Chapter 441: The Two Giants of Manchester Both Accumulate 20 Points; Ballon d'Or Candidate List Released

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Sane's long-range shot missed by a hair's breadth; Liwupu drew 0-0 with Mancheng at home in the eighth-round clash of titans, with both sides taking one point. (27,523 comments)

Check Dongqiu Di Hot Discussion: After the eighth round, Man United's total points tied with Mancheng's, but due to the goal difference gap, they ultimately fell short of Mancheng and ranked third.

Attached is the Premier League standings table (as of the end of the eighth round):

1. Liwupu, 22 points.

2. Mancheng, 20 points.

3. Man United, 20 points.

4. Chelsea, 15 points.

5. Tottenham, 14 points.

Last season's Premier League standings were quite bizarre, but this season isn't much better.

It is only the eighth round of the league, yet the top five already show signs of polarization.

Liwupu, Mancheng, and Man United—these three teams with 20 points or more—are currently the Premier League's first echelon.

Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal form the second echelon trailing behind.

Of course, there is no need to worry about the situation further down for now, because based on last season's experience, basically no one from teams like Tottenham or Chelsea can catch up.

What Man United fans need to consider now is whether they can surge into the top two.

If they can, then when will they be able to make that surge into the top two?

The Guardian Editor-in-Chief: Currently, there is a four-goal difference between Man United and Mancheng.

"Considering the goal difference situations of both sides from last season comprehensively, Mancheng's attacking line is clearly superior to Man United's, so it is unlikely that the Red Devils can suppress their opponents relying on goal difference."

"Of course, if Man United can acquire Dembélé or another powerful right winger during the winter transfer window, the situation in the second half of the league might see some changes."

Premier League Official: The Premier League Player of the Month for September is Tottenham striker Harry Kane.

【You purchased Ronaldo's Chicken Breast +9】

【You purchased Ronaldo's Broccoli +5】

"..."

"Give it to me, give it to me!"

Taking the ball from De Jong, Tang Ye turned directly and ran forward.

Rodri wanted to come over to intercept, but Tang Ye was not panicked at all.

He directly looked to coordinate with Ye He, then executed another nutmeg.

"Shit!"

Rodri cursed, because his defense had no effect on Tang Ye.

Having temporarily shaken off Rodri, Tang Ye did not relax and ran forward at his fastest speed.

Tang Ye knew too well the characteristics of his little brother Rodri.

If he were caught by Rodri, he would definitely be intercepted!

"Pass it, pass it!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe shouted from the sidelines, but Tang Ye was already too caught up in the game and directly ignored the coach's words.

Arriving at the edge of the penalty area...

He pushed the ball to the right with his left foot.

His body moved to the right while simultaneously lowering his center of gravity!

Messi is here!

Fellaini twisted his head and his body instantly tangled up; Tang Ye completed his second evasion.

【Ball Control: 87→88】

His body faced the left post of the goal!

Looking at the far corner, but actually pushing it into the near corner!

Goal!

"Haha!"

After scoring, Tang Ye raised both his hands.

"Come back a bit."

De Gea shrugged at Rojo inside the penalty area: "He really likes shooting at the near corner; you could have seen that."

"Beautiful, beautiful!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe gave Tang Ye on the field a thumbs-up: "Good, you've found the feeling; just keep playing like this."

Clap!

After high-fiving Fellaini, Tang Ye walked back while browsing his system.

Tang Ye (40 years old)

【Ball Control: 88; Passing: 90】

【Shooting: 78; Heading: 60; Set Pieces: 79】

【Speed: 78; Stamina: 76; Physical Confrontation: 85】

【Defense: 74; Vision: 97】

Overall Rating: 86

Unknowingly, his Ball Control was also approaching the 90 threshold.

If the World Cup Champion Chest he opened was related to Ball Control, then Tang Ye might be able to improve even further.

"Come here, Tom, come over for a moment."

Ten Hag continued leading the players in a scrimmage match while Fan Fan Dejia pulled Tang Ye aside.

Tang Ye fished a piece of chewing gum from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.

"What's wrong, Mr. Michel?"

Of course, he hadn't forgotten his respected Mr. Michel either; he handed a piece of gum to Fan Fan Dejia as well: "Sir, could we lower the intensity of this afternoon's physical training slightly?"

