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

20,000 reverse points!

Having this much Huabei credit again, following a normal development path is definitely impossible.

That’s not Tang Ye’s style!

He thought of a dirty trick!

Use all 20,000 to buy item purchase permissions!

【Spend 80 reverse points to unlock new items?】

【Your purchase list contains items not eligible for pay-later, please confirm again】

«…»

The devil may be cunning, but the Dao is higher!

Tang Ye was finally sanctioned!

Can’t abuse the dirty trick anymore, switch to the template store.

The template store is like the item store—items unlock gradually—but there’s one key difference.

In the item store, Tang Ye actively unlocks items with reverse points; in the template store, items unlock as his attributes improve.

Tang Ye guessed the system did this to prevent buying items he couldn’t use.

Like the Carlos Cannon template—he lacked the required strength, so he couldn’t buy it.

Money in hand, even if it’s a loan, is still cash—he could choose what he wanted.

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

Ball control!

Right, almost forgot—he was a ball-control midfielder!

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

Tang Ye scrolled through them—only two ball-control templates were currently available.

【Iniesta Deep-Fried Dumpling Template】

Price: 28,000 reverse points

No matter how strong Iniesta is, I’ve only got 20,000 credit—this one’s out of the question.

【Busquets ‘V’-Pull Template】

Price: 24,000 reverse points

OK, the second one’s still unaffordable.

Tang Ye really wanted ball control, but these templates were way overpriced.

Twenty-four thousand points just to pull the ball?

Even if he had the money, he wouldn’t buy it!

Ball control’s out for now—check free kicks.

Due to his weak strength, all free-kick templates he could afford were for passing.

Only one was for direct shooting.

【Wei Shihao Direct Free Kick Template】

Price: 10,007 reverse points

Direct shooting looked cool, but the price was awkward.

The cheapest star template cost 10,000—if Tang Ye bought Wei Shihao’s, he’d have over 9,000 reverse points left.

Total loss!

No choice—he had to pick from passing templates. After half a minute of scanning, he chose the one best suited to him.

【Ward-Prowse Rising Free Kick Template】

Price: 20,000 reverse points

Tang Ye checked online—Ward-Prowse was currently a midfielder valued at 9 million euros at Southampton, but that didn’t matter—the system’s timeline didn’t match reality.

At 21, Ward-Prowse was worth 9 million euros, but this 20,000 reverse point price meant the system’s peak Ward-Prowse was worth far more.

Most importantly…

20,000 reverse points—the highest price among all free-kick templates he could afford!

You can profit, but I absolutely won’t lose!

【You purchased the Ward-Prowse Rising Free Kick Template】

【Set Pieces: 56 → 66】

Buying the free-kick template instantly boosted Tang Ye’s set-piece ability by 10 points—his overall rating finally broke 70.

Keep improving a little every day—success draws closer!

…

Training continued. In ten days, with the help of broccoli and hot chocolate milk, 【De Bruyne Far-Angle Curler】 upgraded to Lv. 2 similarity.

The very next day, Eredivisie Matchday 13 began!

Ten Hag and Ayoubl laid it all out—Tang Ye was confirmed as starter. Simple reason: aside from heading, shooting, and coverage, Tang Ye led Ayoubl in every core skill.

Tang Ye’s movement compensated for his weak shooting—strictly speaking, he only lagged in heading and defensive coverage.

Ten Hag picked the perfect timing—if this were early season, Ayoubl, as a hero, might’ve challenged him.

But now? Absolutely not.

Ten Hag was already seen by management as Utrecht’s savior!

Ten Hag said Tang Ye started—he started.

This position was earned through training, not because he had Ten Hag’s naked photos!

«OK guys, today’s match is Utrecht vs. Nijmegen. Utrecht needs no introduction—Tang Ye starts again.»

«Nijmegen? Their season’s been average—similar to Ajax, Vitesse…»

Still Wang Chao’s livestream, but today he turned on his camera.

