Chapter 140: Golden Boy Award 40-Man List, Is Villarreal in Debt Again?

"This..."

Escrivá took a deep breath.

Impersonating a striker three times, helping the team score three goals...

Returning the notebook to Martí, Escrivá grabbed an unopened bottle of mineral water from the table and gulped down a large mouthful.

"Well then, what should we do now?"

There is an unwritten rule in the football world.

That is, as long as a goal is scored, no matter what your positioning or method was, it is considered excellent.

Now Tang Ye had violated team discipline three times, yet scored three goals each time, completely frying the brains of both Escrivá and Martí.

What should they do now?

Sitting on his chair in deep thought, Escrivá was already somewhat wavering when Tang Ye happened to finish his interview and walk back.

Escrivá had originally prepared not to mention this matter to Tang Ye, but the latter bumped right into his face.

"Tom, come outside."

Escrivá stood up, and Tang Ye, who had just walked in holding the MVP trophy, was pushed back out again.

The head coach's expression was very serious, making Tang Ye feel a bit panicked.

"Mr. Fe, Mr. Ferran, what's wrong?"

Closing the door, Escrivá looked straight at Tang Ye before him: "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, Mr. Ferran, just ask away, I will answer everything."

"Are you a striker or a midfielder?"

"A midfielder."

Tang Ye answered, then thought for a moment and felt something wasn't quite right, so he added a sentence.

"A playmaking midfielder."

"..."

"I didn't ask what type of midfielder you are; just tell me whether you are a midfielder or a striker."

"Oh, oh, I play as a midfielder."

Clutching his MVP trophy, Tang Ye answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Then tell me, tell me, why do you always run out to the wing? I'm not opposed to you helping teammates attack; my point is that your position is crucial within the team."

Escrivá performed a step-over move in place in front of Tang Ye: "Like this, like this, you shouldn't do this. Every player has his own job within the team; doing step-overs on the wing is not your job, do you understand what I mean? The central position is crucial; if you abandon your position, the opponent will seize it, and when they counterattack, we will be in a very difficult situation."

Tang Ye stood in place without speaking.

The coach was explaining a very serious issue concerning the team's performance in matches, and Tang Ye had to listen carefully.

It was just that this was not good news for him.

Tang Ye liked impersonating a striker.

But Mr. Ferran wouldn't let him impersonate a striker!

Looking at the MVP trophy in Tang Ye's hands, Escrivá added: "However, those two goals of yours were truly brilliant."

"Of course, brilliant is brilliant, but you need to make changes; a player cannot play two positions simultaneously on the pitch, that defies logic."

Back in the locker room, captain Bruno ran over, slung an arm around Tang Ye's shoulders, and said: "Haha, Tom, the Europa League MVP trophy, how does it feel? This thing isn't easy to carry."

"Not easy to carry? Bruno, you underestimate me."

Tang Ye took his backpack out of the locker, pulled out the clothes inside, and then struggled to stuff his trophy in.

Then turning to face Bruno, he said seriously: "I'm planning to buy a slightly larger table to put in my home."

"Why?"

Bruno didn't understand Tang Ye's meaning.

"The computer desk in my room is too small; soon it won't be able to hold all my trophies."

"... Alright, alright, Tom, then tell me, what did Ferran want with you?"

As soon as Escrivá was mentioned, Tang Ye's face immediately drooped.

"Mr. Ferran won't let me dribble on the wing."

"Isn't it quite normal for a midfielder to dribble on the wing? Tactics are static, but the situation on the pitch changes quickly; sometimes strikers and midfielders even swap positions."

As a seasoned midfielder, Bruno clearly did not quite agree with what Escrivá had said.

However, Bruno had not heard the entire conversation between Escrivá and Tang Ye, so he would not understand Escrivá's meaning.

Tang Ye's positioning was highly random; almost every time he pulled out wide, it was done without his teammates' knowledge.

This led to a problem for Yellow Submarine during matches: overlapping players on the wing!

Two left wingers, and then suddenly no one in the center.

In such a situation, not only can attacks fail to develop, but if possession is lost, the opponent is very likely to exploit the gap in the center to launch a counterattack.

Tang Ye's positioning carried too much risk!

