Chapter 308: Ten Hag and Fan Fan Dejiahe's Doubts, GGBond?

Dongqiu Di Match Report: Manchester United defeated Basel 2-1 away to secure their fifth Champions League group stage victory, locking up top spot in the group ahead of schedule.

Securing top place in the group one round early.

This familiar feeling!

Last season, Villarreal also secured top spot in their group early to advance to the Europa League knockout stage!

Finishing top of the group is a joyful matter, but fans quickly pointed out the issue.

The only strong team in Manchester United's group was Benfica.

"The value of Manchester United's first-place finish in this group is not high."

After the match, a Swiss football journalist interviewed Basel fans around the stadium.

Having been double-defeated by Manchester United and losing the chance to advance to the knockout stage, the Basel fans were currently in a somewhat foul mood; yet, it must be admitted that what the fans said was indeed the truth.

But it didn't matter anymore; Manchester United was the group winner, so they needed to celebrate!

In the Manchester United locker room after the match.

"How could we not talk about family when family's all that we got? (When all we have left is family, how can we not care about it?)"

"Everything I went through, you were standing there by my side! (No matter what hardships I experienced, you have always been by my side.)"

"..."

"It's been a long day~ without you my friend~ (Without a friend's companionship, the days truly feel so long.)"

The Manchester United players were dancing; Tang Ye stood together with Rashford, swinging their arms back and forth.

"Wow, Tom, your sense of rhythm is very good."

"What?"

Tang Ye leaned his mouth close to Rodri and shouted loudly.

"I said your sense of rhythm is very good!"

Rodri shouted it out loudly, and this time Tang Ye finally heard it.

"Haha, thank you, Rod."

"But I feel Jesse's sense of rhythm is also very good."

Tang Ye pointed at Lin Lin Jiade opposite him.

Right from the start of the celebration, Tang Ye had noticed this guy.

The dance Lin Lin Jiade was performing was truly excellent!

"You're not bad either, Tom!"

Lin Lin Jiade's voice came over as Tang Ye showed off his excellent sense of rhythm with his teammates.

While the players were celebrating, Ten Hag and Fan Fan Dejiahe sat together.

The Manchester United coaches were naturally very happy too, but after all, they were both nearing forty years old.

Ten Hag would not start dancing just because they secured top spot in the Champions League group, as that would conflict with the image he had established in the hearts of his players.

Erik would not do anything that damaged his dignity!

"Very good music,"

Ten Hag said.

"This is the theme song from 'Furious 7'; Erik, have you seen this movie?"

Ten Hag shook his head with a smile: "Haha, judging by the name, this movie probably isn't suitable for me."

"Erik, I suggest you go watch it; parts 4 and 5 are both quite good, though 5 is the best."

Ten Hag hadn't expected Fan Fan Dejiahe to have some research on movies: "This movie should be suitable for guys in Tom's age bracket; film companies know what young people like, and they can use things that stimulate adrenaline to attract the youth."

"But, Michel, as you know, these things don't work on me."

"Haha."

Fan Fan Dejiahe laughed loudly.

Ten Hag wanted to explain just how calm he was, but Fan Fan Dejiahe naturally did not believe him.

Whenever Tom scored, Erik was always the first to raise his arm!

However, to be honest, sometimes Fan Fan Dejiahe really admired Ten Hag.

The two had known each other for nearly ten years, and in Fan Fan Dejiahe's impression, apart from family, Ten Hag seemed to focus only on football.

No wonder he could achieve success!

Having advanced to the knockout stage early, fans had already begun predicting Manchester United's knockout opponents.

As the group winner, Manchester United's opponent would be the runner-up from another group.

Currently, the teams in second place included Paris, Juventus, Shakhtar, and Villarreal; these were Manchester United's potential rivals.

Of course, with one round of group matches still remaining, the specific opponent could not yet be determined.

Manchester United should now focus their attention on the upcoming Premier League and FA Cup matches!

Regarding the league, Manchester United had two opponents in November.

Brighton and Watford.

Watford was fine, but Brighton was truly not an easy team to deal with.

The fans were currently quite nervous.

Everyone knew Tang Ye had a chance to contend for the Player of the Month award for November, but there was a prerequisite for Tang Ye to win: Manchester United, his team, had to achieve good results in the final two matches of November.

The higher the team's win rate, the more votes Tang Ye would receive!

