Chapter 125: I Suddenly Felt Like Switching Feet

"Beep!"

"Alright, the second half begins!"

"Zurich hasn't made a move yet, but the home side, Villarreal, is already making a substitution; Rodri comes on to replace Cheryshev!"

"Hiss, I feel Escrivá must intend to heavily utilize Rodri."

This was not the first time this season Rodri had been substituted in immediately after the second half began.

Escrivá had provided Rodri with numerous opportunities, and this Spanish rookie had indeed seized the chances given by his coach.

Whether it was head coach Escrivá, the CCTV commentators, or the Villarreal fans, everyone agreed this was a player of immense talent.

It was just unknown when he would finally receive his first La Liga start?

"Go, push straight up!"

Winter urged Sarr to press forward; Tang Ye didn't understand what the opposition was saying, but judging by the situation, they seemed intent on shifting their attacking route.

Regardless of anything else, stick tight to this Sarr first!

Running back alongside Sarr, Tang Ye constantly glanced over his shoulder to observe.

He was already feeling somewhat tired; unable to maintain complete man-marking, he would instead position himself sideways to disrupt the opponent's passing combinations.

He only needed to act as a deterrent here.

What Tang Ye hadn't anticipated, however, was that the Zurich players completely disregarded his pressure; Sadiku played a simple back pass directly to Sarr.

Damn it!

Tang Ye could hold back no longer and immediately engaged Sarr physically.

"Beep!"

"Attacking foul by Zurich! Sarr has brought down Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye's strategy is very clever; knowing he couldn't overpower Sarr in a duel, he applied pressure from the side to induce a foul from the opposition!"

Crap!

Tang Ye was currently rolling on the ground.

This Sarr looked to be only about 1.8 meters tall, not much taller than Tang Ye.

But why was his build so solid?

【Perfect, Tang Tang Qiuwang commits a tactical foul!】

【My brother Meng's football IQ is still top-tier; this move directly hit the brakes on the opponent's attack.】

【Vamos Villarreal!】

The match reached the 72nd minute; by now, Escrivá had already prepared to make a substitution.

He knew it would be difficult for Tang Ye to last the entire match on his current stamina, so he had specifically reserved a substitution slot for him today.

Castillejo stood by the sideline, yet Escrivá was in no rush.

Ale had just been fouled, giving Villarreal a successful set-piece opportunity!

The team's primary set-piece taker, Bruno, was holding the ball with both hands.

Taking a deep breath to adjust, Bruno decided to deliver a decent cross, but at that moment, Tang Ye stepped in front of him.

"You... what are you doing?"

Seeing Tang Ye, Bruno felt slightly nervous and involuntarily took a step backward.

"Um..."

Tang Ye rubbed the back of his head with his right hand: "How about I take it?"

"..."

"Can you do it?"

"I should be able to!"

Tang Ye turned his head to glance at the penalty area.

This distance was quite good.

It should perfectly unleash the capabilities of the 【Ward-Prowse Topspin Free-Kick Template】!

"..."

Bruno pondered for a moment.

He hesitated slightly, as the position for this set-piece was indeed quite favorable.

However, upon further reflection, Bruno still handed the ball to Tang Ye.

This wasn't a penalty kick; there was really nothing to argue over regarding a set-piece, so if Tang Ye wanted it, he might as well give it to him!

"Thanks, Bruno!"

Tang Ye placed the ball on the arc just marked by the referee and brushed away the white vanishing spray in front of the ball.

"A direct free-kick for Villarreal; Bruno has yielded this free-kick opportunity to Tang Ye."

"He ran into the penalty area himself."

"It's confirmed; this free-kick for Villarreal is intended for Tang Ye to take!"

"Let's see the quality of Tang Ye's free-kick..."

The fans' attention was fixed firmly on Tang Ye on the screen; Tang Ye stood to the left-rear of the ball.

He seemed to suddenly think of something and touched his nose with his hand.

If he kicked this ball with his left foot, the trajectory should be better; thus, Tang Ye shuffled three steps to the right, moving to the right-rear position of the ball.

Fans:?

"Wait, is Tang Ye going to kick with his left foot?"

"This is... haha, what is this situation?"

Even the CCTV commentators were left dumbfounded.

Although Tang Ye has passing ability with both his left and right feet, making distribution easy, opponents won't press you during a set piece; in such a situation, shouldn't you use your most comfortable foot?

The fans were confused, but Tang Ye hadn't even thought about using his left or right foot.

To put it plainly, Tang Ye didn't know whether he was currently using his left or right foot; his sensation for both feet was exactly the same.

Tang Ye only knew that kicking this set piece with the other foot offered a greater possibility of delivering the ball to the accurate position.

"Tom!"

Escrivá shouted loudly, "Stay focused! We're only leading by one goal!"

Tang Ye had taken set pieces with his left foot before, and Escrivá knew this, but he also knew that Tang Ye's dominant foot was his right.

If the right foot is dominant, then set pieces should be taken with the right foot.

Not with the left!

