Chapter 240: Tom Must Have a Little Brother Who Can Fill In for Him

As usual, he checked his current status panel.

Tang Ye (39 years old)

【Ball Control: 82; Passing: 88】

【Shooting: 77; Heading: 49; Set Pieces: 76】

【Speed: 72; Stamina: 72; Physicality: 77】

【Defense: 70; Vision: 95】

Overall Rating: 81

Due to the congested schedule leaving no time for training, Tang Ye's attribute growth had been very slow since the beginning of April; the emergence of the Tomahawk Free Kick template had somewhat rescued his development speed.

Now, Tang Ye could hardly wait to showcase his newly acquired template in the match!

……

"Beautiful!"

"Bakambu scores!"

"1:0!"

"Only 12 minutes into the match, and Villarreal, playing at home, has taken the lead thanks to Bakambu's long-range shot!"

"Indeed! Facing an opponent of Villarreal's caliber, Sporting Gijón seems to have no power to fight back!"

The director replayed the long-range shot with which Bakambu had just blasted open the opponent's goal.

Bakambu's control over both the ball speed and the angle was excellent!

"Villarreal!"

"Villarreal!"

The camera slowly panned to Tang Ye.

This match was extremely important for Tang Ye personally.

After his assist hat-trick against Atlético Madrid, it seemed Tang Ye had the Player of the Month for April locked up.

But Messi completed a hat-trick in the match against Osasuna, which meant that currently, no one knew who would be La Liga's Player of the Month for April!

Today was Villarreal's final match of April; if Tang Ye wanted to improve his chances of winning, he had to find a way to deliver a strong performance in this game!

Only then could Tang Ye achieve the feat of winning the monthly award three times in a row!

"Huff, huff, huff…"

As the person directly involved, Tang Ye was panting on the pitch, completely unaware of what the commentators and fans were thinking.

He wasn't very clear about the Player of the Month matter; all Tang Ye knew was that these were his final few matches with Villarreal!

He wanted to bring out his best form to dedicate to the fans!

And of course, to his friends at Villarreal!

"Ahead, ahead, you can pass it forward!"

As soon as Escrivá finished speaking, the Villarreal players made their move.

Soriano's pass found Ale up front!

Ale then laid the ball off to Tang Ye!

"Wow!"

"Tang Ye has the ball; the position isn't great, but if it's Tang Ye…"

"Besga is pressing up!"

"Tang Ye! He passes immediately!"

Slap!

Tang Ye's pass found Cheryshev on the left wing, after which the Villarreal players began to push forward in force.

The away team's head coach, Rubi, rubbed his head.

Having a top-tier playmaker on the opposing side would put immense pressure on Sporting Gijón's defense.

Not to mention they were already the side trailing!

Once Cheryshev received the ball, all of Villarreal's attacking players rushed toward the left flank.

Besga continued to mark Tang Ye relentlessly!

"Mate, can you get lost!"

Tang Ye shouted at Besga, who reached out and patted Tang Ye on the shoulder before continuing to block his position.

Well, there was no other way!

Tang Ye feinted left and right, actively seeking an opportunity to shake off his marker!

Meanwhile, his teammates on the left executed a series of passes, until Costa finally sent the ball into the center!

It was a chance!

Tang Ye judged the ball almost instantly and immediately ran toward it.

He glanced back!

The annoying Besga was right behind him!

Chest trap!

The ball struck Tang Ye's chest and began to drop; at that moment, Tang Ye turned sideways and struck the ball forward in one motion!

A chest trap did not count toward the 【First Touch Module】, so Tang Ye's pass still enjoyed the accuracy bonus!

"Damn!"

Besga was startled by Tang Ye's maneuver and quickly turned to look.

Without even turning to observe, Tang Ye had delivered the ball to Ale inside the penalty area!

Ale's header!

Goal!

Tang Ye's back-to-goal pass after receiving the long ball came far too suddenly.

The Sporting Gijón defenders didn't even have time to compress their defensive line!

The positions held by Ale and Bacambu were completely empty!

"Wow!"

Tang Ye quickly ran to the area beneath the stands and embraced Ale, who had scored the goal.

【You have obtained 10 Counterattack Points】

"Not bad, Tom!"

Costa ruffled Tang Ye's hair: "I didn't even expect you to pass directly."

"If I hadn't passed directly, that opportunity would have been gone!"

Tang Ye shouted loudly.

The situation on the football pitch changes in the blink of an eye.

If he had controlled the ball with his chest instead of passing it out immediately, the opposing defenders would have had time to retreat!

Under permissible conditions, he would never give the opposing defenders a chance to fall back!

"Tom!"

"Come on! Come on, come on!"

The cheers from the fans in the stands were deafening; Tang Ye raised his right hand and gave a thumbs-up.

The clock reached the 34th minute of the first half!

Tang Ye made a forward run down the right flank!

Posing as a striker!

However, the opposing defender seized the opportunity to tackle Tang Ye successfully!

