Chapter 59: Ward-Prowse Topspin Free Kick (4k)

20,000 Counterattack Points!

With such a large Huabei quota again, following a normal development path was definitely not an option.

That wasn't Tang Ye's style!

He thought of a dirty trick!

Use all 20,000 yuan to unlock the item purchase permissions!

【Spend 80 Counterattack Points to unlock a new item?】

【Your purchase list contains items that do not support 'Buy Now, Pay Later'; please confirm again】

"..."

The demon rises one foot, but the Dao rises ten feet!

Tang Ye was finally sanctioned!

Since the dirty trick wouldn't work, there was no choice but to switch to the Template Shop.

Like the Item Shop, items in the Template Shop unlock gradually, but there is one slight difference.

Items in the Item Shop are actively unlocked by Tang Ye using Counterattack Points, but the Template Shop is different; its contents increase as Tang Ye's various attributes improve.

According to Tang Ye's guess, the system was likely trying to avoid situations where items are bought but cannot be used.

Just like the Carlos Heavy Cannon Template; Tang Ye simply lacked the strength required to support the template, so he naturally couldn't buy items from that template.

With money in his own hands—even if it was a loan, it was still cash—Tang Ye could choose what he liked.

As a midfielder, what Tang Ye needed most right now was...

Ball control!

Right, he had almost forgotten; he was a ball-controlling midfielder!

A ball-controlling midfielder must buy a ball-control template!

Tang Ye scrolled through the list; currently, there weren't many ball-control templates he could purchase, only two in total.

【Iniesta La Croqueta Template】

Price: 28,000 Counterattack Points

No matter how strong Iniesta was, Laozi only had a 20,000 quota anyway, so this one was definitely out of reach.

【Busquets "V" Drag Template】

Price: 24,000 Counterattack Points

Okay, the second one was still unaffordable.

Tang Ye really wanted to work on ball control, but the premium on these ball-control templates was truly too severe.

Just dragging the ball cost 24,000 points?

Let alone the fact that Tang Ye had no money; even if he did, he wouldn't buy it!

Since ball control was temporarily off the table, he might as well look at free kicks.

Because his Strength attribute was too poor, almost all the free-kick templates Tang Ye could currently buy were for passing.

There was only one template for direct shooting.

【Wei Wei Shihao Direct Free Kick Template】

Price: 10,007 Counterattack Points

Direct shooting was very cool, but the price was awkward.

The cheapest price for a star player template was 10,000; if Tang Ye bought the Wei Wei Shihao template, he would be left with over 9,000 Counterattack Points in quota.

What a bloody loss!

With no other choice, Tang Ye could only pick from the passing templates; after scanning for about half a minute, he selected the one most suitable for himself.

【Ward-Prowse Topspin Free Kick Template】

Price: 20,000 Counterattack Points

Tang Ye checked online; this Ward-Prowse was currently just a midfielder at Southampton valued at 9 million euros, but one couldn't judge it that way, since the system's timeline differed from reality.

The 21-year-old Ward-Prowse was valued at 9 million euros, but judging from this 20,000 Counterattack Point price, the peak Ward-Prowse in the system's timeline was certainly worth far more than 9 million euros.

Most importantly...

20,000 Counterattack Points; this was the highest-priced free-kick template among all those he could afford!

You can profit, but I absolutely cannot lose out!

【You have purchased the Ward-Prowse Topspin Free Kick Template】

【Set Pieces: 56 → 66】

Once the free-kick template was bought, Tang Ye's set-piece ability surged by 10 points, and his overall rating finally broke through the 70 mark.

Work a little harder every day, and success will draw closer and closer!

The grueling training continued; after ten days, with the help of broccoli and hot chocolate milk, 【De Bruyne Far-Corner Curler】 successfully advanced to Lv2 Similarity.

On the second day after the Far-Corner Curler leveled up, the 13th round of the Eredivisie began!

Ten Hag and Ayoub laid their cards on the table, directly confirming Tang Ye's starting position; the reason was simple: currently, apart from heading, shooting, and defensive coverage where Ayoub surpassed him, Tang Ye led in all other core techniques.

Moreover, Tang Ye's off-the-ball movement could make up for his deficiencies in shooting, so strictly speaking, Tang Ye truly lagged behind in only two aspects: heading and defensive coverage.

That bastard Ten Hag had chosen his timing perfectly; if this were early in the season, Ayoub, as a meritorious contributor, could still have contested with Ten Hag.

But now, that was absolutely impossible.

Ten Hag had already been regarded by the upper management as Utrecht's savior!

If Ten Hag said Tang Ye was a starter, then Tang Ye was a starter.