And just as Chinese fans were analyzing Tang Ye's competition for the November Best Player award, a piece of news quickly surged to the top of the trending searches.

Jinri Toutiao: Peru catches the last bus to qualify for the 2018 Russia World Cup finals; the draw ceremony for the Russia World Cup groups will be held on December 1st at 23:00 (18:00 Russia time), with the location being the Moscow Kremlin.

It's finally here!

He tapped open Check Dongqiu Di to take a look.

As expected, Check Dongqiu Di had also reposted this news, additionally providing the rules for the draw.

All 32 teams participating in the World Cup would be divided into four pots, with the grouping based on the national teams' FIFA rankings.

After defeating Qatar to qualify for the World Cup, the Chinese national team's FIFA ranking surpassed South Korea's, rising to 54th globally, a significant improvement from 81st at the beginning of January.

But even so, the Chinese national team was still placed in the fourth pot.

Like Japan, Australia was also in the fourth pot; their FIFA rankings were 43 and 44 respectively.

A very high ranking, but in the context of the World Cup, it truly wasn't impressive!

【Goodwin plus Tang Ye, this World Cup is going to be quite a spectacle.】

【Fourth pot, huh? Just wait until we get drawn against Brazil or Germany; that'll be an instant explosion.】

【I, GG Bond, will step up!】

【GG Bond: Lead the team against Germany? Me?】

While fans were viewing the pot listings on Check Dongqiu Di, little did they know that Tang Ye was watching along with them.

"Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina..."

The World Cup group draw was about to begin, and Tang Ye's breathing inevitably quickened.

Next summer, he would be participating in the World Cup.

Doing the math, by that time he should be... 19 years old!

"What app is this?"

Rodri leaned his head over.

As a professional player, he had many apps for football news, but the page displayed on Tang Ye's phone was something he had truly never seen before.

Tang Ye didn't know how to say Check Dongqiu Di in English, so he translated it as: "People who really understand football."

"People who really understand football? Do all the people who really understand football use this software?"

"Uh... I don't know either, maybe."

Tang Ye shook his head: "Rod, these first-pot teams are all incredibly strong; getting drawn against any one of them means getting utterly crushed."

"True."

Rodri agreed with Tang Ye's statement: "Especially Germany; they were last year's champions. When Germany won the title, I was still at the Villarreal youth academy; back then, neither you nor I knew each other."

"Back then, I hadn't even come to Europe yet."

Tang Ye laughed heartily: "But during the World Cup, I went to the scene; I went with my parents."

That's right!

The moment he started talking to Rodri, Tang Ye immediately thought of the Spanish national team.

The Spanish national team, ranked 8th in the world, had been placed in the second pot.

Hiss—

Even a powerhouse like the Spanish national team could only be placed in the second pot; is this what the World Cup is like?

"Rod, have you received any news?"

Tang Ye suddenly thought of a crucial issue and turned to look at Rodri, who spread his hands: "Not selected."

Tang Ye let his ears droop, but Rodri hadn't finished speaking yet.

"But our coach has already contacted me."

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

With Rodri's outstanding performance, even the mighty Spanish national team had to take notice of him: "What did your coach say?"

"He said he's keeping an eye on me."

As Rodri spoke, a smile was on his face.

"Haha, Rod."

Tang Ye and Rodri bumped fists, then added another sentence.

"Rod, you'd better not get drawn in the same group as me; I know how you play, and if we're in the same group, you guys will be in big trouble!"

Rodri shrugged.

Rodri knew he couldn't beat Tom, because a little brother could never defeat a big brother.

But the Spanish national team could beat the Chinese national team!

"Here it comes, here it comes!"

On the right edge of the penalty area, Tang Ye suddenly accelerated.

Rashford's high cross!

Tang Ye could jump to head the ball, but his heading technique itself wasn't very outstanding; if he jumped, it might actually reduce the success rate.

So Tang Ye chose to stay grounded, just like when Rashford headed the ball!

Inside the penalty area, Smalling came over to defend.

Originally, Smalling was very serious, but upon noticing that Tang Ye intended to head the ball, Smalling stopped in his tracks.

Tang Ye!

Boom!

He headed the ball straight into the goal!

【Heading: 51 → 52】

Breakthrough achieved!

Having scored with a header, Tang Ye jumped up on the spot, clenching his right fist and thrusting it sharply upward.

"Wowhoo!"

