Chapter 563: Mourinho vs. Ten Hag: The Tottenham Manager Targeted

"Martial!"

"Goal by Martial!"

"1:0!"

The set-piece combination worked, and Manchester United scored the opening goal of the match.

"Wow!!!!"

Check Dongqiu Di live match report: Tang Ye with a precise assist, Martial opens the scoring, Manchester United 1:0 Tottenham.

The goal indeed came somewhat suddenly, but there was nothing to be done about it.

GGBond's quick passing was simply too bizarre!

In the camera frame, the Manchester United players hugged each other.

Tang Ye wanted to jump onto Martial, but finding Martial too thin, he ultimately didn't jump.

If Martial had gotten injured during the celebration, that would have been disastrous!

"What an assist from Tang Ye!"

"Haha, we can now call this a Ballon d'Or level assist."

A Ballon d'Or level assist; if you cannot imagine a suitable adjective, you can indeed say it like that.

In fact, every one of Tang Ye's assists right now could be called a Ballon d'Or level assist, because these are assists coming from a Ballon d'Or winner.

"Martial! (Ma Piggy Xia'er)"

Boom! Boom!

"Martial!"

Boom! Boom!

The Manchester United fans chanted the scorer's name; at this moment, the camera cut to Mourinho in front of the away team's substitute bench.

Mourinho stood with his hands in his pockets, pacing left and right, occasionally cursing the Tottenham players on the field.

Actually, before this match even started, most fans did not favor Tottenham; regarding conceding the first goal, Tottenham fans had actually expected it long ago.

But Mourinho was unhappy.

In his plan, he had never considered losing, because the Portuguese coach felt that the team he led was sufficient to defeat anything.

"When they attack, we need to pull our defensive line back, understand!?"

Mourinho shouted at Alli: "Can you track back? Let me see you tracking back; if you cannot help the team with offense, then defend!"

In this match, Alli was playing as an attacking midfielder, and as an attacking midfielder, Alli failed to undertake the defensive duties he should have shouldered.

Facing the new coach's roar, Alli merely glanced at Mourinho before walking away; it was unknown whether he had taken the coach's words to heart.

"Alli, eh, this..."

"This is not a good omen."

The commentators had obviously noticed Alli's behavior as well.

But there was nothing to be done; having become famous at a young age and becoming Tottenham's starting attacking midfielder in just a few short years, it was understandable for Alli to be a bit arrogant.

"Sigh, let's hope Alli can deliver a performance that matches his attitude."

The match continued, reaching the 30th minute.

Tottenham actively relinquished possession, which made Manchester United play very comfortably; by the 30th minute, Manchester United's possession rate had already approached 65%.

It was temporarily unclear what Mourinho was thinking, because fans familiar with Manchester United all knew that giving possession to Manchester United was actually a very dangerous thing.

Possession play and set-piece defense are among Manchester United's few weaknesses right now, yet you choose not to exploit the opponent's weaknesses; so how are you going to play?

Is Tottenham... showing off?

Boom!

Tang Ye completed a tackle on Son Heung-min on the flank.

His positioning was a bit too deep.

Driving forward with the ball himself would be a bit slow, so Tang Ye chose what he believed to be the most correct option.

A through-pass threaded to Rashford at the very front.

A explosive sprint!

Boom!

Rashford brought his speed ability into play to the greatest extent.

Controlling the ball!

The difficulty of controlling the ball was a bit high; Rashford didn't handle it well on the first touch.

Adjust quickly.

Stabilizing the ball, Rashford decisively began cutting inside against the defending player.

It looked like he wanted to curl a shot, and the Tottenham players rushed over.

Boom!

A feint and change of direction; Rashford wanted to slip through between two defending players.

In the end, the man got through, but the ball did not.

A mistake!

"Aiyo, that was missing a very good scoring opportunity."

"Actually, Martial should have moved over to support sooner."

"Right, Martial's reaction was a bit slow..."

Manchester United missed their second scoring opportunity.

And just three minutes after this missed opportunity, Tottenham found an opportunity of their own.

Dembélé's curled shot was caught by the goalkeeper, who then ran with the ball to the edge of the penalty area.

"Ah!"

The throw-in sailed out, landing directly near the center circle.

Alli passes to Son Heung-min!

Slap!

This was a long pass from Son Heung-min, targeting Harry Kane at the very front.

So here's the problem: since they just finished an attack, Manchester United's defenders are positioned quite high up, giving Harry Kane an opportunity to break through the defense.

