Chapter 201: Unconditional Support from Yellow Submarine Fans, and Coach Escrivá's Loyalty to Tang Ye!

【Hahahaha!】

【Support! The Copa del Rey final should be played at the Bernabéu!】

【Real Madrid plus Yellow Submarine versus Barça, huh? Fine, I like watching that.】

【Yellow Submarine? Royal Submarine!】

【Real Madrid: We can no longer win the Copa del Rey title, but our brother will stop Barça from claiming the championship; this is our bond.】

According to current reports from journalists, the venue for the Copa del Rey final will be decided in a final contest between Real Madrid's Bernabéu Stadium and Atlético Madrid's Calderón Stadium.

Setting aside their conflict with Barça, both clubs are quite hopeful of prevailing in this venue competition.

The Copa del Rey final between this season's La Liga biggest dark horse and the traditional powerhouse Barça will surely pack any stadium chosen.

Whichever stadium—Real Madrid's or Atlético Madrid's—wins the competition will bring them several million euros in direct revenue, money that is essentially found cash.

Time advances to noon on February 12, and the matches of La Liga Round 22 officially kick off.

"China Central Television! Here is the live broadcast bringing you..."

"And now, the away team, Málaga!"

"Málaga has recorded two wins and one draw in their last three league matches; their current form is quite strong, something Villarreal needs to watch out for."

Málaga (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Kameni

Defenders: Torres-Demichelis, Ruiz-Hernández, Rosales

Midfielders: José Rodríguez, Fornals, Camacho

Forwards: Castro, Charles Dias, Keiko

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

Today, the Ceramic Stadium is as lively as ever.

The team's league performance this season has been excellent, which is the direct reason for the loud cheers from the fans.

This season, the Yellow Submarine is capable of producing something special!

31st minute!

"Eh, beautiful!"

"Dos Santos' handling of the ball was very clever; he successfully extracted it from the opponents' double-team."

"Can Tang Ye come over to support?"

"Tang Ye's position is a bit too far."

Since early January, Escrivá has slightly adjusted the team's original tactics; now Tang Ye's positioning is even more advanced than before.

Since Tang Ye already rarely drops back to support, asking him to retreat further is now impossible.

At this moment, the Yellow Submarine's defensive midfielders and wide midfielders need to step up!

Bakambu and Rodríguez both run over.

After reaching the suitable position, Bakambu suddenly turns, directly shaking off Rodríguez!

Bang!

Dos Santos' through ball skims along the right touchline flying forward, successfully reaching Bakambu ahead.

Okay!

Sensing the opportunity, Tang Ye turns and starts running toward the front field.

Edge of the box, edge of the box...

Pa!

Bakambu's 45-degree cross goes straight into the penalty area!

Tang Ye knows he cannot control this ball, so he immediately checks for Ale.

"Hold on, hold on!"

Ale, alone, pins down two Málaga defenders simultaneously, chests the ball down, and lays it off to Tang Ye at the far edge of the arc.

At this point, what needs to be done is crystal clear.

Tang Ye pushes the ball forward with his right foot, takes one adjusting step, and shoots directly!

"Goal!"

"Beautiful!"

"A shot from a tight angle; although not into an unreachable corner, the goalkeeper's vision was blocked by the defenders just now."

"Kameni did not spot Tang Ye's shooting action in the first instant!"

Dongqiu Di live match report: 33rd minute, Bakambu launches a counterattack with a long pass, Ale assists Tang Ye, who calmly slots home; Yellow Submarine leads Málaga 1-0 at home!

The camera focuses on Tang Ye, who has just slid on his knees and stood up.

Of course, it also captures the three stripes behind Tang Ye—two dark, one light.

The first goal coming after more than 30 minutes might seem ordinary.

But you must know that, so far in this match, Tang Ye alone has already created six attacking opportunities.

The fans have finally realized why Escrivá substituted Tang Ye off early in the previous match against Celta.

He excellently preserved ggbond's stamina.

All so that ggbond could deliver a strong performance in today's league match!

Bullet comments like "Saint Escri," "Saint Escri has ability," and similar phrases continuously float across the live stream.

