Chapter 144: Five-Goal Rout: Tom's La Liga Assist Hat-Trick!

Boom!

With a powerful volley, Pato completed his brace of the match!

"Gggoooollll!!!"

The score is now 4:0!

Villarreal's advantage has further expanded!

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

After scoring their fourth goal, the Yellow Submarine players quickly ran off the pitch to celebrate with the fans in the stands.

Naturally, the happiest was Pato, who scored the volley; the Brazilian striker roared three times toward the stands, venting his excited emotions.

Such a goal is a rare stroke of luck.

Receiving a cross from a midfielder and immediately smashing it home with a volley—barring any surprises, Pato is destined to appear in the La Liga Top Goals compilation for October.

Apart from Pato, the next happiest person was Tang Ye.

This was Tang Ye's second assist of the match!

Escrivá sat on the sidelines without speaking.

He was speechless because he had suddenly realized a very serious problem.

Villarreal had scored four goals in total so far, and Tom's stats were one goal and two assists.

This meant his absolute offensive involvement rate was... 75%!

"Wow."

Escrivá exchanged a glance with Martí; the latter shrugged his shoulders, and Escrivá shifted his gaze back to the field.

The Spanish manager's mood was now extremely complex.

Villarreal had produced a genius, but that genius was a loaned player!

Now it all depended on Chairman Fernando!

During the previous negotiations, Utrecht had been unwilling to include a buyout clause in Tang Ye's loan contract, but fortunately, loan contracts could be amended with supplementary terms.

They must ensure Tang Ye's contract included a direct buyout clause, or even... terminate the loan during the winter window to complete Tang Ye's permanent transfer immediately!

In the 80th minute of the match, Escrivá substituted two defenders for Bacambu and the captain, Bruno.

The meaning was clear: the head coach was already very satisfied with the current 4:0 scoreline!

On the field, Rodri was slightly surprised not to see his number on the electronic board, but he quickly realized what was happening.

His performance in this match had been good, and Escrivá had decided to give him more opportunities!

After the substitution, Villarreal launched another attack, and for some reason, Tang Ye had run forward again.

Oh!

Rodri's eyes lit up.

Time to work!

He hurriedly rushed forward to fill Tang Ye's position, seizing the chance to glance at Escrivá on the bench.

As expected, Escrivá was looking right at him!

"Here!"

Pato passed the ball back to Rodri, who controlled it.

Now, four Celta defenders stood sideways in front of him, seemingly giving Villarreal no chance to score.

However, this was only the surface situation; since Celta had already conceded four goals to Villarreal, their defensive tactics could not be without flaws.

What the home team needed now was movement, using the runs of their midfield and forward players to force the Celta defenders to shift.

Celta's defensive line might have no gaps right now, but once they moved along with Villarreal's attacking players...

The gaps would appear!

Slap!

Rodri's through ball went to the right touchline, where Jaume Costa, charging up the wing, easily controlled the ball, and Tang Ye ran over alongside him.

He reached out, asking Costa for the ball.

!!!

Having learned their lesson from before, the Celta defenders knew Tang Ye possessed left-footed shooting ability, so they immediately rushed up, preparing to engage him in a physical duel.

A physical duel?

Tang Ye checked the positions of his teammates around him and suddenly changed direction to dodge.

He would never passively accept a physical confrontation!

Slap!

Costa played a cutback pass; Tang Ye flicked the ball to Rodri, pointing toward the space on his left.

Hm?

Rodri caught on immediately and passed the ball over.

OK!

Tang Ye suddenly turned to the left and kicked forward at Rodri's pass.

Rodri's pass was already directed toward the penalty area, and Tang Ye's shot altered the ball's trajectory.

With a curve, Cabral, who could have originally touched the ball, ultimately failed to reach it.

It was Gaspar, cutting into the penalty area from the left, who made contact with the ball!

Boom!

With a side-footed push, Gaspar scored!

【You have received 10 Counterattack Points.】

【Assist hat-trick achieved; you have received an additional 40 Counterattack Points.】

【First assist hat-trick in La Liga history; you have received an additional 40 Counterattack Points.】

Tang Ye's first assist hat-trick in La Liga!

Of course, this was not even the main point.

The main point was that the score had already stretched to 5:0!