Front-page headline of "Villarreal City News": Away victory 3:2 against Inter Milan, Tom scores the winner, Villarreal ranks first in Group L of the group stage!

Secondary headline on the front page of "Tuttosport": What's going on? Severe polarization in Europa League Group L: Yellow Submarine and Ajax perfect with 6 points, Inter Milan and Zurich defeated in all matches with 0 points.

Front-page headline of "Utrecht Evening Post": The savior has departed; in the Champions League group stage, Utrecht suffered a crushing 4:0 home defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

【Inter Milan is down and out; actually, at 2:2 Inter's form was still quite good, never expected them to be killed by Tang Ye's last-minute goal.】

【Tang Tang Qiuwang is stopping Inter Milan from walking the path of revival!】

【Can't change Inter, losing to Tang Tang Qiuwang is perfectly normal; after all, my Tang Tang Qiuwang's assist count already equals the sum of Messi and Ronaldo's.】

【Stop comparing assist counts; Utrecht is getting their asses kicked in the Champions League.】

【Looking at it this way, the contrast is striking; Ten Hag's role at Utrecht was truly significant.】

【Controlling variables, but the issue is your variables aren't just Ten Hag—what about Tang Tang Qiuwang also leaving?】

【Ten Hag: I won't say Tang is a freeloader, but this is the fact.】

【Hahaha!】

Villarreal shows a trend of taking off this season, and Tang Tang Qiuwang's loyal followers are now extremely happy.

In the next league match, the Yellow Submarine will face the formidable Espanyol away, but before that, a piece of news quickly captured the fans' attention.

Tuttosport front-page headline: 2016 European Golden Boy candidate list.

Truly hot news never needs exclamation marks to attract netizens to click; the moment this issue of Tuttosport's front page was published, it captured the fans' attention.

The 2016 European Golden Boy candidate list!

The purpose of establishing this award is to filter out the most stunning football geniuses across all European leagues!

Each year, only 40 young players from all over Europe can be nominated!

Look at the situation today?

Tuttosport 2016 European Golden Boy list (in no particular order):

【Donnarumma (AC Milan), Asensio (Real Madrid), Rashford (Manchester United), Alli (Tottenham), Dembélé (Borussia Dortmund), Iwobi (Arsenal), Sané (Mancheng), Rúben Neves (Porto), Christensen (Borussia Mönchengladbach)... Bazoer (Ajax), Tang Tang Qiuwang (Utrecht, Villarreal), Sanches (Bayern)】

They are all players who became famous at a young age; especially Real Madrid's Asensio and Manchester United's Rashford, these players became household names as stars shortly after coming of age.

But...

Looking closely, doesn't there seem to be a minor in here?

37th candidate: Tang Tang Qiuwang (Utrecht, Villarreal)

Damn!

GG Bond, how are you in there!

China Football News front-page headline—Tang Tang Qiuwang selected for the 2016 Golden Boy candidate list, becoming the first Chinese player to enter this list.

Shandong Luneng Football School: Congratulations to our outstanding graduate Tang Tang Qiuwang for being selected in the 2016 Golden Boy 40-person candidate list; welcome everyone to join Shandong Luneng Football School, Tang Tang Qiuwang fans enjoy a 5% discount on trial training fees!

Football Elements: 【17-year-old】 【Golden Boy nomination】, what level is 【ball control】?

Villarreal City Newspaper front-page headline—Club loanee tangy. selected for the European Golden Boy candidate list; the player's loan contract does not contain a buyout clause.

"Wow"

When the candidate list was released, it was evening local time in Spain, and Tang Tang Qiuwang was playing LoL in his apartment.

The ranked match hadn't found an opponent yet, and while looking down and scrolling through his phone, he saw this news.

Generally, Tang Tang Qiuwang would not interrupt a match he was queuing for, but this news indeed sparked his interest.

Canceling the queue and removing his headset, Tang Tang Qiuwang focused his attention on his phone.

"Ding!"

"Ding ding ding!"

Tang Tang Qiuwang didn't have the habit of following the news; all these messages were sent by his teammates.

【Ramselaar: Tom, haha, I saw your name!】

【Musacchio: Beautiful!】

There were former teammates from Utrecht and current teammates from Villarreal.

Tang Tang Qiuwang even saw...

