Chapter XXXIII: Punishment
By the time another bright morning came, Descartes' mood was very different.
It is said that women are the best healers for men when they are frustrated, and when Descartes returned disappointed from the Vismara Academy a long time ago, it was Angeli's first kiss that brought him out of the quagmire of depression.
And this time, he also put aside the depression of being removed from the national team and losing the League Cup after enjoying the joy of his surname for two consecutive nights.
There was a joy in his heart that he had never felt before, a kind of pleasure after a cat had eaten a fish, a kind of indescribable relaxation.
Sadly, however, he found himself forgetting the girl's name from last night again.
But it didn't matter, because he found that this time not only did he not have a penny less in his wallet, but there was something more, which was a business card with a light violet color, and the business card had a soft and sweet name on it, Caroline. Edhifana.
With a smile on his face, Descartes solemnly put the card in his jacket pocket, then whistled out of the hotel door and walked straight in the direction of the training ground.
When he walked to the road, he was still thinking about a question, what good is it for these girls and football stars to go out and open a house, they don't want money or the person in charge, just leave a title?
And then he soon knew what the girls were up to.
Because when he returned to A.T. Kearney's training base, he found a large group of his team-mates standing beside the training ground with their heads down, and Professor Wenger standing in front of them with a gloomy face that seemed to be dripping.
Descartes didn't know why, so he could only speed up two steps and run over, and after greeting Wenger, he was "invited" into the team by Wenger, whose eyes were about to burn.
By the time the rest of his team-mates arrived, Arsene Wenger finally erupted like a silent volcano, waving his right hand angrily and yelling at the terrified bunch: "What did you all do last night?" You look at your good deeds, now the whole world is reporting on your surname party, are you happy now? Do you still want to play football, you are still not professional footballers! β
The players on the opposite side shivered in unison, and they could feel Wenger's anger almost melting their faces.
However, Wenger's anger did not stop there, he shouted loudly into the crowd: "Theo, Deska, Carlos (Bella), you come out!" β
The three teenagers who were transferred from the reserve team drooped their heads and walked out helplessly, they didn't know that the three of them were actually taken clear photos by the pervasive paparazzi yesterday, and there was no way to deny it now.
However, Wenger did not directly accuse them, but suppressed his anger and asked: "Who took you there, tell me." β
The three little guys glanced at each other, obviously they can't betray their teammates at this time, otherwise how can they have a good time in the team in the future? So the three of them shook their heads together, and then replied neatly: "We went with everyone, we didn't know that the banquet was like this." β
Wenger was silent for a while, and then chose to believe them, after all, the three little ones are not yet eighteen years old, and Wenger has not yet seen through their essence.
But this matter can't end there, the three little guys all appeared in the newspaper, and even more annoying is Descartes, he actually has a frontal photo of a girl in his arms that was reported by reporters, which made Wenger simply heartbroken, in Wenger's mind, these little guys are the future of the team, but they have not yet proven themselves on the football field, but they have sunk in the joy, how can Wenger not be heartbroken.
So he decided to use a heavy penalty to make the little ones remember the lesson, so he announced in front of everyone: "In view of the serious mistakes you have made this time, I have decided to send the three of you back to the reserves, from now until the end of the season, if you can't make sincere repentance, I won't give you another chance to play!" β
The three little guys raised their heads in shock, and when they saw the hard look in the professor's eyes, they didn't dare to refute in the end, so they could only hang their heads helplessly.
After announcing the punishment of the three little guys, Wenger punished several other players on the list, and the ban was certain, and several suspected leaders were also fined.
After Arsene Wenger had ruled on all the offenders, the Descartes trio had to leave the first team for a while and return to the reserve team to continue training.
The three of them chatted as they walked, Carlos. Bella first complained: "Damn, this is really wrong, I just had a few drinks with that girl and didn't do anything, I didn't think that I would be punished like this." β
Walcoat laughed like a weasel stealing a chicken, looked at Bella and sneered, "That's because you have a thief's heart and no guts, I had a wonderful night last night, even if I was sent to the reserves." By the way, Descartes, how were you last night? Listen to William, you took the prettiest girl last night. β
Descartes blushed and smiled, he didn't have the cheekiness of Walcoat to show off this kind of thing, but he had some doubts in his heart, and said to the two of them suspiciously: "Why did the coach know about us, could it be that those paparazzi poked it out?" β
"Cut!" Walcott waved his hand and said casually: "What paparazzi, it's clear that those chicks revealed it themselves, everyone knows this kind of thing, where do you need the paparazzi to waste their spirits." β
"Huh?" Descartes was taken aback, how could these girls shake such a thing out on their own?
