league's atmosphere."

"If the chance comes, I'll sub you on in the second half."

Upon hearing this, Li Yufei smiled and said, "Thanks, Boss, I understand. Whenever the team needs me, I'm ready to step on the pitch anytime!"