Chapter 304: Except for Tom, I Can't Trust Anyone (Bonus Chapter, Seeking Monthly Votes!)

Coming out of the mixed interview zone, Tang Ye walked back to the locker room alongside Rodri, who was holding the trophy.

"How is it, Rod? This trophy isn't bad, though it's a bit light."

Rodri examined the MVP trophy in his hand as he walked.

This was the first Premier League MVP trophy of his life!

"It is indeed lighter than the La Liga ones, but the significance is greater."

Tang Ye nodded.

He greatly agreed with Rodri's words, because the meaning of a trophy truly outweighs the trophy itself.

However, Tang Ye had other points of interest.

"Rod, what do you think this trophy resembles?"

"Resembles what?"

Rodri paused for a moment.

"It looks like a water cup, Rod!"

Tang Ye took the MVP trophy from Rodri's hands, gripping it with one hand: "Haven't you realized this is just a water cup? A thermos."

"Oh, but you guys don't seem to like using thermoses."

Tang Ye remembered that the living habits of many players on the team were different from his own.

"Anyway, this thing is very convenient; you can hold it in your hand very easily, and you can put it in your backpack!"

Rodri smiled, took the trophy back, and then asked Tang Ye a question: "For this month's Player of the Month, Tom, do you feel you have a chance?"

"This..."

The Player of the Month for November.

This was indeed a question worth pondering.

Previously, it was hard to say whether he could win the November Player of the Month award because Manchester United was scheduled to play Chelsea in November.

But now Manchester United had already defeated Chelsea, and Tang Ye had even secured two assists.

A perfect start!

"I need to work harder."

Tang Ye said seriously.

The first time he entered the candidate list, he had thought about taking a photo of the Player of the Month trophy and posting it on his Instagram; now, two months had passed, and he still hadn't achieved it!

Of course, goals that are difficult to achieve are the interesting ones!

The Guardian's front-page headline: Mancheng defeats Arsenal 3-1 for a strong consecutive victory; Manchester United defeats Chelsea 2-1 away to continue the chase.

The Times: The Manchester duo leads the Premier League standings; is there any possibility for Chelsea or Spurs to catch up?

Attached: Premier League Standings (as of Round 11)

1. Mancheng, 31 points.

2. Manchester United, 27 points.

3. Liwupu, 24 points.

4. Spurs, 22 points.

5. Arsenal, 22 points.

As of the end of Round 11, the position of the Manchester duo in the standings was utterly unshakable.

Manchester United fans were now truly having a headache.

After consecutively defeating Spurs and Chelsea, they had thought they could squeeze past Mancheng to challenge for first place.

As a result, Mancheng was also winning, and they had won even more matches than Manchester United!

Manchester United's current record was 8 wins and 3 draws, which already seemed incredible.

But it was still inferior to Mancheng!

The Blue Moon, Mancheng, had drawn only 1 match in the league this season, winning all other 10 matches!

"Mancheng is excellent; I have watched their matches."

In the press conference room, Ten Hag directly responded to the reporters' questions.

"Then, do you have anything to say about this?"

"Hmm..."

After a brief moment of thought, Ten Hag slowly spoke: "Guardiola seems to want to lead Mancheng in creating an era in the Premier League; Josep's (Guardiola) ability is outstanding. If it weren't for Manchester United, he might truly succeed."

Click-clack!

【So what does Ten Hag mean by this?】

【Guardiola wants to lead Mancheng to create an era, and Ten Hag also wants to lead Manchester United to create an era, but in the end, only one person can succeed.】

【That's right, that person is Guardiola!】

【Ten Hag: Someone has expressed a wrong viewpoint, but I won't say who.】

【Tang Tang Qiuwang is truly ruthless, damn it; Manchester United hasn't lost a single match in 11 games!】

Fans from all over the world engaged in fierce discussions regarding the situation of the Premier League standings.

The fans' focus was on nothing more than two things.

First, can the leading Blue Moon, Mancheng, laugh until the end?

Second, are there any other teams capable of entering the contention for the top two spots?

【Tom, penalty success rate 86%, highest on the team.】

In the office at the Carrington base, Ten Hag looked at the notebook on the desk, his brain racing.

An 86% penalty success rate; that was absolutely an exaggerated level.

"Just as I said before, Tom is a natural penalty taker."

"I know, I know, but..."

Fan Fan Dejiahe, sitting on the sofa, suddenly stood up: "Isn't it a bit too early?"

"Erik, you must think this through clearly."