【Holy crap, a hat-trick this fast?】

【Celta isn't even strong; what's there to brag about?】

【Here comes the classic take: bro, even if Celta is underperforming, they're still a La Liga team.】

【Damn, impressive! Sure, his technique is rough, but his creativity is overflowing the screen. Tom, GOAT!】

【Messi and Ronaldo: We're done for; the assist leaderboard has been overtaken.】

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

The home fans shouted Tang Ye's name at the top of their lungs; having completed an assist hat-trick, Tang Ye spread his arms wide.

He thoroughly enjoyed this moment.

This was the meaning of the game!

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Yellow Submarine 5:0 ten-man Celta; Tang Ye delivers a brutal hat-trick!

Actually, head coach Berizzo had already given up on this match the moment Gomez received the red card; yet after Gomez left the field, Celta conceded two more goals.

Fortunately, players sent off with a red card are not allowed to remain on the substitutes' bench; otherwise, the director would definitely have cut the camera to Sergi Gomez.

Let the fans in the live stream get a good look at his expression right now!

"Huff... huff..."

After the 85th minute, Tang Ye spat out the fourth piece of chewing gum he had used in the second half, but did not replace it with a new one.

New fans might have thought Tang Ye simply no longer wanted to chew gum.

But old fans knew that Tom was running low on stamina.

Because he needed to gasp for air through his mouth, Tang Ye simply could not continue holding the gum.

This was not a situation he wanted to face, but there was no helping it.

King Tang Ball is starting to walk!

"Damn it!"

Escriba stood up, ready to unleash a fierce tirade on Tang Ye, but the moment he reached the touchline, he suddenly gave up.

Forget it!

Just endure it!

Endure it, and it will pass!

The full-time whistle blew; playing with one extra man, the Yellow Submarine ultimately secured victory with a 5:0 scoreline.

Clutching his MVP trophy, Tang Ye walked from the pitch back into the locker room.

"If this is romance, why do I feel we're about to part?"

"You've cried~ but your eyeshadow sparkles even more brilliantly~~~~"

"No matter whose lover I am, you will always remain you~"

Sitting back in his spot, Tang Ye placed the trophy inside his locker and slowly began to sing.

As a professional athlete, Tang Ye possessed excellent rhythm; even his walking pace matched the beat of the song.

Rodri sat right beside Tang Ye; while the players waited for Escriba to finish his press interview, he had already heard Tang Ye sing two songs.

Halfway through the second song, Tang Ye stopped, reached into his bag for his phone, having slightly forgotten the lyrics that followed.

"Ng zung yi."

Rodri suddenly spoke; Tang Ye leaned his ear closer: "What is it?"

"I don't like the second song; that's how you say it, right?"

Rodri imitated the way Tang Ye had spoken Chinese earlier: "Is my Chinese pretty decent?"

"Mm."

Tang Ye nodded, displaying a look of surprise on his face.

"So how do you say 'hello' in Chinese?"

"Lei hou la!"

"Lei hou?"

Rodri nodded gently: "Lei hou..."

Many European football clubs have players from numerous different countries, which is very beneficial for the players themselves.

Take Rodri, for instance; he did not need to attend external language classes, as he could learn the most standard Chinese directly from Tang Ye.

After familiarizing himself slightly with the melody, Rodri felt he was nearly capable of singing Chinese songs.

Tang Ye patted Rodri on the shoulder.

Rodri had started in the last two league matches, something Tang Ye had noticed.

Tang Ye was naturally happy for Rodri, because he could clearly feel that whenever Rodri was on the field, the number of times the team got hit by counterattacks decreased significantly.

Tang Ye enjoyed playing in tandem with Rodri.

However... there is still a Europa League match against Ajax coming up; I wonder if he and Rodri can both start?

"You're just handsome, oil up!"

Under Bruno's leadership, the players in the locker room sang "Yellow Submarine" together to celebrate their victory in today's match.

Meanwhile, in the press room at the Love Song Stadium, Escrivá was facing his dilemma.

"After this match, Tom's league statistics have reached 4 goals and 9 assists, and we've only just finished round 7. Seven matches, 13 direct goal involvements—this is undoubtedly a perfect boost for Yellow Submarine."

"But..."

Hearing the word "but," Escrivá suddenly felt tense.

"Why does your contract not include a buyout clause? Was this your decision, or an oversight by the club's management?"

Escrivá was now sweating profusely.

But now, facing the reporters was only him alone.

What should he do!

