Chapter 148: Ten Rounds Undefeated, Erik ten Hag Facing Three Years in Prison?

Pato headed the ball toward the goal, but goalkeeper Riesgo reacted incredibly fast, parrying it away with both hands.

Riesgo failed to catch Pato's shot; this was absolutely, definitely a mistake!

A super huge mistake!

Here it comes!

Into the penalty area came Rodri, scenting opportunity; he surged forward and finished with a low push shot, scoring directly!

"Goal!"

"That's Rodri's goal!"

"Hmm, these two midfielders from Villarreal are really..."

"Both monstrous talents!"

Amidst the home fans' jeers, Rodri and Tang Ye rushed together toward the corner flag on the right flank.

"Haha, Sergio!"

Tang Ye stretched out his arm to hang around Rodri's neck, while Rodri extended his left hand to rest on Tang Ye's shoulder.

"Which number goal is this for you!"

The stadium was noisy; for Tang Ye to speak to Rodri, he had to shout loudly.

"Two!"

Rodri's face flushed red: "My second goal!"

This season Rodri started as a substitute, gradually securing a starting position beginning from the seventh round of the league.

This is his first season in the Xijiazhu Sect league, and in ten matches he has already netted two goals.

The problem is that Rodri is still a defensive midfielder!

"Roar—!!"

At twenty years old, an age brimming with energy, Rodri let out a fierce roar toward the home stands, frightening several fans in the lowest row into standing frozen, daring not to move.

"Woo-hoo!"

Tang Ye raised his left hand, then mimicked Rodri by letting out a roaring shout himself.

"Roar-ah!"

As expected, after falling behind at home, Eibar's head coach had already stood up.

Escrivá, however, remained seated on the substitutes' bench.

He had gained experience by now; that fellow Tang Ye might listen if you shouted a few words at him, but a few minutes later he would revert to following his own ideas.

So you either had to stand continuously by the touchline shouting, imposing your philosophy over the entire match, or simply sit on the chair and let things rot.

Escrivá chose the latter.

Of course, this was absolutely not because sitting on the chair would yield a higher win rate.

Escrivá simply liked being lazy!

Taking advantage of the fans' attention being fixed on Tang Ye and Rodri, Escrivá secretly pulled out his mobile phone.

【Wow, feels like Escrivá's tactics are getting better and better; Yellow Submarine has a chance this season.】

【Looks like he truly is Saint Escrivá; indeed, not a single head coach in the Xijiazhu Sect league is worthless.】

【Feels like if they keep playing like this, Saint Escrivá could go coach Real Madrid or Barcelona; this level of ability is truly high.】

【Thought Eibar's form this season was already great, until I saw Villarreal; Saint Escrivá's tactics are indeed formidable.】

"Es... Saint Escrivá..."

Seeing the fans' nickname for him in the Twitter comments, Escrivá's hands were trembling!

He felt it!

This is exactly the feeling!

Escrivá, who was following in Ten Hag's footsteps, had stepped precisely into Ten Hag's footprints!

"Ferran, what's wrong?"

Cherishev, sitting behind, patted Escrivá's shoulder because he felt Escrivá trembling just now.

Could it be due to excessive pressure?

"Nothing, nothing."

Hurriedly putting his phone back into his inner pocket, Escrivá took a deep breath to adjust his current state.

As Saint Escrivá, he would play a very important role in this match.

At this moment, he must sit properly on the substitutes' bench, waiting for the right opportunity to stand up and help the team achieve victory!

"Villarreal!"

Bang bang!

"Villarreal!"

Bang bang bang!

After taking a one-goal lead, the away fans' spirits began to lift, but of course, the home fans would not let the away fans seize the home atmosphere.

"Fuck you!"

"Get lost, you idiotic piece of trash!"

"Villarreal!"

"Xuuu—!!!"

"Villarreal!"

"Xuuu—!!!"

Eibar's fans were extremely pretentious.

However, the bluff they were putting on actually seemed to work; in the 23rd minute, Japanese forward Takashi Inui's long-range shot nearly found the back of the net.

Fortunately, Asenjo stepped up!

However, Yellow Submarine's good fortune didn't seem to last long; Eibar, dominating possession, gradually tore open Yellow Submarine's defense.

Why did Eibar have the advantage in possession?

Chinese fans warn you not to ask this question!

"Forward, forward!"

Dani García quickly directed his teammates' positioning, while Enrich and León began stretching out to the left and right flanks respectively.

