Chapter 297: Second War Between Giants: The Headache-Inducing Dense Defense

"United! Man United! (Man United! Man United!)"

"We're the boys in red and we're on our way to Wembley! (We are the lads in red, marching on the road to Wembley!)"

"Wembley! Wembley! (Wembley! Wembley!)"

The red Manchester United team bus slowly drove onto the road in front of Old Trafford Stadium.

Sitting in his seat by the window, Tang Ye could hear the Man United fans singing the team anthem from far away.

This was a clash between Premier League giants, so the level of attention was naturally extraordinarily high.

With still four hours until kickoff, the scene was already packed to capacity!

"Tom!"

"Go Man United! Go Tom!"

Stepping off the bus, Tang Ye walked straight toward the fans outside the cordon.

Having arrived relatively early today, he had time to write autographs for the fans.

"Go Tom!"

"Take down Spurs, take down Spurs!"

The Man United fans were so full of passion!

Take down Spurs—of course, Tang Ye wanted to do exactly that.

But Spurs were no ordinary team; defeating them would absolutely not be an easy task!

"Here, take this."

Tang Ye reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of chewing gum.

However, this piece of gum seemed a bit crumpled from being pressed by Tang Ye, so he took another one out of his bag instead.

……

Check Dongqiu Di pinned post: Man United vs. Spurs starting lineups announced, Tang Ye and Rodri versus Ai Ai Kesen and Winks, Son Heung-min deployed as striker. (8,921 comments)

【Son Heung-min as striker? Pochettino has started his lab experiments, hasn't he?】

【With Kane injured, someone has to step up.】

【Rodri is starting again, damn, but he really is quite steady.】

【Even though I'm a Spurs fan... go Tang Ye!】

【Spurs playing three at the back? The formula instantly solves this; playing three defenders against Tang Ye is pure pretension.】

Before the match had even begun, Chinese fans were already applying formulas in the comment section.

Speaking of which, Pochettino really had become somewhat swollen with arrogance this season.

Swansea had played with three defenders twice in a row, and both times they were pierced through by Man United.

Why did Spurs still think they could play with three defenders?

Of course, Spurs' players' overall strength was definitely superior to Swansea's; perhaps Pochettino was banking on precisely that point.

Swansea's three-defender formation had been brutally beaten by Man United, but that did not mean Spurs' three-defender formation would also be brutally beaten by Man United.

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

"As you can see, players from both sides are now ready in the tunnel; let me first introduce the starting lineups for both teams in this match."

"..."

"And now, the away team, Spurs!"

Spurs (3-4-2-1)

Goalkeeper: Lloris

Defenders: Vertonghen, Dier, Alderweireld

Midfielders: Ben Davies, Winks, Sissoko, Aurier

Forwards: Ai Ai Kesen, Son Heung-min, Ali

Head Coach: Pochettino

"Hoo..."

Exhaling a long breath, he walked out of the player tunnel following behind Rodri.

Lacking the protection of a soundproofing system, the cheers of the fans on-site seemed suddenly amplified, appearing incredibly overwhelming.

He checked his mission.

【Progress: Goals (2/3) / Assists (1/3)】

One goal!

That was his objective for today's match!

Clenching his fist tightly, Tang Ye felt his heartbeat begin to quicken.

This was a very important match; he had to give his all!

"Beep——!!!"

The match had begun!

【You purchased Vardy's Red Bull +5】

As the kicking-off side, Man United immediately launched a fast attack targeting Spurs.

Mkhitaryan passed back to Smalling!

"Ahead, ahead!"

Tang Ye ran forward together with his teammates.

Pa!

Smalling's long pass came over!

Tang Ye began searching for a landing spot, but Winks quickly ran toward him.

Mata and Rodrigo came over together to help!

Glancing around, he realized he wasn't in the optimal receiving position, so Tang Ye chose to use his body to block Winks, thereby helping Mata secure the ball.

Mata's ability to control high balls was outstanding; he held onto the ball!

Turn and make a forward run immediately!

Dodging the defenders, Mata dribbled forward.

Find the right moment!

Boom!

He sent a through pass to Tang Ye!

"Beautiful!"

"United capitalized on their opening attack to execute an excellent combination play!"

"Let's take a look at this attack!"

