Chapter 329: The Difficulty of Upgrading the Speed Attribute, Facing Southampton for the Second Time (Chapter 1, Seeking Monthly Vote

Dongqiu Di Match Preview: In the December finale, Manchester United hosts Southampton at home, where Tang Ye faces Pellegrino once again.

Manchester United vs. Southampton is the final Premier League match of December.

Although Southampton is hardly a giant club, this match still holds significant appeal.

There are two reasons for this.

First is Southampton's center-back, Fan Daike; this fellow, linked with rumors involving Liwupu, has delivered performances over the past season that can only be described as stunning.

Rumor has it that Liwupu will spend a transfer fee exceeding 70 million euros to bring Fan Daike to Anfield!

Although there has been no official statement yet, the fact that news outlets are quoting such a price fully illustrates how exaggerated Fan Daike's abilities are!

Then there is the second reason: Southampton's current head coach, Pellegrino.

Fans who have been watching Tang Ye's matches for a long time are certainly familiar with this name; he was the head coach of Deportivo Alavés in La Liga last season.

It was him!

It was this detestable fellow who devised the tactics to restrict ggbond, which were subsequently imitated one by one by Ajax and Barcelona!

Regarding this, the Dongqiu Di columnist simply analyzed the statistics from the previous encounter between the two sides.

Surprisingly, they discovered that Southampton actually surpassed Manchester United in multiple statistical categories!

"In the first half of the league, Southampton drew with Manchester United, and at that time, Manchester United was on a winning streak; this fully demonstrates the threat the Saints pose to Manchester United. Clearly, this is a match that neither Manchester United fans nor Tang Ye's devotees should miss," the columnist stated.

【A battle for revenge, is it?】

【Why was it a draw the first time they played? I see Southampton ranked outside the top ten in the standings.】

【Although their standing isn't high, Southampton can restrict ggbond; if ggbond is restricted, Manchester United has already lost half the battle.】

【Ten Hag: Teams ranked higher in the standings should defeat teams ranked lower!】

"Faster, faster!"

"Accelerate! Accelerate!"

Fitness coach Craig held a resistance band from behind, pulling Tang Ye, while Tang Ye sprinted forward with all his might.

"Last 10 meters, faster, even faster!"

A distance of 10 meters isn't long, but Tang Ye was currently undergoing resistance training.

Even for just 10 meters, he needed to exert tremendous effort!

"Hold on, hold on!"

Craig's voice came again; Tang Ye gritted his teeth, alternating pushes off the ground with his left and right feet.

"Ah!"

Dragging Craig forward, Tang Ye finally reached the position of the marker cone.

"Huff, huff huff..."

The resistance band dropped onto the grass, and Tang Ye's body swayed back and forth.

He wanted to collapse directly to the ground, but noticing Rashford not far away, Tang Ye held on for a moment, walked over to Rashford's side, and finally fell down.

"Good job."

Craig patted Tang Ye's shoulder: "Your acceleration itself isn't fast, but the improvement is still quite obvious."

"Mm, thanks."

Tang Ye high-fived Craig, then propped himself up with both hands on the grass behind him.

There were still some snow particles on the grass; they felt very cold to the touch, but Tang Ye could no longer mind such things.

Gasping heavily, he briefly assessed his current physical state.

The front of his thighs felt swollen, and his calves felt tight.

He checked his current speed.

【Speed: 74】

Hiss—

It still hasn't gone up!

He remembered that upon reaching a speed of 75, he could activate the 【Cruyff Baseline Turn Template】 on his person; for Tang Ye, who frequently made runs down the flank to cross, this was absolutely a highly useful template.

Regrettably, the Speed attribute was simply too difficult for Tang Ye to improve.

He recalled fitness coach Craig telling him that the period when a person's speed improves most rapidly is between ages 13 and 15, essentially during middle school.

Missing that golden window means that any subsequent attempts to improve speed would yield less obvious results.

Glancing at Rashford beside him, who was also panting, Tang Ye sighed: "Marcus, if only I could run as fast as you; alas, I just can't run fast."

"Huff huff, don't be nervous."

"You're still growing; once your strength increases, your speed will naturally become faster without needing specific training."

Rashford reached out and pinched Tang Ye's arm: "I feel you've become much stronger than when you first arrived."

