Chapter 5: Mongol Has Arrived!

"But Tang's passing is truly excellent!"

Ten Hag said.

Although Tang Ye is young, although Tang Ye likes to stroll, although Tang Ye has no defensive ability...

Although, although, so many flaws cannot hide the fact that his passing ability is godly.

What does the Utrecht first team need? It's winning matches!

And in high-level league clashes like the Eredivisie, if you want to win, what must you rely on?

Top-tier discipline, and a tiny bit of creativity.

Tang Ye has no discipline, but he has creativity!

Ten Hag could already imagine the scene of Tang Ye delivering a through-ball on the Eredivisie pitch.

Holy cow, if there's such a midfielder, how easy would it be for the forwards to score!

However, right after completing that pass just now, Tang Ye suddenly walked slowly toward the sideline.

"What's wrong?"

Melent and Ten Hag tensed up almost at the same time.

Damn, a training match of this intensity shouldn't cause a player injury, right?

"What's happening?"

Melent shouted, expecting Tang Ye to point out where his body was hurting, but instead, Tang Ye secretly walked to the sideline, took a fresh piece of gum from his backpack, put it in his mouth, and then hurriedly ran back onto the pitch.

The previous piece of gum had lost its flavor; Tang Ye needed to change it!

Melent, Ten Hag:...

"Does he really like chewing gum?"

Ten Hag suddenly asked.

"This..."

Melent took a deep breath and casually brushed it off.

He had only recently noticed this young player Tang Ye, so he wasn't actually very clear on his preferences or playing style.

The training match ended quickly; Ten Hag silently noted Tang Ye, then left the second-team training ground.

"Although this training match wasn't high intensity, there are still some issues you need to pay attention to..."

Melent spoke tactics in the middle while the players formed a circle and listened intently; Tang Ye, taking advantage of the crowd, secretly slipped to the very edge and sat down directly on the grass.

"Hey, Tang, the coach is talking!"

Zaka nudged Tang Ye's butt with his elbow, reminding him.

Tang Ye pressed his index finger against his lips and whispered, "Shh, let me sit for a while."

"Get up quickly!"

Zaka insisted that Tang Ye get up, which made Tang Ye feel a bit strange, but soon he knew why.

Looking up, the fierce Melent was looking down at him.

"M-Mr..."

Tang Ye felt a bit awkward; at the same time as the awkwardness, he felt aggrieved. This was the first time he felt the downside of the system.

Originally, Melent wouldn't have cared at all about him sneaking to the back of the squad, but now, just because of those two "lucky" outside-of-the-foot passes, Melent's two eyeballs were staring right at him!

"Tang, do you know?"

Melent looked at Tang Ye sitting by his feet: "You don't feel like you're 16, but 36! You're lazier than Mrs. Jones's sow!"

Time moved to July 23rd; Utrecht's second team continued their friendly match at home.

Unlike the previous match, Utrecht's opponent today was Sparta Rotterdam's second team from the lower-tier Dutch Reserve League.

In the Chinese Huanle Dou live stream, Wang Chao, as usual, started the broadcast of this match.

"Phew, good evening everyone, brothers! This is the friendly match between Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam. The last Utrecht match made many brothers in the live stream lose a lot of beans, but don't panic! As long as you follow Brother Chao's logic today, there will definitely be no mistakes!"

【Bet right first, then call him Brother Chao; right now you're just Little Wang, am I right, Little Wang?】

【Streamer, last time I followed your instructions and bought Go Ahead Eagles to win outright; I haven't been to the club for a foot massage in four days. You need to compensate me.】

【Will Tang Ye play today? I watched the replay of that outside-of-the-foot pass over 50 times. Damn, it was so cool!】

【That kind of ball was definitely a fluke, but since he fluked out such a ball, Little Tang will definitely get plenty of playing time next.】

【Home team 3:0. If I hit this, I'll buy a Utrecht jersey.】

Before the match even started, the Bean War Gods in the Huanle Dou live stream had already started setting flags. Streamer Wang Chao didn't fall behind either.

"In today's match, if Utrecht wins 3:0 or 3:1, I'll buy an authentic jersey immediately!"

Setting a flag to buy a jersey is something many fans do, but unlike ordinary fans, the Bean War Gods don't lie.

If they guess the score correctly, they will really buy an authentic jersey costing hundreds of rice!

The match began; the streamer did not introduce the starting lineups for both teams because, at this level of match, except for one Tang Ye, no one knew the other players.

Is the match itself important?

No, the score is what's important!

On-site, the director cut the camera to Tang Ye on the bench, and the fans in the stands immediately started screaming.

Everyone hadn't forgotten that stunning outside-of-the-foot pass from a few days ago!

"Are you under a lot of pressure?"

Zaka nudged Tang Ye's upper arm with his elbow; the latter shrugged indifferently: "Huge pressure."

"They want to see your outside-of-the-foot pass."

"That was a fluke; they won't see it a second time."

Tang Ye chuckled.

If he showed the fans exactly what they wanted to see—the outside-of-the-foot kick—wouldn't that make him, Tang Ye, lose face?

"Move forward, move forward!"

"Yes, just like that, beautiful!"

Mehlent clapped repeatedly; less than fifteen minutes into the match, the home side, Utrecht, had scored first, making the score 1–0.

After celebrating with the home fans, Mehlent turned his gaze toward Tang Ye, who was sitting on the substitutes' bench.

Originally, Mehlent had been quite eager to send Tang Ye away from the reserve team, but now his thinking had shifted slightly.

Everyone, fans included, believed Tang Ye's earlier outside-of-the-foot kick had been a fluke, but Mehlent knew otherwise, because during training the day after the match, Tang Ye had executed the exact same kick again.

Once could be explained away, but what about twice?

A keen instinct helped Mehlent detect something subtle; he no longer wanted to let Tang Ye go!

But what could he do if Ten Hag demanded the player?

Got it!

Mehlent's eyes lit up, and he shouted toward the substitutes' bench, "Tang, go warm up!"

Tang Ye had attracted Ten Hag's attention with his outside-of-the-foot passing, yet apart from that, he possessed nothing else.

Ten Hag was surely watching this match; all Mehlent needed to do was put Tang Ye on the field and let Ten Hag see this fellow's shortcomings in their entirety!

Mehlent acted quickly: at the fourteen-minute mark, he had Tang Ye warming up around the pitch, and by the thirty-fifth minute, he substituted Tang Ye directly into the game.

【Here he comes, here he comes, Brother Meng has arrived!】

【Tang Ye is on the field again; as expected, I said the coach would give him more chances, but damn it, I bet two thousand on a 3–0, and now this bastard Tang Ye gets subbed in!】

【The home team scored in the twelfth minute; I thought my 3–0 was secure, and then you bring on Brother Meng!】

【Mehlent, resign!】

……

(End of chapter)