Chapter 112: First Start: Is This Tang Ye's Left-Footed Set Piece?

In the stadium's locker room, Escrivá made several emphatic points regarding today's match.

The core message was simply to play according to the tactics; today's opponent, like Villarreal, hailed from La Liga, and the two sides were already old rivals.

Escrivá told the players that before the match he had already contacted the Leganés head coach, and that today both teams would field their full strength.

This was a non-critical pre-season drill!

"Come on!"

Escrivá pulled Tang Ye up from the bench; the latter still looked somewhat dazed.

Before the previous match, Escrivá had specifically spoken to him about on-field discipline, yet he never expected to be started directly today.

"Tang, are you feeling a lot of pressure right now?"

Escrivá smiled at Tang Ye, who just stood there with his shoelaces untied: "Huh? Why haven't you tied your laces?"

Tang Ye pointed at the timer hanging by the locker room door: "There are still five minutes before we go out; no need to rush, right?"

"You don't seem to be under any pressure?"

Escrivá looked Tang Ye up and down.

The current Tang Ye did not look like a seventeen-year-old youth player at all.

Would it not be more fitting to say he was thirty-seven, a superstar who had already experienced every major tournament?

Hearing the coach say this, Tang Ye squatted down, tied his shoelaces, then stood up again: "Mr. Ferran, I am under immense pressure right now."

"... Alright, alright, get ready to go out, get ready to go out."

"The match has begun; today Yellow Submarine's opponent is Leganés, a team considered rather mediocre in La Liga, but since they are a La Liga side, even if they are mediocre, they cannot be that bad."

"Many people question whether my King Tang Ball can play in La Liga; after today's match is over, you will all know whether King Tang Ball can play in La Liga."

Tang Ye had far too many anti-fans; as Tang Ye's most loyal supporter, the small streamer Wang Chao had to step up at this moment to speak out for his idol.

If one goal and one assist against Porto could not prove Tang Ye's ability to play in La Liga, then surely today's match of a La Liga team playing another La Liga team could demonstrate something?

Bang!

Bang!

On the pitch, the sound of the instep striking the ball rang out continuously as the two La Liga teams displayed their excellent possession and passing techniques.

Tang Ye struggled to keep up with the coordination.

Although his role within this possession-based system was not significant, if he observed carefully and moved intelligently, Tang Ye could actually keep up with some of the rhythm.

By the 20th minute, Yellow Submarine led their opponent with 62% possession.

"Good! Just like this!"

Escrivá gave a thumbs-up toward the pitch.

Given the state the team was currently displaying, securing a top-six finish in the league this season should not be a problem!

As for whether they could overtake Atlético to reach third place, that would depend on a bit of luck!

The possession play was very steady, and because both sides knew each other quite well, the defending was also very solid.

In the 30th minute, the score on the pitch remained 0:0.

At this moment, someone needed to step up and break this balance.

That person who stepped up was Leganés' forward Guerrero.

"Guerrero, moving to the right flank, down to the byline!"

"Direct shot!!"

"Goal!"

"Damn, the home team takes a one-goal lead!"

Wang Chao clasped his head with both hands.

Was it actually the visually inferior Leganés who scored first?

What was going on?

The director cueed a slow-motion replay.

In truth, Guerrero had not played exceptionally well; rather, it was a fatal passing error by Yellow Submarine's defender Álvaro González.

He had directly passed the ball straight to Guerrero's feet!

"It's fine, it's fine!"

The team captain, Bruno, comforted the players.

Escrivá's expression was not good; such a mistake might be acceptable in a friendly, but in an official La Liga match, Villarreal could very well lose three points directly because of González's

single error!

Falling behind felt unpleasant; Escrivá quickly directed the players to adjust their match rhythm.

At the end of the first half, Yellow Submarine trailed by one goal.

"Focus! You need to focus!"

In the locker room, head coach Escrivá was in a somewhat bad mood: "Our opponent was clearly the weaker side, yet they were able to seize our opportunities. Why? Because their concentration was sharp. You must understand your positioning; we are a professional team, a professional team! We cannot lose focus!"

Tang Ye sat beside Aleix, chewing gum to himself without saying a word.

From Tang Ye's perspective, his first-half performance had been truly miserable.

Not only was the team behind on the scoreline, but he himself was playing exhaustingly.

He was now beginning to regret it!

If only he had known, he should have trained for a few more seasons in the Eredivisie before coming to La Liga!

The second half began; as agreed by both head coaches before the match, neither team made large-scale substitutions.

Escrivá brought Aleix onto the pitch to play as striker; this was an adjustment the Spanish head coach made based on the match situation.

They all said to treat this warm-up match like an official league game, so they had to bring their full strength!

"Tom!"

Allai, who had just entered the field, ran up and handed Tang Ye a note.

Huh????

Escrivá was completely dumbfounded.

He remembered he hadn't given Allai any note!

Tang Ye opened the note; written in Dutch by Allai were the words "Pass to me."

It was obviously written by Allai himself, and Tang Ye immediately realized what was going on.

Allai wanted him to pass the ball just like he did back when they were at Utrecht!

OK!

Tang Ye gave a thumbs-up.

He really didn't want to play this possession-style football anymore!

"Yellow Submarine subbed in Allai; damn, I feel like the away team is about to take off!"

"The Eredivisie's top scorer and top assist provider are both on the field; let's see how Yellow Submarine plans to operate."