Although his head hurt a little, he had to admit that scoring with a header felt completely different!

"Why did you appear there?"

Mata spread his hands toward Tang Ye, who grinned broadly: "You want to mark me, Mata? You can't mark me."

"I just didn't mark you."

"No, no, no, you just failed to mark me."

Luke Shaw stood on Tang Ye's side: "You were fooled by Tom's feint; I saw it."

"One-on-one! One-on-one!"

Ashley Young started egging them on.

A one-on-one against Uncle Mata...

Breaking past an experienced player like Mata in a one-on-one was extremely difficult, but this was only training, so losing didn't matter much. After a moment's hesitation, both Tang Ye and Mata agreed to the duel.

Today's training had already ended, and the Manchester United players, having found some fun, quickly gathered around a small goal.

"Tom! Tom! Tom!"

The players were cheering loudly; Mata, already in a defensive stance, spread his hands: "Hey, isn't anyone going to cheer for me?"

"Go Mata!"

The shout came from Valencia; Mata got ready.

Tang Ye placed his foot on the ball and passed it to Mata.

Mata passed it back.

The one-on-one began!

"Wow wow wow!"

Lin Lin Jiade let out a cry as Tang Ye dragged the ball forward.

!

Kicking the ball into the goal was his objective.

But achieving that objective was not so easy.

Tang Ye would face obstruction from Mata!

Mata retreated slowly while Tang Ye advanced slowly; soon, Mata stopped.

"Huff huff."

Focus!

Tang Ye used his right foot to drag the ball to the left.

The instant Mata shifted his center of gravity, he pulled the ball back!

Go right!

Mata reacted quickly, turning swiftly to block Tang Ye's path.

"Go Tom! Go!"

Amidst the cheers from his teammates, Tang Ye used his body to bump into Mata.

Damn!

Despite Mata's short stature, his physical strength was not lacking at all; Tang Ye could only match him in the collision.

He dragged the ball under his own body.

He performed half a step-over!

Swish swish!

The La Croqueta moved forward!

An incredibly fast La Croqueta!

Slap!

Mata poked the ball away with the tip of his toe.

"Damn it!"

Jumping slightly on the spot, Tang Ye clasped his head with both hands.

"You could react to even that, Mata!"

Mata shrugged: "I guessed what you were going to do."

"Phew..."

He shook his head.

It really had to be Mata!

But there was no helping it; although Tang Ye's ball control attribute was 85, that mostly referred to shielding the ball.

When it came to dribbling past opponents, Tang Ye was actually not very skilled.

Of course, as a ball-controlling attacking midfielder, he didn't need too much dribbling ability anyway.

"You still need to practice, Tom."

Mata reached out and patted Tang Ye on the shoulder; the latter showed a helpless expression: "Don't rush, Mata. Once I've practiced a bit, I'll take you down."

"Haha!"

Mata held his stomach: "Okay okay, Tom, I'll be waiting for that."

That damned Mata actually didn't believe Tom could train to master an ultra-powerful dribbling technique!

He must slap that face hard!

Resting while sitting on the ball, Rashford handed Tang Ye a bottle of mineral water: "When you're dribbling past opponents, the ball is too close to your body; that makes it hard to handle."

Tang Ye did not rush to drink the water but instead began pondering the issue Rashford had raised.

Tang Ye liked to keep the ball controlled right at his feet when dribbling past opponents because it gave him a greater sense of security.

Of course, there was another reason.

Last season, Tang Ye played many matches against Barcelona, and his mind was filled with images of Messi dribbling past defenders.

Tang Ye thought doing so looked cool, so he imitated it.

But the result was that this style of dribbling required long-term training, and Tang Ye's imitation was utterly pathetic!

"No rush, I need to make some adjustments."

Tang Ye murmured, then shifted his attention to his system.

His heading attribute had just leveled up, so now he wanted to check his status panel.

This was Tang Ye's habit.

Tang Ye (39 years old)

【Ball Control: 85; Passing: 89】

【Shooting: 78; Heading: 52; Set Pieces: 76】

【Speed: 74; Stamina: 72; Physicality: 77】

【Defense: 70; Vision: 95】

Overall Rating: 82

His overall rating had been stuck at 82 for quite some time.

【Progress: Goals (2/6) / Assists (3/6)】

Tang Ye now needed either four more goals or three more assists to obtain the Manchester United Legend Chest.