Tang Ye's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Of course it's real; you can ask Mata."

Tang Ye confirmed with Mata and received an affirmative answer from the team veteran; the fatigue from training was swiftly replaced by the joy of success.

"Haha, Marcus, I have been training my body consistently. When the time comes, I'll take your route; I'll knock people aside for you, and then you can go down the line!"

Hearing that Tang Ye intended to handle the physical confrontations for him, Rashford suddenly became nervous.

"No, no, no, it can't be like that; if you get injured, Erik will definitely fly into a rage."

Ten Hag is generally a calm person, but when a calm person gets angry, the consequences are quite severe.

The last time Ten Hag got angry, Rashford was scolded until he was called a rat.

He truly did not want to be called a rat again!

"You're overthinking it, Marcus; Mr. Eric would be saddened if anyone got injured."

"If we pass the ball faster, the opponents won't be able to touch us, and that way, none of us will get injured."

Pinned Post: Manchester United releases a teaser poster for the home match against Southampton, featuring Tang Ye alone.

"We lost when we met Southampton in the first half of the season; I know that's not a match worth mentioning, but I must use it to remind you that although our opponent sits only 14th in the standings, they are not as easy to deal with as you might imagine."

With 15 minutes remaining before kickoff, Ten Hag makes his final tactical emphasis in the locker room.

"High pressing; we need to be prepared to cope with their high press."

"Mata, you need to support Tom, and Rodri, you both must stay focused."

Looking at Tang Ye sitting before him.

"Tom will face a lot of targeted pressure in this match; that's something we need to figure out how to handle."

"Alright, everyone get ready; we're heading out."

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

"The referee is checking his watch!"

"The match has begun! Now let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams!"

"......"

"And now, the away team, Southampton!"

Southampton (4-1-4-1)

Goalkeeper: McCarthy

Defenders: McQueen, Hoedt, Fan Daike, Stephens

Midfielders: Romeu, Boufal, Ward-Prowse, Højbjerg, Tadić

Forward: Xiao En-Long

"Southampton is one of the few teams this season to have drawn with Manchester United."

"Yes, their record against Manchester United this season is the same as Liwupu's..."

The commentators in the studio began discussing the highlights of the Manchester United versus Southampton match.

Then, in the 2nd minute of the match, the director cut directly to the substitutes' bench.

There was Eric Ten Hag before the home team's bench; he is Ggbond's mentor, hailed as 'Saint Ten' in the Check Dongqiu Di comment section.

But when the camera turned to the away team's bench, the situation in the comment section was not so good.

Pellegrino, that detestable bane of Ggbond!

He is the enemy of Chinese fans!

"You go first, you go first!"

Signaling Mkhitaryan to make an early run forward, Tang Ye moved to the wing to support Valencia and Mata.

Mata first passed the ball to Valencia, who then lofted an overhead pass to Tang Ye.

"Press him!"

Pellegrino's voice rang out; realizing the danger, Tang Ye abandoned his idea of controlling the ball and headed it directly back to Rodri.

Long before the match started, Mr. Eric had said he would be targeted by the opponents.

It seems that is indeed the case.

Then Tang Ye must be ready to cope!

Rodri received the ball, and then the two of them ran forward together.

"Hoo-hoo!"

Glancing at the situation ahead, between going down the right wing or cutting inside, he chose to diagonal run back toward the center.

Bang!

Rodri played a through ball, finding Tang Ye!

"Wow!"

"Tang Ye receives the ball in the attacking third!"

"This position is within his passing range; this season, Tang Ye has already delivered no fewer than 10 spectacular long passes from the center."

"Let's see what choice he makes..."

Slap!

He curls an arcing shot with the outside of his foot!

Finding Rashford, who is making an early run down the left wing!

Watching the ball fly toward him, Rashford's eyes gleamed.

Rat-me is coming!

Control the ball!

After bringing the ball under control at his feet, he shifted laterally; this is Rashford's favorite move inside the penalty area.

Looking for an opportunity!

Bang!

Rashford chose to shoot directly from distance, but the goalkeeper McCarthy saved it.

"Roar!!!"

Rashford let out an angry roar.

He failed to seize this opportunity!

"Don't rush, Marcus!"

Tang Ye and Rashford raised their hands, signaling: "Steady, steady!"