Tang Ye dribbled forward quickly, with Winks chasing close behind.

Winks was about to catch up to him!

The situation was becoming critical; Tang Ye made his choice swiftly.

He spotted Rashford making a forward run down the left flank.

Slap!

Using the outside of his right foot to curl it!

He delivered a bewitching arcing ball with the outside of his foot toward the far post!

Rashford charged up, using one hand to hold his position.

A direct header!

Boom!

Rashford's header smashed into the penalty area, bounced up, and landed straight into the hands of goalkeeper Lloris.

Tang Ye's pass was too sudden; Rashford had almost no time to choose an angle.

That shot was too straight!

"United!"

"United!"

"United!"

The fast-paced opening attack stirred excitement among the United fans in the stands.

Playing at Old Trafford, was there a chance to press Tottenham down?

"With Tottenham's top scorer Harry Kane absent, this is a great opportunity for United!"

Pochettino paced along the sideline, occasionally letting out a loud roar.

The opponent was United, and Kane was injured; combining these two factors, if one claimed Pochettino wasn't nervous right now, they would be lying.

Then look at Ten Hag next door.

Compared to the flustered Pochettino, Ten Hag appeared much calmer, standing on the sideline with hands in his pockets, the forehead wrinkles on his face very prominent.

Were those forehead wrinkles?

No, that was a Chinese character.

"King"!

King of what?

The King of the Netherlands!

Time reached the 15th minute of the first half!

TOT: 56%.

MUN: 44%.

Despite continuously losing possession in the attacking third, United's possession rate was not lagging by much.

It seemed Kane's absence was indeed having an impact on Tottenham.

This impact was not only tactical but also related to momentum.

Rashford was dribbling down the left flank!

Seizing the opportunity, Tang Ye ran past in front of Rashford.

A crossing run between the attacking midfielder and the winger; this was exactly what Ten Hag demanded!

Here comes a chance!

"Give it to me, give it to me!"

Taking the ball from Rashford, Tang Ye then tucked his right hand behind his back while dribbling toward the penalty area with the outside of his foot.

!!!

Rashford naturally understood Tang Ye's intent and immediately ran past behind Tang Ye to reach the byline.

Slap!

He passed to Rashford positioned at the byline!

Then he himself moved back to the arc!

Rashford played a cutback!

To Tang Ye!

Adjust slightly!

Adjust again!

As Lloris in the penalty area moved closer to him, Tang Ye suddenly executed a nutmeg, shifting laterally to create space.

Aim for the far corner!

Shoot for the near corner!

Inside the box, Tang Ye watched with his own eyes as the ball he struck rolled into the net.

Goalkeeper Lloris had no reaction!

Goal!

Tang Ye spread his arms, preparing to run out and celebrate, but at that moment the referee blew the whistle.

What's going on?

Slowing down and stopping in place, Tang Ye instinctively looked toward the linesman.

The linesman raised the flag in his hand.

The goal was offside!

"Damn it!"

Tang Ye waved his hand dismissively.

Unsurprisingly, it must have been the pass he made to Rashford that was offside.

Damn, if it was already offside, why didn't you blow the whistle sooner!

Though far from happy, Tang Ye said nothing.

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye nutmegged an opponent at the edge of the arc and scored, but the goal was disallowed for a prior offside pass; the score remains 0:0.

【"Damn, disallowing my GGBond's goal, Mr. Referee, do you want to be cyber-bullied?"】

【"That goal was offside?"】

【"Checked the replay; seems it really was offside. Unbelievable."】

【"Give us back Manchester United's goal!"】

Chinese fans in front of their TVs were clearly getting anxious.

With both sides evenly matched, it was hard enough for Tang Ye to break into the box and score, only to have the referee disallow it; this was clearly not a happy occasion.

"Was that offside?"

Ten Hag spread his hands toward the fourth official, wanting to contest the call on the previous goal, but the fourth official merely relayed Ten Hag's words to the on-field referee.

And then...

And then there was no "then."

The referee confirmed he had seen it clearly, so he would not take Ten Hag's opinion into account.

Squinting, Ten Hag added Anthony Taylor to his blacklist.

What the hell kind of thing dares to disallow my Tom God's goal?

Wait until the press conference; I'll curse you to death!

"It's indeed a pity that this goal was disallowed."

