Although Fly knew that Wilshere's guess was wrong and that the 2010 Ballon dOr would not ultimately go to Andrés Iniesta.
But this did not prevent him from being impressed by Wilshere's basis for judgment.
As Wilshere said, before this year, the Ballon dOr winner in a World Cup year would only come from the World Cup champion team.
Of course, this theorem only applies to the Ballon dOr after the reform.
Before the reform of the Ballon dOr, it was exclusively for European players, and non-European players could not win it no matter how good they were.
For example, Maradona in the 1980s never won a Ballon dOr in his career.
Even in 1986, the year he was officially deified, Maradona was not the Ballon dOr winner.
However, considering that the Ballon dOr at that time could not be considered a symbol of the "world's number one player," it can be ignored.
But after the selection scope was officially expanded from European players to the whole world, the Ballon dOr winner in a World Cup year would only be the most important member of that year's World Cup champion team.
It can only be said that Wilshere's basis for judgment was not wrong.
Because at the beginning of 2011, no one realized that the football world would enter the "Messi-Ronaldo era" in the next ten years.
These two not only completely overturned the ceiling of football players, but also were the culmination of the football god-making movement.
Just like Jordan in the 20th century, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are symbols of god-making in the field of football in the new century.
Even though these two are indeed very strong, ridiculously strong!
But in Fly's opinion, these two guys were not strong enough to continuously monopolize the Ballon dOr for ten years.
The reason why the Ballon dOr could be continuously monopolized by these two for ten years is inseparable from the support of various forces and resources behind them.
In fact, this kind of thing is very common. In various fields, one or several outstanding individuals will be artificially deified.
Because every field needs a benchmark figure to become the symbol and representation of that field.
In the decade spanning the 20th and 21st centuries, the benchmark figures chosen for the football world were Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane.
In the second decade of the 21st century, these two choices were Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
As for the third decade, according to Fly's memory, the benchmark figures chosen for the football world were Mbappé and Haaland.
Just like Ronaldo and Zinedine Zidane, Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
If there are no surprises, Mbappé and Haaland will also be bound together for life, and many topics and controversies will arise around these two.
These topics and controversies will bring huge traffic, thereby feeding back into the entire football market.
In the final analysis, everything is still for profit.
"Fly, judging by what you're saying, you're favoring Wesley Sneijder?"
Fabregas, who had been standing by, suddenly interjected. He was still a bit curious about the opinion of this guy who had already "loaned" this year's Ballon dOr.
"No, no, I don't favor Wesley Sneijder. Although Wesley Sneijder is great, I think the person most likely to win the 2010 Ballon dOr is Lionel Messi."
Hearing this, the few people present were stunned.
"Fly, what are you joking about? Léo? Don't be ridiculous. He only won one League title last year, and in the World Cup, he was swept out 4-0 by Germany. How can he win the Ballon dOr with such results...?"
Fabregas, who was beside him, also nodded repeatedly upon hearing Wilshere's words.
Although he and Messi knew each other from their time at the La Masia youth academy and their relationship was decent.
But as for Messi being able to win the Ballon dOr that would be announced a few days later, he didn't believe it one bit.
There was really no angle...
One League title, and being swept out of the World Cup, how could he possibly win the Ballon dOr!
Fabregas actually leaned more towards his national team teammate Andrés Iniesta.
After all, he scored the only goal in the World Cup final, is one of the top midfielders in today's football world, has the results, the honors, and the fame.
He completely met all the criteria for a Ballon dOr winner.
Fly knew that saying Messi's name now would definitely surprise them, so he pretended to be profound and said:
"Just wait and see... The answer will be revealed in a few days. If it's not Lionel Messi, I'll wash my hair while standing on my head."
"Hey, since you've said so, Fly, it's a deal. If it really is Lionel Messi, I'll wash my hair while standing on my head."
"I don't believe it. I've played professional football for more than two years and experienced two Ballon dOr selections. Can I still be inferior to you in this regard?"
Seeing Wilshere's confident look, Fly was amused. He was now very much looking forward to Wilshere's expression a few days later when he learned that Messi had won the Ballon dOr.
He just hoped that Wilshere's technique for washing his hair while standing on his head would be skilled by then, after all, it was winter, and it wouldn't be good to catch a cold.
Wenger overheard the entire conversation between Fly and the others from in front of the tactics board. He was very satisfied with the current atmosphere within the team.
You know, in the previous two seasons, because Arsenal had not achieved results for a long time, the atmosphere within the team was very wrong.
Basically, every time he, a 60-something old man, had to motivate them, which was really not following martial ethics.
Now it's good. With Fly's presence, not only is there one more chatterbox in the locker room, but the team's performance has also risen sharply.
For a team, as long as they keep winning games, internal conflicts naturally won't exist.
The reason why many teams have serious internal conflicts is ultimately due to poor performance. Players' negative emotions need to be vented, which directly leads to frequent conflicts between players.
Even if there are players in the current Arsenal team who harbor malicious intentions, they will only be concealed under the absolute winning momentum.