If Escrivá himself saw these things, he would surely be thrilled to death.

What a pity; Escrivá cannot see these comments, and moreover, he does not understand Chinese.

"Brothers, charge with me! Twitter comment section, bring out your ladders!"

The 44th minute!

"It's gone to Keiko!"

"Hmm, Malaga's short-range combination in the attacking third was executed so quickly; Villarreal's defenders didn't even react!"

"This is a bit dangerous!"

"Can Ruiz intercept it?"

"Keiko has crossed!"

The wide midfielder delivered a cross that was neither high nor low, seemingly offering no chance of a goal.

However, the striker Charles Dias was extremely clever; he directly lifted his knee and headed the ball into the net with it.

The away team has equalized the score!

At halftime, Escrivá was in the locker room, going "snap, snap, snap" as he manipulated the magnetic flags on his tactical board.

"Push up, push up!"

"This is our primary tactic for today!"

"You should have noticed that while their attacking players are in great form, their defenders are in very average form; this is an opportunity we must seize."

While saying this, Escrivá specifically glanced at Tang Ye, who was stationed in the corner; Villarreal's super playmaker was rubbing his fingers, appearing to be deep in thought about something.

This guy was always like this, occasionally immersing himself in one's own world.

"Tom!"

Escrivá called out, and Tang Ye shook his head: "Oh, Mr. Ferran, I'm listening."

"Focus on strengthening our attack; if possible, we need to make more attempts."

"Don't think about playing video games during the match."

Ah...

Tang Ye scratched his hair: "I wasn't thinking about games."

"I know, I know."

Although Escrivá said he knew, Tang Ye still felt misunderstood.

Just now, he had been pondering how to translate the sensation of Zidane playing in the game into real-life matches.

Thereby granting himself superior ball control abilities.

This probably... didn't count as thinking about games, right?

The second half began; Tang Ye, running out of the player tunnel, hopped up to high-five the fans on both sides of the stands.

"Let's go, let's go!"

"Come on, Tom!"

When the second half reached the 67th minute, Escrivá made the first substitution of the match.

Castillejo replaced Sansone!

Soon, the clock ticked to the 70th minute.

The score on the field remained 1:1.

This scoreline was very comfortable for Malaga.

Drawing against the third-ranked strong team in the standings.

And doing it away from home!

It simply couldn't get any better!

However, once the 70-minute mark passed, Villarreal suddenly accelerated the tempo.

"As we've said, when you don't know why Villarreal's tactics have changed, just watch their number 10,"

He Wei said with a smile.

Coincidentally, the live camera feed focused on Tang Ye at that very moment.

For some reason, Villarreal's number 10 suddenly accelerated and sprinted forward.

Okay, mystery solved!

It was Tom who drove the team's tempo!

"Move forward!"

Tang Ye pointed toward a spot inside the penalty area.

Aleix immediately ran inward.

Not only Aleix, but Malaga's defenders also began to retreat.

Seeing this situation, Tang Ye, thinking rapidly, suddenly changed his approach.

He passed the ball to Castillejo on the left!

Castillejo received the ball!

He used a feint to shake off his opponent!

And shot directly!

"Gooooooaaaaalllll!!!"

"Goal!"

"A goal by Castillejo!"

"That was an assist from Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye... did he just trick his own teammate..."

"Oh, no!"

"I get it now. Tang Ye spotted Castillejo's position early; to make Málaga's defenders stop marking Castillejo, he deliberately pointed toward the small penalty area to trick Ale into making a forward run."

Deceiving a teammate?

No, that's not it.

Tom had already calculated everything.

He used false information to help the team create an opportunity!

"Wow!"

Ale held his head and smiled bitterly, then quickly hurried to catch up with Castillejo.

Even though he was tricked, a goal was a goal, after all!

"Vamos!"

Tang Ye embraced his teammates.

【You have obtained 10 Counterattack Points】

The match continued; at this moment, Escrivá felt somewhat hesitant.

In just four days, the Round of 32 of the Europa League would begin!

"Should we sub Tom off for a rest?"

Escrivá said to Martí, who was sitting beside him, a hint of expectation in his eyes.

