Chapter 14: The Outfit Hasn't Loaded Yet

"Substituted on at the 82nd minute: 16-year-old Chinese youngster makes his Eredivisie debut."

"Relentless tackles! The Chinese youngster's debut leaves opponents howling for mercy!"

Because his playing time was too short, Tang Ye did not receive his post-match rating from the reporters of the Utrecht Evening Post.

But it didn't matter; a rating belonging to him already existed on Hupu.

Tang Ye, 82'

4 touches, 2 tackles, rating 10.0

"Geniuses aren't scary; what's scary are geniuses who once fell from grace."

Utrecht Base, Reserve Team/Youth Team Canteen.

"Oh my god, Tang, tackles—you know how to do that too!"

Zaka looked at Tang Ye before him, his face bearing an indescribable surprise.

He had known Tang Ye for over a year, yet he had never heard that he still held this trick up his sleeve!

Tang Ye continued eating the food on his tray without paying attention to others; at this moment, Melent walked over to Tang Ye.

"Tang, do you remember the agreement between us?"

Huh?

Tang Ye paused for a moment.

Did he and Melent have any agreement?

"Hey, you didn't forget, did you?"

Melent sat down beside Tang Ye: "You told me that if the first-team training was too exhausting, you would run back here!"

Like the Utrecht first team, the reserve team's situation in the Eerste Divisie at the start of the season was also not very good.

Currently, after three rounds of matches, they hadn't won a single game and had dropped straight into the relegation zone!

The reserve team needed a hero!

Or rather...

They needed a Mongo, a Mongo who could help them open up their offensive situation!

!

Lost memories suddenly flooded Tang Ye's brain.

"It seems that did happen, but I think I won't be coming back again."

Tang Ye's words left Melent completely stunned: "Wh-why?"

"I am no longer the person I was before."

Tang Ye's expression was serious: "I am training very diligently now; I'm no longer slacking off."

Melent pointed at Tang Ye's tray: "Then why aren't you eating in the first-team canteen? Weren't you punished by Eric?"

"That's a rumor; I'm eating here because I have friends in the reserve team."

Tang Ye looked into Melent's eyes; his determined gaze made Melent feel somewhat dazed.

Utrecht's lazy pig had finally awakened!

Arriving in the afternoon, Ten Hag conducted a detailed analysis of the match from the day before yesterday, then had the players carry out today's training.

And Tang Ye also received his mission.

【At 37 years old, you completed your debut in the top-tier Dutch league; an unyielding soul proclaims its fighting spirit. Of course, you are not prepared to stop here; you can do even more.】

【Appear 3 times in the Eredivisie or score 1 goal. Reward: Unlock the Old Man Shop section.】

Old Man Shop?

This time, the system's reward was neither attribute points nor a player chest from any country, but the unlocking of a new system section.

Just from the name, Tang Ye knew that this so-called Old Man Shop should be the place to spend Counterattack Points.

Previously, he had earned 15 Counterattack Points by scoring a goal in a reserve team friendly match, and he still hadn't used them yet!

"Hey, Tang!"

Allé shouted, then passed the ball with the inside of his foot; realizing what was happening, Tang Ye hurriedly completed the stop.

"Don't zone out!"

Ten Hag shouted, simultaneously drawing a large circle around "Tang" in his notebook and annotating it with the words "Discipline."

After playing against ADO Den Haag, Ten Hag's attention toward Tang Ye reached an unprecedented high; this Dutch coach even had assistant coach Fan Fan Dejiahe conduct specialized extra training for Tang Ye.

The purpose was simple: to get this mere 16-year-old youngster up to Eredivisie level as quickly as possible.

Astonishing passing vision and impeccable tackling and intercepting abilities—these were exactly what Utrecht needed most right now.

Under Fan Fan Dejiahe's training, Tang Ye made tremendous progress in both his ball skills and his physique.

But these two Utrecht coaches now still had one problem.

That was Tang Ye's discipline!

After finishing dinner, Tang Ye headed straight back to the reserve team dormitory.

Utrecht did not provide dormitories for first-team players (they all had their own residences), so after being promoted to the first team, Tang Ye still lived in the reserve team dormitory.

Originally, this should have been a very quiet night, but suddenly someone knocked on Tang Ye's door.

Knock knock!

?

Tang Ye stood up from his chair, ran to the door to open it: "Solk, I'm not playing games, go find someo—"

After opening the door and seeing the person standing outside, Tang Ye froze.

"Eh, Eh-rik?"

"Is it convenient to come in?"

Ten Hag pointed inside the room, indicating he wanted to enter.

Tang Ye naturally did not refuse the head coach's request and welcomed Ten Hag.

"It's only seven o'clock; shouldn't you go for a walk after dinner, or ride a bicycle? Everyone here likes to cycle after eating; I think you could try it too."

Ten Hag sat down on the chair.

In his view, at Tang Ye's age, this was precisely the time when training was most needed.

If only he could persuade Tang Ye to add extra training sessions in the evening!

An all-around controlling midfielder capable of both defense and attack—isn't this exactly what Utrecht needs right now?

"But I'm not a local, after all."

Tang Ye sat down on the bed.

The Dutch like riding bicycles; what does that have to do with him, a foreigner?

"Alright then. Hmm, your computer is on."

Ten Hag pointed at the laptop on Tang Ye's desk; the screen displayed a glowing alien head. Beside the computer lay several exercise notebooks, as Tang Ye sometimes needed to write his homework at the computer desk.

"Oh, that? When I have nothing else to do, I like watching match recordings and then reflecting on myself."

"Wow?"

Ten Hag's eyes lit up; he made a welcoming gesture: "Come on, open your computer; let me see what match recordings you've been watching."

Tang Ye was late for training every day; Ten Hag had assumed this guy was simply an unmotivated slacker.

He never expected him to actually watch recordings of past matches in the evening for self-reflection.

Ten Hag had wrongly blamed Tang Ye!

"OK."

Tang Ye stood up and opened his laptop.

Earlier, Meulent had asked all players of the second team to download a recording of an Eerste Divisie match; now was precisely the time to use that recording.

However, what Tang Ye did not know was that the system's playback software would automatically resume whatever you had failed to finish watching last time.

Thus, under Ten Hag's gaze, a man without clothes and a woman equally without clothes commenced their confrontation.

This was a match recording, and the level of play must be quite high, because this intensity of physical confrontation was not something an ordinary person could endure!

"What is this?"

Ten Hag pointed at the computer, looking at Tang Ye beside him with a face full of surprise.

"Cough!"

Tang Ye quickly switched the screen: "The internet is a bit laggy; the clothes haven't loaded yet."

"Wait a moment for me."

"Yes, yes, yes, this is the video I meant to show you."

(End of Chapter)