Chapter 321: Marcus, Your Future Is That of a Sewer Rat!

"United!"

"Boooo——!!!"

Mocking cheers from the Bournemouth fans rang out from the away stand.

Standing on the grass, Tang Ye spat the flavorless gum he had been chewing into its wrapper.

He scraped the turf with the studs on the sole of his shoe.

"Damn!"

Walking toward the player tunnel, he encountered Mata along the way.

Mata and Tang Ye exchanged a high-five; neither spoke.

"It's okay, it's okay!"

"Go Man U!"

"Tom, it's okay, Tom!"

These were the shouts coming from the Man U fans.

Tang Ye raised one hand to acknowledge the supporters.

Tang Ye had a habit of signing autographs after matches, but today he truly lacked the mood, so he gave up on it.

Upon entering the player tunnel, it was as if the world's volume had suddenly been turned down; the fans' roaring instantly grew faint.

"Rodri."

Tang Ye quickened his pace to walk over to Rodri's side.

Originally, Tang Ye had not intended to speak, but staying silent at such a moment simply wasn't his habit.

"Rodri, our performance in this match felt strange; did you notice?"

"Our coordination seems to have had some issues."

Rodri had already summarized the answer.

Of course, the "we" in Rodri's mouth referred not only to him and Tang Ye.

The coordination between Rodri and Tang Ye today was not very good, and the coordination among the other Man U players was also not very good.

This was one of the major reasons Man U lost today!

Tang Ye shook his head: "Before the match started, fans commented that we would be affected by the previous game; back then, I didn't believe it."

Rodri spread his hands: "I didn't believe it either, but it seems we were indeed affected."

"Do you remember that attack on the right wing right at the start of the second half? Their defensive midfielder had already made a mistake. Under normal circumstances, we definitely could have gotten the ball into the penalty area, but we directly passed it out of bounds."

"Oh, I know that play."

Tang Ye pointed with his right index finger toward the pitch: "I should have given a bit more lead!"

Click-click!

The press room at Old Trafford Stadium remained extremely lively.

After a string of consecutive wins, suddenly suffering two straight defeats drew the attention of all Premier League fans onto Man U.

And naturally, all of England's football journalists as well.

"Erik, this is the second league match you've lost this month. Judging by your performance this season, your overall strength should be superior to Bournemouth's, yet you ultimately lost this match; does this indicate that the match against Mancheng affected your form?"

"The unbeaten record was suddenly terminated; you know, Erik, that feeling is not pleasant."

"..."

Ten Hag frowned slightly: "Indeed, we should have been the side with the advantage, but we failed to seize that advantage."

"The match against Mancheng affected our players' form; this is the reason for our defeat, but it cannot be considered the sole reason."

"When you say 'not the sole reason,' you mean..."

"Some of our players failed to execute the tactics properly, which led to some unnecessary goals conceded. We didn't score in this match, but similarly, the opponent shouldn't have scored either."

The journalist recorded Ten Hag's words.

"Then, Erik, regarding what you just said about your form being affected by the defeat in the previous match, Man U still has five matches remaining this month: one EFL Cup match and four league matches."

"If you don't quickly adjust your form back, you will lose a lot of league points... even the chance to win the EFL Cup title, but..."

"I know, of course I know."

Ten Hag directly interrupted the journalist: "I will lead the coaching staff in adjusting to the problems that have arisen with the team; we will get things adjusted."

Click!

Click-click!

Check Dongqiu Di Hot Discussion: Two Consecutive Defeats! How can Man U, with zero points in two rounds, emerge from the shadow of the Manchester Derby?

Manchester Evening News Front Page Headline—Four goals pierce through Swansea; with 49 points in 17 rounds, does Mancheng have hopes of challenging for a single-season century of points?

Attached: Premier League Standings (as of Round 17)

1. Mancheng, 49 points.

2. Man U, 39 points.

3. Liwupu, 36 points.

4. Tottenham, 32 points.

5. Chelsea, 32 points.

Thirty-nine points in 17 rounds seems like a quite good result, yet it just doesn't look very good.

The reason is simple: Mancheng this season is simply too monstrous, suppressing Man U's 39 points in 17 rounds by a full 10 points.

Mancheng's suppression on the standings gives fans an illusion: that Man U has lost many matches this season.

Yet in reality, they had lost only two matches!

【ggbond is also pitiful; getting crushed by Real and Barca in La Liga, only to get suppressed by Mancheng again in the Premier League】

【What do you mean crushed by Real and Barca? Villarreal beat Barca twice, you know】

【Guardiola is truly ruthless...】

【No worries; once Mancheng hits their low point in the second half of the season, Tang Tang Qiuwang will lead Man United straight to the top!】

A ten-point gap seems like a lot, but one must remember that this season's Premier League has not even reached its halfway mark yet.

