Chapter 121: Curved Through Ball Lv4, Tang Ye's First La Liga Start

"Ready?"

Tang Ye raised his right hand from the center circle, and Ale and Bakambu raised their hands in response.

"Watch the offside line; everyone must run forward together."

Once Escrivá finished emphasizing this, Tang Ye kicked out a long pass.

It was a standard long-pass technique, striking with the instep, so the ball would be relatively stable.

Escrivá's eyes were fixed firmly on Tang Ye's pass, only to see the ball fly straight into the goalkeeper's hands.

"What are you doing?"

Escrivá, who had been waiting in the attacking third, walked over to Tang Ye: "That doesn't look like a long pass an 18-million-euro midfielder should be making."

"My form wasn't good just now; there was a tiny mistake."

Tang Ye explained, then picked up another ball from beside him.

Pa!

Another standard long pass; the ball hit the ground, and Ale adjusted his position to collect it.

They combined with teammates to break through the B-team players' defense, and finally, Bakambu scored the goal.

Escrivá nodded.

The effect was decent enough, but for some reason, he felt Tang Ye's long pass was a bit strange.

As if it wasn't very accurate?

In Escrivá's impression, Tang Ye should be capable of sending the ball directly from the backfield to the most comfortable receiving position for the striker, but the long pass he just made clearly did not meet that requirement.

"One more time."

Escrivá personally kicked the ball to Tang Ye.

"Ok, ok!"

Tang Ye stopped the ball and adjusted his stance.

Pa!

A long pass behind the defense!

Under Escrivá's gaze, Tang Ye's long pass kicked straight onto the head of a B-team defender.

"???"

Escrivá walked over to Tang Ye: "What job do you do? Are you really a professional player?"

Facing this question from the head coach, Tang Ye thought for a moment: "Probably?"

"..."

"What do you mean 'probably'? You can't make passes like that; that's unqualified!"

Escrivá was getting a bit anxious.

He had just prepared to simply change the team's tactics, but Tang Ye immediately dropped a massive bombshell.

Wasn't the agreement to feed the ball straight into the striker's mouth?

Why did it end up being fed into the opponent defender's mouth instead!

"Sigh, I can't help it either."

Tang Ye looked a bit aggrieved, pointing at the air in front of him as he drew an arc: "This ball was too high; it's hard to be accurate after it drops. It would be more accurate if it were lower."

"???"

The muscles on Escrivá's forehead knotted together: "Isn't this method of long passing the most stable?"

"Definitely not; only lower is accurate!"

"Where did you train in your youth academy? Was it Utrecht as well?"

Escrivá realized that this guy Tang Ye's Ji Ben Gong didn't seem very solid.

Using standard footwork for long passes but failing to hit the right position—let alone for someone worth 18 million euros like Tang Ye, even some midfielders from the youth academy valued at 200,000 euros would perform better than this!

"No."

Tang Ye shook his head: "I trained in China, at a football school in China."

"Alright then."

So he trained in China.

Escrivá shook his head: "Then tell me how you want to play; as long as you get the ball to the right position, I won't interfere with you."

After failing to hit the target with a few basic long passes, Escrivá was now starting to panic.

Did this guy have no accuracy at all and was just passing purely by luck?

"Just kick it a bit lower, and I can even make it spin."

Hearing Escrivá tell him to pass in the most comfortable way, a smile returned to Tang Ye's face.

He took the ball and then shouted to his teammates in the front!

"Hey!"

Pa!

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv3: Simulation】

Proficiency: 382/400

Just as Tang Ye said, he kicked this ball very low; the highest point hadn't even reached two meters, but the ball speed was extremely, extremely fast.

Because he used a great deal of strength when kicking it!

The familiar arc appeared again, and the ball slammed down in front of Musacchio.

Passing to the opponent's defender again?

Musacchio stretched out his foot to clear the ball, but just barely failed to touch it.

At this moment, the ball began to decelerate, slowly rolling to Bacambu's feet.

?

Boom!

A pushed shot sent the leather ball straight into the net.

Still as easy as ever!

Escrivá's gaze shifted from the goal to Tang Ye: "In-incredible."

"Haha, it's passable, I think so too!"

Tang Ye rubbed his hands together; he was feeling slightly excited now.

Judging by the system's voice just now, his 【Curved Through Ball】 was about to level up to Lv4.