Fan Fan Dejiahe was an extremely rigorous person, especially when it came to matters concerning the team.

"We still have some penalty takers available; if you want Tom to take penalties, we could wait until the second half of the season. I feel he still needs some time to grow."

Fan Fan Dejiahe's view was that although Tang Ye's penalty success rate was the highest, that was after all just training, and there was a huge difference between internal team training and actual matches.

Ten Hag, however, held a different viewpoint.

He believed that for Tang Ye, there was no difference between training and matches; as long as he could take penalties well in training, Tang Ye would absolutely be able to take them well in matches too.

"Hiss—"

After hearing Ten Hag's explanation, Fan Fan Dejiahe frowned.

He could already imagine the scene of Tang Ye being insulted by fans after missing a penalty.

Tom was a good person; Erik should not put such immense pressure on him at this time.

"We still have some penalty takers available."

Fan Fan Dejiahe repeated his viewpoint.

"Such as?" Ten Hag spread his hands.

"Anthony (Martial); his injury has healed, and he can resume training."

"Martial? No, no, no."

Ten Hag shook his head quickly.

"Martial gets injured too easily; we need a stable primary penalty taker. Martial is prone to injury, and moreover, his penalty success rate is not as high as Tom's."

"Then... Marcus?"

Rashford!

Although he was equally young, Rashford was also one of Manchester United's core players.

Moreover, he had another identity!

The Crown Prince of the Red Devils' youth academy!

"Marcus? No, no, no, he won't do either."

"I just feel his attitude isn't right; I don't need players with poor attitudes."

Ten Hag leaned back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.

"I feel Marcus isn't dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the team; I don't feel comfortable entrusting something as important as penalties to him."

"Penalties require players who can be fully trusted."

Ten Hag made his stance clear.

"..."

Fan Fan Dejiahe scratched his hair; only after chatting did he realize there were so many players on the Manchester United team whom Ten Hag couldn't trust.

Standing in front of Ten Hag's desk, Fan Fan Dejiahe said: "Then... Erik, tell me who you trust? We can look for other suitable penalty takers."

Ten Hag looked up, staring into Fan Fan Dejiahe's eyes.

"Except for Tom, I cannot trust anyone."

!!!

"Last night I watched TV until past one o'clock, and only afterward did I remember I had training."

Arriving at the base in the morning, Rashford and Tang Ye walked toward the canteen together.

"Still 'Narcos'? Is it really that good?"

"No, no, no, I've already watched that one many times."

Rashford shook his head: "This time I'm watching a new one; although it's not as good as 'Narcos,' I still find it quite interesting. Tom, you could try it too."

"Then forget it."

Tang Ye shrugged his shoulders, then pushed open the glass door of the canteen. Rashford often talked about the series 'Narcos'; Tang Ye had also clicked on it to watch many times due to Rashford's suggestion, but each time he failed to get into it.

To be honest, watching several bearded uncles shooting at each other on TV was truly not as good as holding a gun and charging into battle oneself.

Tang Ye had excellent chemistry with Dembélé and Neymar; the combination of the three of them was invincible!

"Good morning, Rod."

"Good morning."

After high-fiving Rodri, Tang Ye placed a spicy chicken burger on his plate, then went to his seat.

At the dining table, captain Carrick was watching a video; Tang Ye stood up and took a look—it was match footage of Newcastle from this season.

Newcastle United was the opponent for Manchester United's next match.

"Are they very formidable?"

Tang Ye asked Carrick.

Before Carrick could speak, Rodri beside him spoke first: "They have a player you should be very familiar with: Lejeune."

!

"Re-re-re?"

Shaking his head: "Rod, can you try spelling his name?"

"Uh..."

Rodri certainly couldn't figure it out, but he could check on his phone.

"l-e-j-e-u-n-e"

"Oh, I know, that's number 20."

Tang Ye remembered: "That's Eibar's defender; he's quite formidable. I was intercepted by him once before. He's come to the Premier League too?"

"Yes, though not as famous as you or Morata."

Rodri said, and as the two chatted, more and more Manchester United players sat down nearby.

Mata, Herrera, and Luke Shaw—they all enjoyed chatting with Tang Ye, because Tang Ye was a very interesting fellow who always noticed things others missed.

This was because Tom possessed outstanding observational abilities.

"Shaw, could you pass me the salad dressing, please? Thanks!"

Taking the salad dressing from Luke Shaw's hand, Tang Ye lifted off the top bun of his burger.

Just as he was about to add salad dressing to his spicy chicken burger, Carrick at the opposite table suddenly shouted: "Wait!"

