Chapter 163: Is This Really Necessary, Bro?

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Villarreal leads by two goals; Soriano substitutes for Bruno.

【Go Yellow Submarine!】

【Athletic Bilbao is probably going to win, but it doesn't matter; if the Yellow Submarine wins too, they can secure third place.】

【GGBond!】

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

The fans' cheers were loud, which made Rodri on the pitch feel very comfortable.

According to the Spanish defensive midfielder's own deduction, as long as he could execute his tasks on the pitch well, securing his starting position should not be a major problem.

Tang Ye is the Little Goat, the offensive core of the Yellow Submarine.

Rodri followed closely behind the Little Goat; by any account, he could be considered half an offensive core, right?

77th minute!

Near the center circle, Camarasa broke through Tang Ye's tight marking with a combination play with Gomez; just as Camarasa prepared to send a through ball to the front field, Rodri suddenly charged up, violently tackling Camarasa aside and kicking the ball away.

Great job, Sergio!

Tang Ye felt a surge of joy in his heart and immediately turned to control the ball.

Controlling the ball with his right foot!

Passing it to his left foot!

Holy crap!

Every time Tang Ye passed the ball between his left and right feet, he felt as though he was about to trip over himself.

Adjust quickly!

Okay, didn't fall!

"What's happening? Did Tang Ye seem to trip on the grass?"

"This has nothing to do with Tang Ye; I saw the pitch being watered a second time during halftime, so the field should be somewhat slippery in the second half."

Noticing that some fans in the live stream were about to criticize Tang Ye, the two CCTV commentators immediately jumped out to give Tang Tang Qiuwang a thorough scrubbing.

Nearly falling down without any contact; this certainly isn't a problem with my Tang Tang Qiuwang.

My Tang Tang Qiuwang would never have problems.

Look!

He has already adjusted now!

"Tang Ye is looking for a passing opportunity!"

Slap!

A through ball sent to the bottom of the left flank, followed immediately by a forward run!

He is going to join the attack!

"Charge, charge, charge!"

"Dribble past him directly, dribble past him!"

"Pass!"

The fans in the stands were noisy; Pato carried the ball forward along the bottom of the left flank.

Llorente was extremely cautious, which left Pato unable to find any suitable opportunity.

"Here!"

Aleix extended his hand to Pato, who decisively passed the ball out.

With a "slap," Aleix controlled the ball.

Unfortunately, the Alavés defenders had specifically set up defense against Aleix; the Ivorian striker of the Yellow Submarine was immediately marked tightly by Pantic and Feddal the moment he received the ball.

No choice but to pass back!

Just as Aleix was preparing to pass back, Tang Ye's voice came through.

"To me!"

?

Although he didn't know why Tang Ye appeared in this position, Aleix decisively passed the ball out.

Now it is Tang Ye controlling the ball!

Using his right foot to push the ball toward the center!

Cutting inside!

"Woww!!"

【Tang~~ Ye, impersonating↑ a winger~】

While running, one must memorize the positions of the defending players and the goalkeeper inside the penalty area.

Okay, that's about right!

Slap!

【De Bruyne Far-Corner Curled Shot Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 31/400

Tang Ye curled a shot toward the far corner!

!!!

Pacheco pushed off with his right leg and leaped out fiercely.

Pacheco's arm was already stretched out very far, yet Tang Ye's curled shot slipped past the tip of Pacheco's fingers and into the net.

【You have obtained Counterattack Points *15】

【Goal from close range! You have gained an extra Counterattack Point *15】

Damn, it really went in!

Never expecting to score before the end of the second half, Tang Ye took a deep breath, then, at Soriano's reminder, hurriedly ran toward the stands.

"Woww!!"

Tang Ye adjusted his breathing as he ran.

Get ready, here I come!

"VAMOS!!!"

With this single roar, Tang Ye immediately felt the emotions pent up in his heart were perfectly released.

No wonder Sebastian and Bruno both loved shouting loudly after scoring!

This really feels great!

"He scored again!"

"Tang Ye found an excellent shooting opportunity after pushing forward, and he seized that chance."

"We can see that although Tang Ye is a midfielder, he loves running to advanced positions during matches to participate in attacks."

"Many fans say this behavior of Tang Ye shows a lack of discipline, but unless something unexpected happens, this must be the arrangement of head coach Escrivá."