He controls the ball!

"Ohh!!!!"

"Eh, here it comes, this looks like a one-on-one!"

"Harry Kane! Let's see if Harry Kane can seize this opportunity!"

The control wasn't perfect, but relying on his physical advantage, Kane managed to secure the ball anyway.

He ran straight toward the goal.

Now Kane was only about 20 meters from the arc, and De Gea was forced to rush out from his goal line.

The one-on-one situation was fully formed!

"Ohhh!!!"

Kane sprinted forward with the ball, with Wan-Bissaka chasing behind.

Harry Kane entered the penalty area.

De Gea prepared to make a save; just then, Wan-Bissaka arrived.

Turning sideways, he found the right moment.

Bang!

Wan-Bissaka completed the tackle on Kane, and the Tottenham striker fell down inside the penalty area.

"Beautiful! Wan-Bissaka!"

"A very clean tackle!"

"Beep beep beep!!!"

Thanks to Wan-Bissaka's perfect defensive recovery, Manchester United temporarily maintained their leading score.

"It's a penalty!"

Alli and Vertonghen together appealed to the referee: "Penalty, penalty!"

Not only the players on the field, but even Mourinho was shouting.

But to be honest, thinking it would be this simple was a mistake.

With such a clean tackle, how could it possibly be a foul by Manchester United?

"Stop arguing, stop arguing."

Tang Ye tried to push Alli away, only to get shoved back by Alli in return.

"Hey!"

Tang Ye stepped forward, ready to pick a fight, but Rodri grabbed him firmly.

As Manchester United's starting defensive midfielder, Rodri's task was not only to stop the opponent's attacks but also to prevent Tang Ye from committing fouls.

"You're overthinking it."

After Tang Ye said that to Alli, some dispute also broke out on the sidelines between Ten Hag and Mourinho.

No one knew who started it, but Ten Hag and Mourinho were now pointing fingers at each other's heads, looking as if they were about to come to blows.

"Watch yourself."

"Control your players!" Mourinho said.

Ten Hag immediately spread his hands in retort: "Is this why you think it's a penalty? If you're blind, then I suppose this could be a penalty."

"..."

"Wow!!!"

"Beep beep beep beep beep!!!"

The fans stood in the stands, waiting eagerly for the two coaches to start fighting.

But what they wanted to see did not happen; on-site staff and several referees pulled the two apart.

【Fight, fight!】

【Why did Mourinho get hands-on?】

【Don't chicken out, Saint Ten, get him!】

【Dying of laughter, did Ten Hag just curse at Mourinho?】

【This one, this one is on a certain Ballon d'Or winner; the Manchester United captain is pushing people again.】

"Calm down, calm down."

Fan Fan Dejiahe blocked Ten Hag from the front: "It's his fault, it's his fault."

Fan Fan Dejiahe actually didn't know whose fault it was; he just wanted Ten Hag to calm down.

Don't get a card, Erik!

Just as the two coaches were clashing, Tang Ye looked toward the sidelines: "How did they get into this?"

"Seems like it's because of you..."

Martial said quietly.

"Ah..."

Tang Ye took a step back: "Don't blame me; I'm a good person."

Whoosh, whoosh...

"Huff, huff."

In the final moments of the match, Manchester United intensified their attack, aiming to score a second goal, but failed.

Manchester United's continuously rising possession rate and shot count made Mourinho extremely anxious, while his dissatisfaction with the referee grew increasingly intense.

The most absurd part was that the Manchester United fans below the main stand were still causing trouble.

Today's match tickets were priced 20% higher than usual, but if one could simultaneously see the Ballon d'Or trophy displayed and witness the two head coaches engaging in a physical brawl, it would absolutely be worth it.

Currently, the person under the most pressure was Fan Fan Dejiahe; besides watching the computer screen before him, he also had to keep a constant eye on Ten Hag.

Because the two head coaches could start fighting at any moment!

Check Dongqiu Di Halftime Report: Martial scores; halftime score Manchester United 1:0 leading; Mourinho and Ten Hag clash off the pitch.

"Counter-attacking from defense—what is counter-attacking from defense? All of you need to get running! When an opposing player attacks, you must catch up with them at maximum speed and stop them. Execute the defense, then counter-attack; that is our tactic." Mourinho spread his hands: "And then? What are you doing? What exactly are you doing?"

"Hmm, Dele?"

