Chapter 164: Escrivá's Second Awakening: Actually, There Was Nothing Wrong with His Command!

Dongqiu Di Match Report: Villarreal defeated Toledo 2-0 away; Tang Ye was an unused substitute.

【Damn it, I watched 80 minutes of a pirated stream, only for Escrivá to never let Tang Ye warm up; I got completely hooked, damn it!】

【Same here, though I left at halftime when I saw Tang Ye hadn't even warmed up.】

【Great, I just wasted two hours, and I stayed up late specifically for this.】

Chinese fans are furious right now.

Escrivá attracted Chinese fans to watch the Copa del Rey live by including Tang Ye in the squad list, only for Tang Ye to end up playing zero minutes!

That damned Escrivá; if you weren't going to let our King Tang play, why not just remove him from the squad list altogether?

We traveled all this way by train and bus to the away ground, only to watch him freeze the bench.

Is this how you use our King Tang?

Soon, fans on Dongqiu Di provided an analysis.

Facing a weak team from the Segunda División B, Escrivá didn't need to put Tang Ye on the field to win the match.

But he needed Tang Ye's momentum!

Villarreal fans sometimes lack confidence; in those moments, they need Tang Ye sitting on the bench.

Just imagine: a King sitting on your own team's bench, legs crossed, chewing gum.

Not to mention how confident our own fans would feel; the opposing fans would already be half scared to death!

Dongqiu Di Match Preview: December 3rd, La Liga Round 14, Villarreal away against Leganés.

Official La Liga: Candidates for La Liga Player of the Month for November (listed in no particular order).

1. Suárez (Barcelona)

2. Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao)

3. Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)

4. Messi (Barcelona)

5. Tang Ye (Villarreal)

There are five candidates in total, from which one will be selected as La Liga's Player of the Month for November.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi have once again had the honor of appearing on the same list as Tang Ye, which fully demonstrates the terrifying strength of the Portuguese and the Argentine.

Besides the Player of the Month, Villarreal manager Escrivá has also been included in the list of candidates for Coach of the Month for November; he needs to compete against Simeone to determine the final winner.

With both Tang Ye and his head coach selected as monthly candidates, these two news items left fans somewhat dazed.

It felt somewhat... like a return to the Eredivisie?

Unfortunately, there is still a huge gap between the Eredivisie and La Liga; whether for Tang Ye or Escrivá, winning this monthly award will not be an easy task!

After returning to the training base from Toledo, the Villarreal players began preparing for the next match against Leganés.

Although he froze the bench in the last match, Tang Ye has been in a very good mood these past few days.

The reason is that, for some unknown reason, Bakambu voluntarily offered to do his homework for him.

When Bakambu proposed this idea, Tang Ye was actually a bit stunned, but of course, he wouldn't refuse.

With heavy training duties and gaming sessions with Dembélé at night, Tang Ye's schedule is usually packed.

If someone could handle his school homework for him, that would be perfect!

Tomorrow afternoon is the La Liga Round 14 match; tonight, Escrivá remained in his office at the training base, refusing to leave.

On the laptop at his desk, match footage of Utrecht from last season was playing.

He was burning the midnight oil!

Escrivá had benefited greatly from Ten Hag, starting with post-match interviews.

Glancing at the "Ten Hag Interview Three Steps" on his notepad, Escrivá broke into a smile.

Previously, when he faced difficult questions from reporters at press conferences, it was the techniques learned from Ten Hag that helped him escape the predicament.

Of course, achieving sainthood has always been a difficult task; merely learning post-match interviews was certainly not enough for Escrivá.

Today, he would seek an antidote from Ten Hag to solve a problem that had troubled him for a long time.

That problem was how to conduct in-game command!

After Tang Ye joined the team, Escrivá unconsciously moved from the sidelines back to the bench.

Tang Ye had not only secured the position of the team's offensive core but was even stripping Escrivá of his command authority; Escrivá had to fight back!

Snap!

He pressed the spacebar to start playing the video.

These videos had been specially translated for Escrivá by a Dutch teacher, converting Ten Hag's Dutch into Spanish to facilitate Escrivá's study.