"What? You're trying to bribe me with this?"

"Oh, I was just joking."

Tang Ye signaled for Fan Fan Dejia not to mind: "Actually, I'm not as afraid of physical training as you imagine."

"..."

Fan Fan Dejia nodded, unsure whether he believed it or not.

"Tom, we have a new assistant coach at our base; you should know about this, right? The Brazilian fellow..."

Fan Fan Dejia briefly explained the club's arrangements to Tang Ye.

With nearly two weeks remaining until the next league match against Chelsea, Manchester United was preparing to launch a plan.

"A plan?"

Tang Ye's eyes widened.

"It means strengthening your long-range shooting ability; both Eric and I believe you have talent in this area."

Pointing at the base's office building, Fan Fan Dejia said: "That is precisely why we hired a new coach; the strength you worked so hard to build in America cannot go to waste—we must develop your long-range shot."

"Wow."

Although he didn't yet know the specifics of the plan, just from Fan Fan Dejia's description, Tang Ye could sense how significant this matter was.

However...

Having just checked his status panel during a break, Tang Ye knew his shooting attribute was only 78 points.

He wondered if this would affect his long-range shooting performance.

"By the way."

Looking Fan Fan Dejia in the eyes, Tang Ye said: "Actually... I feel both you and Mr. Eric have misunderstood me..."

"Hmm?"

Fan Fan Dejia paused for a moment: "What do you mean? Are you talking about the long-range shooting? Rest assured, Tom, you truly have talent in this area; your talent is unmatched."

Placing a hand on Tang Ye's shoulder, Fan Fan Dejia kept winking at him.

"Uh, what I mean is... Sir, actually, my main focus in America was physical confrontation, not long-range shooting. You know, that kind of ability to crash into opposing defenders."

Tang Ye explained this to Fan Fan Dejia.

"..."

"Uh."

Fan Fan Dejia took a step back, recalling images from previous matches where Tang Ye had jumped around on the field to avoid contact: "Forget it, Tom; you don't have talent in this area. Actually, there's nothing wrong with dodging."

As Fan Fan Dejia prepared to return to the training ground, Tang Ye quickly chased after him.

"Hey!"

"You can't deny my talent, Mr. Michel; I have been working hard!"

Standing on the grass, Tang Ye fell silent.

Unfortunately, he was not a football player gifted with talent; otherwise, he wouldn't have trained so hard for physical confrontation without seeing results.

Patting the hard muscles on his thighs forged through bitter training, Tang Ye's gaze suddenly turned resolute.

He knew that from start to finish, he had never relied on talent to make his living.

Tang Ye's professional football career continuously proved one thing.

As long as one is willing to exert effort, even without talent, one can turn the tide!

The Premier League schedule was indeed strange; there was a gap of over ten days between the 9th and 8th rounds of matches.

However, fans would not be bored, as reporters had uncovered many transfer rumors during these few days, with some even claiming Tang Ye would leave Manchester United after the season ended.

Such news contained both truth and falsehood; fans could only rely on their own abilities to distinguish them.

Additionally, there was news from official sources!

France Football magazine provided a topic for discussion just when Premier League fans were at their most bored.

That was the 30-man candidate list for the 2018 Ballon d'Or!

【2018 European Ballon d'Or Candidate List】

First batch: Agüero, Alisson, Bale, Benzema, Cavani.

Second batch: Courtois, C. Ronaldo, De Bruyne, Kane, Kanté.

Third batch: Griezmann, Tang Ye, Hazard, Isco...

Fifth batch: Messi, Modrić, Neymar, Oblak...

Sixth batch: Rakitić, Varane, Salah, Mbappé...

There were thirty people in total, most of whom were familiar faces.

【My Tang Tang Qiuwang is ranked behind Griezmann?】

【The ranking is random; don't get impulsive, brother. Tang Ye will be at least top five this year. Best Player of the World Cup Group Stage plus Premier League Assist King, what do you think?】

【Blindly guessing the champion is still C. Ronaldo.】

【Griezmann and Mbappé are decent too.】

【It can't be a Frenchman; if they could give it to Griezmann, they could certainly give it to Tang Ye. Apart from not reaching the World Cup quarter-finals, Tang Ye comprehensively crushes him in every other aspect.】

As expected, the comments section quickly erupted into arguments.