Aside from the bug-abusing spatial positioning, Tang Ye currently didn't have a single skill exceeding Lv3.

Now, 【Curved Through Ball】 was about to breakthrough!

Escrivá took two more steps toward Tang Ye's position, eyes sizing up the guy before him from head to toe.

Can't deliver a standard long pass, only capable of kicking miracle balls?

What kind of player is this?

Escrivá suddenly realized he hadn't been wrongly cyber-bullied before.

This guy Tang Ye was a typical highlight-reel player!

When he's good, he's unbelievably good; when he's bad, he's catastrophically bad!

"Is this how you're all taught over in China?"

Escrivá asked.

"Uh, not entirely; mainly, I didn't practice long passes much as a child, so compared to others, I spent less time training my passing."

"You're a midfielder; if you don't practice long passes, what do you practice? Shooting?"

"Not that either; I also spent less time practicing shooting than others."

"Then what were you practicing?"

Escrivá stretched his neck out long.

Tang Ye's face turned slightly red.

"Sometimes I just didn't go to training."

"..."

"OK, OK."

Escrivá clapped his hands.

Good lord.

Tang Ye's ball sense is terrible, his passing and control are no good, and he can't even kick a standard long pass.

The mystery is solved now.

So this guy barely played football properly when he was a kid!

Not a drop of sweat on his whole body, only talent?

"..."

"Mr. Ferran, shall I continue?"

Tang Ye pointed at the ball placed before him; his teammates had been waiting up front for quite some time.

"Continue, keep passing."

"Which method?"

"..."

Escrivá, who had originally walked away, turned around: "As long as you can get the ball to the right position, everything else is negotiable."

If Tang Ye were still a youth team player, Escrivá would definitely have corrected this guy's playing style thoroughly.

The problem was that Tang Ye was already a first-team player.

Ferran wasn't Ten Hag; he couldn't save Tang Ye.

So they could only continue down this wrong path!

Today, basically the entire morning was spent kicking long passes; with Pogba's assistance, Tang Ye's proficiency in 【Curved Through Ball】 and 【45-Degree Cross】 was skyrocketing.

Escrivá watched intently from the sidelines.

Tang Ye's method of striking the ball was vastly different from the team's other midfielders, yet he was equally the most efficient passer.

A completely non-mainstream player; Escrivá now greatly admired Ten Hag—the Dutchman actually knew how to utilize Tang Ye, something Escrivá himself had yet to achieve!

"Phew..."

Exhaling in one breath, Tang Ye began his run-up again!

Crack!

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 2/1200

【Passing: 82→84】

"Wow!"

Tang Ye clenched his right fist.

Finally f***ing Lv4!

Let's see if there's anything else.

【You have obtained: De Bruyne's Underlap Cross】

It's here!

Tang Ye broke into a smile.

As expected, after 【Curved Through Ball】 leveled up to lv4, Tang Ye unlocked something new.

First, let's check how much base proficiency I have.

【De Bruyne's Underlap Cross lv1: Imitation】

Proficiency: 45/50

It seemed that because Tang Ye rarely performed underlap crosses, the initial level of this skill was only lv1, but it was about to level up soon.

"That pass just now was just average, why is he smiling?"

Marti pointed at Tang Ye, who was celebrating with Rodri on the pitch; this assistant coach of the Yellow Submarine clearly found it hard to understand Tang Ye's behavior.

"I don't know."

Escrivá spread his hands: "He's not a normal person; his way of playing is different from normal people, and his brain is different from a normal person's brain. I don't know how to put it, but there's just something wrong with him, so don't try to study him."

Tang Ye had given Escrivá quite a headache; he was now having thoughts of giving up.

Escrivá knew clearly that this was where he fell short compared to Ten Hag.

Ten Hag had been able to develop Tang Ye to this level, likely because he had spent countless efforts on him!

"By the way!" Escrivá turned to look at Marti: "Can you get me a youth training manual from another club?"

"That's not a problem; which club do you need?"

"Shandong Taishan? I remember it being called that; see if you can get the training videos as well."

Getting hold of youth training materials from non-European clubs was somewhat difficult, but since youth training manuals weren't completely confidential, with some effort, they should still be obtainable.

"Ferran, why do you want youth training data from a Chinese team?"

"For the coaches in the youth teams, so they can learn properly. What's the point of drilling standard long passes? That stuff isn't useful during matches anyway."