González and Costa each marked one man tightly!

Eibar prepared to attack down the wings, causing Yellow Submarine's defenders to spread out from the center toward both sides.

But at that moment, García began his maneuver, receiving the ball in the center and feinting left then right.

Yet he simply wouldn't pass!

Damn it!

Noticing Fran Rico making a forward run, Tang Ye realized something was wrong and immediately shouted: "Through the middle!"

Just as Musacchio prepared to close the distance on García, Eibar's midfielder played a through ball into the space.

We're done for!

Tang Ye and Bruno, rushing back at full speed, almost stopped simultaneously; Rico controlled the ball, adjusted, and finished with a low shot to break the deadlock.

"Gggg—oooooo—lllll!!!"

"Goal!"

"Fran Rico!"

"Villarreal's goal was scored by their defensive midfielder Rodri, while Eibar's goal came from their attacking midfielder Fran Rico; what is going on in this match, are only midfielders scoring?"

1:1!

Home team Eibar successfully equalized the score!

"Damn it..."

He exchanged a bitter smile with Bruno beside him.

A serious defensive error in the backfield!

"It's fine, it's fine!"

Young players like Tang Ye usually have their mentality easily affected by the scoreline, so Bruno specifically walked over to pat Tang Ye's arm.

Although Tang Ye indeed hadn't been affected at all.

While Eibar's players celebrated, Bruno led Tang Ye running back to comfort Musacchio.

Feeling guilty for causing the team's error due to his untimely press, Musacchio was currently overwhelmed with remorse.

Tang Ye could sense Musacchio's current state, so he reached into his pocket, pulled out a fresh piece of chewing gum, and handed it to Musacchio: "Mateo, have some of this!"

Chewing gum is greatly helpful for relieving pressure on professional athletes.

GG Bond's chewing gum works even better!

"Thanks!"

Musacchio punched Tang Ye lightly on the chest, then took the chewing gum.

Musacchio tossed the wrapper on the ground, but Tang Ye walked over, picked it up, and put it back into his own pocket.

"..."

Bro, you're making me look so uncultured...

"The match has now reached the 35th minute; so far, Villarreal's possession rate appears to be slightly lower."

"Possession stands at 48%; in last season's and the season before's matches between Villarreal and Eibar, Villarreal's possession rate exceeded 55% every time."

"Why is this?"

The CCTV commentator knew the reason for Yellow Submarine's low possession rate, but he feared being cyber-bullied, so he didn't say it.

"However, it doesn't matter; although Villarreal's possession rate is slightly lower, we can see that in terms of effective attacks, corners, and shooting statistics, Villarreal is leading by a significant margin."

"Clearly, Tang Ye has played a very important role in this."

【Good, as long as you know my greatness, Tang Tang Qiuwang.】

【Can He Wei analyze why Yellow Submarine's possession rate is low? Is it because someone held the ball stationary for seven↑ seconds, passed it to the opponent~ lost possession~】

【Upstairs, I already know your identity; you better watch your step.】

【Why are you still hung up on possession rates? Saint Teng has already proven over a season that ineffective possession is useless; do you not even believe Saint Teng? Such boldness?】

【Seeing Eh Hai sitting on the chair, I knew it was secure; brothers, remember to post more comments praising Eh Hai on Twitter's comment section; he is easily influenced by comments.】

Because Escrivá had not issued any direct orders regarding possession, this match was extremely intense.

One second Eibar had possession, the next second...

"I'm coming!"

Bang!

Tang Ye charged in from the side-rear, executing a slide tackle to knock the ball out of bounds from under García's feet.

Eibar took the throw-in; Capa passed the ball to Rico, who was standing beside Tang Ye.

OK!

The ball's position wasn't ideal for Tang Ye, but Tang Ye had his own solution.

Move forward to block the position!

Extend the left foot!

At this moment, if Tang Ye were to stop the ball, he would definitely be unable to shield it amidst the surrounding press.

So the logic was clear: this ball could not be stopped!

Slap!

He kicked the ball directly behind him, then spun around and sprinted forward.

"Oh~!"

"Woww!!!"

Tang Ye's handling of the ball was a little bit cool; Rico hurried to chase back, but before Rico could reach him, Tang Ye had already passed the ball into the center.

Soriano, running up, extended his foot to control the ball!

Simply perfect cooperation; with a smile on his face, Tang Ye quickly began his forward run.

"Come, here!"

Reaching out for the ball, he received it back from Soriano. OK, now possession was under the feet of Villarreal's strongest attacker!