He didn’t show his face—only his abdomen to neck.

The «Utrecht» logo confirmed it was Utrecht’s home jersey.

Wang Chao wrote a giant «I AM GUILTY» on white paper and stuck it to his abdomen.

Last match, he chose his own team over Tang Ye—and lost 2,000 rice grains for it.

He was repenting!

【Streamer knows he’s wrong?】

【Oppose Tang the Ball King? Your wallet won’t survive.】

【I AM GUILTY, hahaha!】

【I don’t know Nijmegen’s level—I only know the Ball King’s at Utrecht.】

【Ten Hag’s coaching is insane—he’s turned my Mongol into a star.】

While livestream warriors mocked Wang Chao, players took their positions.

Ten Hag stuck with the 4-1-3-2 formation—Aale and Barazite on left and right.

Tang Ye, the sole attacking midfielder, centered!

«BEEEEEP!»

Downed a Red Bull—let the show begin!

For Tang Ye, this match held special meaning.

His first-ever Eredivisie start as Utrecht’s midfielder!

Sixteen years old, Eredivisie starter—even if some things were luck, you can’t deny Tang Ye’s effort!

«Come on, give me the ball!»

Confident in his starting spot, Tang Ye sprinted to the right flank—Ram Saier received the pass.

Turn and pull!

Then…

«Holy shit!»

Tang Ye turned halfway—someone lunged from the side, shoving both hands into his back.

The sudden force knocked him down—he collapsed to his knees.

Referee blew for Biker’s foul—but no card.

«You okay?»

Ram Saier ran over, pulled Tang Ye up. He did a few shallow squats, confirmed his knees were fine, then ran forward.

Taken down under ten seconds—Tang Ye was clearly targeted.

«Damn it, pushed down Tang the Ball King!»

«But no big deal—watch Utrecht’s free kick, handed to defender Fan De Mairel.»

«Fan De Mairel’s red card suspension ended—huge boost for Utrecht’s defense!»

…

«BEEP, BEEEP!»

Half-time: Nijmegen and Utrecht 0-0.

Though Nijmegen’s points lagged far behind Utrecht’s, their style was brutal—they completely shut down Tang Ye and Barazite.

Due to Nijmegen’s malicious targeting, Tang Ye recorded 7 tackles won, 0 successful—insane stats.

Fuck your grandma!

Tang Ye only got up from the ground after the referee’s whistle, covered in grass clippings; A Lai slowly jogged over: “You okay?”

Tang Ye nodded, because he always intentionally dodged before being tackled, so the chance of injury was low.

But he was furious now.

Because all these Nijmegen players had no sportsmanship whatsoever!

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

“In the first half, we were restricted in many positions. The opponents played aggressively—it was indeed uncomfortable—but remember, move, keep moving, and pass the ball quickly.”

Ten Hag paced rapidly back and forth in the center of the locker room: “Understand? Pass faster—don’t give the opponents a chance to touch you.”

“And for the second half’s tactics—”

The Utrecht players lifted their heads.

“We stick with the first-half tactics. As long as we pass faster, we’ll be fine.”

That’s it? No more?

Ramselaar stared wide-eyed: “Just keep it unchanged? Don’t we open up the flanks a bit?”

“If you want to open up the flanks, go ahead—you’re the captain on the pitch, it’s up to you. But the result of this match won’t change—we will win.”

“...”

Fine, no wonder he’s the Eredivisie’s best coach of the month.

Ten Hag already knew the match result right after halftime!

The players were eating bananas and resting in the locker room; Ten Hag walked over and sat beside Tang Ye after switching positions with Amrabat.

“If you feel uncomfortable playing, I can substitute you—but think carefully.”

“...”

Tang Ye didn’t answer immediately; he fell into thought.

Sub out...

His current comeback point balance was still quite high—he didn’t need to rely on goals or assists to earn money; he could truly sit out and rest.