"I shouldn't be the one with the worst first-half performance."

Being the first person singled out by Mourinho, Alli was now quite unhappy.

Among Tottenham's eleven starting players, Alli could be counted among the few with the best first-half performances; without him, many of Tottenham's attacks wouldn't even have materialized.

Mourinho turned his head away, then stared fixedly at Alli: "What I demand is not your individual performances; what I demand is that you adhere to the tactics!"

"You are an attacking midfielder; an attacking midfielder needs to defend."

"You can look at TY; how does TY do it?"

Alli's poor attitude caused Mourinho to become fierce as well.

"Not the worst performer in the first half, heh heh. TY plays so much better than you; did he participate in defense?"

"..."

Alli fell silent, the expression on his face far from happy.

"Everyone must abide by the tactics; this is our only chance to win!"

Clap, clap, clap, clap!

Mourinho rapidly moved the magnetic flags on his tactical board.

Tottenham's paper strength was weaker than Manchester United's; if the tactics were not executed properly, there would truly be zero chance.

What angered Mourinho was that many Tottenham players had not yet realized this point.

The second half was about to begin; inside the player tunnel.

"Harry."

Tang Ye and Kane embraced; the two were already old rivals.

"Congratulations, haha."

Kane patted Tang Ye's back; truth be told, he somewhat wanted to ask Tang Ye to let him see the Ballon d'Or trophy and even touch it a few times, but after hesitating for a moment, Kane gave up.

"Good luck, Harry."

"Mm, good luck."

Just before the second half began, Tang Ye accidentally overheard the exchange between Mourinho and Alli.

"If I don't see you defending in the second half, I will substitute you off."

Tang Ye shook his head.

He hoped Alli would not listen too closely to Mourinho's words, as that would make it easier for Manchester United to attack.

The 64th minute of the second half!

Once again using the right flank as the breakthrough point, Tang Ye delivered a precise long pass to find Dembélé.

It was absurdly accurate, yet the Manchester United fans in the stands showed little reaction.

"This pass for Tang Ye is still... eh, very easy!"

"Dembélé needs to exploit his speed advantage on the right flank."

"We say that this player, Dembélé, possesses relatively outstanding individual ability, so let's see how Tottenham intends to defend."

Cutting diagonally toward the arc, Dembélé alternated controlling the ball with his left and right feet.

Tap, tap!

A one-two combination was executed; Dembélé received the ball back from Martial once again.

He was already approaching the arc.

Moving left, moving right...

Lowering his center of gravity, then moving left again.

Dembélé employed numerous subtle details in his dribbling; when changing direction, he pushed the ball toward the opponent's feet, then pulled it back.

Vertonghen was fooled into stumbling!

"Wow!!!"

Dembélé completed his third dribble past an opponent of this match!

Cutting inside!

Bang!

Curling a shot toward the far corner, the goalkeeper parried the ball away.

Hiss...

"You can adjust it a bit more."

Tang Ye quickly rubbed Dembélé's head a few times with his hand, then took the ball from the ball boy.

A corner kick for Manchester United!

This time, it was left to Tang Ye to take it.

Tang Ye was not Manchester United's first-choice corner taker, because his ability to judge weaknesses was crucial in corner attacks.

But Tang Ye was not the type to hold back; his set-piece attribute had just skyrocketed to 90 and hadn't been used much yet, so today he absolutely had to show off during this corner opportunity!

"Hoo..."

Observing carefully.

"Beep!!!"

The referee blew the whistle, and Tang Ye raised both hands.

Run-up!

Pa!

His left foot delivered the cross.

Aimed at his favorite spot: the far post.

Rodri and Smolling rushed for the ball together; both collided with defenders, and in the end, neither managed to get the ball.

The ball fell to the ground.

The next second!

Dembélé arrived at a gallop.

The ball bounced up to a height exactly level with Dembélé's neck, so how to handle this ball was perfectly clear.

Bang!

A header flicked out!

"Goooo——aaaaa——llllll!!!!"

"Goal!"

"Dembélé! A header scores!"

The score became 2:0; at this point, Manchester United had already established their complete dominance in this match.

【Assist brace achieved; you gain an extra 20 Counterattack Points.】

Dembélé prepared to run to the right-side corner flag to celebrate, but suddenly thought of something, turned around, and ran toward the left-side corner flag instead.

Because the left side was where Tom was!

"Woww!!!!"

Ggbond and Osman ran toward each other and, witnessed by the fans, performed a knee slide together.