A ten-point gap can be overturned!

On the return journey.

Tang Ye wanted to speak to Rodri beside him or Mata up front, but the bus was simply too quiet today, so in the end, Tang Ye did not have the courage to open his mouth.

To be honest, Tang Ye did not really understand his friends' gloomy approach.

After losing a match, one is naturally unhappy; at such times, one should speak out the unhappy feelings instead.

Whenever Tang Ye lost a crucial ranked match in a game, he would chat with Dembélé; previously, after losing with Yellow Submarine, he would talk to Captain Bruno.

Speak the terrible things in your heart to a friend, and then your mood will no longer be terrible.

Regrettably, Marcus and Mata and the others all liked to hide their terrible emotions inside, falling silent as soon as they lost a match.

And Mr. Eric was the same!

Tang Ye strongly disapproved of this practice, but since all his teammates liked to do it, Tang Ye had no choice.

As the bus went over a slope, it bumped with a "thump-thump," and at that moment, a sound echoed in Tang Ye's mind.

【After the defeat in the Manchester Derby, you and the team have entered a low point; the mighty Mancheng has destroyed the confidence you had just built. At this time, as the oldest veteran in the squad, you ought to step up】

【Mission Objective: Achieve no fewer than three victories in the remaining five matches of December】

【Mission Reward: Advanced/Star/Legendary Chest (Chest level determined by number of wins)】

【Current Progress: 0/3】

Winning three out of the remaining five matches...

Tang Ye took out his phone and quickly scanned the December schedule that Fan Fan Dejiahe had posted in the group chat.

Good news: in the remaining five matches of December, Man United would not encounter any particularly powerful opponents.

But the bad news was that after two consecutive defeats, the Man United players' form was not very good.

Today's opponent, Bournemouth, was not strong, yet Man United still lost the match!

Looking at it this way, winning three out of five did not seem as easy as imagined?

Check Dongqiu Di Match Preview: December 17th, 22:15, Man United away at West Brom; can the Red Devils of Manchester emerge from the shadow of consecutive defeats?

Man United's schedule in December was extremely dense; soon after the match against Bournemouth ended, the match against West Brom would arrive.

In the morning cafeteria, Tang Ye picked up his toast: "Hey Mata, did you add these beans for me?"

Mata, drinking juice, walked over: "Yes, what's wrong? I saw that neither your nor Rodri's bread had anything on it, so I added some for you." Tang Ye tilted his head, looking at the transformed bread on his plate: "Actually, I don't like eating beans, but if you added them for me, Mata, then I can eat a little."

"Tom, you really should eat more beans."

Rodri said while chewing the bread in his mouth: "Beans have many benefits for us."

"I know, which is why I've been trying to eat this stuff."

Picking up the bread with both hands, he hesitated just as he moved it in front of his mouth: "Hmm... although this thing really isn't very tasty."

"Actually, Rod, condensed milk and toast bread make the best combination, right?"

Ashley Young shook his head: "That is not something athletes should eat."

Rodri raised an eyebrow at Ashley Young: "It doesn't matter for Tom; he is a professional e-sports player."

"Rod, I didn't play any games last night."

Misunderstood by Rodri, Tang Ye quickly explained himself: "I have been studying the reasons for our loss yesterday."

Tang Ye's words caught the attention of the other Man United players at the table; Carrick next door sat down directly: "So Tom, what did you figure out?"

!

Suddenly stared at by so many people, Tang Ye felt somewhat nervous: "Uh, uh, I watched the match replay; our individual dribbling and shooting had no issues, but we failed to grasp the rhythm of technical passing."

Waving both hands in front of himself, Tang Ye attempted to explain some things to his teammates.

"Roughly speaking, our individual abilities are all there, and the tactics are fine; it's just that our form was poor, causing problems in our coordination."

Closing his eyes, he took a bite of the toast loaded with beans.

It tasted bad, but Tang Ye needed to endure it.

"Hmm... *cough*, so as long as we adjust our form, we can win the upcoming matches."

"Our upcoming schedule is very dense; there are five matches."

Rodri held up the five fingers of his right hand as a reminder.

"I know that; Mr. Michel mentioned it before."

"But I feel this should be a good thing."

Tang Ye had a different understanding of the December schedule compared to Fan Fan Dejiahe.

It was just like taking school exams when one was young.

When you fail to perform to your ability in one exam, you urgently look forward to the next one.

