Chapter 101: In the Second Half, You Don't Need to Defend (20k Update, Seeking Monthly Votes!)

"What the hell is Ten Hag thinking? Can't he come up with some practical tactics?"

"It feels like Utrecht lost on the tactical level; even with Tang Tang Qiuwang carrying so hard, he still couldn't carry the team—this one is definitely Ten Hag's fault."

"Starting to doubt my Saint Ten Hag just because we're behind at halftime? Just wait until Saint Ten Hag turns the tide in the second half!"

"Saint Ten Hag is useless anyway; the opponent's two midfielders are marking Brother Meng tightly. If Brother Meng has no space, Utrecht can't win the match."

Thanks to Tang Ye and Ten Hag, the halftime report for this Eredivisie match had already garnered over 3,000 comments.

And the number was still rising!

The fans were a bit worried.

If Tang Ye could win the Eredivisie title with the team, it would greatly help his transfer to one of the top five leagues next season.

Chinese fans wanted to see a Chinese player competing in the top five leagues!

Tang Tang Qiuwang, can you win an Eredivisie championship!

In the home team's locker room.

"Quick, quick, quick, everyone sit down!"

Ten Hag urged the players to hurry inside, while Tang Ye, the last one through the door, kicked it shut with his foot.

"Hurry up and sit down, hurry up and sit down!"

Ten Hag pushed Tang Ye toward his seat, clearly somewhat anxious himself.

Fan Fan Dejiahe quickly arranged the tactical board, then stepped aside to make room for Ten Hag.

"Our first-half performance was very problematic; it was actually fine at the start, but later things went somewhat wrong. We kept attacking down the right flank, and our opponent has already grown accustomed to this style of ours. If we continue like this, we won't score any goals!"

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

This was the positional adjustment Alkmaar made after falling behind; they had almost completely neutralized Utrecht's right flank.

Ramselaar couldn't find any opportunity to advance.

As for Tang Ye's side...

The opponent's forwards weren't even giving Tang Ye a chance to touch the ball!

"As soon as I receive the ball, they come straight at my face; there's nothing I can do about it."

Ramselaar spread his hands in helplessness, and Ten Hag immediately responded.

"I know it's difficult, but our opponent's single-flank defensive capability is excellent. What we need to do is switch play between the left and right flanks."

"That was our problem in the first half: you wanted to attack down the right, then got stuck there. That is useless."

"Tang!"

Ten Hag turned to look at Tang Ye sitting in the corner: "You are the attacking midfielder; you need to take on the role of switching play. If it's not a very certain opportunity, you can pass the ball out to the wings."

"The rest of you as well: if you find too many players on the left, switch the ball to the right through Tang. He needs to serve as the bridge."

Tang Ye lowered his head, lost in thought.

He was listening very intently, because much of what Ten Hag had just explained regarding tactics concerned him directly.

He had to listen carefully; otherwise, if they lost the match in the second half, he might become the team's scapegoat.

"So, do I need to run back and forth between the left and right flanks?"

Tang Ye lifted his head, sharing a brief eye contact with Ten Hag.

"No, you don't need to run. You have passing ability; you need to use your passing to distribute possession."

Ten Hag explained bit by bit: "Long passes. You don't just have to make simple horizontal passes; you can directly send the ball to the far corner along the diagonal toward the baseline."

Ten Hag knew Tang Ye's stamina was average, so of course he wouldn't make things difficult for him.

"Then there's the defense in our own half: you all need to pay attention. When one person moves, everyone else must move accordingly; otherwise, our defense will be useless..."

Ten Hag continued speaking.

"Oh, right!"

Glancing at Tang Ye in the corner, he slowly added: "Tang probably won't participate much in defense during the second half, so Bart and Frankie, you two must be especially careful about tracking back to defend."

Not required to defend?

Ten Hag's words made Tang Ye's eyes light up.

When they were behind at halftime, Ten Hag had shouted at him that he could reduce his defensive tracking frequency and focus on offense.

Now, in the locker room at halftime, he was telling Tang Ye outright that he didn't need to defend at all.

This was comfortable!

Tang Ye rubbed his hands together.

If he didn't need to waste stamina running back and forth, he felt he could find even better attacking opportunities.

"Come on, everyone gather in the middle!"

Ten Hag kicked the tactical board aside, clearing the space in the center of the room.

Ramselaar held his hand suspended in the center, and Ten Hag placed his hand on top.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up!"

Ten Hag used his left hand to grab Tang Ye's wrist, then covered it with his right hand, while the other players on the team quickly followed suit.

Soon, the hands of nearly twenty Utrecht starters and substitutes were stacked together.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Forward, Utrecht!"

"Alright, welcome back, brothers! This is the second half of the match between Utrecht and AZ Alkmaar!"

Wang Chao operated the mouse; during the halftime break, he had analyzed both teams' tactics for the fans in the live stream.

Unfortunately, those playing with happy beans only cared about the final score, while true fans disdained listening to Wang Chao's tactical analysis, so the live stream audience vanished very quickly during those few minutes of halftime.

Fortunately, the second half has begun!