"What is it?"

Tang Ye halted his movements, watching as Carrick carefully reached over and pulled a white object from Tang Ye's blind spot.

It was a small slip of paper.

"Damn? What is this thing?"

Setting the salad dressing on the table, Tang Ye gestured for Carrick to open the note quickly.

Finding a small slip of paper inside a burger was truly too bizarre; soon, all the Manchester United players in the cafeteria had gathered around.

"Tom, is someone trying to murder you?"

Rashford placed a hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, craning his neck to see what was on the note.

Carrick unfolded the note, frowned at it for a moment, then took out his phone to snap a picture, seemingly using some software to translate it.

"What is this?"

Mata held the note: "Tom..."

"Let me see, let me see!"

Tang Ye stood up and took the note from Mata's hand.

He wanted to see for himself exactly who was trying to murder Tom!

【Tom wins, Penalty King】

"..."

"Oh my gosh!"

Upon receiving the translation result, Carrick slammed his phone onto the table with a "bang": "What the f*** is this?"

The Manchester United players crowded around to look at the translation result displayed on Carrick's phone.

Lin Lin Jiade's mouth hung wide open.

"Holy... shit!"

"Wait, wait!"

Tang Ye stood rooted to the spot, at a loss for words for quite some time.

Martial, who had been laughing, suddenly stopped; Rashford, however, wore a serious expression: "Stranger Things."

The Sun's front-page headline: Manchester United seems to have encountered a supernatural incident within the team; the specific details remain unclear.

【What the heck?】

【Ten Hag showed off and got struck down by heaven, right?】

【Whatever supernatural event it is, just don't let it harm my ggbond.】

【Ridiculous, what's wrong with Manchester United now?】

【A sign of rising up!】

With strange events occurring within the Manchester United squad, Tang Ye's fans far away in China couldn't help but worry.

After all, England has vampires.

What if a vampire suddenly appeared and snatched ggbond away?

The Sun reporter Jonathan: If Tom is captured by a Manchester vampire, this could prevent Manchester United from staying on the right path.

Although the supernatural incident attracted fan attention, Manchester United was not actually affected by the matter.

"Beep!"

"Marcus, pay attention to tracking back; this is the second time today you've forgotten this. Focus."

On the training ground, Fan Fan Dejiahe blew his whistle, supervising the players' training.

As for Tang Ye and Ten Hag, neither of those two fellows was on the training ground at the moment.

"Mr. Erik, this... are you sure?"

In the office, Tang Ye stood on the floor, spreading his hands toward Ten Hag.

"The fact is, you are indeed our best penalty taker right now. I believe you have the ability to withstand pressure, just like you did back in Utrecht."

"But I haven't taken a penalty in an official match yet, neither in the Eredivisie nor in La Liga."

Ten Hag pushed the notebook over; Tang Ye stepped forward and picked up the notebook from the desk.

Excluding the injured Ibrahimović, his penalty success rate was currently the highest within the Manchester United squad.

"Mr. Erik, you could let me take a few practice penalties to try it out."

Tang Ye knew just how important a single penalty kick could be for the team during an official match.

He still lacked the confidence to handle penalties properly in a game, so for the sake of the team, he had to be extra cautious.

"Besides, I've only just joined the team. Hmm... Marcus!"

Tang Ye recalled his good friend Rashford's prestigious Manchester United youth academy background.

"Marcus is also great at penalties, and he was already with Manchester United last season; he's a product of Carrington."

"No, no, no."

Ten Hag shook his head quickly: "Tom, I must tell you, while coming from Carrington is indeed something to be proud of, it doesn't help your case, okay?"

"W-why?"

"We value ability, nothing but ability, which is why you are our number one star player."

This...

Tang Ye finally remembered.

Ten Hag was indeed a man who prioritized ability above all else.

Otherwise, Rodri wouldn't have secured a starting position so quickly.

Tang Ye stood silently in place, imagining himself taking a penalty kick in a stadium filled with tens of thousands of spectators.

Ten Hag noticed his hesitation and spoke again.

"You found a note in your breakfast designating you as the primary penalty taker, Tom; do you know what that means?"

"Call of Duty!"

"Think about the game you play; this is God's will. God wants you to be our primary penalty taker."

Uh...

Tang Ye scratched his head: "Does... does God even speak Chinese?"

"Ahem."

Ten Hag cleared his throat dryly.

"It's all the same; anyway, that's roughly the idea."

(End of Chapter)