Because you want to prove your ability in the next exam, to prove that you are not limited to just this score!

The match against West Brom was approaching, which meant the opportunity for the Man United players to prove themselves would soon arrive!

"Hurry, hurry!"

"Behind, behind! Cover it, cover it!"

On the training ground, Ten Hag shouted loudly.

Rodri dribbled the ball himself to near the baseline, with Rashford defending in front of him.

However, Rashford did not press actively, which gave Rodri an excellent opportunity.

Dribbling forward!

Then crossing horizontally to Tang Ye in the central position!

"OK, watch me!"

Tang Ye shouted, and before even reaching the edge of the penalty arc, he unleashed a long-range shot.

De Gea made a save attempt, but it was useless.

Goal!

"Haha! Beautiful, Rod!"

Tang Ye and Rodri high-fived to celebrate, while Ten Hag suddenly blew the whistle to stop the training.

"Marcus!"

On the pitch, Rashford, wearing a yellow bib, pointed at his own mouth: "Me?"

"Yes, Marcus, come here, come over here!"

Ten Hag's voice was so loud that it directly startled Rashford.

Rashford didn't know why Ten Hag had suddenly become so angry; he could only run over quickly.

"This..."

Watching Rashford walk away, Tang Ye turned his head to look at Rodri beside him: "Rod, what's going on..."

In Tang Ye's mind, his little brother Rod always knew everything.

But unfortunately, Rodri also didn't know exactly what had happened.

Before Rashford could even walk off the pitch, Ten Hag walked directly in, pointing at the position where Rashford had been standing while defending: "Where was your defense? Were you defending with your eyes?"

"Erik, I..."

"Do you know why I pulled you out? Because this isn't the first time."

Ten Hag pointed two fingers at his own eyes.

Tang Ye stood watching from a distance.

He felt this gesture was very familiar.

It seemed Ten Hag had made this same gesture once before in the locker room.

He remembered that at the time, Tang Ye hadn't been with the team for very long, right?

"Not just during defense, but also when tracking back, tracking back!"

"Our attacking midfielder needs to stay up front for counter-attacks, so one of the two wingers must track back to defend."

Ten Hag roared at Rashford: "But I rarely see you tracking back; it was like this in training, it was like this in the match against Mancheng, and it was the same in yesterday's match against Bournemouth!"

"If you had tracked back, could Bournemouth have scored that goal?"

Ten Hag spread his hands toward Rashford.

Rashford had originally intended to explain himself, but noticing Ten Hag's abnormal emotional state, he ultimately chose to shut his mouth.

On the training ground, the Manchester United players stood motionless, each and every one of them looking in Ten Hag's direction.

"Damn..."

Tang Ye shivered his body and instinctively reached out to grab Rodri's shirt.

Too terrifying!

He had never seen Mr. Erik this fierce before!

Rashford stood blankly in place while Ten Hag stared into his eyes: "Marcus, I must tell you, you came up through the Manchester United youth academy, and Manchester United fans all like you very much; I know this very well, of course I understand this principle. But this is not a reason for you not to track back; your ability has not reached the level where you don't need to defend."

"When playing for me, I don't care about your status."

"You are a Manchester United youth player, so you have special privileges? No, in my eyes, that is useless."

Rashford suddenly spoke up: "Erik, I am not being arrogant about my status as a Manchester United youth player."

"No, you are being arrogant!"

Ten Hag shouted again: "I must emphasize once more: no matter if you are the Manchester United Crown Prince, it is useless here. In the tactics I have set, the left winger needs to track back to defend, so you need to track back, not stand up front or defend with your eyes from the back."

Previously, the team had been on a winning streak, so even though Rashford had some obvious problems, Ten Hag had not pointed them out.

But now the situation was different.

Manchester United desperately needed their wingers to drop back and provide support!

Squeak squeak!

At this moment, a mouse suddenly ran out from the office building and dashed straight onto the training ground.

Seeming to feel that the people on the field were all somewhat terrifying, the mouse finally stopped right by Tang Ye's feet.

Hmm?

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

"Hey Rod, this is that mouse I saw in the meeting room before."

Tang Ye knew Ten Hag was in a terrible mood right now.

Worried that Mr. Erik might do something bad to this mouse, he shifted sideways one step to block in front of it.

Unfortunately, Ten Hag still discovered the mouse by the sound.

The Manchester United manager suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

He pointed his finger at the big rat by Tang Ye's feet.

"Marcus, if you keep kicking like this, your future will be that of a rat in the Carrington sewers!"

……

(End of Chapter)