"But we can see that although Tang Ye likes one-touch passes, his ball control near the penalty area is still very strong."

"Of course, there is one problem: Tang Ye's stability when facing pressure isn't good enough, which largely weakens his dribbling ability."

"..."

"Son Heung-min is fast!"

Although positioned as a center forward, Son Heung-min still instinctively drifted toward the left flank while playing.

Dribbling down the flank toward the byline, Valencia retreated step by step.

Son Heung-min was fast, but trying to muscle past Valencia outright was clearly unrealistic.

Slap!

A square pass to Winks!

Winks passed again to Ai Ai Kesen!

This was Tottenham's strongest attacking midfielder!

Ai Ai Kesen struck the ball!

Directly finding Alli at the far post!

An incredibly exaggerated level of precision; Alli received it very comfortably.

But after receiving the ball, Alli hesitated, which directly caused him to miss the best shooting opportunity.

Tang Ye ran back from the front field with Rashford!

Signaling for Rashford to get behind Alli, while he himself went to mark Ai Ai Kesen.

With several passing options blocked, Alli could only take a haphazard shot in panic.

Of course, that shot flew wide!

"Phew..."

Exhaling deeply, Tang Ye slowly walked toward Tottenham's half.

Just as Mr. Ai had said, Tottenham's three-defender system differed significantly from Swansea's.

The coordination among Tottenham players was clearly superior!

Of course, there was also one very key player...

Tang Ye turned his head to observe Ai Ai Kesen.

Since joining the Premier League, this guy's passing was the most accurate among all players Tang Ye had ever seen!

A very formidable guy!

After 35 minutes into the first half, the score on the field remained 0:0.

A truly evenly matched game.

Clap!

De Gea kicked it long from the back.

He is one of only two Manchester United players nominated for the Ballon d'Or, and he is a goalkeeper.

But!

His long kick was indeed a bit shoddy!

"Over here, over here!"

"Ah, no, no, go over there, go over there!"

Having initially misjudged the landing spot, Tang Ye changed direction.

Helping Rodri gain a bit of positioning!

Rodri came up and contested the header with Sissoko!

Rodri won the first point!

Rodri's header went to Herrera behind him.

Here it comes!

Realizing this was a goal-scoring opportunity, Tang Ye sprinted forward quickly.

Herrera passed the ball; Tang Ye, while running, gave a small hop, letting the ball roll naturally ahead.

Tang Ye was already prepared to pass into the penalty area, but Ben Davies suddenly reached out and pulled him from the side.

The ball was still rolling on the grass, but Tang Ye had already fallen.

Tang Ye had certainly noticed Ben Davies, but he never expected the guy to just grab him!

"Beep!"

Ben Davies was shown a yellow card by the referee, and Manchester United earned a set-piece opportunity.

This was Manchester United's fourth free kick of the first half!

Pulling Tang Ye up from the ground along the way, Rodri ran toward the penalty area.

Rashford and Tang Ye stood together.

Take a careful look.

Hmm...

Tang Ye did not like this position very much: "Marcus, are you taking it?"

Since Tang Ye did not want this free kick, Rashford naturally did not refuse, nodding in agreement.

"Then I'll provide cover for you."

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye began to step back.

Beep!

"Tang Ye is running up!"

"He's letting it through!"

"Rashford!"

Clap!

Rashford struck the free kick.

This was a knuckleball!

With almost no spin at all!

It began to drop!

Goalkeeper Lloris leaped into the air and successfully pushed Rashford's shot away.

"Fuck!"

An angry roar from Rashford.

The angle of that shot was too terrible!

"It's fine, it's fine!"

Tang Ye signaled for Rashford to hurry into the penalty area; he was going to seize the position at the top of the arc!

With less than five minutes remaining until the whistle for the end of the first half, Ten Hag frowned tightly in front of the bench.

He exhaled, then sat back down in his spot on the bench.

"Their compact defense is playing very well."

Ten Hag said, and Fan Fan Dejiahe nodded continuously.

Indeed, the compact defense inside the Tottenham Hotspur penalty area was limiting Tang Ye's performance.

Tang Ye being able to pass the ball into the penalty area is easy for him.

But the Manchester United players inside the penalty area cannot get the ball; this is the most serious problem.

Manchester United has no tall striker!