Dribbling with the outside of his foot toward the position at the top of the arc.

Glancing at Bacambu on the right, Tang Ye pointed toward the penalty area: "Go straight in!"

Hmm?

Hmm!

Bacambu immediately rushed into the penalty area.

Tang Ye had just intended to make a through pass!

Tang Ye seemed to want to replicate Eibar's earlier attack, but since his communication with Bacambu was done by shouting, defenders Lejeune and Luna knew Tang Ye's intention.

The two of them stuck close to Bacambu together.

At the exact moment Luna shifted his center of gravity, Tang Ye flicked the ball up with the toe of his right foot.

A lofted ball sent into the penalty area!

What?

!

This was the confusion from both the Eibar defenders and Bacambu.

It turned out Tang Ye had just been tricking Bacambu!

Damn!

"I've got it!"

Sansone appeared from who-knows-where, diving to head the ball into the goal.

"Goal!"

"Sanso..."

"Oh, sorry, an assist from Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye's assist helped Sansone complete the breakthrough!"

"Perfect, Tang Ye's choice of pass was simply too perfect; he fooled the opponent's defenders!"

Vamos!!!

The Villarreal players all ran out of the penalty area to celebrate.

In front of the substitute bench, Marti, having just witnessed all this, lowered his head to look at the screen of the laptop before him.

【Tom's Scout Report, Supplementary Edition】

1....

Placing his hands on the keyboard, Marti began typing furiously.

1. Good at deceiving opponents.

2. Good at deceiving teammates.

After finishing, Marti wore a satisfied smile.

"What is this stuff?"

Escrivá pointed at the computer screen, and Marti explained, "Ferran, this is what you asked me to write earlier, saying we needed to better grasp Tom's characteristics."

"Of course I know I asked you to write this, but don't you think what you've written is problematic?"

Escrivá leaned his upper body over, deleted everything Marti had just typed, and started typing himself.

1. Movements are highly deceptive and not easily detected.

OK!

With this, the neutral report had become a completely positive report.

The first half ended, with Villarreal entering the second half leading 2:1.

For the second half of the match, Escrivá remained very calm.

"Ggg—ooooo—lllll!!"

"Ivan Ramis! (Ramis)"

The announcer's voice rang out; Eibar had equalized the score once again.

Escrivá sat in his chair, giving himself psychological suggestions.

Don't panic!

Stay calm!

When the match reached the 70th minute, Escrivá, sitting in his chair on the substitute bench, made his first substitution.

At this moment, he turned to look at the real-time possession rate displayed on Marti's computer.

Villarreal's possession rate had dropped from 49% in the first half to 45% now.

A decline in possession rate was not a good thing for the team.

But for some reason.

For some reason, Escrivá now felt an overwhelming sense of reassurance?

Just as he was about to reach up and touch his hair, the fans in the stands suddenly let out a scream.

"Woww!!!"

Looking up, they saw Tang Ye, from the backfield, deliver a precise ground through-ball of nearly 40 meters, finding Sansone making a forward run.

What the hell?

"Sansone, take the ball yourself and head toward the baseline!"

"Is this a one-on-one chance?"

"Sansone's speed seems a bit lacking!"

"It's not a one-on-one anymore!"

"Seize the opportunity and pass quickly to Bakambu on the right!"

Bang!

Facing the cross sent over by Sansone, Bakambu chose to shoot directly!

Goalkeeper Riesgo jumped out to make the save, but the ball speed from Bakambu was simply too fast; no matter how quick Riesgo's reaction, it was useless.

"Gggg——oooo——llllll!!!"

"Goal!"

"From Tang Ye's penultimate assist, Bakambu scores!"

"Hmm, Tang Ye played an extremely significant role in this counterattack."

"Yes, he didn't pass directly to Bakambu, who was in a good position, at the first opportunity; instead, he chose Sansone. As a result, Eibar's defensive pressure on Bakambu in the backfield decreased, allowing Bakambu to find an opening for his forward run!"

Check Dongqiu Di Live Match Report: Bakambu scores from Sansone's cross; Tang Ye records his second quasi-assist; Yellow Submarine leads Eibar 3:2 away from home!

"Vamos Villarreal!"

Bakambu roared toward the stands.

Tang Ye had deceived him with the previous goal, but Bakambu knew Tang Ye was a good person.

He would absolutely not betray his expectations.

Sure enough, the opportunity arrived immediately!

Vamos Villarreal?