Of course, regardless of anything, the candidate list itself wouldn't cause much of a stir.

The key moment would come in December; only after fans learned the final winner would they start defending their favorite players who didn't win.

That was when the comments section would be at its liveliest!

……

Las Vegas, USA.

Today marked the NBA preseason spotlight match: Los Angeles Lakers versus Golden State Warriors.

"Brandon."

In the tunnel, Tang Ye shared a hug with Ingram.

Soon, James arrived.

"Haha, LeBron, you're starting today?"

The two embraced.

Standing before James, Tang Ye looked somewhat small.

But it didn't matter; after all, Tang Ye wouldn't be playing in today's game.

James placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder: "Watch closely!"

After bidding farewell to James, Tang Ye walked out of the tunnel first.

The smile on his face showed that Tang Ye was currently very happy.

Manchester United's schedule was generally quite dense, so he rarely had opportunities to fly to the US to watch games.

Today, he could finally take a rest!

"Wow!!!"

Tang Ye waved to the fans in the stands, gave a few autographs, and then sat down in his seat.

The players entered the court for warm-ups; the game was about to begin, and the live commentator turned the camera toward the front row of the stands at that moment.

"Today, I must grandly introduce two guests. First is..."

"Kobe Bryant!"

The camera focused on Kobe; the Lakers legend stood up from his chair to greet the audience.

"And our special guest for today! Tang Ye!"

The camera zoomed out; Tang Ye also stood up, his eyes blinking as if anticipating the upcoming game.

"Tom, which team did you come here to support today?"

The live host walked up to Tang Ye and handed him the microphone.

"Uh, of course, the Lakers."

Tang Ye pointed at Kobe beside him: "Just look at where I'm sitting; today I'm cheering for the Lakers."

Since today happened to be a Lakers home game, Tang Ye's words triggered cheers from the home fans.

"Then do you think LeBron can lead the Lakers to victory?"

"Of course he can. Just now I told Bryant that the Lakers would definitely win today; I'm quite good at guessing these things."

Tang Ye fist-bumped the host, then sat back down in his chair.

"……"

The game ended, and James was being interviewed by reporters.

"Sigh... Actually, after making that three-pointer, I prepared to do Tom's celebration move to pay tribute to him, because as you know, traveling from Europe to watch the game is indeed very tiring for him."

"But in the end, I didn't do it, because I remembered that Tom's celebration move is far too difficult for me."

James puckered his lips helplessly.

Knee-sliding wasn't that easy, and besides, a basketball court didn't have grass; the great LeBron would have no chance to slide out the three stripes like Tang Ye did.

"Haha, after the game I will invite Tom to our celebration party, but I think he probably won't be able to come, because it seems he has to head back right after watching the match."

……

Sports Illustrated – Tom appears at the Lakers-Warriors showdown, joining Lakers legend Kobe to cheer for the team; after the game, Tom and Kobe exchanged signed jerseys.

"Relevant evidence indicates that Tom is a loyal Lakers fan, and he also shares a good private relationship with Lakers stars James and Ingram."

Check Dongqiu Di hot discussion: Flash appearance? After defeating Newcastle, Tang Ye watched the Lakers-Warriors battle live in Las Vegas and engaged in a long conversation with Kobe in the stands.

"From the on-site photos, Tang Ye seems to be in a very good mood," the original text stated.

How did my GGBond suddenly slip away to Las Vegas?

This was a question shared by all the fans.

But thinking about it carefully, it seemed that after October passed, Manchester United's schedule would become extremely terrifying; by then, players probably wouldn't get a long break like this for nearly two months.

GGBond possessed great magic, but after all, he wasn't Superman; he also needed rest!

Snap!

【De Bruyne Cutback Cross Lv4: Realistic】

Proficiency: 572/600

……

Proficiency: 598/600

Proficiency: 601/600

【De Bruyne Cutback Cross Lv4: Realistic → Lv5: Replication】

Ten Hag emphasized full-backs pushing forward to participate in attacks, which also led to Tang Ye increasingly frequently making cutback crosses from the byline.