Southampton had ramped up the tempo right from the start; in response, Manchester United opted to prioritize defense.

While defending, they would look for opportunities to counter-attack.

This was Manchester United's strategy, and also Tang Ye's greatest strength!

【Hasn't Rashford been too aggressive lately? Playing like this makes injury likely.】 【Playing fiercely is what makes us the Red Devils!】

【Wait, haha, why does Ten Hag keep glancing at the away team's bench?】

Ten Hag's act of looking at the away bench was so obvious that the sharp-eyed director naturally caught it.

Whenever Southampton attacked, Ten Hag would rub his chin with his right hand, place his left hand horizontally to grip his right elbow, then turn his head to glance at the area in front of the Southampton bench—where Pellegrino was stationed.

Seemingly noticing Ten Hag's observation, Pellegrino likewise turned his head, offering a friendly smile.

Ten Hag maintained his stern expression and immediately turned his head back.

"..."

Pellegrino shook his head with a wry smile.

He completely failed to understand this man Ten Hag!

There didn't seem to be any obvious conflict between the two of them, did there?

In the 27th minute, Højbjerg capitalized on a misplaced back-pass by Tang Ye.

"Damn!"

!

Chasing down Højbjerg was certainly impossible; Tang Ye could only stick close to Ward-Prowse first.

It's up to the teammates now!

Rodri tracked back attempting a sliding tackle, but his positioning was also too high up the pitch.

Just like Tang Ye, Rodri was too late!

Look further back!

Slap!

Højbjerg passed wide to Boufal.

Boufal drove down the flank!

Valencia stayed very close, but since he was primarily guarding against cuts inside, he allowed Boufal the chance to go down the line.

Boufal crossed the ball!

Slap!

A highly advantageous cross from the byline.

It was aimed at the far post!

Tadić!

He controlled the ball!

Then passed horizontally into the box to Southampton's striker!

Xiao En Long!

Shot!

"Brilliant, De Gea!"

With a textbook diving save, De Gea used his body to block Xiao En Long's shot.

Slowing his pace as he jogged back, Tang Ye carefully observed the opposing forwards.

Southampton's tactics were similar to those Alavés employed last season, though there were some differences.

The biggest difference lay in the intensity of attack; although playing in a 4-1-4-1 formation, Southampton's attacking intensity was not as extreme as that of Alavés.

Clearly, having coached for too short a time, Pellegrino had not yet managed to instill all his tactical philosophies into the players.

As Southampton prepared to take a corner kick, Tang Ye and Romeu began jostling each other.

Thinking quickly, Tang Ye realized that Southampton's offensive weaknesses should be the opportunities Manchester United needed to exploit!

"Referee, he fouled!"

Romeu spread his hands toward the referee, while Tang Ye immediately did the same: "No, Referee, he pushed me too; we pushed each other."

"You pushed first!"

"Damn it, I definitely didn't push first; you did!"

The referee stepped between Romeu and Tang Ye: "Keep the contact reasonable, stop arguing—you've both been warned."

Shrugging his shoulders, Tang Ye resumed grappling with Romeu as soon as the referee walked away.

"It really was you who pushed first, bro, believe me."

Slap!

Southampton took the corner kick.

Ibrahimović won the first header!

Manchester United launched a counter-attack!

!!!

Tang Ye reacted instantly, sprinting forward toward the attacking half.

Because he knew this was a perfect opportunity!

"Don't let Tom get the ball, don't let Tom get the ball!"

Pellegrino's voice rang out as Ward-Prowse and Romeu simultaneously ran toward Tang Ye.

Stop the ball with your foot!

The 85 ball control attribute gave Tang Ye excellent touch for stopping the ball; Ibrahimović's headed clearance seemed glued to Tang Ye's foot.

Get ready...

Boom!

Just as he prepared to send a long pass, Romeu on the side kicked the ball right out from in front of Tang Ye.

"Oof!"

"Southampton knows Manchester United all too well."

"Yes, they know Manchester United's counterattacks are all initiated by Tang Ye's long passes."

"Let's take a look at the replay..."

The CCTV live broadcast room showed the replay of that corner kick just now.

Soon, the fans noticed that Southampton had already arranged a double-team against Tang Ye before taking the corner.

