Chapter 30: Not Letting Others Eat Comes at a Price!

"I declare it: Allé is the number one striker in the Eredivisie!"

"He just handed the penalty to Monty, did he? Fine, I'm definitely buying your jersey today."

"Awesome, a brace, even if the penalty was gifted."

"Not entirely gifted; Tang Ye earned that penalty himself, he deserves credit!"

"3-0, satisfying; if we score one more, we'll truly take off."

"Brothers, I made another five beans on this match; how about you?"

The bean warriors in the livestream room were generally extremely excited.

The reason was simple: those conservative fans who had only bet on Utrecht matches had not lost a single one yet.

With five consecutive wins bringing joy, these fans were about to transcend the category of bean warriors.

After today's promotion matches concluded, the livestream room would likely see dozens upgrade to Bean War Gods!

"Clap, clap, clap!"

Ten Hag clapped on the sidelines.

With the team leading by three goals, Ten Hag, as head coach, was naturally happy.

Yet he was not as happy as one might imagine, given that Allé had yielded his second-half goal to Tang Ye despite knowing what Ten Hag had said to him and Tang Ye.

Does Erik ten Hag not have any face to save?

In the 75th minute, the fourth official raised the board, substituting off both Tang Ye and Van der Mareel simultaneously.

"Tom!"

"Tom!"

As Tang Ye slowly walked off the pitch, over a thousand fans in the away stand shouted in unison.

Van der Mareel patted Tang Ye on the back: "How does this feel?"

Tang Ye did not turn to look at Van der Mareel; his gaze remained fixed on the fans as he spoke in somewhat halting Dutch.

"I love this feeling!"

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

The match ended; after taking a 3-0 lead, Utrecht adopted a defensive stance and scored no further goals.

Sneek also failed to score, making 3-0 the final result.

"Utrecht!"

"Utrecht!"

The away fans continued their efforts, while the Utrecht players on the pitch began to applaud.

This applause was for themselves, and likewise for the fans.

3-0; although the opponent was not strong, this was Utrecht's first clean sheet of the season so far!

Back in the locker room, Ten Hag offered brief encouragement to the players who had featured today, though there was some apprehension in his tone as he spoke.

Tang Ye was only sixteen, and based on Ten Hag's understanding of this fellow, he did not quite grasp social niceties.

Ten Hag feared Tang Ye might challenge him over the matter of the second-half goal.

However, Tang Ye did not approach Ten Hag to speak; he was celebrating with his teammates.

In a match lasting 75 minutes, Tang Ye earned 30 Counterattack Points (with an extra 10 points awarded for the brace).

Deducting the 5 Counterattack Points spent on Vardy Red Bull.

Net income: 25 points!

Allé and Di Di Bala lifted Tang Ye from the bench, then swung him back and forth in the air like a swing.

Tang Ye felt no fear; instead, he raised his right hand and cheered.

"Just like this; this is the right way."

Ten Hag walked toward Tang Ye: "You should celebrate after scoring, Tang; you didn't celebrate your previous goals or assists, and that was wrong."

"I know, I know!"

Tang Ye laughed loudly: "I am celebrating right now!"

After the match, Tang Ye received an 8.6 rating in the Utrecht Evening Post.

His contribution of one goal and one shot obscured the fact that his running distance was low.

Thanks to these two goals, Tang Ye was also awarded Man of the Match.

"Where is my trophy?"

Before stepping onto the pitch again to face reporters, Tang Ye posed a question he had long harbored to Ten Hag.

"What trophy?"

Tang Ye spread his hands apart, outlining the shape of a cylinder: "That one, the trophy every Man of the Match receives."

"That is the MVP award; do you count as MVP?"

Ten Hag rolled his eyes at Tang Ye, then began reciting Tang Ye's statistics from the match: "Running distance 4.2 km, tackles attempted 4 with 0 successful, aerial duels 1 with 0 successful. Oh, perfect stats! Tang, you are truly too amazing."