Bang!

Swish swish swish!!!

It was worth mentioning that Dembélé also drew three stripes.

"Oh, haha!"

"This thing Dembélé did... when did he practice it?"

The two stopped when they were still two meters apart; Dembélé stood up to shorten the distance with Tang Ye, then knelt down again.

The Manchester United striker and midfielder faced each other, kneeling on one knee; both performed the exact same motion, one hand covering their face, the other tucked behind their backside.

The camera slowly focused in.

Hmm, quite handsome!

After kneeling, the two stood up; Tang Ye grabbed Dembélé's body and delivered a fierce chest bump.

"Haha!"

"Wow!!!!"

【So handsome?】

【Damn, looking at it now, Ten Hag is truly a genius; he buys whoever Tang Ye likes. With this, if Manchester United doesn't revive, who will?】

【When you think Dembélé isn't worth 100 million, Ten Hag uses Tang Ye to activate Dembélé.】

Manchester United's transfers in recent seasons have been exactly like this.

Starting with Tang Ye, then Rodri, Ale, De Jong, and now Dembélé; every single signing by Manchester United appeared overpriced in the eyes of the fans.

Fans, standing on the fifth floor looking down, thought Ten Hag's transfers were truly terrible, purely first-level operational skill.

But now it seems that the first-level Ten Hag was merely the shadow of Saint Ten; the real Saint Ten had long since flown up to the stratosphere.

Buying a player valued at 30 million euros for 50 million euros might seem like a 20 million euro loss, but Ten Hag simply paired the newly bought player with Tang Ye, eating together, training together, and playing together.

A few months later, once the bond was successfully established, the 30 million euro player transformed and soared to a value of 80 million euros.

In the end, a net profit of 30 million.

"Hey, one can only say Manchester United's revival is not without reason, because looking across all football coaches in every European league, indeed no one can see as far as Ten Hag."

"Manchester United keeps overpaying for players, sigh, it's fine. Players are stocks; stocks rise in price!"

He Wei expressed his admiration for Ten Hag.

Cognition determines height, and the Dutchman's cognition is precisely the key to Manchester United's revival!

Time reached the 75th minute of the match; Ten Hag substituted Tang Ye off the field.

Manchester United needed to prepare for the next Manchester Derby.

Then, at the 80th minute, Tottenham Hotspur launched a very clever attack; Son Heung-min's cross found Kane.

The next second, Kane was brought down inside the penalty area.

From a god's-eye view, it was an obvious foul, yet the referee simply did not award Tottenham a penalty.

"Hey!"

Mourinho found the fourth official to complain: "That's a penalty. Why wasn't it called? What's going on?"

Beep!

After two consecutive complaints received no response, Mourinho grew so furious he simply sat back down in his seat.

He was being targeted!

As for why Manchester United managed to win last season's Premier League title, let us set that aside for now.

But one thing is certain: Mourinho was absolutely being targeted; not only him, but the entire Tottenham squad was being targeted.

The FA was targeting them, which was why Tottenham's win rate this season had failed to meet expectations!

Staring at the referee on the pitch, Mourinho's breathing grew heavier and heavier.

The Portuguese man was already thinking of rushing onto the field, but in the end, reason prevailed.

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

"Alright, the match is over! Ultimately, thanks to goals from Martial and Dembélé, Manchester United secured victory in this match with a 2:0 scoreline!"

"Currently, after 15 rounds of Premier League matches, Manchester United has drawn only twice, with the other 13 matches all being victories, plus 7 clean sheets."

Thirteen wins and two draws in 15 rounds—this record is quite extraordinary!

"Hiss..."

"It feels like if no injuries occur this season, Manchester United would be invincible in the Premier League."

"Oh, that's hard to say, Commentator He. Liwupu is also very strong this season; moreover, going an entire season without any injuries—isn't that a bit too difficult?"

"We have also seen that Ten Hag has learned from last season's lessons; this season, Tang Ye and Rashford have been substituted off early in many matches, which indeed helps greatly in preventing injuries..."

"Then, Commentator He, who do you think has a greater chance of winning the championship this season, Manchester United or Liwupu?"

"I currently favor Manchester United, provided that other Premier League teams do not adopt Dortmund's kind of attacking tactics."

This season's Champions League group stage has already proven that Manchester United has weaknesses; whether the other 19 teams in the Premier League can exploit those weaknesses remains to be seen.

(End of chapter)