Preventing Tang Ye from easily playing a forward long pass—this was Southampton's corner defense strategy!

He paced slowly on the sideline.

Ten Hag knew he needed to figure something out.

"..."

"Here it comes! Manchester United's counterattack!"

"Tang Ye's long pass finds Ibrahimović at the very front!"

"Check the time now; it's the 37th minute of the first half!"

"The first goal of this match is very likely to be produced because of this!"

Boom!

Ibrahimović headed the ball back to Mkhitaryan.

Mkhitaryan dribbled down the line!

Rushing quickly toward the baseline on the right flank!

Although their offense wasn't great, Southampton's defense was quite solid; as soon as Mkhitaryan reached the baseline, his position was blocked by McQueen.

Manchester United's attacking speed slowed down, giving Tang Ye a chance to make a forward run and support.

Running all the way to the edge of the penalty arc!

Feeling there was no opportunity at the arc, Tang Ye ran again toward the right flank where Mkhitaryan was.

"To me, to me!"

Signaling for Mkhitaryan to pass him the ball!

Catching Tang Ye's gesture, Mkhitaryan played an inverted triangle pass toward the center.

Here it comes!

Lifting his foot to let the ball roll underneath it.

Turning and cutting inside!

Checking the penalty area!

Slap!

【Modrić Outside-of-the-Foot Template】!

The system judged this as a passing template, but it worked just as well for shooting!

"Eh!"

"Goalkeeper McCarthy has saved the ball!"

The angle of Tang Ye's outside-of-the-foot shot was already very tricky, but McCarthy anticipated his intention early, causing Tang Ye's shot to fail.

"Hiss..."

Taking a deep breath, Tang Ye frowned tightly.

The opposing penalty area defense and the goalkeeper were both very solid.

Scoring a goal in this match wasn't going to be an easy task!

Check Dongqiu Di halftime report: Both sides ended scoreless; Manchester United drew 0:0 with Southampton at halftime; Tang Ye created multiple chances in the penalty area but failed to produce a goal.

【This Pellegrino really needs some proper training, brothers, does anyone have his Instagram? I'm going to roast him.】

【Don't be like that, brother; we Tang Army fans are all very friendly. Let's wait for the match result first; Tang Ye in the second half is the strongest.】

"Tang Ye in the second half is the strongest"—this was a comment made by fans in the commentary section.

Of course, this statement didn't just appear out of nowhere; it was based on evidence.

As early as late November, loyal fans of Tang Ye had analyzed his match data from the past two seasons, discovering that Tang Ye's probability of being involved in goals in the second half was nearly 20% higher than in the first half.

This indicated one problem.

Although stamina wasn't Tang Ye's strong suit, Tang Ye would slowly get into his groove; he would use his own rhythm to gradually influence his teammates!

To summarize, Manchester United in the second half should be a tiny bit stronger than in the first half!

In the locker room, Tang Ye took off his jersey, revealing several red marks near his chest.

Rashford widened his eyes: "Fuck, what happened to you?"

The Manchester United players gathered around, and only then did they discover there were actually three distinct red scratch marks on Tang Ye's body.

Tang Ye shook his head as the team doctor applied iodine to him: "I got into a scuffle with their defensive midfielder; he probably couldn't overpower me, but I trimmed my nails this morning, so I didn't overpower him."

Carrick placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder and pressed down firmly: "Be careful."

"It's fine, it doesn't hurt."

Tang Ye quickly put his clothes back on.

The most urgent task was how to score a goal in the second half of the match.

Ending with the current 0:0 scoreline would earn Manchester United only one point, and Tang Ye knew this was hard for the team to accept.

Kevin's Mancheng had accumulated many points; Tang Ye also needed to find a way to earn many points!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With Fan Fan Dejiahe's help, he quickly arranged the magnetic flags on the tactical board, and Ten Hag began his tactical adjustments.

First came the substitutions for the second half.

"Although we didn't score, our performance in the first half was decent; no personnel changes for now."

"..."

Glancing at Ibrahimović in the distance, Martial lowered his head.

Hiss—

Recently, Martial's form had been lackluster, so Ten Hag had placed him behind Ibrahimović in the starting lineup.

But it didn't matter, because Ibrahimović was about to leave the team.

By then, Martial's spring would finally arrive!

(End of Chapter)