"Tang Ye is temporarily acting as a striker in the front field; this is precisely the manifestation of his excellent discipline!"

During matches, Tang Ye often makes some strangely unusual runs, even impersonating a striker.

Yet he manages to score.

And violating discipline does not lead to goals.

What does this indicate? It indicates that Tang Ye impersonating a striker is actually instructed by Escrivá; this is part of Escrivá's tactics.

That goal just now was the reward for Tang Ye following discipline!

"We all live in a yellow submarine~ (We all live in that yellow submarine)"

"Yellow submarine, yellow submarine~ (In the yellow submarine)"

After taking a three-goal lead, the Yellow Submarine's team anthem rang out through the Madrigal Stadium.

Head coach Escrivá sat in his chair, thinking; this was something he had been keeping up recently.

"Saint Escrivá!"

Suddenly, a fan in the stands behind the substitute bench shouted loudly; Escrivá turned to look, and immediately more people began shouting his name.

"Saint Escrivá!"

"Saint Escrivá!"

Leading by three goals, and against the formidable Alavés no less.

The Yellow Submarine fans were now very happy.

And as the team's head coach, Escrivá naturally deserved the praise of the fans!

Escrivá wore a smile, raising his right hand to acknowledge the fans in the stands.

"Wow!!!"

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Tang Ye with 2 shots and 1 assist, Villarreal defeats Alavés 3-0 at home, maintaining third place in the league standings.

Marca Front Page Headline: In the three league matches of November, Tom accumulated a total of 3 goals and 4 assists, which means he might be nominated for the La Liga Player of the Month for November.

Villarreal News Front Page Secondary Headline: The Yellow Submarine will face Atlético Madrid directly on December 12, and the Spanish Clásico (Real Madrid vs. Barcelona) match is also in December; if the Yellow Submarine can defeat Atlético at home, they will have a chance to challenge for second place in the league standings.

A derby refers to a match between the two strongest teams in a country or region.

Naturally, the Spanish Clásico is the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Currently, Real Madrid and Barcelona occupy the first and second positions in the La Liga standings respectively, with very little difference in points between them.

Of course, this is only secondary.

Most importantly, the point gap between Real Madrid, Barcelona, and the Yellow Submarine is not large; if any one of them loses a match, the Yellow Submarine can completely surge forward relying on the points gained from consecutive wins.

Just thinking about being able to firmly step on either Real Madrid or Barcelona gives the Yellow Submarine fans an indescribable sense of excitement.

However, December will be a very difficult month for the Yellow Submarine, this is because their Copa del Rey schedule has officially begun.

The Yellow Submarine's opponent in the Copa del Rey Round of 32 is Toledo, a team from the Segunda División B.

Considering the opponent's lack of strength, head coach Escrivá made a decision: to field a half-substitute lineup against Toledo in the first leg.

This way, the main players' stamina will be guaranteed when they play Leganés in the La Liga match on the 3rd.

"So I need to finalize the starting lineup for the league match on the 3rd first, and then decide on the Copa del Rey match on the 1st."

In the office, Escrivá shared his thoughts with Martí.

The Spanish head coach took out the notebook he kept in his drawer and began writing on it.

Goalkeeper: Asenjo

Defenders: González, Musacchio, Ruiz, Cote

Midfielders: Tang...

"..."

For some reason, when thinking about midfielders, the first name Escrivá wrote down was Tang Ye's.

Martí lifted his head, looking into Escrivá's eyes: "So is Tom truly a core player now? But, Ferran, you know, we can only have him for one season; once next June arrives, he will leave Villarreal."

"Core? No, no, no!"

Escrivá waved his hands repeatedly: "I know Tom is a loan player, so I can guarantee he will not be our core!"

"Then why did you write his name first?"

"..."

Escrivá took a deep breath: "I'm just afraid I might forget him."

"Alright."

Martí shrugged: "What I mean is, if you're certain you won't use Tom as the core, then you should remove him from the tactics as soon as possible; otherwise, we'll be in for a rough time."

"I, I know..."

Escrivá nodded slowly; as a head coach of a La Liga team, he certainly understood such a simple principle.

Seeing Escrivá so hesitant, Martí immediately realized something was amiss.

"So Ferran, you're actually still using Tom as the core. Good heavens, you've been poisoned too!"

"No, no, Tom is not the core."

"Then why do you let him play as the core player in every single match?"