He was awaiting Martí's response.

Martí paused for a moment, then said softly, "Um... shouldn't that be your call?"

"Oh, right!"

Escrivá shook his head.

He wanted others' approval far too much.

This decision should be his alone to make!

Subbing Tang Ye off with a 2–1 lead...

Glancing at Cheryshev warming up in front of the substitutes' bench, Escrivá remained deeply undecided.

Yellow Submarine already controlled the flow of the game; with a 2–1 lead, substituting now actually felt quite safe.

However, recalling Tang Ye's absurd physical recovery ability, Escrivá ultimately abandoned the idea.

It wasn't that Tang Ye was all that crucial to the team.

It was simply that the team's current tactics required a little help from Tang Ye!

Actually, Escrivá had mentioned during halftime that he might substitute Tang Ye, but by now Tang Ye had long forgotten about it.

Anyway, as long as the fourth official's substitution board didn't display his number, he would just play seriously.

The 78th minute!

Tang Ye sprinted forward; seeing Rodri intending to pass, he immediately turned.

The ball rolled quickly toward Tang Ye; the moment it reached his feet, Tang Ye flicked it directly behind him.

No need to look; before turning his head, he had already memorized the positions of both his attacking teammates and the opponents.

With the aid of the 【Fernandes First Touch Module】, Tang Ye's flick was extremely accurate, finding Ale.

Ale then passed to Bakambu on the right.

"Tang Ye!"

"Move left!"

"Swapping positions with Sansone? But Sansone hasn't left the left flank near the byline yet."

The commentators and fans were puzzled by Tang Ye's strange run, just as Bakambu's pass arrived from the right flank.

Bakambu chose not to send the ball into the penalty area, instead passing to Tang Ye on the left.

Rosales actively ran toward Tang Ye.

"Here you go."

Tang Ye quickly dragged Rosales away.

Sansone stretched out his foot to cushion the ball!

Tang Ye was locked down by Rosales, but he wasn't anxious; he changed his rhythm, moving fast then slow to temporarily shake off Rosales' defense. Seeing Tang Ye find space, Sansone decisively passed back.

To Tang Ye!

Here it comes!

Tang Ye's body halted, stopping precisely in an ideal striking position.

Crack!

【De Bruyne Underlap Cross Lv3: Simulation】

Proficiency: 89/400

The ball flew straight toward the penalty area!

Ale held his ground against the defender's pressure!

Keep your head down!

Strike it directly!

"This one's going in!"

"Beautiful!"

"Ale!"

"Villarreal has extended the score to 3–1!"

【Damn! Tang Tang Qiuwang, so accurate!】

!

【Tang Ye deceived Ale once, so he needs to compensate with an assist; is that how I should understand it, brothers?】

【Feels like Ale's form is warming up; so satisfying!】

Fans' eyes are extremely sharp.

Like the commentators, they watch the match from a god's-eye view, capable of catching every fluctuation in a player's form.

The low point from the tactical adjustments in January has ended.

The Eredivisie top scorer's form is rapidly recovering!

Chinese fans are now extremely excited.

This timing of Ale's recovery in form is truly critical.

In just a few days, the Yellow Submarine's Europa League match will begin!

By then, the Ivorian target man will become one of the Yellow Submarine's greatest weapons!

"Beep, beep-beep——!!!"

The full-time whistle has blown, yet the Ceramic Stadium remains incredibly lively.

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

Villarreal; that is the team's name.

Tom; that is the name of the team's great hero!

Overwhelmed with emotion after the victory, Tang Ye ran while pulling off his jersey.

He flung it into the stands!

"Wow!"

The east stand erupted in screams, and Tang Ye imitated them with a "Wow" of his own.

Just then, Rodri walked over from the side, and Tang Ye placed a hand on his shoulder: "Haha!"

……

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Villarreal defeated Malaga 3–1 at home; Tang Ye scored and provided two assists, keeping the Yellow Submarine undefeated in all February league matches!

