Chapter 128: Can't Stop the Ball? What to Do? Brother Meng Turns His Back and Chips It In!

"Ah!!"

Tang Ye rolled back and forth on the grass.

Through the live broadcast camera, one could see that Tang Ye's expression was now terrifyingly ferocious.

Only he himself knew the pain in his back!

"Beep beep beep!!!"

"Beep beep beep beep beep!"

The fans could not bear to see their own player in this state and frantically blew fake whistles to pressure the referee.

Referee Gomez rushed over; before he could even reach into his pocket for a card, the Villarreal players had already charged up.

"He showed his studs!"

"His studs were facing upward!"

Showing one's studs is a very serious foul in football because it means you did not deliberately ease off just before making contact with the opposing defender.

Bruno blocked the referee's path while Tang Ye continued rolling back and forth on the ground.

"Beep!"

Gomez blew his whistle, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a yellow card!

He put the yellow card back and took out another card.

A red card!

Two yellows equal one red; Saldúa was sent off!

Hmm!

Tang Ye stood up from the grass while Saldúa, standing beside him, pointed at Tang Ye and shouted, "He's fine, he's fine, he's standing up!"

Tang Ye had not expected Saldúa to actually try to pin this on him.

So his legs went soft, and he collapsed back down.

"This..."

Saldúa clutched his head with both hands: "I, I..."

Regardless of whether Tang Ye was actually injured, Saldúa's foul was already a done deal.

Gomez made a "please proceed" gesture, and Saldúa walked off dejectedly.

When sent off with a red card, no substitute is allowed to replace the player; for the remainder of the second half, Real Sociedad would have to play with one man fewer!

In other words, they would have to face Villarreal's eleven players with only ten!

The camera cut to Tang Ye; number 99, who had fallen twice due to severe fouls, stood up once again.

Just moments ago, he had impersonated a striker on the left wing to dribble past opponents, and everyone thought he was about to lose possession again.

But Tang Ye proved them wrong; he did not lose possession!

On the contrary, he directly caused the opposition to lose a player!

"Real Sociedad has had one player sent off with a red card; Villarreal now has a numerical advantage!"

"This is an excellent opportunity to overturn the score!"

Even the commentators knew this was an opportunity, so head coach Escrivá naturally understood it even better.

He substituted Rodri on for the captain, Bruno!

Villarreal's counterattack was about to begin!

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

"..."

"Trigueros uses a feint to fake out Hu Hu Anmi and passes forward to Rodri!"

"Rodri pulls the ball back, let's see!"

"He passes to Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye, he mon... he passes it!"

"Hiss..."

He Wei was feeling quite pressured right now.

He had nearly slipped and said Tang Ye "mon-ed" it instead of "passed" it.

He dared not imagine what would have happened if He Wei had actually misspoken.

Slap!

Tang Ye's pass carried a penetrating quality.

Aleix received it comfortably, drove to the byline himself, and cut the ball back diagonally to Musacchio.

Musacchio struck the ball on the volley!

2:2!

Villarreal had equalized the score!

"Wowhoo!"

Tang Ye jumped up ready to celebrate, but Ruiz pushed him from behind, urging him to run back: "Hurry up and kick off, hurry up and kick off, we still have a chance to win!"

That's right!

Tang Ye suddenly realized.

He had almost forgotten that the opposition was down a man; they absolutely had to make the most of the remaining time.

Real Sociedad had been so arrogant in the first half; they definitely needed to be taught a proper lesson!

"Clap clap clap!"

Escrivá sat on the substitutes' bench, clapping his hands gently.

Given the current situation, a Villarreal goal was only a matter of time, so he, as the head coach, could finally relax.

But Escrivá did not relax.

On the contrary, he was thinking.

He had discovered a crucial point: after pushing Tang Ye's position forward, Villarreal's offense had clearly improved by an entire level!

With the attacking midfielder positioned further forward, the team's offensive capability being stronger was completely unsurprising.

But here came the problem!

After Tang Ye moved forward, Villarreal was short a player in their midfield and defense.

Yet, despite Tang Ye's absence, Villarreal's ball control in their defensive half had actually improved!

"This..."

A coach's keen intuition compelled Escrivá to take this matter seriously.

Perhaps the 4-4-2 formation was not the answer for Villarreal this season?

Before Escrivá could think any further, Villarreal's defensive half once again came under high pressing from the opposition.

This was the instruction given by the away team's manager, Eusebio; Real Sociedad, despite being outnumbered, had become even more aggressive.

This was because they needed to use pressing to prevent the opponent from launching an attack!

The moment Musacchio received the ball, José and Bergara both rushed toward him.

No choice but to pass backward to the goalkeeper!

Asenjo took the ball!

José continued to press!

Damn!

It was a very dangerous position; without even looking, Asenjo hurriedly cleared the ball away!

