Chapter 53: Strong Opponent Eindhoven? No, The Eredivisie Summit Clash!

Utrecht team reporter Perna: Ten Hag has received a tremendous amount of trust from the club's upper management; currently, some executives view him as the hope for the team's rise.

Royal Dutch Football Association match preview: Amsterdam time, November 8th, 1:30 PM, the Eredivisie summit clash, PSV Eindhoven hosts Utrecht at home.

Attached is the 2015-16 Eredivisie league standings table.

1. Utrecht, 28 points

2. PSV Eindhoven, 28 points

3. AZ Alkmaar, 25 points

4. Ajax, 24 points

5. Feyenoord, 20 points

6. Groningen, 19 points

Looking at the standings written on the football association's homepage, Ten Hag felt a sense of unease in his heart; this was also why he did not often emphasize league rankings to the players.

Ten Hag found it strange: why would Utrecht, which started the season with two consecutive losses, suddenly have so many points?

When were these points earned?

It seemed like Utrecht clearly shouldn't have won this many matches, right?

Flipping open the match records, Utrecht had indeed won this many points!

Lying alone in bed, Ten Hag stared at the ceiling, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

In his first season at Utrecht, Ten Hag led the team to 28 points after the conclusion of the 11th round, ranking first ahead of Eindhoven by virtue of goal difference.

Furthermore, leveraging Utrecht's momentum, he had incidentally nurtured a young genius named Tang Ye!

Damn, why am I so strong!

November 5th, three days before Utrecht's away match against Eindhoven, Ten Hag carved out time from his busy training schedule to have the players undergo a physical examination.

There were many items in the physical exam, but the two that attracted Tang Ye's attention the most were none other than:

Height: 1.77m

Weight: 66.5kg

"Holy crap, I really grew taller."

Tang Ye felt somewhat happy; it had been nearly four months since the last physical exam.

Growing 3cm in four months, Tang Ye was actually quite satisfied.

"You're still very short."

Amrabat took a step forward to stand before Tang Ye, gesturing with his hand a couple of times.

The Moroccan was a full half-head taller than Tang Ye.

"What are you rushing for? I'm still going to grow taller," Tang Ye said.

Amrabat merely shrugged indifferently: "If you grow, I'll grow too. Lately, I dream every night that I'm getting taller; I feel my ceiling should be 1.86 meters, or even 1.87 meters!"

"How tall were you at your last physical?" Tang Ye suddenly asked.

"1.82 meters."

"And this time?"

"... 1.82 meters?"

"Where did you grow?" Tang Ye mocked the Amrabat standing before him: "When I met you a year ago, you were this height, and it hasn't changed since!"

"Come on, it's just a matter of time; I can definitely still grow, and I will absolutely be taller than you, believe me!"

Amrabat countered directly. Hearing the commotion, Ten Hag walked over: "You two midfielders don't really need height; do you also want to play as defenders and strikers?"

"I need physical confrontation," Tang Ye explained. "If height increases, weight will increase, and then physical confrontation ability will become very strong; this way, I can tackle the opponent's attacking players and then pass to my teammates."

While speaking, Tang Ye even performed actions to demonstrate.

"Okay, okay, impressive, very impressive!" Ten Hag clapped and cheered. "I already know your physical confrontation is very strong, so can you tell me why you ran away halfway through the last training session?"

Tang Ye explained, "Greater height means increased weight, which results in much stronger physical resistance; this way, I can steal the ball from the opponent's offensive players and then pass to my teammates."

"I went to the toilet." Tang Ye touched his nose. "When I came back, I saw you had all finished training, so I went straight to the cafeteria."

"Sophyan can vouch for me!" Tang Ye pulled Amrabat in front of him, pitting bald head against bald head.

"Yes, I can vouch for him," Amrabat said, pointing his thumb backward at Tang Ye. "He went straight back to the dormitory to play video games."

"Wait!" Tang Ye suddenly realized things were not looking good and quickly pushed Amrabat away from in front of him.

The latter shrugged helplessly: "If you admit that you won't be taller than me in the future, I could actually speak up for you."

"Damn!" Looking at Ten Hag and Amrabat before him, Tang Ye took a step back.

Bald heads are friends with bald heads.

Neither of these two bald heads is a good person!

"Jin Shang, you need to make up for the time you missed in the last training session, and it will be double the amount."

Ten Hag left these words and then departed.

"Wait!"

Tang Ye suddenly realized something was wrong and hastily pushed Amrabat away from in front of him; the latter shrugged helplessly: "If you admit you'll never be taller than me, I could actually speak up for you."

"Damn!"

Looking at Ten Hag and Amrabat before him, Tang Ye took a step back.

Bald heads are friends with bald heads.

Neither of these two baldies is a good person!

"Your Majesty needs to make up for the time missed during the last training session, and at double the amount."

Ten Hag left these words behind, then departed.

"Oh, right!"

Suddenly thinking of something, Ten Hag stopped in his tracks: "You're starting in the match on the 8th; let's handle the make-up training time after the 8th. Don't train too hard before the game; PSV Eindhoven is tough to play against."

Hearing Ten Hag's words, Amrabat looked at Tang Ye beside him with a face full of shock, while the latter pointed at his own mouth: "Ah, so I'm playing in the next match?"

"Wasn't my meaning clear enough?"

Ten Hag looked at Tang Ye with a speechless expression, never expecting that Tang Ye's next words would leave him even more speechless: "PSV Eindhoven is too strong; if I start, we won't lose the match, right?"

"If I tell you to start, then you start; don't argue with me here. If you argue with me again, I'll send you to substitute..."

Halfway through his sentence, he realized something was off, so Ten Hag quickly corrected himself: "... I'll send you to eat in the reserve team's cafeteria!"

"Sorry, sorry, my fault."

Tang Ye apologized repeatedly.

Actually, Ten Hag was not as bad as imagined.

He had almost thought Ten Hag was going to make him sit on the substitutes' bench!

Match day had arrived!

Philips Stadion!

Today was a clash between the Eredivisie defending champions and an emerging dark horse; nearly all 40,000 seats in the Philips Stadion were filled.

Additionally, four hours before kick-off, local Dutch and European football journalists had already surrounded the press conference room.

Click!

Click-click!

Ten Hag walked in with a calm expression, faced the journalists below, picked up the microphone with an equally calm look, and blew into it twice: "Hoo, hoo."

"Erik, do you have anything to say about winning the Coach of the Month award for October?"

"I know, but there isn't much time now; we should focus on today's match, don't you think?"

Ten Hag did not rush to respond regarding the matter of receiving the monthly best coach trophy after today's match.

Absolutely nothing could be said now.

Only after this match ended would Ten Hag know what to say based on the scoreline!

"Alright, today you are facing PSV Eindhoven away; they are last season's league champions and also the strongest team you have encountered in the Eredivisie this season."

Ten Hag nodded, signaling the journalist to continue.

"Before the match, fans and commentators stated this is a mismatch in strength, because PSV Eindhoven's total squad value is nearly ten times yours! Facing the formidable opponent PSV Eindhoven..."

"No, Mr. Journalist, I must point out the error in your statement."

Ten Hag interrupted the journalist: "Formidable opponent PSV Eindhoven; hmm, I admit PSV Eindhoven is a very strong opponent, and I believe PSV Eindhoven also considers us a very strong opponent."

"This is not a match between a weak team and a strong team with a huge disparity in strength; this is a match between the first and second place teams in the league."

Ten Hag looked down at the front row of journalists: "There is another name for this kind of match..."

"The Eredivisie Tianwangshan!"

(End of chapter)