With a bit of talent and Tang Ye's relentless effort, his last Lv4 skill finally reached the Replication level.

Replication, as the name suggests, naturally means reaching the same level as De Bruyne.

With six replication-level growth templates (standard long passes, underlapping crosses, curved through balls, 45-degree crosses, cutback crosses, and far-corner curled shots), combined with one level-6 spatial movement skill, Tang Ye could be said to have achieved a comprehensive crush over De Bruyne.

Of course, this crush did not include defense, as defensive ability was not included in the growth templates.

"As accurate as ever."

Holding a notebook in his hand, Fan Fan Dejiahe sighed with emotion.

"I told you, the players I favor will never have any issues."

Ten Hag was also watching Tang Ye on the pitch, then blew his whistle.

"Come on, gather up, gather up!"

The players on the training ground slowly ran toward Ten Hag; Tang Ye jogged while juggling the ball, then kicked it flying away just as he neared his spot.

It landed precisely inside the goal in the opposite half.

"Wow!"

"Alright, alright, stop playing around."

"Tomorrow we go to London to play Chelsea; the starting lineup will be sent to you via text message tonight."

Ten Hag spoke slowly while Tang Ye stood at the very back, swaying back and forth.

"The key point is still what I told you this morning: full-backs making forward runs to support, because their defensive midfielders will definitely come to mark Tom, so our defenders need to move up to draw their attention."

The defensive midfielder Ten Hag mentioned was, of course, Kanté.

This World Cup champion's ability to intercept in the defensive third was the focal point of tomorrow's match.

If Kanté and Jorginho could restrict Tang Ye, then Chelsea would have a chance to take down Manchester United.

What Manchester United needed to do was prevent this from happening.

It wouldn't be easy, but Ten Hag felt the feasibility was quite strong.

"Alright, dismissed."

"See you tomorrow morning, Mr. Erik."

After bidding farewell to the coach, Tang Ye walked toward the physiotherapy room together with Rodri.

More than ten days of rest had helped his body recover to peak condition, so Tang Ye was now very much looking forward to the clash with Chelsea.

Rubbing his hands together, Tang Ye's thoughts were extremely clear.

Take down Chelsea!

Then his World Cup Champion Treasure Chest would be within his grasp!

Match Preview: Round 9 away against the Blues Chelsea, the Red Devils gear up to charge for a seventh consecutive league victory.

On the night before the match, Sky Sports once again invited a guest to comment on the previously viral "Tom Wealth Management" incident.

【Nick Robbins, Professor of Sustainable Finance Practice at the London School of Economics and Political Science】

"Nick, many of our fans have chosen to buy Tang Ye's Premier League Assist King bet to achieve financial goals, injecting large amounts of capital into betting companies; do you think this approach by the fans is reasonable? Can they achieve their objectives?"

"Hmm... personally, I am also a fan; my view is that Tang Ye's assist ability does indeed have a huge gap compared to other players in the same league, so there are their own reasons for fans making such choices."

Professor Robbins answered the host's question: "As for whether they can achieve their goals... honestly, this shouldn't be a finance question, but I must admit that a 10% interest rate over 10 months is indeed very tempting, and some fans are placing bets with illegal companies, avoiding government taxation."

"However..."

Robbins changed his tone: "This matter involves too many factors; the excessive number of people paying attention has caused the odds to drop rapidly."

Shrugging his hands: "Just as we generally believe, when too many people set their sights on an industry, that industry can no longer make money."

"Odds are determined jointly by rationality and probability, and because too many people are betting, the return on investment for Tang Ye's Premier League Assist King is actually lower than its risk. Hmm... simply put, if you are only buying now, I think it is already too late."

Robbins held up ten fingers in front of the camera: "A 10% return rate can also be achieved with stocks and cryptocurrencies, so personally, I have not bet a single pound on Tang Ye's Premier League Assist King."

As expected of a finance professor, the host felt Robbins' analysis made perfect sense.

"Then Nick, do you have any stocks you would recommend to the viewers in the live stream?"

"I haven't bought any stocks either."

"Oh?"

The host widened his eyes: "You don't buy stocks, and you didn't buy Tang Ye's Premier League Assist King, so what did you buy?"

"I bought Tang Ye's Champions League Assist King."

"..."

(End of Chapter)