Li Yufei Wants a Max Contract, the Swollen Newcomers

He knew all too well that his good buddy had basically been a glass man throughout his time at Arsenal.

Even worse than Van Persie!

Van the Man at least carried the team for one season.

Wilshere had outstanding ability, but he just didn't play much.

That was a bit like NBA Clippers superstar "Medical Card."

He played well when he played, but he just didn't play much.

Every playoff season, he'd be suited up on the sidelines watching his teammates.

Wilshere was kind of like that during his Arsenal days...

In short, no matter how good your technique is, you need a healthy body first.

Otherwise, if you're always injured, who can put up with that?

If you can't guarantee your attendance rate, you can't put up great stats.

Your value and salary won't be high either!

Van Persie could go to Manchester United for top pay only because he had high attendance in his last Arsenal season and scored 30 league goals.

Without his outstanding performance in the 2011-2012 season, it would've been a question whether United would even buy him.

Let alone give him a high salary.

So don't envy others for having a higher salary than you.

It's because they can do more and do better than you.

In that case, if their salary weren't higher than yours, that would be the biggest joke under heaven.

Anyway, Li Yufei felt completely at ease with his own salary.

If it weren't for the fact that this was the first formal contract of his career, Li Yufei would've even wanted to ask for the moon and demand the Premier League's top salary outright!

After all, he was very confident in his abilities!

With the skill [Iron Man] as a cheat code that ignored injuries, Li Yufei didn't need to worry about attendance at all.

Without considering stamina, Li Yufei could play a full season and every minute of every 90-minute match without any problem.

But given that his stamina wasn't outstanding right now, he definitely couldn't hold up playing that way.

Even though fatigue wouldn't cause injuries, his competitive form definitely wouldn't be guaranteed!

Wenger wouldn't run Li Yufei into the ground like that either.

The Old Man treasured this precious gem and was afraid of wearing him out.

On August 17, as Manchester United cruised to a 3-0 home win over the Magpies Newcastle United at Old Trafford, the first round of the Premier League officially ended.

In the first round, traditional Premier League powerhouses Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea all won.

Among them, Chelsea slaughtered West Bromwich Albion 6-0 and temporarily sat in first place on goal difference.

Arsenal and Manchester United followed closely in second and third.

As for Tottenham, they drew 0-0 with Manchester City.

On the Top Scorers List, Drogba led after a hat-trick in the first round, while Li Yufei was second with two goals.

August 21.

The first match of the Premier League's second round was Arsenal hosting this season's promoted side Blackpool at home.

In the first round, this team had thrashed Wigan Athletic, who had narrowly escaped relegation last season, 4-0.

That victory filled Blackpool's squad with confidence—after all, they had just thrashed a Premier League team from last season!

Even if the opponent was just Wigan Athletic, who barely stayed up last season, they were still a Premier League team!

They, a team that had been fighting tooth and nail to climb up from the Championship last season, had thrashed an original Premier League team in their very first match.

How could that not stir ambition in them, making them want more?

With that mindset, Blackpool arrived at the Emirates Stadium to challenge Arsenal.

As soon as the match started, Blackpool's entire team brought Championship-level physicality.

To be fair, when it came to pure physical intensity, the Championship was even tougher than the Premier League.

Because the Premier League had technical possession-control teams like Arsenal, not just muscle-bound slugfests.

But Championship teams didn't have the foundation for technical play.

Aside from beating opponents down through physical battles on the pitch, the only tactic worth mentioning was the long-ball game, a hallmark of English football.

But Arsenal had been rooted in the Premier League for so many years that they faced two or three such promoted sides every season.

They already had their own style of play for dealing with these newcomers.

In this match, Li Yufei continued to wait on the substitutes' bench.

Wenger didn't name him to the starting eleven just because he'd played well in the previous game.

Li Yufei could only stay patient—he believed the day when he'd start would come eventually.

On the pitch, Blackpool threw their weight around for the first ten minutes, then promptly reverted to their true form.

In the 12th minute.

Rosicky dribbled through midfield and threaded a pass forward to Arshavin.

Arshavin received the ball with his back to goal, feinted a leftward break to throw off Blackpool defender Carey's balance, then slotted it to Walcott, who'd cut into the right side of the box.

Little Tiger took the ball without a moment's hesitation and unleashed a blistering shot.

Blackpool goalkeeper Gilks had no answer to a strike from that close range and could only raise his hands in surrender.

Arsenal led 1-0 at home.

The goal seemed to jolt Blackpool awake, but it was already too late.

In the 31st minute.

Walcott beat the offside trap to collect Wilshere's pass.

Just as Walcott was about to go one-on-one, Blackpool defender Evatt chose to slide in from behind, wrecking the chance.

That reckless foul earned Evatt a straight red card—just 30 minutes in, Blackpool found themselves in the awkward spot of playing ten against eleven.

To make matters worse, Walcott already had one foot in the box when Evatt went to ground.

So Evatt's foul not only cost him a red card but also conceded a penalty kick—a classic case of "losing the battle and the war."

Arshavin took the ball, faced the already dazed goalkeeper, and as soon as the ref blew his whistle, fired without hesitation into the bottom right corner.

Goalkeeper Gilks guessed wrong, and Arsenal went up 2-0 at home.

Seeing this, Blackpool's manager knew the match was over.

To protect the goal difference, he pulled midfielder Sylvestre and brought on a defender named Keinan.

The moment that signal went up, Wenger knew the game was in the bag—the other side had thrown in the towel.