【Oh no, brothers; if we keep playing like this, we're really going to win the championship.】

【Barça fan here; under the oppressive presence of Tang Tang Qiuwang, I dare not speak.】

【We've only played two matches in February so far; seeing "undefeated in February" made me think we'd won far more games.】

【The remaining matches are guaranteed wins; what are you rushing for?】

【Fun fact: we play Real Madrid at the end of February.】

【I think if the Yellow Submarine faces Real Madrid, it shouldn't be the Yellow Submarine fans who are nervous, but the Real Madrid fans.】

"It shouldn't be the Yellow Submarine fans who are nervous, but the Real Madrid fans"—this sentence perfectly reflects the Yellow Submarine's heaven-defying form this season.

Having played to this level, many Yellow Submarine fans have also come to realize it.

Tang Ye is a rather special player.

He is so special that his role on the pitch extends beyond that of a mere player.

Tom, who loves music, has a strong sense of rhythm; during training and matches, his desire to attack and his attacking rhythm subtly influence his teammates.

Gradually influencing his teammates.

Until... changing his teammates!

The Yellow Submarine's 3 million euros appeared to be merely renting a player from Utrecht.

But in reality, it was not like that.

The Yellow Submarine's 3 million euros rented Erik ten Hag's strongest tactical philosophy of his entire life!

The power of the sages descended from the heavens!

Descended what?

Descended to deliver a dimensional strike upon La Liga!

……

"Our overall performance today was excellent; this was a great victory..."

Escrivá spoke in the center of the locker room.

Having changed into his clothes, Tang Ye packed up his belongings.

"Tom, what is this?"

Rodri tugged at the outermost layer of clothing Tang Ye was wearing.

"This is a sweater; it's very warm. When I wear this, I don't even need a jacket."

Rodri stretched his neck forward to get a look at Tang Ye's front: "Even sweaters should have a logo; why does yours have no logo?"

"My mother knitted this for me; she's been learning how to do this recently."

Tang Ye tugged at the black sweater on his body.

"It's a little long, but I prefer looser clothing; this is very warm."

"Wow."

Rodri nodded, gently stroking Tang Ye's sweater.

Although not very form-fitting, it was extremely thick; wearing this garment in Spain during February made catching a cold impossible.

So nice!

After a brief rest in the locker room, Escrivá took Tang Ye to the post-match press conference.

The reporters below stirred immediately upon seeing Tang Ye, firing off a barrage of questions about the assist leaderboard.

"Tom, with 22 rounds of the league played, your assist count has already reached 20!"

Previously, when facing reporters, Escrivá had made the statement that 1 > 3.

However, after the match against Barça, 1 > 3 no longer held true; it had become 1 = 3.

And now, the situation had changed slightly once again.

"20 assists means your league assist total has once again surpassed the combined total of MSN!"

"..."

Tang Ye kept his mouth shut and said nothing, glancing at Escrivá beside him.

The Yellow Submarine's head coach awkwardly rubbed his nose.

The topic between MSN and Tom had been sparked by him!

It was Escrivá who had pushed Tom into the spotlight of public opinion!

"I don't really like this comparison, but if you insist I speak, I think what I've done so far this season has been quite good."

Tang Ye thought carefully before speaking: "La Liga is indeed much harder to play in than the Eredivisie, but I've kept trying, and now I'm starting to get the feel of it."

From initially being unable to adapt to the team's possession-based system to now single-handedly changing that very system, Tang Ye's progress over the past half-season was obvious to all.

The interviewing reporter below nodded: "Then can we talk about the top scorers' list? Currently, your goal count is 11, which is an incredible statistic."

"I think so too, thank you."

In Tang Ye's eyes, the goal count had always been a more important statistic than the assist count.

Of course, the reporter wasn't finished yet.

"11 goals means you are currently ranked 7th on the La Liga top scorers' list; your goal count is the same as Morata's from Real Madrid."

"But..."

"You're a midfielder, Tom!"

Already 7th?

Tang Ye raised his eyebrows.

He hadn't expected his ranking on the top scorers' list to rise so quickly.

He remembered the last time he checked, it was still in the double digits?

Rubbing his fingernails, Tang Ye briefly organized his thoughts.

"Although I am a standard ball-controlling midfielder, I believe scoring is the task of every player on the field; I seized the opportunities, so perhaps I've scored more goals."