Boom!

The ball flew forward.

Asenjo's luck was poor; this long kick landed exactly where Tang Ye was positioned.

And Tang Ye was the only player on the entire Villarreal squad who lacked heading ability!

Realizing it was Tang Ye contesting the ball with him, Zurutuza's face broke into a smile as the two of them arrived at the center circle.

Look at the ball in the sky!

It's still flying!

Say what you will, although Asenjo didn't seem to put much force into it, this kick was truly long.

Entering Real Sociedad's half, Tang Ye and Zurutuza became entangled.

"I've got it!"

Rodrigo signaled to swap positions with Tang Ye, but unexpectedly, Tang Ye ran straight toward the ball.

Zurutuza followed close behind.

He had already prepared himself to head the ball.

"Track back!"

Rodrigo shouted to Trigueros beside him.

Something feels wrong!

Watching the ball fly toward him, Tang Ye felt a bit nervous.

What to do, what to do...

Got it!

Since I can't head the ball anyway, I'll just kick it!

In the camera shot, Zurutuza grabbed Tang Ye with one hand, but Tang Ye was fierce, directly stretching out his leg to reach for the ball.

He wanted to control the ball!

However, a scene nobody expected occurred: after extending his leg, Tang Ye did not control the ball but instead kicked it directly behind him!

Was this an overhead kick?

No, not strictly speaking an overhead kick.

Tang Ye's left foot was planted on the grass.

This was a back-to-goal pass!

Crack!

"Wow, Tang Ye directly boots the ball backward with a long kick!"

"That's a very smart choice; he knows he can't outmuscle Zurutuza, so in that case, he sends the ball to a position that poses no threat to his own goal."

"Hey, wait!"

The two commentators in the broadcast booth suddenly stood up.

Tang Ye's clearance was aimed straight at the goal!

"Woww!!!"

"Wooooow!!"

Rulli, standing on the edge of the penalty area, finally realized something was wrong and hurriedly ran back.

Thwack!

The ball struck inside the six-yard box and bounced once.

Finally...

He stepped inside the goal.

"This..."

"GGGG——OOOOO——LLLL!!!"

"Goal!!!"

"Tang Ye scored directly!"

"Oh my god, oh my god!"

"What is this!"

"Hiss—"

The camera cut to Tang Ye, who was rubbing the back of his head with his hand.

Clearly, he hadn't yet realized what had happened.

While Tang Ye hadn't realized it, the goalkeeper Asenjo already had.

He...

Had he just provided an assist?

"Vamos!"

Aleix shouted at Tang Ye; the two put their arms around each other's shoulders and ran together toward the stands below.

"Hahaha!"

Tang Ye laughed aloud, and the Yellow Submarine players on the field, including Asenjo, all rushed toward him.

Escrivá reached out to touch his own hair.

For some reason, he felt the top of his head suddenly become a bit shiny.

Just like...

Just like some bald spirit had possessed him.

Arriving below the stands, Tang Ye, Aleix, and Rodri all shouted together at the fans in the stands.

"Vamos!!!!"

After shouting once, he felt it still wasn't enough to fully vent his current excited emotions.

So Tang Ye shouted again.

"Vamos! Cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Choked by the chewing gum in his mouth, Tang Ye suddenly dropped to his knees on the ground.

"Damn!"

Escrivá, noticing something was wrong, quickly ran toward Tang Ye; fortunately, Tang Ye was experienced enough to handle it simply, successfully spitting out the chewing gum stuck in his throat.

"..."

Escrivá, who had just been running, came to a halt.

Tang Ye was a player with an extremely high danger coefficient; this danger referred not only to his ability to threaten the opponent's goal but also to his ability to threaten his own team's goal.

And at the same time, he could even threaten his own life!

"Pah!"

With a red face, Tang Ye shouted again toward the stands.

"VAMOS!"

Urged by the referee, the players resumed the match, and Escrivá, unsurprisingly, substituted Tang Ye off the field.

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

The fans in the stands shouted loudly, and Tang Ye waved back at them.

The fact was, when you delivered a sufficiently outstanding performance in a match, the fans in the stands would chant your name in unison.

Even when Tang Ye was still at Utrecht, he had been captivated by such cheers!

The match ended, with the Yellow Submarine ultimately defeating Real Sociedad with an upset score of 4:2, securing their fourth consecutive win since the start of the season.

With a perfect record accumulating 12 points, and with some teams yet to finish their fourth round matches, the Yellow Submarine's La Liga ranking shot straight up to second place, trailing only Barcelona!

At the same time, Tang Ye finally obtained the thing he had been looking forward to for so long.

The La Liga MVP trophy!

WhoScored: Tang received a comprehensive rating of 8.3, earning the Man of the Match award for the fourth round Villarreal vs. Real Sociedad game.