After the halftime break, Fly, Wilshere, Fabregas, and others returned to the field together.
As he passed through the player tunnel, Fly saw that familiar young man with messy hair on his head again.
Mario Balotelli saw this hateful guy who had stolen his Golden Boy Award, his eyes turned red, and he said in a ferocious tone:
"What are you looking at, you thief, actor... Believe me, you'll get your comeuppance sooner or later."
Seeing Mario Balotelli's hysterical and impotent rage, Fly shrugged and said lightly:
"Buddy, you should worry about yourself first..."
"Don't end up not being able to make it at Manchester City, that would be funny."
Provoked by Fly like this, Mario Balotelli's temper immediately flared up. He stepped forward, trying to grab his collar, but was stopped in time by Wilshere.
"What are you doing, trying to fight!"
"Fly, if you have the guts, stand out like a man, don't hide behind your teammates!"
"..."
Just as the Arsenal players and Manchester City players were about to clash.
The Main Referee and three assistant referees arrived at the player tunnel and quickly intervened to stop them when they saw this scene.
"Guys, if you don't want me to show cards, get back on the field quickly. Don't linger here..."
As soon as the Main Referee's warning was issued, Fly, Mario Balotelli, and the others stopped.
Watching Fly ignore him and walk onto the field gracefully, the anger in Mario Balotelli's heart intensified.
"Damn it... You just wait, I won't let you off!"
After the match restarted, Arsenal, who had been struggling in the final stages of the first half, gradually gained the upper hand.
In the 49th minute of the match.
Wilshere passed the ball to Fly at the edge of the left side of the penalty area. The latter flicked his ankle lightly, and the football spun out a strange arc in the air, landing in front of Van Persie.
Unfortunately, Van Persie made a mistake in controlling the ball, taking a slightly heavy touch, which caused the excellent opportunity to face the goalkeeper directly to be blocked by Kompany's sideways movement.
"Tsk... Van Persie is still more suited to shooting without controlling the ball. Shooting after controlling the ball doesn't suit him."
In the 52nd minute of the match.
Fabregas, while exchanging passes with Wilshere and Nasri in the midfield, suddenly seized an opportunity and threaded a through ball with anticipation through the Manchester City defensive jungle.
Fly, who had accelerated like a cheetah, burst out from the crowd just in time. Facing the well-prepared Joe Hart, Fly took a shot aimed left but going right.
"Fly, shoots!!!"
"Oh no, Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart made a last-ditch save. He forcefully twisted his body back after leaning to the right, and finally scraped the football with the studs of his left boot, changing the trajectory of the ball and causing it to hit the right post and bounce out."
"Look at Fly's expression, he is clearly also regretting this shot."
Larry couldn't help but comment on this shot:
"Fly's shot still relied too much on his shooting skills."
"He hit a ground ball skimming the turf. If it had been slightly higher, Joe Hart wouldn't have been able to save it no matter what."
james nodded, quite agreeing with Larry's assessment.
Fortunately, in the next few minutes, Fly learned his lesson and did not make the same mistake.
In the 57th minute of the match.
Seeing that it was about time, Fly, who activated Gods Eye, immediately got an opportunity.
Milner, who was originally advancing towards the Manchester City attacking third, was suddenly tackled by Alexandre Song.
In the scramble for the ball with Barry, Nasri was one step ahead and poked the ball to Wilshere with a sliding tackle.
Wilshere received the ball and immediately dropped his shoulder to get past the pressing Nigel de Jong, then made a quick burst forward, instantly bringing the ball to within 10 meters of the Manchester City penalty area.
Facing Manchester City's increasingly compact defense, Wilshere suddenly saw Fly beckoning on the left side of the penalty area.
He exchanged glances with Fly for a moment, and understanding instinctively, he flicked the ball with his toe, and the football flew in an arc over the heads of the Manchester City defenders.
Fly, who had anticipated the path of the ball, instantly shook off Richards, who was marking him closely, and got to the ball before Pablo Zabaleta.
Then, using Gods Eye to see through the defensive intentions of Kompany, who was closing in, Fly made an unexpected fake shot and genuine dribble, directly getting past the pressing Kompany, forcefully creating space and hitting a curling shot.
The moment Fly shot, he saw three red lines marked with values.
One was to continue hitting a low shot skimming the ground, this red line was marked with a 48% scoring probability.
One was to powerfully blast the ball through the middle, this red line was marked with a 44% scoring probability.
The last one, which was also the one Fly chose, was to use skill to curl the ball into the top right corner of the goal. This red line was marked with an 89% scoring probability, significantly higher than the other two shooting options.
As expected, Joe Hart was not the lucky one, and his judgment for the save was wrong.
He mistakenly thought Fly was going to continue hitting a low shot, which caused his center of gravity to be too low, and he didn't jump in time.
In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the football went over his body and into the goal.
Fly completed a brace, helping Arsenal extend their lead and temporarily lead Manchester City 2-0.