Chapter 15: Ten Hag's Admonition

"Mmm..."

Ten Hag looked somewhat awkward; although Tang Ye had offered to show him real training videos, he waved his hand and declined.

"Tang, come here, listen to me!"

Ten Hag looked into Tang Ye's eyes: "You are only 16 now, an age for striving; you have significant flaws, from ball skills to physical technique, and you need to spend time training."

"Nighttime is an excellent period; you can utilize it to improve your ball feel or train your ability in duels."

Halfway through his words, Ten Hag suddenly realized something was amiss, so he added: "Um, not that kind of duel, but that kind of duel—do you know which kind of duel I mean?"

"I know, I know."

Tang Ye hurriedly replied.

"Mmm, you must remember, 16 is the most critical time determining a player's future; if you don't work hard now, what will you do later?"

"Drift around Europe until you're 20, then return home, play a few more years back home, and retire in your thirties in the Chinese league?"

"Would you be content with that?"

"Tang, you need to start working hard!"

As Tang Ye's coach, Ten Hag bore the responsibility of urging Tang Ye to train harder.

But Tang Ye was, after all, no super genius; Ten Hag could not truly pin the hopes of the team's revival on him.

After a brief chat, Ten Hag left the dormitory.

Time arrived at August 29, the fourth round of the Eredivisie, the match between Utrecht and Groningen.

"OK, brothers, I found this footage half an hour early today; the video quality should be decent, right?"

"The match is about to begin!"

"Streamer, what's the direction for today..."

"Didn't you see Tang Tang Qiuwang on the roster? There's only one direction today, and that's a sole win for Utrecht!"

【Not bad, thanks for Tang Tang Qiuwang's gift; I added three hours yesterday, and my feet are starting to peel.】

【The guy above is showing off, but are you sure it's your feet peeling?】

【Tang Ye is something else; his tackle in the last match directly earned Ten Hag's trust!】

【Heard there's an overseas player who's incredibly awesome; I spent two hours searching for a live stream source just to come watch!】

【Asking without pretending to know, just how awesome is this Tang Ye you guys are hyping?】

【Let's put it this way: with other players, you spend money on them, but Tang Tang Qiuwang is different—Tang Tang Qiuwang can make money for you!】

Tang Ye and Amrabat sat together on the substitutes' bench, and the match soon kicked off.

Speaking of which, Utrecht's luck really wasn't great; today's opponent was Groningen, also one of the powerhouse teams of this season.

Four consecutive matches, all against strong teams!

The camera cut to Ten Hag; the Dutch head coach wore a serious expression.

Since taking charge of Utrecht, Ten Hag's tense mood had never relaxed!

"Utrecht!"

Bang bang!

"Utrecht!"

Bang bang!

Utrecht's home stadium had over 20,000 seats, and today's attendance was around 15,000.

Although their early-season results were poor, this did not hinder the fans from supporting the team.

The match reached the 20th minute!

Ramselaar's mistake in the attacking third was seized upon by Droste!

Moving forward, he found an opening and passed the ball to Lin Sen on the left wing!

Lin Sen passed again!

Delivering it to the striker Delyou!

Groningen's attack flowed very smoothly, putting pressure on Utrecht's defensive line.

"Van der Mareel, move up, block Delyou's position!"

"Very good, Groningen's fast break didn't materialize, and Utrecht's defense is already retreating!"

"Delyou passes to Antonia!"

"Antonia!"

"Long-range shot!"

"Phew, that was close!"

The Bean Warriors in the live stream let out a long sigh; having followed the streamer's advice today, most of them had bet on Utrecht.

If Utrecht fell behind, the Bean Warriors would feel terrible!

"These Utrecht defenders are truly f*cking trash, damn it!"

Wang Chao switched into troll mode; the match had been underway for over ten minutes.

In those short ten-plus minutes, Utrecht's goal had been threatened repeatedly.

One could only say it was no wonder Utrecht's results had been poor in recent years.

The players on the field were completely sleepwalking!

The director's camera cut to Tang Ye on the substitutes' bench, and Wang Chao's eyes suddenly flashed with light.

"To be honest, this Ayoub isn't even as good as Tang Ye; why not let Tang Ye play?"

"Ten Hag, listen to the fans' suggestions!"

"Tang Ye, get on!"

The Bean Warriors are a very pure group of people; the suggestions they make are absolutely objective and fair.

Erik ten Hag, don't you understand yet?

At a time like this, you should substitute me, Mengge, in!

As the match reached the 35th minute, the broadcasters displayed the statistics for both teams.

Playing away, Groningen had achieved a possession rate of 62%!

This match was crying out for a possession-oriented midfielder!

Ten Hag turned around, pointed at several midfield and forward players to go warm up, and finally arrived in front of Tang Ye.

"Do you think you can handle it?"

"Uh..."

Tang Ye glanced at the situation on the field, then gave an ambiguous reply: "I should be able to, right?"

"Then you go warm up too!"

【64】 With over 30 minutes played and the score still 0:0, fans who had bet on goals were already silently shedding tears.

More than 30 minutes had passed, and the score was still 0:0; the fans who had bet on the number of goals were already silently shedding tears.

Good news: Utrecht's number 99 is warming up!

The match entered the second half!

Playing at home, Utrecht had slightly regained some footing, but the situation remained grim.

In a 5-3-2 formation with five midfield and forward players, only Haller's performance met the standards of the Eredivisie.

"What kind of pass was that?"

As the ball flew past right in front of him, Haller turned around and unleashed a torrent of abuse at Ayoub, who had made the pass.

Actually, Haller's temper was relatively good, but Ayoub had hardly made a single normal pass throughout this match.

Through balls being intercepted by the opponent was understandable.

But what did it mean to kick a long pass directly out of bounds?

"My fault, my fault."

Scolded by the team's leader like that, Ayoub raised his hand in apology, looking embarrassed.

It wasn't that he intentionally misdirected the pass; the main issue was that poor form is truly difficult to manage, especially since Haller himself was particularly demanding of the midfield.

Ayoub simply had no other choice!

He couldn't possibly make a single pass that pierced through the opponent's entire defensive line, could he?

As the match reached the 77th minute, the full-time score remained 0:0.

The Groningen coaching staff had a brief discussion on the bench, preparing to push their defensive line forward in the remaining time.

Anyone with eyes could see that apart from Ramselaar, none of Utrecht's midfielders posed any real threat.

In that case, they might as well push the defensive line forward directly.

Can't score?

Let the defenders support the forwards; surely they can score now, right?

Seeing the opponents gradually pressing into their own half, Ten Hag realized that Groningen was making a final desperate push.

The Dutch coach had no tactics prepared for the final moments; the only thing he could do was adjust the players on the field.

In the 79th minute of the match, Amrabat and Tang Ye entered the game simultaneously!

(End of Chapter)