This was a position Tang Ye had fought for through training; it had nothing to do with him possessing Ten Hag's nude photos!

"Okay brothers, today is the match between Utrecht and Nijmegen; no need to introduce Utrecht, Tang Ye remains in the starting lineup."

"As for Nijmegen, this team's performance this season can only be described as mediocre, about the same as The Hague and Vitesse..."

It was still streamer Wang Chao's live room, except that today Wang Chao had turned on his camera.

He did not show his face, only revealing the area from his abdomen to his neck.

From the "Utrecht" crest, one could tell this was Utrecht's home jersey.

Wang Chao had written a large "I am guilty" on a sheet of white paper and stuck it to his abdomen.

In the previous match, he had chosen his own favorite team over Tang Ye's, ultimately sending 2,000 rice grains away for nothing.

He was repenting!

【Does the streamer know he was wrong?】

【Going against my Ball King Tang, your wallet is definitely doomed.】

【I am guilty, hahaha!】

【I don't know what level Nijmegen is at; I only know the Ball King is at Utrecht.】

【Ten Hag's coaching ability is truly high; he directly carried my brother Meng to victory.】

While the bean warriors in the live room mocked Wang Chao, the players had already taken their positions on the field.

For today's match, Ten Hag once again fielded a 4-1-3-2 formation, with Haller and Di Di Bala on the left and right respectively.

Tang Ye, as the sole attacking midfielder, was placed in the center!

"Beep——!!!"

One can of Red Bull down, time to start today's performance!

For Tang Ye, this match held special significance.

This was his first match officially starting as a midfielder for Utrecht!

Sixteen years old, starting in the Eredivisie; although some things were guessed, you cannot thereby deny Tang Ye's efforts!

"Come on, give it to me!"

Standing in his starting position, Tang Ye was full of passion; he ran to the right flank to receive the ball, and Ramselaar passed it over.

Drag and turn!

And then...

"Holy crap!"

Tang Ye had only turned halfway when someone charged in from the side, pushing Tang Ye's back with both hands.

The sudden force from behind made Tang Ye unable to support himself, and he fell directly to his knees on the ground.

The referee blew for Bijker's foul but did not issue a card.

"Are you okay?"

Ramselaar ran over, pulled Tang Ye up from the ground; the latter did a few shallow squats on the spot, and after confirming his knees were fine, started running forward.

Being taken down less than ten seconds after kickoff, barring any surprises, Tang Ye had already been targeted for this match.

"Damn, actually pushing down my Ball King Tang."

"But it should be no big problem; let's see this free kick for Utrecht, handed to defender Van der Mareel to handle."

"Van der Mareel's red card suspension is over; this is a huge boost for Utrecht's defense!"

"Beep, beep beep!"

The first half ended, with Nijmegen and Utrecht exchanging blank scores.

Do not let Nijmegen's current points total, far inferior to Utrecht's, fool you; this team's style of play is extremely tough, completely restricting both Tang Ye and Di Di Bala.

Due to Nijmegen's malicious targeting, Tang Ye also produced the incredible statistic of seven duels contested with zero successes.

"Your grandmother's!"

Only after the referee's whistle did Tang Ye climb up from the ground, covered in grass clippings; Haller slowly jogged over: "Are you alright?"

Tang Ye nodded; since he had intentionally tried to dodge before being hit, the probability of injury was not high.

But he was very angry right now.

Because these Nijmegen players one and all refused to follow the rules of sportsmanship!

At halftime, Ten Hag was in the locker room summarizing things with the players.

"In the first half, many of our positions were restricted; the opponent played a bit rough, which was indeed uncomfortable, but you must remember: move your positions, get running, and then get the ball moving."

Ten Hag moved quickly back and forth in the center of the locker room: "Do you understand what I mean? Pass the ball a bit faster, do not give the opponent a chance to touch you."

"Now for the second-half tactics; as for the tactics..."

The Utrecht players lifted their heads.

"The tactics will remain the same as the first half; as long as we pass the ball faster, we will have no problems."

That's... that's it?

Ramselaar widened his eyes: "No changes at all? Shouldn't we open up the flanks a bit more?"

"If you want to open it up a bit more, you can open it up a bit more; you are the captain on the field, so it depends on you. But the result of this match will not change; we will definitely win."

"..."

Not bad; truly worthy of being the Eredivisie Coach of the Month.

The first half had just ended, and Ten Hag already knew the match result!

While the players ate bananas and rested in the locker room, Ten Hag walked over, swapped positions with Amrabat, and sat down beside Tang Ye.

"If you feel it's too uncomfortable playing, I can substitute you off, but you need to think it through."