【Bas, go, go! Beautiful!】

【Run, Tom, run!】

【Haller, pull to the left, that's it, move forward a bit!】

【We can push forward now, Frenkie, we can push forward now!】

Ten Hag shouted nearly hundreds of phrases during a single match, and Escrivá had studied every single one of them.

Staring at the screen filled with densely packed translated Dutch, he squinted his eyes in thought...

Damn!

Suddenly, Escrivá's eyes lit up.

Of the 11 players on Utrecht's field, Ten Hag basically called out to every single one of them.

It seemed like equal treatment for all, but in reality, there were distinctions between them.

Ten Hag would have De Jong push forward and have Allé press high.

But!

He had never once interfered with Tang Ye's positioning, not a single time!

Throughout the entire match, he shouted "Tom" thirty times, yet those thirty instances were all exactly the same words.

"Tom, run! Run faster!"

Just that sentence!

And then...

Then nothing else!

Nothing more!

Apart from telling Tang Ye to run, Ten Hag had never asked Tang Ye to do anything else!

He had not interfered with Tang Ye's decisions!

So in truth, it was not that he himself had to sit on the substitute bench and remain silent.

What Escrivá had discovered before was the pattern.

But now he had unearthed the principle!

"Oh Jesus! (God)"

Escrivá clasped both hands behind his head, his expression indescribably shocked.

Finally, the feeling had arrived!

This was exactly the feeling!

He was about to walk upon the correct path!

On the day of the match against Leganés, the yellow bus carrying the Yellow Submarine players and coaches slowly rolled into Butarque Stadium.

Although at least four hours remained before kickoff, quite a few home fans had already gathered outside the stadium.

"Villarreal!"

"Xuuu—!!!!"

"Villarreal!"

"Xuuu—!!!!"

The Leganés fans were extremely pretentious, surrounding the bus and hurling a barrage of mockery at the Yellow Submarine.

The players hid inside the bus, trembling!

"Damn!"

Tang Ye slapped the back of the seat in front of him: "They are too arrogant!"

"Leganés just got thrashed 5-0 by Sevilla; the fans are furious right now,"

Rodri explained.

Tang Ye was furious and reached for the curtain, but Rodri quickly grabbed his hand: "Tom, this is an away match; I don't recommend you do that."

"It's fine; I won't curse at them; I just want to see how many people are out there."

Having said that, Tang Ye gently pulled open a corner of the curtain, squinting to look outside.

In truth, the number of fans present was smaller than Tang Ye had imagined; they simply held megaphones, which made their momentum sound impressive.

Although the bus was still some distance from the stadium, Tang Ye could already see Leganés' home ground very clearly from inside the vehicle.

"Their stadium is so small!"

Just as Tang Ye had said, Leganés' home ground, Butarque Stadium, belonged to the smallest tier of stadiums across Europe's top-flight leagues.

It had only eleven thousand seats in total!

This seating capacity meant that once the stadium required further partial renovation, the number of attending fans would drop below ten thousand.

"This is good news for us,"

Bruno, sitting in front, suddenly spoke up.

Just then, the fans outside seemed to spot Tang Ye and quickly ran toward the bus.

"Holy crap!"

Tang Ye was startled and hurriedly drew the curtain shut.

Rodri raised an eyebrow: "They seem really angry, but this shouldn't concern us; Sevilla scored five goals against them, not us."

"But right now they need somewhere to vent their anger,"

Bruno said, then turning to look at Tang Ye sitting behind him, he added with a grin: "Tom, are you scared right now? If you're afraid, I can let you sit beside me."

As he spoke, Bruno made a move as if to push Ruiz away.

"No need."

Tang Ye displayed the fist of his right hand: "I will teach them a lesson during the match!"

"China Media Group! Here is the live broadcast for you..." "The referee is checking his watch!"

"Alright, the match has begun! Now I will introduce the starting lineups for both teams, starting with the home team, Leganés!"