Yellow Submarine was leading, but only by one goal; Tang Ye playing around like this was truly going too far!

Hearing Escrivá's voice, Tang Ye turned his head.

Oh!

Seeing Tang Ye turn around, Escrivá felt a surge of joy and immediately shouted, "We're only leading by one goal, just one goal!"

Ah...

Tang Ye took a deep breath.

Mr. Ferran was right; they were currently leading by only one goal.

Only leading by one!

Escrivá was surely dissatisfied with this; his meaning was most likely for Tang Ye to shoot directly.

Hiss—

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye felt the pressure mounting.

What he knew was indirect free kicks, not direct free kicks.

But there was no help for it; since Mr. Ferran had made such a request, Tang Ye could only give it a try.

Tang Ye gave a thumbs-up, and Escrivá breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though Tang Ye had raised his left hand.

!!!

Escrivá suddenly panicked, because that was the signal for a direct free kick!

There you go!

Crack!

The ball was struck, plunging Zurich's penalty area into chaos.

Ale and Pato simultaneously ran toward the six-yard box!

Although Tang Ye had signaled for a direct free kick, Yellow Submarine's attacking players still had to contest the landing point!

Jump up!

The Zurich goalkeeper's attention was entirely fixed on Ale and Pato, while Tang Ye's free kick curled directly into the top left corner of the goal.

It wasn't an absolute dead angle, but it was close enough.

【You obtained Counterattack Points *15】

Hmm?

Tang Ye blinked his eyes.

He had merely intended to give it a simple try, never expecting it to actually go in!

Now this feels good!

"GGGGG—OOOOOO—LLLLLLLL!!!"

"The scorer is... (Spanish)"

"TOM!!!"

The announcer's voice rang out as Tang Ye sprinted directly from the spot where he had taken the set piece.

A quick run-up!

Knees hitting the ground!

Pay attention to tucking the toes of both feet inward!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Knees and shins grinding against the turf, Tang Ye carved four black lines all the way.

Two deep and two shallow; from a distance, they even looked symmetrical!

"VAMOS!"

Bruno shouted at Tang Ye, then noticed the black marks on the grass: "Wow! What is this!"

"Haha!"

Ale dodged around Bruno.

Bruno looked so unsophisticated.

It was just a four-line knee slide; Tang Ye had practiced this thing every day last season at the Utrecht training base!

"VAMOS!"

The Yellow Submarine players huddled together around the corner flag.

After Tang Ye scored directly from the free kick, the score became 3:1!

"Damn..."

Escrivá took a deep breath, then pressed his lips together.

Although he didn't know why Tang Ye hadn't listened to him just now, the ball had gone in regardless.

With that topspin curve and the final shooting angle, Tang Ye's left-footed set pieces truly had substance!

Sitting back down in his chair, Escrivá grew even more curious about that youth academy called Shandong Shandong Luneng Taishan.

What kind of youth academy would train players to take set pieces with both feet simultaneously?

Of course, that was secondary.

The main point was:

How had this guy Tang Ye actually managed to train his set pieces with both feet!?

Escrivá acted quickly; immediately after Tang Ye scored, he substituted him off for Castillejo.

"Clap clap clap!"

Applause rang out across the stadium, and Tang Ye mimicked the fans by clapping for himself.

"Tom!"

Boom boom!

"Tom!"

Boom boom!

The home fans at the Madrigal Stadium were extremely enthusiastic, sending up cheers for Tang Ye, who had delivered a perfect performance today.

"Haha!"

Tang Ye high-fived Castillejo as they left the field, then raised his right hand to greet the fans.

"Tom!"

"Vamos Tom!"

Sitting on the bench, Tang Ye comfortably untied his shoelaces, feeling very content.

Although he had made a fatal mistake in this match that led to the team conceding a goal, overall his performance had been very good!

"Well done!"

"Keep it up, Tom!"

Ma Ti and Soriano took turns fist-bumping Tang Ye; after responding, he leaned back in his chair, took a few sips of water, and then watched the rest of the match from the bench.

Qualifying for the Europa League at least indicated that Zurich had been in fairly good form last season, and indeed they had put on a decent performance.

It was just a pity they had been drawn into Group L; even Villarreal was feeling immense pressure in Group L, so Zurich, being considerably weaker than Villarreal, must be trembling with fear!

"Hey, Tom!"

Soriano poked Tang Ye, who was lost in thought, to wake him up.

"What is it?"

"Can you take set pieces with your left foot too? How did you train that?"

Soriano was very curious.

Tang Ye's ability to take set pieces with both feet seemed somewhat superfluous.

But it was just so cool!

As a midfielder, Soriano envied Tang Ye for this ability very much: "Does this require talent? Do you think I could train it?"

Talent?

Tang Ye shook his head: "Where would any talent be needed for this?"

"No talent needed?"

Soriano's face lit up with joy.

If no talent was needed, did that mean he could also train it as a backup plan for emergencies?

"Then... Tom, how did you achieve it?"