Originally, Tang Ye wasn't panicked, because someone would always fill the position he abandoned.

But it was only when Sporting Gijón's defensive midfielder charged forward with the ball that Tang Ye remembered: Rodri was not playing in this match!

The little brother who always covered for him was not there!

We're done for!

Now Tang Ye could only pray that his teammates in the defensive line would hold steady.

Unfortunately, they failed to do so.

Moi Gómez, the left winger, scored with a well-placed shot!

Sporting Gijón pulled one back!

After the score became 2-1, the Sporting Gijón players were extremely excited, running out to gather near the corner flag to celebrate wildly.

As a team fighting against relegation, Sporting Gijón had achieved what Atlético Madrid failed to do half a week ago!

That was to breach Villarreal's goal!

In front of the Yellow Submarine's bench, head coach Escrivá crossed his arms over his chest, squinting his eyes.

He then turned and made a "stand up" gesture toward the Villarreal substitutes' bench.

"Rodri, warm up!"

Escrivá had immediately spotted the problem his team had just exposed.

Every time Tang Ye posed as a striker, he acted recklessly; his attacking ability was outrageous, which was beyond doubt.

But if no one filled the vacant position he left behind, the pressure on Villarreal's defensive line would be immense!

At halftime, head coach Rubí synchronized the second-half tactics with the players.

"Tom is their weakness! You should have noticed this problem!"

"If Tom tries to push forward, let him come in; we need to lure him into making a mistake—this is our chance."

"We already scored one goal from this opportunity in the first half, so we will score again in the second half!"

Rubí's voice was loud; several players in the locker room silently clenched their fists.

We will score again in the second half!

If they could score again in the second half, they could force a draw against the Yellow Submarine!

Drawing with the biggest dark horse team of the season on foreign soil was something the Sporting Gijón players needed to pursue!

"But Rodri has already started warming up,"

Besga suddenly said.

"That's just to deceive us."

Rubí shook his head: "Rodri got injured in the last match; Escrivá won't let him play!"

Rodri, standing in front of the substitutes' bench doing stretching exercises, was merely a decoy!

Damn it!

Today, God himself was handing Sporting Gijón an opportunity!

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Vamos Gijón!"

……

The second half began, and Villarreal made the first substitution adjustment: Rodri replaced Soriano!

"..."

Rubi and his assistant exchanged a glance; the head coach of Sporting Gijón shamefully lowered his head.

We're done for!

We guessed wrong!

"You know me; we watched the match recordings together. Griezmann should have stepped on Rodri."

The assistant covered his mouth and whispered, "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know."

Rubi shook his head.

"But no need to panic; I'll think of a solution soon."

Tang Ye fist-bumped Rodri, who had just come on as a substitute, then immediately refocused his attention on the match.

After the second half began, Escrivá sat on the bench watching Ma Ti's laptop.

!

Rodri's entry indeed greatly improved the Yellow Submarine's possession rate.

This wasn't because Rodri possessed exceptional passing and control abilities, but because after nearly a season of Escrivá's coaching, Rodri and Tang Ye had developed excellent chemistry!

The clock hit the 68th minute!

"Tang Ye!"

"He shot straight away!"

"The goalkeeper pushed the ball out!"

"Villarreal has won a corner. Hmm, the quality of Tang Ye's long-range shot was quite good; with more time to adjust, he might actually have scored."

"The problem is... if he took too much time to adjust, he wouldn't be Tang Ye."

Before Villarreal took the corner, the broadcast camera specifically focused on Rubi.

"The head coach of Sporting Gijón is now thinking; he needs to find a suitable method, otherwise they probably won't have any chance in this match!"

The 77th minute of the match!

"I got it, I got it!"

Tang Ye received the ball from Cheryshev.

Facing Carmona's sudden press, Tang Ye pulled the ball back with his left foot then pushed it to the right.

【Modrić Back-to-Goal Escape Template!】

Except this was the front-facing version!

After bypassing Carmona, he ran straight toward the top of the arc!

He raised his right hand, pointing toward the right-wing byline!

Just as every player on the pitch focused on Bacambu on the right wing, Tang Ye suddenly cut inside with his right foot.

Precisely then, Cheryshev surged from the left wing straight into the penalty area!

He controlled the ball!

Ale, with his back to goal, pinned Amorebieta!

Cheryshev passed the ball to Ale!

Ale bumped Amorebieta behind him.

Then he set up a screen for Cheryshev!

Bang!

"Gooooooaaaaallllll!!!"

Tang Ye had clearly pointed to the right wing, yet ultimately attacked the left.

A perfectly executed feint!

But the question remains: how could Cheryshev react and make that forward run?

The replay revealed it; only then did the commentators and fans realize that while pointing to the byline with his right hand, Tang Ye had simultaneously pointed toward the penalty area with his left hand, hidden at his waist.

Only Cheryshev and the cameraman noticed Tang Ye's left-hand gesture!

