Kai was Arsenal's future.
That was something both Pat Rice and Wenger had agreed on long ago.
They had started laying the foundations for that future two seasons earlier. Everything the club had done since then had been geared toward one objective: turning Kai into the complete midfielder Arsenal could build around for the next decade.
Now that they had reached this point, seeing Kai's increasingly fiery state in the midfield and rapid improvement, he couldn't let this opportunity go to waste because of these issues.
If he had to choose between immediate results and the club's future, he would choose the future.
Even if it costs Arsenal an entire season.
Kai had to keep developing.
There could be no compromise.
Pat's stance was unwavering, leaving the rest of the coaching staff with little room to argue.
In the end, the meeting concluded without any major tactical changes being approved.
A few days later, Arsenal travelled to Hertfordshire for their sixth Premier League fixture against newly promoted Watford.
Despite their recent revival, Arsenal arrived knowing it would be another difficult afternoon.
As the team coach pulled into Vicarage Road, the reception was anything but welcoming.
Boos echoed around the stadium from the home supporters. Arsenal were the European champions, and every club wanted to be the one to knock them down.
The following afternoon, Watford did exactly what everyone expected.
They parked almost every player behind the ball.
Arsenal dominated possession from the opening whistle, patiently probing for gaps, but Watford's compact defensive block barely gave them an inch of space.
Attack after attack broke down before reaching the penalty area.
Then, in the 67th minute, Arsenal's frustration finally caught up with them.
Pushing too many players forward in search of the breakthrough, they left themselves exposed.
Watford won possession and broke at pace.
Three quick passes sliced through Arsenal's stretched shape before the hosts calmly finished the move to make it 1-0.
That proved to be the decisive moment.
Despite throwing everything forward during the closing stages, Arsenal could not find an equaliser.
After ninety frustrating minutes, the final whistle confirmed another disappointing defeat.
Their two-match winning streak had come to an abrupt end.
What frustrated everyone most was not the result itself.
It was the performance.
There were flashes of individual brilliance, but they never connected into a coherent attack. Every player seemed to be solving problems on his own instead of functioning as part of a complete unit.
. . .
Back in London, the atmosphere around the training ground became noticeably more serious.
The coaching staff spent hours discussing possible adjustments.
The players did the same, searching for answers on the pitch.
One problem had become impossible to ignore.
Arsenal's attacking structure was too predictable.
Whenever opponents arrived with a clear defensive plan, Arsenal struggled to create meaningful chances.
They needed something new.
Something that could make their attack less rigid and far more unpredictable.
. .
On the training pitch, Kai stood in the centre circle with his hands resting on his hips. From a distance, he looked as though he was simply stretching before training.
In reality, his attention was somewhere else entirely.
His eyes drifted across the pitch while his mind replayed the Watford match over and over.
That defeat had reinforced one lesson.
No matter how talented a group of players might be, talent alone was never enough.
Everything began with the system.
Football's tactical evolution stretched back generations.
The old WM formation had dominated the sport for decades before Brazil's famous 4-2-4 changed the game again during the late 1950s.
Then came the Dutch revolution.
In the 1970s, Ajax and the Netherlands national team reshaped modern football through Total Football, proving that a well-drilled collective could outperform teams filled with bigger individual stars.
Since then, tactics have become the foundation of elite football.
A player could be world-class.
But if he could not function inside the team's structure, his influence would always be limited.
Individual quality had limits.
A complete system multiplied the quality of all eleven players.
One outstanding footballer plus ten teammates was never the same as eleven players moving as one.
That had been Arsenal's problem against Watford.
No matter how well Kai or Suarez played individually, they could not dismantle an organised defensive block by themselves.
Even if it had been Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in their place, the outcome mightnot have been much different.
Against disciplined defending and constant double teams, individual brilliance eventually reaches its limit.
The missing ingredient was coordination.
The system.
Kai continued rolling his ankle against the grass while his eyes wandered across the different training groups.
Eventually, his gaze settled on the forwards.
Suarez, Aubameyang, and the others were working through one-on-one dribbling drills.
Kai watched quietly.
His attention slowly narrowed until it focused entirely on Aubameyang.
Interesting...
Every move looked slightly different, but one pattern remained constant.
Aubameyang always pushed the ball into space before exploding after it.
He rarely relied on complicated tricks.
His first touch created separation.
His acceleration finished the job.
Once he gained half a yard, defenders rarely caught him again.
His pace was exceptional, but more importantly, his explosive first few steps were devastating.
After finishing another sequence, Aubameyang crouched beside the pitch to catch his breath.
A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.
He looked up.
"Captain?"
Kai smiled.
"I was watching your dribbling."