"Beep, beep-beep——!!!"

Check Dongqiu Di halftime report: Manchester United 0:0 Tottenham Hotspur, Tang Ye's offside goal disallowed, Rashford's free kick saved by Lloris.

【This is tough, brothers】

【Anthony Taylor, I'll kill you】

【Blowing Tang Tang Qiuwang's goal, aren't you afraid Saint Teng will put you on the blacklist?】

【Feels like Manchester United had more chances in the first half; let's see how they operate in the second half】

A 0-0 draw at halftime against Tottenham; this scoreline seems acceptable enough.

But thinking carefully, Tottenham is without Kane today.

Then this scoreline becomes a bit lacking!

With the away team's star player absent, Manchester United should have taken the lead!

Creak—

In the locker room, Valencia and Ten Hag pulled the tactical blackboard to the center together.

Tang Ye leaned against the cabinet at the back, saying nothing.

【Progress: Goals (2/3) / Assists (1/3)】

Having failed to score the expected goal in the first half, his Manchester United Star Treasure Chest mission remained incomplete.

Just one goal; before the match started, Tang Ye had been very confident.

But after playing the 45 minutes of the first half, his confidence had already developed problems.

Tottenham's packed defense inside the penalty area was utterly disgusting.

He simply had no way to pass the ball to Marcus and Mata up front!

Swish swish swish!

Ten Hag quickly drew on the tactical board with markers of three colors, then clapped his hands to draw the attention of all the players in the locker room.

First came the personnel adjustments for the second half.

"I will not make any substitutions in the second half; we stick with the starting eleven. This lineup is fine."

Rodri let out a sigh of relief and listened as Ten Hag continued.

"Our main problem lies in our attacking tactics. We should have created many chances, but we ultimately failed to create opportunities because the opponent's packed defense made things very difficult for us."

Pointing at what he had drawn on the tactical board: "Although they use three defenders, Tottenham will have roughly six, or even seven, players inside their penalty area when defending. This means our passes struggle to reach our attacking players in the box."

Tang Ye found it hard to take in Ten Hag's words, but he could look at the diagrams Ten Hag had drawn on the tactical board.

One glance was enough to roughly understand what Mr. Sitting Like was talking about.

Vision was far more effective than hearing, at least for Tang Ye!

"So our solution is..."

Ten Hag moved the Tottenham defenders out of the penalty area on the board: "When they are attacking, there certainly won't be so many players in their box. This is the opportunity we need to seize."

Counter-attack!

This was Manchester United's tactic for the second half!

Used to deal with Tottenham's packed defense!

Ashley Young gathered the players in the center, habitually yielding the chance to deliver the motivational speech to Tang Ye.

Hiss—

"Three, two, one!"

"Forward, Manchester!"

Walking out of the player tunnel, Tang Ye encountered Son Heung-min emerging from the away team's locker room.

Originally, Tang Ye had only intended to lift his head and exchange a greeting, but unexpectedly, Son Heung-min walked straight toward him.

"Should I call you Tom, or... Tang?"

Son Heung-min struggled to pronounce the Chinese; since they were both Asian, Son Heung-min naturally felt a certain affinity toward Tang Ye.

It was similar to the feeling Tang Ye had when he met Zhang Zhang Yuning while playing in the Netherlands!

"You run very fast."

Tang Ye placed his hand on Son Heung-min's shoulder: "And your muscles are huge too."

"You're even praising me; you are much stronger than I am."

"That's different; those who run fast are the formidable ones."

When Tang Ye was a child playing at the football school against older age groups, he was always the slowest runner, so he had a special fondness for speed.

In Tang Ye's view, fast players were simply better, even if Son Heung-min's ball control wasn't particularly good.

"Give it your all in the second half!"

"Let's go!"

The two walked together toward the player tunnel.

"Glory, glory, Man United!"

"Glory, glory, Man United!"

Standing behind Rodri, Tang Ye clearly heard the Manchester United fans outside singing their club anthem.

Son Heung-min was very friendly; he could be friends with Son Heung-min.

But becoming friends was something to be done after the match ended.

During the game, Tang Ye would absolutely never treat opposing players as friends!

He stretched his head forward.

"Rod, I'm going to pick up the pace shortly; make sure to stick close to me!"

(End of Chapter)