【Deceiving the opponent, so f***ing classic, damn!】

【Bacambu was fooled so badly he ran faster than Cheryshev!】

【It's 3-1, brothers! Where are those people who predicted a draw in the first half now?】

【"How Tang Ye Adapts to La Liga"】

The fans were thrilled because they saw not only the Yellow Submarine's win probability rise but also Tang Ye's skills improve.

Visible improvement in his ball skills!

Recalling last summer when the Yellow Submarine officially announced Tang Ye's loan transfer via the Zujiejia Alliance, a crowd of fans on Check Dongqiu Di debated how Tang Ye could possibly adapt to La Liga.

The reality, however, was that because of Tang Ye's presence, Escrivá temporarily changed the team's tactics.

Furthermore, due to the Yellow Submarine's offensive tactics, numerous La Liga teams began favoring counter-attacks.

Was Tom adapting to La Liga?

No!

It was always La Liga adapting to Tom!

The clock hit the 92nd minute!

Tang Ye held his breath and suddenly charged up from behind.

Seizing the opportunity!

He struck the ball!

"The quality of this shot wasn't too great, but it doesn't matter; Villarreal's lead is still quite substantial."

"We can see Rubi, the head coach of Sporting Gijón, frowning; he must still be thinking of a way to deal with Villarreal."

Under the commentators' gaze, Rubi's frown suddenly relaxed, and his eyes seemed to sparkle.

"It seems Sporting Gijón has found a way to deal with Villarreal!"

"Eh, the match is over!"

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Yellow Submarine defeats Sporting Gijón 3-1 at home; Tang Ye provides an assist, Cheryshev scores.

"Damn it..."

Tang Ye shook his hand.

Although he had secured an assist, he still felt there were quite a few regrets in this match.

First was that long-range shot from just outside the penalty area!

If he had kept his center of gravity low, he should have had a chance to score!

Then there were the set pieces!

The Yellow Submarine didn't get many good direct free-kick opportunities in this match.

Having just acquired the Tomahawk Free Kick template, Tang Ye felt he possessed great skills but had no way to display them!

This was a great pity, because Tang Ye knew he wouldn't be staying with the Yellow Submarine for much longer, so he really wanted to bring out everything he had and show it to the fans in the stands!

Bruno walked from the substitutes' bench back onto the pitch and met Tang Ye, who was walking off; the two high-fived: "It's fine, it doesn't matter that you didn't score."

Bruno knew Tang Ye all too well; he could tell at a glance what Tang Ye was regretting.

"There are still three league matches and two Europa League games left; you'll have time to shine."

"No."

Tang Ye pointed out the error in Bruno's words: "It should be three Europa League matches."

Bruno was momentarily stunned, then immediately realized his mistake.

If the Yellow Submarine stopped at the semi-finals, there would be two matches remaining.

But if they successfully charged into the final, then the Yellow Submarine would have three matches left!

"Bruno, you forgot; we are going to win the championship."

"That is something we cannot forget."

After the match, Tang Ye and Cheryshev, who had received the MVP trophy, accepted interviews from pitch-side reporters together.

"Tom, you're a regular here, but unfortunately, you didn't get the MVP trophy today."

"Haha."

Tang Ye held the microphone: "Seems like I was just a little short, but it's all the same; anyway, the trophy is on our side, so it doesn't matter who took it."

Chewing some gum to relax, Tang Ye added: "But I feel the next MVP trophy will still be mine."

Cheryshev clenched his fist and pretended to punch Tang Ye.

"Tom, we saw you make a spectacular blind pass during the first half; do you remember that pass?"

"Blind pass?"

Tang Ye tilted his head, thinking carefully: "Uh, I don't seem to remember."

Reporter:?

"It happened in the first half; you even got an assist from it."

"Hmm... chest control, then directly passing into the penalty area."

Originally, Tang Ye hadn't reacted, but when the reporter mentioned "chest control," the scene suddenly flashed before his eyes.

"Oh, I know, it was that one; I remember now."

"That wasn't a blind pass; I had observed beforehand."

Tang Ye waved his hand.

"Observed beforehand? Are you sure you observed beforehand? There was at least a three-second gap between you turning your head and making the pass, right?"

Situations on the pitch in high-level football matches change very quickly.

Three seconds is enough time for players inside the penalty area to change their positioning!

"You can just slightly calculate the positions of teammates and defenders, then make the pass."

Tang Ye said matter-of-factly.

Cheryshev whipped his head around, while the reporter stared with wide eyes.

"Slightly calculate... the positions of teammates? Are you playing chess?"

"It's just guessing how your teammates will run; teammates are the easiest to calculate because I'm familiar with them and roughly know how they'll move. Everyone has their own positioning habits; once you calculate everyone's movement and put it together, that's the positioning situation of the players in the penalty area."

"However, I don't know the goalkeeper's positioning; I'm not very clear on how goalkeepers choose their positions, so that pass actually relied a bit on luck. Hmm... my luck has always been pretty good."

The reporter shook his head, momentarily at a loss for words.

(End of Chapter)