Tang Ye pulled a piece of chewing gum from his pocket, peeled off the wrapper, and put it in his mouth.

"Because goals can change the scoreline, and the scoreline can bring victory to our team."

The reporter recorded Tang Ye's words, then turned to look at Escrivá.

"Ferran, we've noticed that since the beginning of this year, Tom's frequency of participating in attacks has been increasing; is this part of your tactical revolution?"

The camera focused on Escrivá's head; the Spanish head coach first glanced at the lens, then looked at the reporter.

"Of course it is. Nowadays, many teams like to use compact defensive lines to target us, so we need to strengthen our offense."

Escrivá made a gesture: "I don't need to do much; I just move Tom's position further forward, and our offense flows naturally."

The reporters had to admit that Escrivá possessed a deep understanding of every player in the squad.

He only needed to change how one player performed on the field to alter the entire team's tactics.

This was the reason Escrivá could lead the team to success this season!

Speaking of tactics, there was one question among the reporters below that had yet to be resolved.

"Ferran, in previous interviews, you stated that you have two squads: one including Tom, which is the main lineup."

"The other excludes Tom, serving as a backup lineup to handle situations next season when Tom is not here."

"But... we haven't seen the backup lineup you mentioned yet; what is the situation there?"

Escrivá, who had just been smiling, slowly froze.

Hmm?

This expression on Escrivá's face gave Spanish fans watching the live interview a bad feeling.

【I remember Ferran did say something like that.】

【Why did he stop smiling? So we actually only have one lineup, right? Was Escrivá lying before?】

【A loaned player deciding the team's fate; Villarreal is about to become the laughingstock of La Liga!】

【No one is allowed to insult Saint Escrivá!】

【The person above is obviously Chinese; I'm from China too, haha!】

【Protect Saint Escrivá!】

【Tang Army in position! Protect Saint Escrivá!】

The comment section of the BT Sports live stream was now slightly chaotic, with netizens displaying various IP addresses and battling each other.

However, Escrivá was temporarily unaware of what the fans were saying.

Right now, his focus was on how to deal with the reporter's question in front of him.

Cannot panic!

At a time like this, one absolutely cannot panic!

"We do indeed have two squads; it has always been this way, but now that we've just qualified for the Copa del Rey final and are about to play in the Europa League..."

Escrivá looked troubled.

"As you know, these are special circumstances."

……

Escrivá's interview sparked considerable discussion among fans.

Villarreal fans panicked!

They began to panic!

Because they felt Escrivá was deceiving them!

But Chinese fans were different.

Chinese fans are the most loyal!

They are loyal to Tang...

Loyal to Tang Ye's head coach, Ferran Escrivá!

Back home, Escrivá, burdened by pressure, pulled out his phone.

He hesitated slightly, but finally turned the phone on.

【Go Escrivá! IP location: Japan】

【It's okay; the reporters don't believe you, but we do! IP location: Hong Kong, China】

【Been a Villarreal fan for 30 years; I feel Escrivá is simply the best coach in Villarreal's history. IP location: USA】

【Escrivá is indeed quite formidable; there's no denying that. The reporters had no need to make things difficult for him. IP location: Russia】

【If anyone can lead Villarreal to success, then I believe there is only one person, and that is Ferran Escrivá! IP location: USA】

Japan, China, the USA, and even Russia!

"Hoo, hoo, hoo-hoo..."

Escrivá's breathing inevitably began to quicken.

He had thought he would face condemnation from fans over the content of today's interview.

But now it seemed he had still underestimated the degree of loyalty among Villarreal fans.

Burning out one's vital essence this season to reach a peak was a very crazy act, an act easily met with opposition.

But what Escrivá hadn't expected was that the fans all supported him!

There were even comments from a 30-year-old veteran fan in the USA!

Slap!

Casually tossing the phone aside, Escrivá lay flat on the sofa.

Gazing at the room's ceiling, he now felt only one thing in his heart.

It was the feeling of being trusted.

The fans would not betray him!

Never!

The fans all believed in him and supported him!

……

(End of Chapter)