Ten Hag took a step forward, successfully positioning himself right in front of Tang Ye: "With a running distance of 4.2 km, do you know who you surpass?"

"There are those with less than me?"

Tang Ye's eyes lit up: "I felt it earlier; I was running throughout this entire match!"

"Ruiter (goalkeeper) and Luyster (goalkeeper) ran slightly less than you; they both covered 3.6 km."

Ten Hag nodded, placing his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder: "Hmm, you are still quite impressive."

"..."

"But this shouldn't stop me from getting the trophy, right?"

Tang Ye hadn't won a trophy since going abroad; today was the closest he had ever been to one.

"You're thinking too much; there's no MVP trophy in the KNVB Cup unless you make the top eight."

Ten Hag told Tang Ye a piece of cold knowledge: "If you want the MVP trophy, wait until you become the best player in the league."

"..."

Tang Ye shook his head: "Then forget it."

"What!? Can't you be more ambitious? You should be telling me right now that you're going to become the MVP of the Eredivisie!"

Ten Hag despised players lacking ambition above all else; he very much wanted to scold Tang Ye, but the time for the press interview had arrived, and they could not be late.

"Eric, and... Tang."

The female reporter struggled to avoid pronouncing "Tom": "Tang, congratulations on winning the MVP of this match. By the way, I need to remind you that you broke a record in today's game!"

Wow?

Tang Ye raised an eyebrow.

Broke a record!

Damn, so Laozi is actually this strong?

Tang Ye rubbed his hands together: "Just normal performance. Uh, may I ask what record I broke?"

The female reporter smiled: "You are the player in KNVB Cup history, excluding goalkeepers, with the shortest average running distance per minute. You averaged only 56 meters per minute."

"..."

Tang Ye said nothing.

When the female reporter had strained to shout "Tang," Tang Ye had thought this person was his fan.

He never expected her to be a damn hater!

"Well, I actually was trying hard to run; this is a disgrace. I'll work harder next time."

Tang Ye awkwardly scratched his head.

Ten Hag stood aside pretending to be serious, yet he was delighted to see Tang Ye put on the spot.

However, he soon found himself unable to keep smiling.

"Mr. Eric, our reporter at the Utrecht training base indicates that Tang indeed eats in the reserve team's cafeteria."

"A first-team player eating in the reserve team's cafeteria... Mr. Eric, doesn't that seem somewhat unreasonable?"

The female reporter turned her spearhead toward Ten Hag.

Previously, the Utrecht Evening Post had claimed Ten Hag forbade Tang Ye from eating in the first-team cafeteria, and Ten Hag had come forward to refute the rumor.

But these reporters were no pushovers; they immediately found the video.

This was a secretly filmed video!

From breakfast to dinner, Tang Ye's three daily meals were all taken together with a reserve player named "Zaka."

The situation was now crystal clear: if Ten Hag did not explain clearly why he had expelled Tang Ye from the first-team cafeteria, he would surely face cyberbullying from the fans.

But Ten Hag was not panicked in the least.

Because he had sufficient reasons!

"Tang's performance during training was not active enough; that is the reason I made him eat with the reserve team. This is a punitive mechanism for players who train passively."

"Are you implying that Tang's attitude toward training is terrible?"

"Yes. Although he won today's MVP, I must admit this fact. I have always been extremely strict with players who train passively."

"But..."

The reporter paused, then took out his mobile phone: "Mr. Eric, could you take a look at this video?"

Hm?

Ten Hag turned his head.

What had these paparazzi managed to film this time?

Not looking was one thing, but one look truly gave him a fright.

Holy crap, Tang Ye was hiding outside the training ground secretly doing push-ups!

"You claim Tang's training attitude is passive, but this video... how do you explain it?"

Under the female reporter's questioning, Ten Hag felt as if facing a great enemy!

He turned to look at Tang Ye, who was struggling to hold back his laughter.

Preventing someone from eating comes with a price!

(End of Chapter)