In this moment of crisis, Escrivá remembered the 【Ten Hag Notes】 he had recorded earlier.

When facing a difficult problem, Ten Hag's first step is: 【Take a step back and proactively bring up one's own dark history】.

"At the time, I proposed a buyout clause, but the Utrecht side did not agree, so I ultimately did not insist; looking at it now, it was indeed my mistake..." Okay, Escrivá was now at a disadvantage.

At this moment, bring out Ten Hag's second step.

【Turn defense into offense】

"However, I think this should be reasonable; at the time, we didn't expect to encounter this situation. We just needed a temporary attacking midfielder to help the team because, as you know, we lost many people during this Piggy Xia Chuang."

Hearing this, the reporters thought Escrivá had nothing more to say.

But these Spanish football reporters were clearly still too naive.

The final step of the Ten Hag Notes: 【Proactively shift the focus, attribute the credit to oneself, and wrap things up】.

"I think, um... the key point shouldn't be the buyout clause."

Escrivá smiled: "The key point should be that we signed Tom; although it's a loan without a buyout clause, we need to look at the positive side."

"I spotted Tom's excellent technique and pushed the club to make this transfer happen; the result is what everyone sees now."

"Currently, the top of the La Liga assist chart is on our team; he has recorded 9 assists in 7 matches."

!

After speaking, Escrivá leaned his upper body backward.

At this moment, he was somewhat excited, but he had to appear very calm.

Because Ten Hag never reveals any flaws when facing reporters!

"..."

After hearing Escrivá's answer, the reporters below looked at each other in bewilderment.

They clearly hadn't expected that Escrivá, who usually stumbled at press conferences, could respond to such a super-difficult question in such detail.

It was obviously intended to stump Escrivá, yet he answered it anyway.

And he answered very well!

But...

The reporters below were a bit confused about one thing.

Why did they detect a faint familiar scent in the words Escrivá just spoke?

It felt...

Like some kind of Dutch specialty?

After a brief adjustment, a reporter asked his next question: "In the next Europa League match, you will play away against Ajax; according to statistics, Utrecht won all their matches against Ajax last season, in which Tom played a significant role,"

"May I ask if he will continue to start in the next match?"

Since entering the Golden Boy award candidate list, Escrivá has had to face many questions related to Tang Ye after every post-match interview.

For any question related to Tang Ye, Escrivá must treat it seriously.

Tang Ye has quite a lot of fans; if not handled properly, it's easy to get cyber-bullied!

"If his condition is suitable, he will let him start."

Click!

Click-click!

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: 7 matches, 9 assists; Tang Ye's league assist count this season has already surpassed the combined total of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi; this is the second time he has surpassed the Duo of Mei and Luo.

Marca front-page headline—The combined force of Mei and Luo cannot stop Tom; what is the background of this young midfielder from Utrecht?

Spanish Channel Six commentator Carrasco: Currently, Tom is indeed a two-footed attacking midfielder; this advanced training method is something La Liga teams need to learn.

UK Sun front-page headline—Utrecht Court will make a final judgment on Ten Hag's case within two weeks; the court has carefully considered Mi De Kan Fa and the appeal from the Dutch Football Association, and Ten Hag may avoid criminal punishment.

Ten Hag can avoid criminal punishment?

As one of the top media outlets in the UK, news published by The Sun is highly trusted by everyone.

For Manchester United fans, this is absolutely, absolutely good news!

The Utrecht Court will help the Manchester Red Devils stay on the right path!

【Actually, whether I'm criminal or not makes no difference; as long as Ten Hag doesn't return to the Netherlands, it's fine.】

【No way, bro, the Netherlands is Ten Hag's hometown; if he can't even go home, what should he do?】

【Saint Ten is about to lead Manchester United to revival; by then, he can just treat Manchester as his new home, and Manchester United fans will sing his praises.】

【Not to mention anything else, Manchester United's performance this season is indeed quite good; I feel there's hope to win a Europa League title.】

【How bold! Don't you know that I, Tang Tang Qiuwang, am also playing in the Europa League?】

After the 20th, Villarreal's schedule becomes extremely dense; having just finished playing Celta at home yesterday, the Villarreal players will board a plane for the Netherlands tomorrow.

"The opponent is Ajax. I need not say much about this team; they are extremely formidable."

Inside the base gym, while the players were doing strength training, Escrivá explained some of the upcoming tactical arrangements.