"I don't."

Escrivá shook his head quickly.

"I'm just putting him on the pitch; don't get so worked up!"

Indeed!

The distinction between a starting player and a core player is still quite significant.

Escrivá was merely making Tang Ye a starter, not making him the core; there was an essential difference between the two.

Martí breathed a sigh of relief, bid farewell to Escrivá, and left the office.

Escrivá sat in his chair and exhaled a long breath.

Suddenly recalling that the team's schedule this season was very congested, Escrivá decided to roughly arrange the starting lineups for the next six matches first, ensuring all players would have time to rest.

The first match: the Copa del Rey Round of 32 against Toledo.

The opponent is a team from the Segunda División B; very weak!

Hmm, since I said I'd let the players rest, then Tom will rest in this match!

Then the second match...

VS Leganés, Starting Player: Tang.

VS Zürich, Starting Player: Tang.

VS Atlético Madrid, Starting Player: Tang.

VS Sporting Gijón, Starting Player: Tang.

The final match is against Toledo again; should I let Tang Ye rest?

He's already started four matches, so let him start continuously.

VS Toledo (Second Leg), Starting Player: Tang.

Looking at the Spanish text filling his notebook, Escrivá always felt something was not quite right.

Thinking carefully...

Got it!

Escrivá picked up his pen and added a note after Tang Ye's name.

Starting Player: Tang (Non-Core)

Escrivá had always been a head coach who kept his word, and he placed great emphasis on team discipline.

If I said you are not the core, then you cannot be the core!

"Here it comes!"

Tang Ye hurriedly rushed to the right-wing byline.

Finding the right moment!

Slap!

【De Bruyne Underline Cross Lv2: Similar】

Proficiency: 155/200

Pato charged up from the left wing, flicked a header, and directly scored a goal.

"Vamos! Haha!"

Pato and Rodrigo high-fived to celebrate, while Tang Ye, who had just completed the underline cross, fell into deep thought.

Unknowingly, he was about to have another skill upgrade!

After 【Far Corner Curling Shot】, 【45-Degree Cross】, and 【Curved Through Ball】 successively reached Lv4, upgrading Tang Ye's skills had become increasingly difficult.

Fortunately, he still had 【Underline Cross】, which hadn't even reached Lv3 yet; currently, this skill was not far from upgrading!

Tang Ye walked across the grass while thinking.

The match against Atlético Madrid is on December 12th.

Currently, 【Underline Cross】 still needs nearly 50 proficiency points to upgrade.

Doing a quick calculation, if he forced an upgrade by practicing underline crosses for 2-3 hours every day, combined with Pogba's assistance, there was actually a fairly good chance of gaining those 50 proficiency points before the match against Atlético Madrid began.

However, asking Tang Ye to do extra training on his own was out of the question; it all depended on how Escrivá arranged the training sessions over the next few days!

"Beep!"

Martí blew his whistle to stop the players' training; Tang Ye kicked the ball beside him away and then ran toward where Escrivá was standing.

"Mr. Ferran!"

Tang Ye greeted Escrivá very politely; Escrivá stepped forward and high-fived Tang Ye: "Today's training was done very well; keep it up."

"I've always been working hard."

This was a phrase Tang Ye often said.

Because of the system's existence, Tang Ye could see his improvements with exceptional clarity.

Last season, while playing for Utrecht II, Tang Ye's overall rating hadn't even reached 60.

Now it was approaching 80!

This increase of over twenty points was the most objective testament to Tang Ye's hard work; unfortunately, no one else knew about it.

He had always been contributing silently!

"Tom!"

Pato and Ale came over one after another to high-five Tang Ye; once everyone had gathered, Escrivá began announcing the starting lineup for the next match.

The players fell silent and listened quietly.

"Goalkeeper, Barbosa."

Huh?

Tang Ye froze for a moment.

Shouldn't it have been Asenjo?

Although doubts churned in his heart, Tang Ye did not speak up.

Next came the defenders.

Villarreal's starting center-backs, Ruiz and Musacchio, were both omitted from the starting lineup, giving Tang Ye an ominous feeling.

Soon, the very thing Tang Ye feared came to pass.

He had not been selected for the starting lineup in the team's next Copa del Rey match!

"Mr. Ferran, am I not playing?"

Tang Ye pointed at his own nose and asked in a low voice.