"Here we go! Just like in the last warm-up match, Yellow Submarine suddenly abandoned their possession game!"

"Their style is becoming more aggressive; possession rate is dropping!"

"..."

"Tang Ye, send it straight into the box, a 45-degree cross!"

"Allai, header!"

"Did it go in?"

"Damn, it was just f***ing close!"

Allai's header grazed the post and flew out.

What a pity!

Such a huge pity!

Villarreal failed to capitalize on their best chance of the match so far!

"Damn!"

After watching for a few minutes and realizing the team's overall approach had changed, Escrivá felt like his mind was about to explode.

Tang Ye's style on the field was completely at odds with Villarreal and with La Liga!

"Damn it!"

Escrivá threw his hands up in the air, then sat back down on the bench.

He wanted to substitute Tang Ye out, but unfortunately, there were no usable players left on the bench.

On the field, in the 72nd minute, Yellow Submarine earned a set-piece opportunity on the left flank.

Captain Bruno prepared to take the set piece, but just then, Tang Ye walked over.

"We can take this together; can you provide a decoy for me?"

"No problem."

Bruno knew Tang Ye had the ability to deliver set-piece crosses, so he agreed readily.

Besides, being left-footed, he could stand separately from Tang Ye.

However, Tang Ye did something strange: he stood behind Bruno.

Ever since acquiring the Zhou Zhou Botong template, Tang Ye had only used it for dribbling and outside-of-the-foot shots; he hadn't yet tried taking a set piece with his left foot!

He wanted to give it a try!

Glancing at Tang Ye behind him, Bruno assumed the young lad had some special run-up trajectory to ensure a right-footed strike, so he didn't ask further.

"Villarreal has a set-piece opportunity; Captain Bruno and Tang Ye are standing one in front, one behind, separated!"

Beep!

The referee blew the whistle; Bruno ran out first!

He let the ball roll past!

Tang Ye!

Running up from behind, he struck directly with his left foot!

Escrivá:?

This was the 【James Ward-Prowse Free Kick Template】, a standard topspin cross!

However, it differed slightly from the ones Tang Ye had taken before.

This time, he had kicked it with his left foot!

The ball soared over the defenders in the box, arriving precisely above Allai's head.

The position was excellent!

Head it straight!

"Goal!"

"Goal!"

"A goal by Allai!"

"Damn, King Tang Ball, a free-kick assist, perfect!"

Wang Chao shouted excitedly as the broadcaster showed the replay.

The live broadcaster, obviously an experienced football viewer, had specifically focused the camera on Tang Ye the moment he touched the ball.

Tang Ye's left foot struck the ball.

"Hmm? Is this a mirror image?"

"No way, damn it, what's going on?"

Wang Chao squinted, leaning his head close to the computer screen.

At first glance, it seemed like a mirror image.

But at second glance, it didn't seem like a mirror image?

【Isn't my Tang Tang Qiuwang a right-footed player? What's with this left-footed free kick?】

【Obviously the director flipped the feed; don't know why they'd do that, but that pass was dead on.】

【Didn't Tang Ye also pass with his left foot in the last match? Was that outside-of-the-foot strike from the left too?】

【Was that a mirror image as well?】

【Mirror image my ass; passing from the right flank into the center, that arc clearly came from a left-footed outside strike—haven't you watched the replay?】

【So my Tang Tang Qiuwang specifically trained his left-footed outside strike and set pieces, huh? Not bad, very disciplined.】

"What the hell, is this real or fake, was it the left foot? No, that can't be right."

Wang Chao debated fiercely with the fans in the live stream for quite a while before finally accepting the fact.

That Tang Ye had indeed taken the set piece with his left foot!

With the left foot, aside from a slight difference in arc, the landing point, ball speed, and spin were all extremely similar.

If not for Wang Chao frequently watching Tang Ye's matches, he would have almost mistaken Tang Ye for being equally skilled with both feet.

"Haha!"

Tang Ye stood in place and twisted his waist a few times.

Come to think of it, this Zhou Zhou Botong's Mutual Struggle of Left and Right felt truly comfortable to use.

Even though he was using his left foot, Tang Ye simply didn't feel like he was kicking with his non-dominant foot!

Wait a second?

Tang Ye suddenly realized a very serious problem.

He looked down at his feet.

Which one was the left again...

On the substitutes' bench, head coach Escrivá turned to look at his assistant coach Martí beside him.

He asked a very serious question: which foot was Tang Ye's dominant one, exactly?

"It's the right foot!"

Martí answered quickly.

"Are you sure? Why would a right-footed player take a set piece with his left? He used his left for that cross in the last match too, don't you remember?"

"Ferran, you've made me lose confidence..."

Martí scratched his hair, used his phone to check the registration data he had filed for Tang Ye, and then gave his answer.

"It is indeed the right foot, no mistake."

"This..."

Escrivá widened his eyes: "So he's a right-footed player, yet he can take set pieces with his left, and even deliver crosses with an outside-of-the-foot strike using his left?"

As he spoke, the corners of Escrivá's mouth began to slowly curl upward: "We... we rented an ambidextrous midfielder for 3 million euros?"

"By the way, does he have a buyout clause?"

Escrivá leaned his head close to Martí, who operated his phone to check.

"There's no buyout clause, Ferran; you were present when the contract was signed. Utrecht was unwilling to establish a buyout clause."

Escrivá suddenly stopped smiling.

(End of Chapter)