He wondered if his overall rating would break through after acquiring the Manchester United Legend Template?

……

After bidding farewell to the players in the cafeteria, Fan Fan Dejiahe walked toward the base parking lot.

Suddenly remembering that Ten Hag might still be working overtime, Fan Fan Dejiahe turned around and headed toward the office building.

Letting Ten Hag work overtime alone felt somewhat awkward; as Ten Hag's assistant, Fan Fan Dejiahe felt it was necessary to go check on him.

Creak—

"Erik."

Pushing open the office door, the first thing Fan Fan Dejiahe saw was Ten Hag frantically typing on his keyboard and clicking his mouse, seemingly trying to prevent Fan Fan Dejiahe from seeing what was on his screen.

What?

No way!

Erik, you're nearly forty years old!

"It's nothing, it's nothing."

Fan Fan Dejiahe felt slightly awkward: "Erik, I came to confirm the starting lineup with you; I'll send the list to them tonight."

Fan Fan Dejiahe actively changed the subject. Originally, Ten Hag had no intention of dwelling on the matter further, but he noticed that this old fellow Fan Fan Dejiahe's face was actually turning somewhat red.

Michel, you shouldn't be blushing at a time like this!

"Michel, just now actually..."

"Oh, I was just asking about the starting lineup."

Fan Fan Dejiahe continued to change the subject, leaving Ten Hag looking speechless.

After hesitating for a while, Ten Hag finally operated his Bluetooth mouse and clicked to reopen the screen he had just closed.

"No, no, no, Erik, don't do that..."

"Hm?"

Fan Fan Dejiahe's eyes lit up; Ten Hag's screen was indeed playing a video.

But the image displayed was a little boy resembling a pig, a little red pig.

"This, this is..."

"A cartoon?"

Realizing it wasn't what he had imagined, Fan Fan Dejiahe burst out laughing: "Erik, do you like watching cartoons?"

"It's alright; it's my first time watching one."

"I know, I know."

Fan Fan Dejiahe answered twice in succession, which let Ten Hag know he had likely been misunderstood again.

"It really is my first time watching, Michel; I can guarantee you that."

Pointing at the little red pig on the screen, Ten Hag began to explain: "I noticed many people discussing this cartoon in the comments section under Tom's post, so I watched it."

"What does this have to do with Tom?"

Fan Fan Dejiahe carefully observed the little red pig-boy on Ten Hag's screen.

He looked for a long time but simply could not see any similarity between this pig and Tang Ye.

"I don't know either."

Ten Hag shrugged: "They say it's GGBond."

"G-G, Bond?"

Frowning, Fan Fan Dejiahe struggled to pronounce it: "Is this the name of the red pig?"

"Mm, it's also Tom's name; although I don't know why, I indeed saw it in the comments section."

Ten Hag spoke slowly: "I just wanted to know what this had to do with Tom, so I watched this cartoon; it's not that I like watching them."

Ten Hag pressed the spacebar, and the video continued playing.

Under Fan Fan Dejiahe's gaze, the Red Pig Boy shouted loudly.

"Crimson Flame Mecha, Super~ Assembly!!!!"

"Ta-da!"

A red dinosaur built from building blocks suddenly appeared.

"Wh, what's this... (Th, what is this?)"

Fan Fan Dejiahe pointed at the screen, his hand trembling.

"It's just an animation; this red dinosaur probably has nothing to do with Tom."

"This animation has many seasons; Michelle, you can go watch it too—it's quite interesting."

Fan Fan Dejiahe said nothing, merely remaining utterly stunned.

Dongqiu Di Match Preview: Round 13 Home Game Against Brighton—Can Manchester United Aim for an Undefeated November in the League?

Whether Manchester United can aim for an undefeated November in the league is a point of concern for fans.

Of course, there is another point of concern: whether Tang Ye can win the Premier League Player of the Month for November?

After all, in the previous match against Basel, Ten Hag had Tang Ye come off the bench.

With core players having ample rest time, Manchester United can be said to be determined to win the Round 13 league match.

And just as the players were discussing how Manchester United should defeat the defensively solid Brighton, a piece of news concerning Manchester United surged to the Dongqiu Di homepage.

The Times Front Page Headline—Ibrahimović Is Infinitely Close to Recovering from Injury; He Is in Close Contact with the Manchester United Coaching Staff.

(End of Chapter)