Escrivá looked at Tang Ye: "You are on the matchday squad; you might play in the second half, or you might not."

"This..."

Tang Ye rubbed the fingernails of his left hand with his right, hesitated for a moment, then finally summoned the courage to say: "Can't I be in the starting lineup?"

"Haha!"

Bruno, standing nearby, patted Tang Ye on the shoulder; discovering that the team's young golden boy had no concept of rotation, Bruno couldn't help but laugh: "Tom, Toledo isn't strong; they're just a third-division team. Our focus is on the match against Leganés on the 3rd; that match is the crucial one."

Tang Ye hung his head.

This was the first time in over two months that he had been a substitute, and he inevitably felt somewhat disheartened.

Escrivá was slightly surprised by Tang Ye's reaction, so he immediately added: "It's fine; rest for one match, and you'll be starting again in the next game against Leganés."

Hearing Escrivá say this, Tang Ye's expression improved slightly; Escrivá continued to announce the list of starting forwards.

Neither Pato nor Ale, the two main strikers, had been selected, which made Tang Ye breathe a sigh of relief.

Sitting on the bench right from the start of a match was not a happy experience, but if many good friends were sitting beside him, Tang Ye felt this was actually acceptable.

After the starting lineup and the full matchday squad were completely announced, Escrivá dismissed the players but kept Tang Ye behind alone.

Escrivá and Martí flanked Tang Ye between them, and the three of them walked slowly together across the grass of the training ground.

"Mr. Ferran, is something wrong?"

Tang Ye did not know why Escrivá had kept him behind.

"Uh, I didn't spin around even once during training today."

Tang Ye reminded him.

In truth, he had spun around a few times, but before doing so, he had specifically checked Escrivá's position.

Escrivá was unaware that he had performed any stationary spins.

As long as Mr. Ferran hadn't seen it, then it hadn't happened!

"..."

Martí stifled a laugh on the side while Escrivá's mouth twitched: "I know, I know you didn't spin; you don't need to emphasize it so particularly; I just wanted to chat with you about the starting lineup."

Escrivá could see that Tang Ye was somewhat upset about not being selected for the starting lineup.

This was a problem many young players encountered.

They did not understand that appropriate rotation, or being substituted off before a match ended, could be beneficial for them.

Explaining the reasoning behind this to players was the job of youth academy coaches; theoretically, it had nothing to do with Escrivá.

But today, this matter did concern Escrivá.

Because Villarreal's first team had welcomed their first underage player in history.

"Actually, Tom, think about it carefully; the Copa del Rey Round of 32 is just a small match; does a small match require you to start? No, right?"

"You are the core, the team's core; small matches do not require your appearance!"

?

Martí, who had been gazing at the distant scenery, suddenly whipped his head around to look at Escrivá.

Oh, no.

This must just be Ferran's tactic to comfort Tang Ye.

But...

Why was your tone so firm when you were lying?

"Tom, haha, just thinking about Tom makes me laugh; right now Ferran and Martí must be comforting him!"

In the locker room, Bacca was changing clothes; soon they would head to the physiotherapy room for massages.

"Ferran really does need to comfort him; not starting a single match, he might feel he's being ignored,"

Pato said, taking off his cleats and switching into slippers.

"By the way, Alexander."

Bakambu suddenly remembered something; after changing his clothes, he sat down beside Pato: "Have you noticed that Tom has passed you the ball a lot recently?"

"Really?"

Pato spread his hands: "Is it because I scored a goal in the last match that you're under that illusion?"

"That's true too."

Bakambu nodded.

That was indeed the case; because Pato had scored in the last match, it seemed like he had more shooting opportunities, but in reality, the difference was probably not that great.

"Alexander, did you bring any chewing gum?"

"It's in my backpack; Tom gave me a lot earlier."

Pato pointed to the backpack on the ground, and Bakambu walked over.

Rrip!

Originally, there was a smile on Bakambu's face, but after unzipping Pato's backpack, the smile on the Brazilian's face vanished.

"Al-Al-Alexander, aren't we good brothers?"

"Of course we are; what's wrong?"

Pato looked at Bakambu before him with a face full of confusion, only to see the latter reach his hand into the backpack and pull out a blue book with the word "Mathematics" written on it in Spanish.

Bakambu looked into Pato's eyes.

"There's no need for this, brother."

(End of Chapter)