Leganés (5-4-1)

Goalkeeper: Erelin

Defenders: Bustinza, Mantovani, Insúa, Timor, Díaz

Midfielders: Ramos, Martín, Pires, Machís

Forward: Neves

Head Coach: Garitano

Villarreal (4-2-3-1)

"..."

【5-4-1, what kind of formation is the opponent using? Are they just playing defense?】

【There's a Ball King in the opponent's starting lineup; if it were you, wouldn't you be afraid? I know I would be.】

【I don't watch La Liga much, but Leganés's home stadium is truly tiny.】

【A small stadium makes the players look fast; once this match is over, no one should criticize my Ball King Tang for being slow anymore.】

【Then what about controlling the ball on the spot for seven-plus seconds?】

【Does the person above dare to private message me your address?】

!

The match had just begun when Leganés, leveraging their home-field advantage, quickly launched an attack against the Yellow Submarine.

This attack came from Leganés's right flank; Omar Ramos, after gaining possession, sprinted forward at tremendous speed.

Sansone in the forward line hurriedly ran back to defend!

Meanwhile, Rodri was also shifting toward the left!

Of course, Tang Ye was there too, but since he was slower to track back, he hadn't yet entered the camera frame.

Ramos was quite fierce, charging forward with the ball and breaking through the Yellow Submarine's midfield defensive line before Rodri could get into position.

Hmm!

This scene made Escrivá somewhat nervous.

Leganés's tactics were clearly pre-planned; against a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Yellow Submarine's midfield defensive line was relatively narrow.

Simply put, both Rodri and Bruno were positioned quite close to the central corridor.

Shifting defense from the center to the flank takes time, and Ramos exploited precisely that window to break through the Yellow Submarine's defensive line.

Reaching the byline!

To prevent Ramos from delivering a dangerous cross directly, Costa immediately pressed up against him.

Ramos dribbled with the outside of his foot, moving diagonally toward the penalty area!

Costa slowly retreated!

Slap!

Realizing he couldn't break through Costa's defense, Ramos immediately delivered a cross.

"Haha."

Escrivá on the substitutes' bench burst out laughing.

Crossing directly from this position—do you think you're Tang Ye?

Just as Escrivá expected, the quality of Ramos's cross was abysmal; the ball didn't rise high enough into the penalty area and was headed clear by Ruiz, who had rushed up.

Possession went to Rodri!

"To me!"

Bruno immediately called for the ball from Rodri, who instantly turned and played a through pass to Bruno!

Bruno controlled the ball!

A counterattack opportunity for the Yellow Submarine!

Tang Ye, who had just run back, originally intended to move to the left flank, but since Rodri passed directly to Bruno, he now considered shifting to the right flank instead.

After a moment of hesitation, Tang Ye spun around on the spot and then ran toward the right flank.

"This, this..."

Escrivá took a deep breath.

He didn't quite understand Tang Ye's action, but with the Yellow Submarine's counterattack being so urgent, he had no time to dwell on it.

Tang Ye actively ran toward the right flank, but before he could reach it, Bruno had already delivered his pass.

Slap!

Tang Ye turned to receive the ball; Machís reacted quickly and immediately pressed up against him.

But Tang Ye wasn't panicked in the least!

He stabilized his center of gravity and bumped his hips against Machís behind him!

He tapped the ball with his left foot and turned!

The "Modrić Back-to-Goal Escape" template proved its worth at this moment.

"Beautiful!"

"Tang Ye relied on his individual ability to shake off Machís's pressure!"

"Tang Ye continues... Tang Ye has fallen!"

In the camera shot, Tang Ye was pulled to the ground by Machís.

The referee decisively blew the whistle for a Leganés foul, awarding the Yellow Submarine a set-piece opportunity in a central-right position.

Escrivá narrowed his eyes slightly.

It seemed Leganés still hadn't recovered from the despair of their previous 0–5 defeat.

Today, not only were the fans anxious, but the players on the field were also making a bunch of inexplicable moves.

Even though it's my Ball King Tang dribbling, there was no need to commit a foul in this position, was there?

"What do you say?"

Bruno pulled Tang Ye up from the ground; the latter hugged the ball, his eyes gazing toward the penalty area.