Aubameyang looked slightly puzzled.
"Oh?"
"Your change of pace is outstanding," Kai said. "The moment you push the ball past someone, they're already chasing shadows."
Aubameyang chuckled.
"Thanks."
Kai looked at him thoughtfully before asking,
"Tell me something. Can you go even faster?"
Aubameyang blinked once before answering without hesitation.
"Absolutely."
Aubameyang paused for a moment before scratching the back of his head.
"Actually, I've been meaning to bring something up."
Kai looked at him. "Go on."
"You can play your passes further ahead."
Kai frowned slightly.
"Further?"
Aubameyang nodded.
"I mean longer. Put more space between me and the ball."
Seeing Kai's puzzled expression, he continued.
"My acceleration is one of my biggest strengths. Even if the pass isn't perfect, I can make up the distance with my pace. Sometimes you lot play the ball too safely."
He pointed toward the training pitch.
"There are moments when I'm already preparing to sprint, but I have to slow down because the pass arrives too close to me. That actually takes away my biggest advantage."
Kai lowered his head thoughtfully.
"So you're saying you can handle quicker, more ambitious passes into space?"
"Exactly."
Kai looked up again.
"Then why didn't you mention this before?"
"I did." Aubameyang shrugged helplessly. "A few times, actually. I just don't think anyone really paid attention."
Kai stood there for a second.
He genuinely couldn't remember Aubameyang bringing it up.
Thinking back, those conversations had probably happened during the team's poor run of form, when everyone was focused on fixing immediate problems rather than listening carefully.
Seeing Kai deep in thought, Aubameyang spoke again.
"There's something else."
"What is it?"
Aubameyang smiled awkwardly.
"I don't actually need the ball at my feet."
Kai blinked.
"You don't?"
Aubameyang laughed.
"Not as much as you seem to think."
He scratched his head again.
"You guys keep creating isolation situations for me and asking me to beat defenders one-on-one. I can do it if I have to, but that's not really my game."
"My biggest strength isn't dribbling."
"It's my movement without the ball."
Kai froze for a moment.
That answer caught him completely off guard.
Looking back, he realised Arsenal had been trying to use Aubameyang in exactly the wrong way.
They kept giving him possession, encouraging him to attack defenders directly.
And Aubameyang had simply accepted it without complaining.
Kai suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
As captain, he had been one of the players making those decisions on the pitch.
"You could've pushed back," Kai said with a smile.
Aubameyang chuckled.
"Against the captain?"
He shook his head.
"You were giving me more responsibility. Most players would be happy with that. Besides, when you're the one making the pass, it's difficult to stop the move and say, 'Actually, I'd rather not.'"
Kai could not help laughing.
"Fair enough."
He rubbed his chin.
"So your preference is to attack space instead of receiving to feet?"
"Exactly."
Aubameyang nodded firmly.
"I don't mind starting from the left or drifting across. You can even attack more through the right if that's where the space opens up. I'll make the run."
He pointed toward the penalty area.
"I don't enjoy wrestling with centre-backs. I don't like standing with someone leaning all over me."
"What I want is simple."
"Play me into space."
"Let me run."
"Give me a chance to face the goalkeeper."
"Or let me finish first time."
"That's where I'm at my best."
Kai nodded slowly.
"I understand now."
He patted Aubameyang on the shoulder.
"Keep training."
Without another word, Kai turned and jogged away.
His thoughts were racing.
Wrong.
We had been looking at the problem from the wrong angle all along.
The success of Ángel Di María the previous season had unconsciously shaped Arsenal's thinking.
Di María loved receiving possession, driving at defenders, carrying the ball over long distances, and creating chances himself.
Without realising it, Arsenal had tried to mould Aubameyang into the same role.
But they were completely different players.
Aubameyang was not a ball carrier.
He was a space attacker.
His greatest weapon was timing his runs, stretching defensive lines, and exploding into open grass.
If an opportunity presented itself, he could finish it himself or square the ball for a teammate.
But asking him to receive with his back to the goal, beat two defenders, and create something from nothing was never playing to his strengths.
The moment Kai reached Pat Rice, he explained everything.
Pat listened quietly.
The more he heard, the more his expression changed.
When Kai finished, Pat remained silent for several seconds.
Finally, he stood up.
"Get everyone into the meeting room."
Without another word, he headed for the tactics board.
The rest of the coaching staff immediately followed.
If Kai's assessment was correct, then Arsenal had misunderstood one of their biggest signings from the very beginning.
That changed everything.
But there was one problem.
Their next Premier League fixture was against Manchester City.
There was almost no time left to redesign an attacking system before facing the league leaders.
. . .
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