Tang Ye was stretching his calves on the midfield line, simultaneously locking eyes with Van der Marell in the backfield.

During the halftime break, Ten Hag had not only explained the main tactics but also devised a set of tactics for the players to launch a quick counterattack using the kickoff opportunity.

"Hiss..."

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye felt slightly pressured now because he played a very important role in this tactic.

"Beep!"

The referee blew the whistle; Josten kicked the ball directly back to Van der Marell at the edge of the penalty area, and Van der Marell immediately looked for Tang Ye.

Glancing left and right to confirm no one was nearby, Tang Ye stopped the ball with his thigh.

He dribbled forward!

While Tang Ye and Van der Marell combined, Aar and Barazite were sprinting toward the forward field at their fastest speed.

The Alkmaar players reacted quickly; Henrikson immediately found Tang Ye. Damn it!

Cursing silently, Tang Ye accelerated with all his might.

Knowing he couldn't outrun Henrikson, Tang Ye observed while running.

He was waiting for either Aar or Barazite to reach a suitable position!

Henrikson didn't stand on ceremony with Tang Ye; after failing to grab him with his hand, he immediately attempted a sliding tackle.

Holy crap!

Tang Ye was quite cunning; he flicked the ball up with his toe and jumped along with it.

He avoided Henrikson's sliding tackle!

Find an opportunity, find an opportunity!

Got it!

He immediately whipped it with the outside of his foot!

A "C"-shaped arc flew out; the leather ball soared over half of the opposing team's defensive line and headed straight for Aar.

!

The ball speed and arc were perfect, but the specific positioning control was merely average.

Let's see how Aar handles it!

Stop the ball with the right foot!

Aar successfully controlled the ball!

Immediately followed by a shot!

"Goooo——aaaaaa——lllllll!!"

"Utrecht's lightning strike! Tang Ye, this goal is simply perfect!"

"Let the haters speak!"

Bang bang bang!

This was the fifth mechanical keyboard Wang Chao had smashed this year.

Keyboards are expensive, but if it's for me, Tang Tang Qiuwang.

It's worth it!

"Utrecht!"

Bang bang!

"Utrecht!"

Bang bang!

The equalizing goal reclaimed the momentum that belonged to Utrecht.

Tang Ye slowly ran toward the corner flag.

He slowly began to hear fans shouting his name!

"Well done, Aar!"

"Wuhu!"

The Utrecht players embraced each other.

"We can do this, we can do this, keep it up!"

Ten Hag clapped his hands, clapping, clapping.

The match reached the 59th minute; Utrecht, leveraging its momentum advantage, took control of the game's rhythm.

Take a look at the current possession rate!

Utrecht: 54%

Hiss—

Ten Hag had his hands in his pockets, and his expression was not very good.

If Utrecht's current possession rate were between 40% and 50%, Utrecht should be secure in this match.

This possession rate now...

Although they are leading, for some reason Ten Hag just feels insecure in his heart!

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

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

"I got it, I got it!"

Alai shouted, took the ball from Tang Ye, and then stood still in place.

Tang Ye understood Alai's intent: run toward the left flank's baseline without the ball!

He was impersonating a left winger!

Say what you will, this crossover run by Tang Ye and Alai truly worked; originally, Henriksson had been marking Tang Ye closely, but because Tang Ye dropped deep, Henriksson shifted his target to Alai.

Using the defense meant for Tang Ye against Alai.

Reaching out to pull!

What a pity; how could Henriksson, standing only 1.76 meters tall, possibly outmuscle Alai in a collision?

Slap!

Knocking the ball out to the left flank, Tang Ye took possession!

My chance!

Controlling the ball with the outside of his foot, he inched little by little into the penalty area.

At this moment, Tang Ye was completely and utterly a winger!

Pushing a shot toward the six-yard box!

Joosten sprinted from the arc of the penalty area to the edge of the six-yard box, poking the ball home to score.

"Goooo——aaaa——llllll!!!!"

"Another goal!"

"Joosten, this time you finally seized the opportunity given by Tang Tang Qiuwang!"

"3:2, Tang Ye's hat-trick of assists!"

【You have obtained 5 Counterattack Points】

【Hat-trick of assists, obtaining an additional 20 Counterattack Points】

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: The goal that killed the game? In the 63rd minute, Tang Ye assisted Joosten to score; Utrecht leads 3:2.

With the situation now like this, Utrecht could afford to play more conservatively.

It was also at this moment that Ten Hag made his first substitution adjustment of the match.

Jansen replaced De Jong, and Amrabat replaced Joosten, who had just scored.

This was not merely a substitution, but also a switch in formation.

Originally playing in a 4-2-1-3, they now switched directly to a 4-3-1-2.

Three defensive midfielders!

What mattered was playing it safe!

"Substituting in Amrabat at this time? Although Amrabat's ball control is quite steady, to be honest, I feel this bald guy isn't very reliable."

"But this is Holy Ten's substitution; Holy Ten must have his own ideas."

"..."

"Damn, a penalty!"

"Amrabat handled the ball!"

"That's a penalty!"

(End of Chapter)