Seeing the surprise on his face, Walket explained very experiencedly: "There are hundreds of gatherings like this a year, and those paparazzi have long been numb, in fact, it is those models themselves who poke out these news, they want to be famous, and of course taking a star is the latest shortcut, don't you still understand this truth?" β
Descartes seemed to understand a little at this point, but he still couldn't understand it, and continued to ask, "Wouldn't they be embarrassed by them?" β
"Huh." Walcott laughed, shook his head exaggeratedly, and said, "Descartes, you are so naΓ―ve, why can't they let go of it in order to be famous?" Excuse me? It's too late for them to be happy, how can they be embarrassed? If I'm really embarrassed, I won't go to this kind of drinking party at all. β
Descartes was dumbfounded, and after a while he asked, "Then why do you go to such a party, when you all know that they are unreliable?" β
Walcott laughed: "Descartes, we are all men, and it is impossible for men to resist such temptations." Besides, those women just want to be famous, they want to be on camera, what we get is pleasure, relaxation, everyone takes what they need, why not go? β
"Then aren't you afraid of losing your reputation?"
"Ha, Deska, I find you so funny, this kind of banquet is held every day, and the scandals of the players are reported every day, do you see anyone who has lost their reputation? Everyone has long been experienced in dealing with this kind of thing, as long as we are killed and do not admit it, no matter what is reported outside, who can do anything to us? Photo? We just have to say that those photos were taken for female fans, and as long as we are not photographed getting laid, who can say that we have anything to do with those chicks? β
"But didn't those girls tell the media that they had something to do with the stars?"
"Do they say that others believe it? They are often mixed in this circle, they know the boundaries very well, they will always say that they use this kind of thing to hype up their fame, but they will never really come up with any evidence, otherwise there will never be any players associated with them in the future. These girls are very measured, don't worry. β
Descartes gasped, it turned out that the water in this circle was so deep.
But it was also good, remembering the soft lips and fiery body of the girl last night, Descartes suddenly felt as if the punishment this time was not so unbearable.
It's just that he doesn't understand, since everyone has been doing this kind of thing for a long time, why is Wenger so angry this time?
He didn't understand at all that Wenger was so angry this time because the team had just lost the game, and lost one of the most likely titles this season, and was about to face a situation of two consecutive years of no results, how could Wenger, as a coach, not be on fire?
The second is because he is very optimistic about Descartes and other young players are also involved, as I have just said, Wenger has high expectations for these young players, and does not want them to destroy themselves at a young age, so there is this move to knock on the mountain and shock the tiger, ostensibly to punish Descartes and a few people, but in fact, it is to show those bigwigs in the team, if they take these little guys to some kind of place, it is to harm them.
Wenger couldn't explicitly punish a veteran like Henry, so he had to beat them by punishing Descartes and others, hoping that they would be more restrained in the future.
This is also an art of coaching a team, in a team is not to say that everything is one one, two is two, the emotions of the veteran to take care of, the rookie's mistakes to prove, these are the way of life to be a man and do things, the world's rewards and punishments have never been absolutely fair, human feelings will always affect some of people's decisions.
In the fifth round of the FA Cup play-offs, although Wenger knew that this game was very important for the team this season, and the team that had just lost the League Cup could not afford to lose the FA Cup, he still stubbornly discharged a set of semi-main and semi-substitute lineups, and the players who appeared in the newspaper a few days ago did not get the chance to start, and finally Arsenal lost 0:1 away and was eliminated from the FA Cup by Blackburn. The chance to win the second trophy of the season was lost in four days.
The successive defeats have made the atmosphere of the team begin to become solemn, and in the face of the next league and the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals that will start on March 7, Henry and other veterans have also put away other thoughts and began to devote all their energy to the game.
The focused Arsenal were still in good shape, beating Reading 2-1 in the following league game before hosting Champions League rivals PSV Eindhoven at home.
In the first leg of the two sides, Arsenal lost 0:1 away because of distraction and Chelsea's League Cup final, and this game returned to home, everyone was optimistic that Arsenal could advance by a big score, even the professor was full of confidence in this game, he did not recall the three young players who were sent to the reserve team, and did not end the ban on several other main players, Arsenal continued to play this game with a semi-main and semi-substitute lineup.
But after 90 minutes, the professor's face turned white, and Arsenal were forced to a draw at home by the stubborn Dutchman, with a score of 1:1 hanging over the Emirates Stadium, and in fifteen days, they lost their third chance to win the trophy this season!
Coupled with the fact that Manchester United has already dropped 14 points in the league, Arsenal's journey this season has basically been declared to be over.
The battered professor seems to have aged dozens of years overnight, and the morale of the entire team has sunk to the bottom, and the media have even declared in the news that this will be another repeat of Arsenal's habitual end-of-season collapse, this team has lost their spirit, and the professor and his Gunners have collapsed.
The next game seemed to confirm the media rhetoric, with a listless Arsenal losing 1-0 to Everton in the following league game and then being humiliated 4-1 by Liverpool, who were six points ahead of Liverpool two games earlier, but the situation took a turn for the worse and they were already behind Liverpool on goal difference.
At this time, fifth-placed Bolton also caught up, they are still eight points away from Arsenal, facing the already demoralized Arsenal, Reebok fans seem to see the hope of entering the European arena for the first time in 57 years, they began to cheer for Arsenal's next opponent, hoping that they can intercept Arsenal again, bring the Gunners three consecutive defeats and let the team continue to close the gap with the Gunners.
Fighting for the four, once again facing a serious challenge.