"Hard work."

Tang Ye's expression was firm: "Training the non-dominant foot requires an extremely high level of proficiency; this doesn't require talent, but it absolutely demands tremendous effort."

Soriano fell silent.

Come to think of it, the ability to precisely strike with set pieces using the non-dominant foot certainly wasn't something easily acquired.

Leaning his upper body back and looking at Tang Ye before him, Soriano couldn't help but feel a bit awkward.

This number 99 for Villarreal might look lazy on the surface, but in reality, he was an incredibly hardworking fellow.

Only God knew how hard this guy worked behind the scenes!

Innate ambidextrous ability?

Just a fairy tale!

The match ended, with Villarreal ultimately holding the 3-1 scoreline to secure victory.

Looking at the post-match statistics, Tang Ye's overall match rating reached a high 8.1, only 0.1 points lower than the highest scorer, Pato.

It was regrettable to miss out on the MVP award, but due to his outstanding performance in the match, Tang Ye was still invited to the stadium's press conference room.

Following behind Escrivá, Tang Ye entered and then closed the door.

Villarreal's press conference room differed somewhat from Utrecht's; the space here was larger, and there were considerably more journalists.

Tang Ye felt somewhat unaccustomed to this environment, but fortunately, it didn't exert too much pressure on him.

Click!

Click click!

"Ferran, you achieved victory in today's match, which is obviously a very good start for the team..."

The reporter spoke slowly; he had expected to lavish praise on Huang Huang Qian, but unexpectedly, the fellow suddenly shifted tack and brought up the matter of the group stage draw.

"But what we need to note is that in this season's Europa League, you have been drawn into Group L alongside Inter Milan and Ajax—what we call the Group of Death. Did you anticipate facing these two teams before the draw?"

"Of course not; with 48 teams participating in the draw, there was no way for us to foresee which opponents we would face next."

"So you were unprepared?"

Inside the room, the reporters' attention focused entirely on Escrivá; even Tang Ye involuntarily glanced toward the coach.

"No, of course not."

Escrivá shook his head: "It's just that we hadn't anticipated our specific opponents beforehand, but our preparations for the Europa League matches were thoroughly comprehensive; just like today, once we learned our first opponent was Zürich, we made preparations accordingly, and ultimately secured victory."

The reporter pondered briefly, then posed a question every fan was curious about.

As the team's head coach, did Escrivá believe the team had any chance of advancing from the group stage?

"Hmm..."

The Spaniard gently bit his lower lip; clearly, this question was not so easy to answer.

Fortunately, he had already made some preparations before entering the room.

"Inter Milan, Ajax, and even Zürich are all extremely difficult opponents to handle; regarding whether we can advance, my answer is that we are prepared."

Thinking it over carefully, Escrivá added another sentence: "I believe we will advance as the group runners-up."

Click-click!

The reporters cared about nothing else; what mattered most to them was Escrivá's final statement.

Advance as the group runners-up?

We'll just have to see whether Escrivá ends up eating his words!

Having concluded the interview with the team's head coach, the cameras in the room slowly turned toward Tang Ye.

"Tom, we noticed that during set pieces in the second half, you originally planned to use your right foot but then switched to your left; may we ask what reasoning lay behind that?"

With the microphone held to his mouth, Tang Ye answered without a moment's thought: "I suddenly felt like switching feet, so I did."

The corner of the reporter's mouth twitched; even Escrivá, seated beside Tang Ye, grew somewhat unsettled.

This...

Was he showing off?

Looking closely, Tang Ye's expression was utterly serious.

It seemed he wasn't showing off at all; he was answering earnestly.

The reporter leaned his head closer: "Suddenly feeling like switching feet—isn't that... a bit too casual?"

"Not casual at all; I think my left foot is quite accurate for set pieces."

"Then why did you use your right foot for set pieces before? I mean, during the pre-season matches, and also while you were at Utrecht."

"Because I'm more accustomed to using my right foot."

Reporter:?

"This, this... your meaning is that your left foot is more accurate, but you're more accustomed to using your right foot—is that correct?"

The reporter gazed at Tang Ye, and Tang Ye likewise gazed back at the reporter; his expression froze into blankness.

Hmm...

Did I really say that just now?

Tang Ye's bewildered expression clearly showed he didn't know how to respond, so the reporter continued: "Then, when passing, do you prefer using your left foot or your right foot?"

"..."

The two stared wide-eyed at each other.

Tang Ye narrowed his eyes, head slightly lowered, his brain operating at maximum intensity: "Is it the left foot?"

The reporter leaned his head forward.

Is it the left foot?

The logic is clear enough, but why are you phrasing it as a question?

"It should be the left foot; if not the left foot, then it's the right foot. Hmm, possibly the right foot."

Tang Ye nodded.

Aren't the left foot and right foot basically the same thing?

Do you guys actually distinguish a preferred foot when playing football?

"..."

Down below, the several reporters looked at one another, then back again.

Is, is there something wrong with our comprehension?

(End of chapter)