"Too high and too slow!"

……

Time moved to September 10th; the La Liga Round 3 match between Málaga and Villarreal was about to kick off.

Two days earlier, CCTV had already issued an announcement.

!

This match was being broadcast live by CCTV!

The CCTV staff didn't know whether Tang Ye would play, but since live broadcast schedules had to be arranged in advance, they chose to gamble.

They gambled that Tang Ye would play!

Anyway, even if they guessed wrong, it didn't matter much; with the boost from Tang Tang Qiuwang's traffic, Villarreal's popularity in China was already nearly catching up to Atlético Madrid.

And the fact was, Tang Ye would indeed appear in this match.

And as a starter!

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Come watch now! Tang Ye starts against Málaga!

"China Football Daily" front-page headline—La Liga Round 3: Málaga hosts Villarreal, Chinese player in the starting lineup!

Arriving in the player tunnel and lining up, Tang Ye checked his pockets.

One, two, three, four—four pieces of chewing gum, plus the one already in his mouth, making a total of five pieces of chewing gum all ready.

Referee Undiano noticed Tang Ye's little action and walked over with a smile: "Why do your pants have pockets?"

"The match shorts are too tight, so I wore something else underneath, but these have the team crest and look almost exactly the same."

Tang Ye showed the referee his casual shorts.

Undiano nodded; there had been precedents of players wearing fan-version jerseys to play matches before. Tang Ye's case was slightly more excessive, but it wouldn't constitute a violation.

Beep!

The referee blew the whistle; Tang Ye shook his legs twice on the spot, then followed Aleix behind him up the steps of the player tunnel.

"China Central Television, China Central Television, good evening, dear viewers! This is the live broadcast of the 2016-17 La Liga Round 3 match, Málaga hosting Villarreal!"

The camera focused on Tang Ye, standing in place waiting for the kickoff.

"As you can see, Villarreal's number 99 is the player from China, Tang Ye! He is now ready!"

"The match has begun; now let me introduce the starting lineups for this game!"

Málaga (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Kameni

Defenders: Rosales, Diego Llorente, Weligton, Miguel Torres

Midfielders: Fornals, Camacho, Recio, Jony

Forwards: Ramírez, Charles Dias

"And now for the away team: starting goalkeeper Asenjo, defenders Ruiz, Musacchio..."

【You have purchased Vardy's Red Bull】

The match gradually unfolded; as La Liga teams, both Málaga and the Yellow Submarine possessed excellent possession and control levels.

However, fans soon noticed something amiss.

It seemed the Yellow Submarine wasn't strictly pursuing ball possession?

The camera cut to Escrivá; the Yellow Submarine's head coach wore an unusually grave expression.

This was Tang Ye's first start in a La Liga match, and also a brand-new attempt by Escrivá.

Attempts carried risks!

Escrivá didn't know how to bear this risk!

"Fornals, pass to Recio!"

"Recio passes to Dias!"

"Malaga's passing rhythm is excellent; Villarreal needs to pay attention to this!"

"Bruno is already dropping back!"

Not only did Bruno drop back himself, but he also signaled Tang Ye to retreat with him.

Tang Ye didn't particularly enjoy participating in defense, but if a teammate called for his help, he was certainly willing to assist.

Glancing at the current positions of the opposing attackers, Tang Ye ran toward Dias.

Slap!

Dias squared the ball across to Ramirez!

The Yellow Submarine applied sufficient pressing pressure, but Malaga's players neutralized it all through their passing.

No rush; with a defensive error occurring in midfield, Tang Ye continued to drop deeper.

Just pick the nearest player.

Recio, you're the one!

Tang Ye stuck tight to Recio; his intention was obvious—to cut off Malaga's central passing hub.

Ramirez advanced with the ball!

Passed back to Fornals, and Fornals immediately fed it to Recio!

?

Tang Ye felt a bit angry; he hadn't expected the opponent to pass the ball to Recio while he was marking him so closely.

He charged straight in to challenge Recio!

Tang Ye was attempting to use his body to block Recio's position.

But he failed!

Slap!

Recio played a straight through-ball, sending the ball back to the right-wing byline.

Ramirez took control of the ball!

A square pass!

Bang!

Charles Dias surged up from the left flank, managing to get a touch on the ball before Musacchio could clear it.