【Mr. Sitting Like: Well deserved】

Tang Tang Qiuwang had no reaction to his teammates' praise, but a single message from Ten Hag directly made Tang Tang Qiuwang blush.

This was recognition from Mr. Sitting Like!

A little bit excited; to be honest, Tang Tang Qiuwang actually hadn't looked into this so-called Golden Boy award at all.

Suddenly discovering his name on it, Tang Tang Qiuwang's first reaction was actually a bit stunned.

First, go search on Google.

【Golden Boy Award: Founded in 2003, selects the 40 most outstanding young football players each year; players participating in the selection must not exceed 21 years old at the time of league registration for that season】 Not exceed 21 years old?

Seeing this sentence, Tang Tang Qiuwang immediately panicked!

Don't, don't do this...

【You, at 38 years old, impersonating a child to participate in the Golden Boy award selection, you cannot receive any reward】

【Counterattack Points -1】

"Hiss..."

Damn it!

As expected!

Originally there should have been a reward, but because the system's timeline was chaotic.

Therefore, Tang Tang Qiuwang not only got nothing, but also had 1 Counterattack Point deducted for falsely reporting his age!

Dammit!

Picking up his phone, Tang Tang Qiuwang replied to his friends' messages one by one.

After opening the chat window with Ten Hag and looking at the five Dutch characters of the remark "Mr. Sitting Like," Tang Tang Qiuwang fell into deep thought.

【ggbond: Thanks】

"Ding!"

【Mr. Sitting Like: No need for words】

!

France Football front-page headline: It is reported that Benfica midfielder Sanches, Manchester United forward Rashford, Juventus forward Coman, and Villarreal midfielder Tang are leading the Golden Boy award voting.

France Football's news is sometimes accurate, sometimes not, but this time Chinese fans have chosen to believe this newspaper.

People are willing to believe news they like to hear; fans are no different.

Regardless, anyway, my King Tang is in the lead!

……

Players from both Utrecht and Villarreal have seen the news of Tang Ye's selection for the Golden Boy award candidate list; Ten Hag knows about this as well.

But only Escrivá has not sent Tang Ye a congratulatory text message.

The reason is simple: Escrivá is currently lurking in the comment section of a Tang Ye highlight video on YouTube.

The video's title is: Tom's Full Highlights of 2016.

【Fuck Escrivá! Can you imagine it? A Golden Boy candidate has to play as a substitute at Villarreal. Manchester United is a giant club; even United gives Rashford a starting spot.】

【Escrivá is too unintelligent!】

【I feel Escrivá is causing trouble again recently; he should be arranging tactics with Tom as the team's core!】

"……"

Scrolling through the comments bit by bit, Escrivá's hands were trembling.

Damn it!

The pressure is so great!

Soon, Escrivá opened WhatsApp, found Tang Ye's chat account.

【You don't need to worry about the issue of pretending to be a striker yesterday.】

"Ding!"

Tang Ye was obviously still reading the news; upon seeing Escrivá's message, he replied immediately.

【ggbond: Then what about the vacant position in the central midfield?】

【Someone will handle it.】

Closing the chat window, Escrivá stood up, walked to the tactical board in his room, moved the magnetic flag representing Tang Ye forward, and then moved the magnetic flag representing Rodri to the position Tang Ye had just occupied.

The attacking midfielder position is very important; Tang Ye often loses that position.

Then someone needs to come up and fill it.

As the team's most loyal academy player, Rodri needs to make sacrifices!

……

Time reached October; in the 7th round of the Premier League, Manchester United drew 1:1 with Stoke City at home.

Ten Hag arrived at the press conference room of Old Trafford!

Click!

Click-click!

Because it was a draw, Ten Hag's expression was not very good.

But those familiar with Ten Hag all know that although this match appeared to be a draw, in reality, it was not.

"A terrible day; our opponents were very lucky, but we were always just a little lacking in luck. Rashford slipped in front of the goal; otherwise, we could have won this match."

Click-click!

In the distant Valencia province of Spain, Escrivá, having just finished the team's training, took out his phone and watched the live broadcast of this interview via BT Sport.

On the table in front of Escrivá lay a notebook, recording some key points he had noted while listening to the interview.

He did this for two purposes: first, to learn Ten Hag's unparalleled press conference skills.

