Chapter 22: Don
“Hmm, not bad!”
Watching Tang Ye continuously deliver passes on the training ground, Ten Hag felt somewhat pleased.
He had originally thought Tang Ye would fail to complete today’s training after yesterday’s extra session.
Now it was clear that Ten Hag had worried for nothing.
At sixteen, the body just needs to be forged!
Lazy pigs are made to be trained!
“Here, give it to me, give it to me!”
Tang Ye reached out to Ramselaar for the ball, then began a one-on-one duel with Amrabat on the flank.
Since unlocking 【Grealish’s Lager】, Tang Ye had developed a strange sense of crisis.
Specifically, whenever his Comeback Points decreased, Tang Ye grew tense.
This tension forced Tang Ye to complete his daily refreshed tasks.
Tang Ye bore this pressure alone; by September 16, a Dutch local journalist, through a “source” inside Utrecht, learned about the team’s internal situation and wrote an article.
The article was immediately republished by Dongqiu Di.
The article focused on how Ten Hag led and trained the team, and one sentence caught the attention of Chinese fans.
“Due to being late for training, Ten Hag refused Tang entry to the first-team cafeteria, but according to the journalist’s observations at the base, Tang’s training attitude was not as bad as imagined.”
【WTF, can you even tolerate this?】
[Didn’t it say his training attitude wasn’t as bad as imagined? Then why won’t Ten Hag let Tang Ye eat in the first-team cafeteria?]
【Tragic, my Mongol!】
【In the past half-month, I’ve made over 2000 thanks to Tang Ye—why don’t I just stop him going to the cafeteria and treat him to meals myself?】
[Abusing King Tang? Ten Hag out!]
【King Tang? Wait, Messi and Ronaldo haven’t even been called King yet—how did Tang Ye become King?】
【You don’t get it—can Messi and Ronaldo compare to Tang Ye?】
【???】
Chinese fans were extremely dissatisfied with Ten Hag’s “abuse” of Tang Ye, and some even climbed ladders to comment under Ten Hag’s Twitter account.
Unfortunately, it achieved nothing.
The Dou Warriors were heartbroken.
Their idol was being treated unfairly, yet they could do nothing!
……
Beijing time, September 20, 2:45 a.m.
The familiar Happy Live Room!
The players weren’t ready yet, but host Wang Chao was already prepared!
“Alright guys, the long-awaited Utrecht match is back—today’s game starts late, but our live room still has plenty of viewers.”
“I say anyone who goes to bed early on Utrecht match days is an idiot.”
“They’ll never make big money.”
“Come on, let’s take a look at today’s official match squad!”
Wang Chao switched pages, displaying the image of Utrecht F.C.’s official match squad list.
Substitute, No. 99 Tang Ye!
On screen, both teams’ players were already lined up in the tunnel.
Wang Chao had no interest in Utrecht’s other players, so he didn’t introduce either side’s lineup—instead, he directly analyzed the match’s direction.
Unlike previous matches, Utrecht’s opponent today, Willem II, wasn’t a strong team.
Utrecht had been weak this season, but Willem II was even weaker!
So the direction was clear.
First, Utrecht should win.
Then look at the lineup.
Do we need to check the starting XI?
No!
The starting XI doesn’t matter—what matters is that Tang Ye is on the bench.
So the logic was clear: Utrecht would score at least three goals in this match.
“Alright, the match begins!”
The bets were placed; the Dou Warriors in the live room now felt heavy pressure.
At that moment, the director switched the camera to Tang Ye chewing gum on the bench, and the Dou Warriors immediately felt less pressure.
Willem II used the classic 4-3-3 formation; Utrecht knew it all too well.
Because they themselves played it last season!
In the 17th minute of the first half, Aale won a penalty in the box and calmly converted it himself.
Score: 1-0!
Utrecht, playing away, took the lead!
After scoring, Aale executed a spectacular sliding knee slide, igniting the away fans.
“Utrecht!”
Boom! Boom!
“Utrecht!”
Boom! Boom!
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
Ten Hag applauded Aale on the pitch.
The match had started smoothly.
“Hold steady, hold steady!”
Under pressure, Willem II would surely launch a counterattack; Ten Hag, being clever, immediately ordered his players to drop their defensive line.
Ride out these few minutes of Willem II’s counterattack, then resume offense!
Heimhous passed to Falkenbergh, who immediately sent the ball to Van der Velden on the right.
This was Willem II’s attack.
Amrabat!
Today, Amrabat was starting!
This was his first start—he needed to seize this opportunity!
Snap!
Amrabat used his body to block Van der Velden’s path forward, then kicked the ball away during Van der Velden’s passing motion.
Brilliant tackle!
Hss—
Ten Hag took a deep breath.
Generally, players promoted from the second team rarely perform well in their first season with the first team.
But these two this year.
Aside from the lazy pig who couldn’t even produce an analysis report, Amrabat had already shown enough level to justify a first-team start.
Especially with Ayoub performing poorly this season.
Amrabat had a chance to start!
Making up his mind, Ten Hag sat back down on the bench and wrote Amrabat’s English abbreviation on his notepad, then added a Dutch phrase.
【Consider starting】
First half ended; thanks to Aale’s brace, Utrecht led 2-0.
Locker room.
“Our overall performance today was quite good, especially Aale and Sofyan (Amrabat).”
“Tactically, no issues—we can wait for the opponent to change before we adjust.”
“We need to make some personnel changes…”
Ten Hag turned his gaze to Tang Ye, who lifted his head.
“Hmm…”
Ten Hag didn’t want Tang Ye to get cocky, so he deliberately scanned the entire locker room.
Once Tang Ye lowered his head in disappointment, Ten Hag said: “Tang, you’re on in the second half.”
“Straight in?”
Tang Ye pointed at his own nose.
“Yes, when you come on, swap with Ayoub.”
Ten Hag walked up to Tang Ye: “Show your performance—and…”
“Don’t walk?”
Tang Ye added the phrase he thought Ten Hag was about to say.
Don’t walk…?
Ten Hag thought carefully and exchanged a glance with Van der Gaag.
Teng Haha thought carefully, then exchanged a glance with Fan Dejiahe.
“It’s fine, just do it your way.”
“It’s fine, just do as you think best.”
……
……
(End of chapter)
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