"Two players on our team faced Ajax last season, and not just once..."

"Right here!"

Before Escrivá could finish speaking, Tang Ye had already raised his hand.

"Wow, Tom, we're about to play Ajax, and you seem so excited?"

Bruno, having just pushed the barbell up from his chest, turned his head over: "Tom is already ready to wipe out Ajax, just like they did last season."

"Haha!"

Bruno's words gave Escrivá an idea: "Tom, come here, stand in the middle."

Tang Ye stood still without moving; Musacchio chuckled and pushed Tang Ye directly forward.

Taking off his earphones, Tang Ye looked down at Escrivá, who was sitting on a chair: "Mr. Ferran."

Escrivá stretched out both hands, turned Tang Ye around to face the other players in the locker room: "You played against Ajax twice last season, right? Twice or three times, but that doesn't matter; what matters is that you have experience playing against Ajax. Come on, Tom, today you will give them the tactical lesson!"

"Tell them, what are Ajax's tactical characteristics!"

As soon as Escrivá finished speaking, the attention of every player in the gym shifted to Tang Ye; even Bruno, who had been doing bench presses, stopped his movement and looked at Tang Ye with an expectant expression.

Tang Ye:...

After a moment of silence, Tang Ye pointed a finger at himself: "Me... You want me to speak?"

"Yes, you must have more experience."

"But Sebastian and I were together on the team."

Tang Ye pointed toward Ale, who was walking on a treadmill in the distance; after getting injured in the previous match, he was now undergoing rehabilitation training.

"Midfielders generally have a higher understanding of the game; didn't you know that many excellent head coaches started out playing as midfielders?"

Clap clap!

Escrivá patted Tang Ye's buttocks: "Come on!"

Hiss—

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye felt the eyes of his teammates staring intently at him.

What exactly is Ajax's tactical system like...

"Uh, Mr. Ferran."

Tang Ye turned around: "I just thought about it carefully."

"Mm, give us the conclusion!"

"I... I seem not to know..."

"Hahaha!"

"Woww!"

The players in the room immediately started making a racket; Bruno clapped his hands in approval: "I get it, Tom probably doesn't even regard Ajax as worth his attention."

"It's not like that, it's not like that."

Tang Ye hurriedly explained: "I just can't remember clearly; that was half a year ago."

"Screw you!"

Escrivá pushed Tang Ye away, and the latter put his earphones back on.

"Sebastian!"

Escrivá called Ale over.

Tang Ye's mind seemed to be wandering all day, but Ale was far more reliable.

Standing over 1.9 meters tall, he looks reliable just by appearance!

"Uh..."

Ale thought carefully for a moment: "Ajax is indeed very strong; their pressing made us suffer greatly."

Escrivá pricked up his ears to listen as Ale spoke slowly, bit by bit.

"Last season, Utrecht was very afraid of pressing because our midfield ball control wasn't good; of course, this has nothing to do with Tom; this was a problem for the entire team,"

Ale added.

"That was the situation when Utrecht played against Ajax; I feel we should be a bit better off, as our ability to play out from the back is very strong."

Ale was right; compared to Utrecht, Villarreal would definitely have a much easier time playing against Ajax.

The reason was that Villarreal's overall passing and control capability was not on the same level as Utrecht's at all.

They were not afraid of Ajax's high pressing!

"Front-court pressing..."

Escrivá wore a thoughtful expression; what Ale said was consistent with the footage he had watched.

Last season's Utrecht had Tang Ye stationed in the middle, so they would certainly be very afraid of Ajax's pressing.

"Then how did you win? When facing Ajax's high pressing."

Good question!

The players' gazes unanimously turned toward Ale; the Ivorian striker showed a difficult expression.

"Well... Ajax's pressing is very strong, but we still had chances."

"Someone passed the ball to me, then I faced the goalkeeper, pushed the shot, and scored..."

After finishing, Ale looked at Escrivá in front of him, and Escrivá was likewise looking at Ale.

The two locked eyes.

"And then?"

"And then we won."

Clap, clap!

Escrivá clapped his hands.

Good heavens!

So it wasn't just the fans who didn't know how Utrecht won the match.

Even the players on the field didn't know!

Hiss—

Damn it!

It was clearly just a low-key tactical meeting within the team, a relaxed tactical session.

Yet Escrivá once again felt the terror of Ten Hag!

……

(End of chapter)