Vamos Tom!

A 3:2 scoreline was not very safe, and the Eibar fans in the stands were now in a rather noisy state.

Because they felt their home team could equalize the score.

Time ticked by; after the 85th minute, the home stands finally fell silent.

Escrivá substituted Tang Ye off, and the team's possession rate skyrocketed.

Eibar had no more chances!

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Tang Ye provides an assist, Sansone contributes a goal and an assist; Yellow Submarine defeats Eibar 3:2 away, securing their 8th victory and temporarily ranking second in the standings.

Not all matches in the 10th round of La Liga had concluded yet, but with Yellow Submarine's undefeated record of 8 wins and 2 draws, their ranking in the standings would certainly not drop out of the top four.

Calculating the timing, the official rankings for the Golden Boy Award should be released in a few days; currently, the entire Check Dongqiu Di app was filled with news about the Golden Boy Award candidate list.

Chinese fans, with nothing better to do, took each of the other 39 players on the candidate list and compared them one by one with Tang Ye, hoping to determine the probability of Tang Ye winning the Golden Boy Award.

Now, whenever one opened Check Dongqiu Di, the first thing that met the eyes was...

Tang Ye vs. Rashford: Tang Tang Qiuwang surpasses Rashford comprehensively across 87 indicators, yet surprisingly falls short in one aspect! (Comments: 1821)

Tang Ye vs. Dembélé: Whose esports skills are superior? (Comments: 1582)

Tang Ye vs. Rúben Neves: Both are midfielders, so why is Neves far inferior to Tang Ye? (Comments: 1021)

The fact was, Tang Ye had a massive fan base; as long as you praised Tang Ye profusely, you were bound to gain traffic, and over time, the number of people praising him increased.

But at 11:00 PM Beijing Time on November 1st, a suddenly appearing news item completely overshadowed all articles comparing candidates for the Golden Boy Award.

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post, reposting the front-page headline from the Utrecht Daily: The Provincial Court of Utrecht carefully adjudicated the case regarding former Utrecht Club head coach Erik ten Hag illegally imposing extra training on underage players.

What the hell!

It's here!

It's finally here!

Hurry and click in to take a look!

【According to reporters, during Ten Hag's extra training sessions, the trained player Tang Ye was initially 16 years old; after March 2nd, the trained player had passed his 17th birthday and was still one year away from his 18th birthday, meaning that regardless of the timeframe, the trained player remained a minor.】

【Objectively speaking, Ten Hag made an underage non-professional player engage in irregular work over 80 times. The first instance resulted in a sentenced fixed-term imprisonment of 3 years and 2 months.】

There's... fixed-term imprisonment?

The fans reading the news widened their eyes.

No, wait?

Ten Hag, you...

Although they had long realized Ten Hag might get into trouble once the matter of extra training was exposed.

They never expected him to get into such huge trouble!

Is he... is he really finished!?

Is Manchester United about to step into hell?

Can the Manchester Red Devils never again hold their heads high?

These were the questions on every fan's mind.

Ten Hag won the championship with a loan; is he really going to pay the debt now?

A prison sentence of three years and two months, all for an Eredivisie championship.

Is this, is this worth it?

Continue reading below.

【Ten Hag's acting lawyer has already appealed the verdict, and the legal team is optimistic about overturning the ruling. According to sources, the court will re-evaluate the nature of the case, and Ten Hag may avoid criminal punishment.】

Utrecht RTV: Imposing criminal punishment on Ten Hag is extremely unreasonable; even if laws were broken, this should not be a criminal case. The Utrecht Court has currently received complaints from hundreds of Utrecht fans, and some Utrecht fans have even staged a protest.

"Do not treat our hero this way" is the theme of the Utrecht fans' protest.

Amsterdam Evening News front-page headline: PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord clubs have spoken out, believing that "a prison sentence of three years and two months is too little; the suffering Tom endured during extra training deserves a harsher punishment for Ten Hag."

Amsterdam Evening News front-page secondary headline: Considering the inhuman suffering Tom endured during extra training, the Feyenoord Fan Association voluntarily raised 2,261.7 euros within 16 hours; this sum will be given to Tom himself through the Utrecht club. "We deeply sympathize with Tom," a Feyenoord fan stated when interviewed by reporters.

Marca front-page secondary headline: Huang Huang Qian's rising star Tang has followed the Amsterdam Evening News on his Instagram account; he appears to be following developments in the Ten Hag incident.

(End of Chapter)