Chapter 101: You Don

What the hell is Ten Hag? Can he come up with any practical tactics?

It feels like Utrecht lost due to tactics—Tang the King was so tightly marked and still couldn’t break through; this is definitely Ten Hag’s fault.

You’re already questioning my Sheng Ten after falling behind in the first half? Wait till my Sheng Ten turns it around in the second half.

Sheng Ten is useless too—their two midfielders are glued to Mengge; without space, Utrecht won’t score.

Thanks to Tang Ye and Ten Hag, a single first-half match report from a Dutch Eredivisie game generated over 3,000 comments.

And the number is still rising!

Fans are starting to worry.

If Tang Ye can help the team win the Dutch Eredivisie title, it will greatly aid his move to one of the Five Major Leagues next season.

Chinese fans want to see a Chinese player in the Five Major Leagues!

Tang the King, can you win us the Dutch Eredivisie title?

The home team’s locker room.

“Hurry up, everyone, sit down!”

Ten Hag urged the players to come in quickly; Tang Ye, the last to enter, kicked the door shut with his foot.

“Sit down, sit down!”

Ten Hag pushed Tang Ye toward his spot, clearly anxious.

Van der Gaag swiftly organized the tactics board, then stepped aside to make room for Ten Hag.

“We played terribly in the first half. We started okay, but things went wrong later—we kept attacking down the right flank, and our opponents have adapted to this pattern; if we keep this up, we won’t score!”

Ten Hag pointed at the board, moving the blue magnetic flag representing Alkmaar to the left.

This was Alkmaar’s positional adjustment after falling behind—they completely shut down Utrecht’s right flank.

Ramselaar found no room to advance.

As for Tang Ye…

The opponent’s striker didn’t even let Tang Ye touch the ball!

“Every time I get the ball, they come straight at my face—I can’t do anything about it.”

Ramselaar shrugged helplessly; Ten Hag immediately responded.

“I know you can’t do anything—their single-side defensive strength is excellent. What we need is to shift the ball back and forth between left and right.”

“That’s the problem in the first half—you want to attack down the right and then get stuck there; that’s useless.”

“Tang!”

Ten Hag turned to Tang Ye, sitting in the corner: “You’re the attacking midfielder—you need to facilitate this shift. If you don’t have a clear chance, pass it wide.”

“The rest of you too—if you see too many defenders on the left, use Tang to move the ball to the right. He must act as the bridge.”

Tang Ye lowered his head, thinking.

He listened carefully, because Ten Hag’s tactics involved him directly.

He had to pay attention—if they lost in the second half, he might become the team’s scapegoat.

“So I need to run between left and right?”

Tang Ye looked up, meeting Ten Hag’s gaze briefly.

“No, you don’t need to run—you have passing ability. Use it to shuttle the ball.”

Ten Hag explained slowly: “Long passes—you don’t just pass sideways. You can send it straight diagonally to the baseline.”

Ten Hag knew Tang Ye’s stamina was average; he wouldn’t push him beyond his limits.

“And the backline defense—you need to move as a unit. If one player moves, the others must follow, or our defense is useless…”

Ten Hag continued speaking.

“By the way!”

He glanced at Tang Ye in the corner, then said slowly: “Tang probably won’t help with defense in the second half, so Bart and Frankie—you two must focus on getting back.”

No need to defend?

Ten Hag’s words lit up Tang Ye’s eyes.

When they were trailing in the first half, Ten Hag had told him to reduce defensive runs and focus on attack.

Now, in the locker room, he was telling Tang Ye outright: no defending needed.

That’s perfect!

Tang Ye rubbed his hands.

If he didn’t have to waste energy running back and forth, he felt he could find better attacking opportunities.

“Come on, everyone, gather in the middle!”

Ten Hag kicked the tactics board aside, clearing the center of the room.

Ramselaar held his hand in midair over the center; Ten Hag placed his hand on top.

“Stop standing there—hurry up!”

Ten Hag grabbed Tang Ye’s wrist with his left hand and placed his right hand on top of Tang Ye’s; the other players quickly followed suit.

Soon, nearly twenty Utrecht starters and substitutes had their hands stacked together.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Utrecht forward!”

…

“Alright folks, welcome back—this is the second half of Utrecht versus Alkmaar!”

Wang Chao moved his mouse; during halftime, he’d analyzed the tactical battle for his livestream viewers.

But sadly, the Happy Bean players only cared about the final score, while real fans dismissed Wang Chao’s analysis—audience numbers dropped fast during those few minutes.

Luckily, the second half had begun!

Tang Ye was stretching his calf on the center line, locking eyes with the defender Van der Maarel.

During halftime, Ten Hag not only explained the main tactics but also devised a quick-attack strategy using the kickoff.