"Goal!"

"In the 18th minute of the match, Malaga has scored the opening goal!"

Malaga's players had already run out to celebrate, but at that moment, referee Undiano suddenly blew his whistle.

Oh?

Tang Ye quickly looked toward the sideline.

The assistant referee had raised his flag!

Clearly, this was an offside goal!

It was invalid!

Watching the score change from 1-0 back to 0-0, Tang Ye let out a long sigh of relief.

"Tang, come here!"

Taking advantage of the time Malaga's players spent arguing with the referee, Escrivá called Tang Ye over to the sideline: "When defending, you need to position yourself early; your speed isn't fast, so you must get out early, and keep your eyes on the ball!"

Patting Tang Ye on the buttocks, Escrivá pushed him back onto the pitch.

The match resumed!

A few minutes later, Villarreal lost possession again, and Tang Ye began his retreat to defend.

The 4-4-2 formation positioned Tang Ye relatively close to the center, which inevitably extended the distance he had to run.

The Yellow Submarine's four defenders were passing the ball among themselves in their own half, but Malaga's high forward press exerted too much pressure; Villarreal currently couldn't play the ball out!

Need to rescue this!

Running back alongside Bruno, Tang Ye found the gap between Recio and Camacho.

He reached out his hand!

Musacchio spotted Tang Ye in the open space immediately and played a very fast, low pass out to him.

Whoa!

Tang Ye let out a startled cry, adjusted his posture, and used the inside of his foot to trap the ball.

His teammates really passed the ball faster and faster one after another; fortunately, Tang Ye's concentration remained quite sharp.

He controlled the ball, turned, and then hurriedly sprinted forward!

"Tang Ye is advancing forward, incredibly fast! (Actually, not that fast)"

"Passed to Soriano on the left, beautiful!"

He Wei transformed into a Tang Ye hype-man; whenever the broadcast camera showed Tang Ye, he had to say a few words about him.

After advancing with the ball, Soriano passed it back to Tang Ye.

"Here it comes, Tang Ye, how will he handle this!"

"A direct through-ball to the right wing!"

"Castillejo is now in possession!"

Escrivá had simply adjusted the team's tactics, but the players' muscle memory remained intact; the Yellow Submarine's ultra-fast passing counter-attack was giving Malaga a very hard time.

Slap!

Pass directly through the center!

Ale takes an adjusting step!

Shoot!

The ball is blocked by Llorente, the Malaga defender, using his body.

Although Villarreal's attack is playing well, Malaga's defense is no slouch either!

【Not bad, not bad! Brother Meng is acting as the passing core in the center!】

【Brother Meng's grounded through-balls are still very reliable; it's just that his physical confrontation is a bit lacking.】

【Charge, charge, charge!】

【We must win today! If the Yellow Submarine wins today, Brother Meng's starting position should be secure!】

【The opponent is retreating super fast; maybe we should stop playing possession and just let Brother Meng take a few solo breaks to win it directly.】

【Do you really think Tang Ye shooting automatically means a solo break? Don't be too ridiculous!】

"Malaga!"

"Malaga!"

Both sides are trading blows; as the side with stronger overall strength, the Yellow Submarine is constantly searching for scoring opportunities, but alas, the Malaga players' retreat speed is extremely fast.

The Yellow Submarine found a scoring chance, but it came to nothing!

"Damn it!"

Escrivá is feeling uncomfortable now.

He is regretting it!

Malaga is no strong team; the Yellow Submarine shouldn't be playing like this!

Should we switch to possession play after all?

Escrivá's resolve to change tactics was already insufficient, and the situation in today's match has given him Xin De Xiang Fa.

"Pass, pass directly!"

Escrivá shouts toward the field.

Rather than relying on the striker to sprint down both wings, it is better to advance slowly through constant passing.

"Pass directly?"

Tang Ye's Spanish proficiency is excellent; he heard Escrivá's shout.

Pass directly?

He turns his head to take a look.

There really is an open spot ahead!

As expected!

It has to be Mr. Ferran!

"Pass to me!"

PS: 23,000 words updated today, begging for monthly tickets!

An extra 10,000 words for every 500 monthly tickets; right now it seems to be 5,000 tickets, which means 100,000 words; I am slowly paying them back.

We're about to reach number one in the Sports category monthly tickets; brothers, lend me a hand!

(End of chapter)