"..."

Tang Ye did not give an answer immediately; he fell into thought.

Substituted off...

His current balance of Counterattack Points was still quite ample; there was no absolute need to rely on goals and assists to earn money, so he could indeed be substituted off to rest.

But doing so, Tang Ye felt, was not a good idea.

The first half had been miserable to play; if they didn't turn things around in the second half, wouldn't that misery last for several more days?

"Uh, Sitting Like, how about I try again?"

Tang Ye asked tentatively. Ten Hag nodded, then walked away to speak with Allé and Di Di Bala.

"I feel like you've changed."

Amrabat sat back down in his spot and suddenly said this.

"Have I changed? Changed in what way?"

Tang Ye paused for a moment, not understanding what Amrabat meant by those words.

"Changed is changed. Back in the reserve team, if Meulent asked if you wanted to keep playing, you would definitely have requested to be substituted off."

Amrabat said seriously.

"Come on, last season I only played twice in the league, and both times I stayed on until the final whistle blew; when did I ever request to be subbed off?"

Tang Ye did not agree with Amrabat: "Even if Meulent told me to come off, I would have stayed on the pitch!"

Amrabat shrugged and did not argue further with Tang Ye.

In the Moroccan's eyes, Tang Ye had one hundred percent changed.

Once a player starts frequently, ambition grows.

After enjoying the cheers of the crowd during moments of success, you are no longer willing to accept failure!

The second half began; neither side made any substitution adjustments.

The match reached the 72nd minute of the second half when Tang Ye's long-range shot from outside the box soared three times the height of the crossbar.

The score was still 0:0!

【"Damn, both sides are playing for eggs today; crap, this is bad."】

【"Wait for a miracle after the 80th minute."】

【"Tang Tang Qiuwang scores a hat-trick, Utrecht wins 3:0 away against Nijmegen!"】

【"Tang Ye's positioning is indeed good, but his shooting technique still needs work; apart from poaching in the box and curling shots into the far corner, he has no other tricks."】

【"Wait, isn't Tang Ye a midfielder? Why does he have as many shots as Allé?"】

【"No one can figure out what position my brother Meng is playing."】

【"Looking at it this way, Ten Hag is truly awesome; he can actually use a player with no clear positioning so effectively."】

"Damn, can't score!"

Tang Ye watched the ball fly into the stands, feeling somewhat helpless in his heart.

【152】 Why couldn't he keep that shot down!

Why can't this ball be kept down!

But before Tang Ye could dwell on it, the Nijmegen goalkeeper took the ball from the ball boy, preparing to launch a long counter-attack against Utrecht, forcing Tang Ye to sprint back immediately.

"Through the middle! Through the middle! Watch the middle!"

Once the clock passed 75 minutes, even Ten Hag, who had previously been plotting strategies with ease, could no longer stay seated; he kept emphasizing attacking issues to the players on the field.

"They have yellow cards; go force fouls!"

No sooner had Ten Hag finished speaking than Nijmegen immediately made a substitution to manipulate the cards.

"..."

"Damn it!"

The situation was becoming tangled; the match on the field was now completely a fifty-fifty affair.

The match reached the 82nd minute!

"Utrecht is attacking; Amrabat is advancing. His speed isn't fast, but he's very steady; I feel this is an opportunity."

"Utrecht! I'm begging you, Utrecht, can you please score just one? Just one will do, just one!"

Bean Warriors generally dislike betting on draws; Wang Chao and the guys in his livestream room were naturally the same.

But the current score was indeed a draw!

"Pass to me, pass to me!"

Amrabat, who was dribbling, found his path blocked; Tang Ye ran from the center to the left flank to offer support, with Brinburg following closely behind.

Tang Ye was observing as Amrabat lifted his foot to strike.

Right now!

Tang Ye suddenly slammed on the brakes, leaving Brinburg directly in front of him.

Stopping in place, Tang Ye successfully controlled the ball and passed it back to Amrabat before Brinburg could recover.

Haha!

Utrecht's wing advance continued deeper; Tang Ye smiled twice at Brinburg, then started running forward.

"OK, straight-up toyed with him!"

"Tang Ye! Very beautiful, playing Nijmegen's defensive midfielder like a puppet in the palm of his hand!"

"Amrabat is blocked again; pass to Tang Ye!"

"Tang Ye, see if there's an opportunity!"

"Oh! Brinburg! The Brinburg who was just toyed with by Tang Ye has run back from behind and directly tackled Tang Ye!"

Nijmegen's players were generally quite fierce; Tang Ye had also suffered Brinburg's immediate revenge on the spot!

"Damn your grandmother!"

(End of this chapter)