But doing so, Tang Ye felt it was wrong.

If he didn’t fight back in the second half after suffering so much in the first, wouldn’t he be miserable for days?

“Uh, Eric, maybe I’ll give it another try?”

Tang Ye asked tentatively; Ten Hag nodded and walked off to speak with A Lai and Barazite.

“I feel you’ve changed.”

Amrabat sat back in his seat and suddenly spoke.

“Changed? Changed how?”

Tang Ye paused, not understanding what Amrabat meant.

“You’ve changed. Back in the reserve team, if Merent asked if you wanted to keep playing, you’d have immediately requested to be subbed off.”

Amrabat said seriously.

“Come on, last season I only played twice in the league—both times I stayed until the final whistle. When did I ever request to be subbed off?”

Tang Ye disagreed with Amrabat: “Even if Merent told me to come off, I’d stay on the pitch!”

Amrabat shrugged and didn’t argue further.

To the Moroccan, Tang Ye had changed completely.

The more starts you get, the more ambition you develop.

Once you’ve enjoyed the cheers surrounding you after success, you’ll never want to accept defeat again!

The second half began; neither side made any substitutions.

The match reached the 72nd minute of the first half—Tang Ye took a long-range shot from the arc, and the ball flew three times higher than the crossbar.

The score was still 0:0!

【Damn, both teams are full of shit. Shit, this is bad.】

【Wait for a miracle after 80 minutes.】

【Tang the King scores a hat-trick! Utrecht wins 3:0 away at Nijmegen!】

【Tang Ye’s movement is solid, but his shooting technique still needs work—he’s got nothing but close-range finishes and curling shots to the far post.】

【Wait, isn’t Tang Ye a midfielder? Why does he take as many shots as A Lai ?】

【No one understands what position I’m playing.】

【Looking at it this way, Ten Hag really is brilliant—he’s managed to use a player with no clear position so effectively.】

【Fuck, we can’t score!】

Tang Ye watched the ball fly into the stands, feeling helpless.

Why the hell couldn’t he keep it down!

Before Tang Ye could think further, the Nijmegen goalkeeper grabbed the ball from a ball boy and prepared for a long counterattack; Tang Ye had to sprint back.

“Middle! Middle! Watch the middle!”

After the 75th minute, Ten Hag, who had been calmly directing play, could no longer sit still—he kept shouting at the players about their offensive issues.

“They’ve got yellow cards—go make fouls!”

The moment Ten Hag finished speaking, Nijmegen made a substitution to clear their cards.

“...”

【Fuck!】

The situation grew tense; the pitch was now evenly matched 5-5.

The match reached the 82nd minute!

“Utrecht attack—Amrabat is advancing. His speed isn’t high, but he’s steady. I sense an opportunity.”

“Utrecht, please, just score one goal—one, just one!”

The Dou warriors generally disliked betting on draws; Wang Chao and his livestream audience were no different.

But the score was still tied!

“Give it to me! Give it to me!”

Amrabat, dribbling, was blocked; Tang Ye sprinted from the center to the left flank for support, Brinburg closely following him.

Tang Ye was observing—Amrabat took his shot.

Now!

Tang Ye suddenly braked, leaving Brinburg stranded directly in front of him.

Tang Ye, standing still, secured the ball and returned it to Amrabat before Brinburg could catch up.

Ha!

Utrecht’s flank advance continued; Tang Ye smirked at Brinburg twice, then sprinted forward.

“Okay, straight-up trickery!”

“Tang Ye! Brilliant! He’s toyed with Nijmegen’s holding midfielder!”

“Amrabat’s blocked again—pass to Tang Ye!”

“Tang Ye, check for an opening!”

“Oh! Brinburg—the same Brinburg who was tricked earlier—came sprinting back and tackled Tang Ye!”

Nijmegen’s players were generally fiery; Tang Ye suffered Brinburg’s immediate revenge.

“Fuck your grandma!”

(End of Chapter)