Second, to see if Ten Hag would reveal anything regarding tactics.

Tang Ye has just entered the Golden Boy award list; those British reporters will surely mention Tang Ye in front of Ten Hag!

"Manchester United's luck was indeed bad, but you did indeed draw today."

The reporter spoke slowly: "A draw against Stoke City; this is probably not what Manchester United fans wanted to see."

"I know, I know, I have disappointed the fans; of course, as a coach, I understand that feeling fans have after their home team loses."

Ten Hag pursed his lips: "But I also want to tell the fans not to always think in terms of the worst."

"We are currently third in the Premier League; this is better than our result last season. I admit this is not Manchester United's endpoint, but we have made progress; fans should be happy about that."

Alright!

The young reporter was still too arrogant.

Since he thought he could take down Ten Hag in the post-match interview, that was clearly an impossible thing.

Taking a step back, the little reporter changed the question.

"Can you talk about Rashford? He has been selected for the Golden Boy award candidate list, and according to rumors (referring to France Football), Marcus's ranking seems to be quite high?"

Speaking of Rashford, Ten Hag's expression was not very good.

"I appreciate Rashford; he is a very talented player."

"Then what about Tom? He has also been selected for the candidate list."

As soon as Tom was mentioned, a smile suddenly appeared on Ten Hag's face.

Escrivá:?

"Excellent. I said before that Tang cannot adapt to La Liga; I indeed said that…"

Knowledge point!

Escrivá's eyes lit up; he picked up his pen and began writing swiftly in his notebook.

【Take a step back, proactively bringing up one's own black history.】

"This is because I misjudged his talent; Tom's talent is even more exaggerated than I imagined."

【Switching from Defense to Offense】

"Of course, thinking about it carefully, this is indeed reasonable, because in the previous season I had him undergo a great deal of training."

Hearing this, Escrivá's expression was somewhat hesitant.

However, in the end, he still put pen to paper.

【Actively shifting the focus of credit to oneself to wrap things up】

Looking at the "Ten Hag Formula" in his notebook, Escrivá took a deep breath.

He benefited immensely!

However...

Escrivá suddenly discovered a problem.

Tang Ye is currently a player for Villarreal, or taking a step back, a player for Utrecht.

You, Ten Hag, have already left Utrecht, so why do you keep praising Tang Ye incessantly?

"So you changed Tang's transfer contract into a loan contract, is that right?"

"Something like that."

Ten Hag nodded.

"As the former head coach of Utrecht, I believe it is necessary to leave a legacy for the club, but I have always maintained that Tom's loan contract was a loss."

"Why do you say that?"

"Three million euros is the price for Tang's right foot; as I said before, Villarreal still owes Utrecht three million euros, which is the additional loan fee for the left foot. You know, you cannot buy a two-footed player by paying for only one foot. Of course, besides the six million euros, Villarreal still owes Utrecht another three million euros."

Holding his pen, Escrivá could not write a single word for a long time.

"May I ask, what is this three million euros for...?"

"This is Tom's tutoring fee, which is to be paid to me."

The reporter did not quite understand, but Ten Hag immediately provided an explanation: "Due to some rather unreasonable reasons, I have been prosecuted by the Dutch police. As you know, I trained Tom to a very high level."

"Of course, I am not trying to emphasize how much I sacrificed for this; the point is not my sacrifice, but the improvement Tom gained. His two-footed ability was not achieved without cause; Villarreal relied on Tom's two feet to win many matches, so they need to compensate for the costs of extra evening training sessions."

Snap!

Escrivá gently closed his notebook and, while at it, clicked off the tip of his ballpoint pen.

He gave up!

He had already given up!

He had originally thought he could learn from Ten Hag, studying Ten Hag's techniques for handling reporter interviews.

It was only after watching the live broadcast of Ten Hag's interview that he truly realized the gap between himself and the Dutchman.

It was an unbridgeable chasm.

Ten Hag's techniques were something he would never be able to learn in his entire life!

Bilibili marketing account: Ten Hag has spoken! Villarreal owes another 3 million euros! Currently, the Yellow Submarine's debt has reached 6 million euros, which may directly affect the team's winter transfer window recruitment plans.

(End of Chapter)