La Liga Official: Comprehensive rating of 8.5, Tang awarded the official Man of the Match player for the fourth round Villarreal vs. Real Sociedad game.

"Wuhu!"

After receiving his MVP trophy in the press room, the first thing Tang Ye did was run back to the locker room to celebrate with the players.

"Haha! What is this!"

Kicking the locker room door open with one foot, Tang Ye held the trophy high above his head with both hands.

"Wow!"

Holy crap!

Tang Ye quickly dodged; at the very moment he raised the trophy, Aleix approached holding a bottle of mineral water.

"Sebastian, what are you trying to do!"

"Haha, nonono, you're too nervous, I won't splash water on you."

Aleix spread his hands wide and placed the water bottle on the table in the center.

Clutching the trophy, Tang Ye planted one foot on the seat where he usually sat.

"Haha, first time winning MVP, Tom, how do you feel right now?"

Bruno looked at Tang Ye with a smile.

Speaking of which, this guy Tang Ye was truly formidable; in the new season, Bruno, the captain, hadn't won an MVP yet, but Tang Ye, the rookie, had secured one first.

"No, this isn't the first time; I've won MVPs before."

Tang Ye corrected him: "I won many MVPs at Utrecht! I was even the MVP for the entire season!"

"Alright, alright, I know, I know."

Bruno quickly agreed: "What I meant is, this is your first La Liga MVP; just tell me what it feels like to win your first La Liga MVP."

"The feeling..."

Tang Ye lifted the trophy, held it before himself, and examined it carefully.

"I feel that this La Liga trophy weighs about one..."

"Holy crap!"

Tang Ye's native language slipped out; before he could react, Bruno and Rodri poured bottled water over his head!

Damn it!

He actually hadn't seen through Bruno's scheme!

Tang Ye had made a mistake; he should have known long ago that Captain Bruno was no good person, and he shouldn't have let his guard down!

Click-click!

Rodri held up his phone and snapped photo after photo of Tang Ye: "This is a celebration method exclusive to the MVP, Tom, don't you agree!"

On the other side, Escrivá sat on the table in the press room, with assistant coach Martí beside him.

Local reporters once again invited Tang Ye for an interview, but Escrivá directly declined on Tang Ye's behalf, just as Ten Hag had done back at Utrecht.

Regarding post-match interviews, the two head coaches held surprisingly identical views.

That was, young players should not accept too many interviews, as it was entirely harmful and offered no benefit to their development.

Because one had to admit, some reporters simply loved to mess with the minds of players and coaches!

"Ferran, this is your fourth victory of the season; apart from Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid, who haven't played their fourth round yet, currently only Villarreal, Barcelona, and Atlético Madrid possess twelve league points."

"Thanks for the reminder; hmm, this is a good start."

Escrivá was in a good mood today.

Winning 4-2 against Real Sociedad, a team originally ranked similarly to theirs, was clearly a very impressive achievement.

Although they won the match under circumstances where the opponent had received a red card, even without that red card, Escrivá was confident they could have overturned the score.

Maybe not 4-2, but at least a scoreline of 3-2 or 3-1!

Wait!

Escrivá suddenly felt something was off.

Why was he thinking about these things?

He had nearly spoken the thoughts he just had out loud!

Several reporters in the audience exchanged glances and smiled, until finally, a female reporter sitting in the front row asked: "Do you know about Tom's preferred foot?"

"Sorry, I didn't quite understand what you mean."

"It's like this: after discovering that Tom is actually an ambidextrous player, Manchester United manager Ten Hag, while being interviewed by British reporters, said that you owe Utrecht three million euros."

Huh?

Escrivá stretched his neck out long.

It was true that he often browsed the news, but why didn't he know about this thing the female reporter was mentioning?

"Sorry, I don't understand; why do we suddenly owe Utrecht three million euros? Wait, three million euros was Tom's loan fee; I remember we already paid that fee, otherwise Tom wouldn't be here today."

The reporters in the audience continued to smile, leaving Escrivá completely baffled.

"When you loaned Tang, you didn't know he was a two-footed player; Erik's meaning is that three million euros was just the price for the right foot, and you need to pay an additional three million euros for the left foot. Six million euros—that is the loan fee for one year."

Uh...

Escrivá was speechless.

He had thought he was gradually figuring out how to use Tang Ye and was about to become someone who possessed the 'Tang Ye instruction manual,' just like Ten Hag.

But now it seemed that Escrivá still had a long way to go before obtaining the instruction manual for Tang Ye.

Leaving the press room, Escrivá took out his phone and silently subscribed to The Sun, the Manchester Evening News, and London Football.

And of course, he immediately followed Erik Saint Ten Hag's Twitter account!

Reading only Spanish newspapers was clearly not enough; Escrivá needed to learn more to lead the team down the correct path!

(End of Chapter)