“Hssss…”

Tang Ye took a deep breath—his pressure was mounting, because he played a crucial role in this tactic.

“Whistle!”

The referee blew, and Jostein passed straight back to Van der Maarel near the penalty area; Van der Maarel immediately looked for Tang Ye.

He glanced left and right, confirmed no one nearby, and stopped the ball with his thigh.

He dribbled forward himself!

As Tang Ye and Van der Maarel combined, Aale and Barazite sprinted forward at full speed.

Alkmaar’s players reacted quickly—Henrikson immediately closed in on Tang Ye. Damn it!

Tang Ye cursed inwardly and pushed himself to sprint harder.

He knew he couldn’t outrun Henrikson—he kept scanning.

He waited for either Aale or Barazite to reach the right position!

Henrikson didn’t hold back; after missing the tackle, he went for a sliding challenge.

Oh shit!

Tang Ye was clever—he flicked the ball up with his toe and jumped with it.

He avoided Henrikson’s tackle!

Find an opening, find an opening!

Got it!

He whipped a outside-of-the-foot pass!

A “C”-shaped arc flew through the air, clearing half of the away team’s backline, landing directly in front of Aale.

!

The speed and arc were perfect, but the placement was slightly off.

Let’s see what Aale does!

He stretched out his right foot to control it!

Aale successfully brought the ball down!

He shot immediately!

“Goooo——aaaaaa——lllllll!!”

“Utrecht’s lightning strike—Tang Ye, that was perfect!”

“Shut up, haters!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

This was Wang Chao’s fifth mechanical keyboard this year.

Keyboards are expensive, but for my Tang the King?

Worth it!

“Utrecht!”

Bang! Bang!

“Utrecht!”

Thud! Thud!

The equalizing goal reclaimed Utrecht’s momentum.

Tang Ye slowly jogged toward the corner flag.

He began to hear the fans chanting his name!

“Well done, Aale!”

“Wuhu!”

The Utrecht players embraced each other.

“We can do it, we can do it—hold on!”

Ten Hag clapped his hands.

At the 59th minute, Utrecht seized control of the match’s rhythm, capitalizing on their momentum advantage.

Take a look at the current possession rate!

Utrecht: 54%

Hss—

Ten Hag had his hands in his pockets, his expression grim.

If Utrecht’s possession rate were between 40% and 50%, they’d be safe in this match.

But this possession rate…

Even though they were leading, for some reason Ten Hag felt no confidence!

Three minutes after the possession rate appeared, Utrecht gained another attacking opportunity; Tang Ye moved laterally across the opponent’s half with the ball.

Completely freed from defensive duties, Tang Ye could now focus entirely on offense.

“I’ll take it, I’ll take it!”

Aale shouted, intercepted Tang Ye’s pass, and stood still.

Tang Ye understood Aale’s intent—he sprinted toward the left baseline without the ball!

He was pretending to be a left winger!

Honestly, this cross-movement between Tang Ye and Aale worked perfectly—Henrikson had been marking Tang Ye closely, but because Tang Ye drifted low, Henrikson shifted his attention to Aale.

He used the same defense meant for Tang Ye to mark Aale.

Reach out and grab!

Too bad—Henrikson, at only 1.76 meters tall, had no chance against Aale’s strength.

Thwack!

He flicked the ball to the left flank—Tang Ye got the ball!

My chance!

He controlled the ball with his outside foot, inching slowly into the penalty area.

Tang Ye was now a full-fledged winger!

Push it into the six-yard box!

Josten sprinted from the arc into the edge of the six-yard box and stabbed the ball home.

“Goooo—aaaa—llllll！！！！”

“Another goal!”

“Josten, you finally capitalized on the chance Tang the Ball King gave you!”

“3:2—Tang Ye’s assist hat-trick!”

【You gained 5 Reverse Points】

【Assist Hat-Trick: Bonus Reverse Points +20】

DQD Match Report: The match-sealing goal? At the 63rd minute, Tang Ye assisted Josten to score, giving Utrecht a 3:2 lead.

With this situation, Utrecht could now play more conservatively.

At this moment, Ten Hag made his first substitution of the match.

Jansen replaced De Jong; Amrabat replaced Josten, who had just scored.

This wasn’t just a substitution—it was a tactical shift.

They had been playing 4-2-1-3; now they switched directly to 4-3-1-2.

Three defensive midfielders!

The goal was pure caution!

“Subbing in Amrabat now? Sure, he controls the ball well, but honestly, I don’t trust this bald guy much.”

“But this is Saint Ten’s substitution—he must have his reasons.”

“…”

“Oh my god, penalty!”

“Amrabat handled the ball!”

“That’s a penalty!”

…

(End of Chapter)