"This set-piece is somewhat difficult..."

"I'll take it!"

Tang Ye interrupted Bruno.

Giving up just because it's difficult? That's not ggbond's style!

"Alright."

Bruno sighed.

Actually, he really wanted to take this kick, but since Tang Ye insisted on taking it, he had no choice.

Their set-piece skills were nearly identical, though Bruno might be slightly better.

But Tang Ye had more tricks up his sleeve.

That was an advantage Bruno lacked!

Tang Ye and Bruno stood side by side behind the set-piece spot.

Bruno raised his right hand, then began his run-up!

Letting the ball roll past him.

Clearly, he was just a decoy, yet Bruno's feint had already fooled many of Leganés' defenders inside the penalty area.

Now the real deal was here!

Tang Ye!

Smack!

【Ward-Prowse Topspin Free Kick!】

This topspin free kick could be called Tang Ye's signature move.

The height was ordinary, but the threat was genuinely immense!

At the near post, Timor and Musacchio jumped simultaneously!

Okay, neither of them reached the ball!

Moving to the far post!

Ruiz!

A direct header!

The advantage of the topspin free kick became apparent now; after the ball hit Ruiz's head and rebounded, it automatically dipped downward.

This made it much harder to kick straight over the crossbar!

Boom!

A powerful header whipped out!

Slamming the ball onto the ground!

At the near post, Musacchio, who had just landed on the grass, stretched out his right foot.

Facing Ererin's rushing challenge, Musacchio simply nudged the ball gently with the inside of his foot.

"Gggg—ooooo—lllll!!"

"Musacchio's finish in front of the goal, beautiful!"

"Villarreal takes the lead!"

Goalkeeper Ererin sat on the ground with his hands spread wide; Musacchio leaped over his legs and ran toward the left flank, while Ruiz was already waiting outside the penalty area to embrace Musacchio.

Tang Ye, of course, was also running toward Musacchio.

The Yellow Submarine players huddled together near the corner flag, while the stands were filled with jeers from the home fans.

But Tang Ye couldn't hear what the opposing fans were shouting now; he only knew he needed to celebrate with his teammates!

After celebrating for nearly half a minute, Musacchio, surrounded by his teammates, stepped out and let out a furious roar at the stands, startling several fans into silence for a moment.

"Roar..."

Tang Ye opened his mouth; he also wanted to vent his emotions at the fans like Musacchio did, but then he remembered his voice wasn't as deep and powerful as Musacchio's, so he immediately gave up the idea.

His vocal cords still needed a little more time to develop!

In another year or two, Tang Ye should be able to let out fierce roars just like his teammates!

Bruno walked over and patted Tang Ye's arm: "Awesome!"

Just moments ago, Bruno had thought his set-piece skill was on par with Tang Ye's, but now it seemed that was merely the old captain of the Yellow Submarine indulging in wishful thinking.

If there was one word to describe Tang Ye's set pieces, Bruno would choose "considerate."

Tang Ye's set pieces gave Bruno the feeling that he seemed to imagine himself as a striker participating in the attack.

He knew exactly how to make the striker receive the ball most comfortably!

The match continued, and the stadium stands grew increasingly noisy.

Leganés was playing frantically; they were desperate to vent their fury from being down 0:5 onto Villarreal.

Originally, the urgent mindset of the Leganés players could have fueled their fighting spirit, just like Ramos' ball-carrying advance earlier, which had shown great momentum.

But now the situation had changed.

Now trailing, their even more frantic mindset directly affected the players' ability to think clearly.

"Slow down, slow down!"

"Find the rhythm, don't rush, find the rhythm first!"

Head coach Garitano shouted incessantly from the sidelines, making the fans watching the live stream feel very satisfied.

Serves you right for playing so hastily.

Who do you think you are, trying to act cool in front of me, Tang Tang Qiuwang?

The camera panned horizontally, shifting focus to Escrivá on the adjacent substitute bench.

I... what the hell?

The fans watching the live stream widened their eyes.

Escriva...

Standing up?

(End of Chapter)