Chapter 613: Is a Quadruple Season Really Easy?

#ManUtdChampionsLeague, #ManUtdCLChampions, #TangYeCLGoldenBoot... related hashtags have completely dominated major social media platforms around the globe.

The champion of this year's most prestigious football tournament has been crowned; in Erik ten Hag's fourth year at the helm, Manchester United has realized their ultimate dream.

The Quadruple!

Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, and EFL Cup; in this season's title-contending competitions, Manchester United missed out only on the Community Shield, sweeping all other four championship trophies.

Without watching the Premier League, one might not grasp just how valuable these Manchester United titles are, but just look at the Champions League semi-finals and final to understand.

A team capable of pinning Bayern Munich's head down and then sweeping Barcelona aside—could that be an ordinary squad?

Sky Sports reporter Jensen: Manchester United winning the Champions League signifies the end of the Messi-Ronaldo era; 2020 was the final year of that era.

COPE Radio host: The gap between Barcelona and Manchester United is at least two levels; I am not at all surprised that Barcelona lost this match.

"If Bayern had been in the upper half of the draw, Barcelona wouldn't even have reached the final"—those were the radio host's exact words.

Of course, all of this is hindsight; saying these things after the match has ended is useless.

Approaching 6 AM Beijing time, Ten Hag led the Manchester United players into the press conference room at the Stadium of Light to accept interviews from reporters.

Ashley Young hugged the Champions League trophy, while Tang Ye held an MVP award in his left hand and a Golden Boot in his right.

"This is undoubtedly the happiest day of my year, haha; you don't need to confirm it with me, everything I'm saying is fact."

At the reporters' request, Tang Ye gave a thumbs-up.

It was a pity the press conference room wasn't suitable for a knee-slide celebration; otherwise, the reporters would surely have demanded Tang Ye perform a three-stripe knee-slide.

This interview would last nearly half an hour, so the reporters below were in no rush, methodically tossing out their questions one by one, including one directed at Dembélé.

Having scored against Barcelona, why did Dembélé perform that celebration?

"..."

Tang Ye looked at Dembélé beside him; unsurprisingly, Ousmane had gotten himself into trouble with that knee-slide.

However, Dembélé merely wore a silly expression, looking completely clueless: "I just felt extremely excited when I scored, so I celebrated; I truly didn't think that much about it."

Dembélé's pupils suddenly dilated as he looked toward Tang Ye beside him.

Just moments ago, Tang Ye had stepped on his foot.

"..."

After a moment of thought, Dembélé quickly understood Tang Ye's meaning from his gaze: "Um... I need to apologize to the Barcelona fans here; I am very sorry..."

"If you were playing for Barcelona in the final, do you think Barcelona would still have ended up as the losers? Of course, assuming it's the Dembélé in his Manchester United form."

The reporter seemed to be a Barcelona fan.

Well, at the very least, they had to be a Spanish fan; otherwise, they wouldn't have made things so difficult for Dembélé.

The topic slowly shifted, soon landing on Ashley Young, the former Manchester United captain, who recounted his story from the winter transfer window.

"Actually, I was already prepared to leave at that time because the club wanted to find a new left-back, and I clearly understood that with my current ability, I wouldn't be able to secure a starting spot at Manchester United."

Ashley Young's expression was bitter; this guy carried a bit of pride and found it very hard to accept the reality of going from starter to substitute.

"And then what happened?"

"Then came this guy; he made me stay."

Ashley Young pointed at Tang Ye, putting on an "angry" expression.

"Do you know what this guy said?"

"He said I didn't have a Champions League title at Manchester United, and if I was willing to stay, he could lead me to win one."

Wow?

Ashley Young's words surprised the reporters.

It wasn't just the reporters; the surrounding Manchester United players and Ten Hag also showed surprise.

They clearly knew nothing about this matter.

Ashley Young spread his hands to the reporters: "He just wanted to show off; damn it, but now it seems what he said was actually true."

"Hahaha."

"Haha."

"Hey, why do you think I was showing off? I was very serious at the time."

Tang Ye recalled the scene from back then.

"Okay, okay, my bad, my bad."

Ashley Young shook his head helplessly: "I believe it now; what you said was true. Fortunately, I didn't leave."

"Haha."

The conclusion of the Champions League final also marked the end of the 2019-20 season; the players' current state was no different from having clocked off work. Since they weren't working anymore, they were naturally relaxed; even Rashford, who usually spoke little, had become quite talkative.

The reporters passed the microphone to Ten Hag once again.

The key figure had arrived!

Having just experienced a battle that deified him, Ten Hag was now radiant with glory, looking nothing like someone who had just recovered from COVID-19.

This was Ten Hag's fourth year managing Manchester United; during these four years, he had secured two Premier League titles, three FA Cup titles, two EFL Cup titles, and, most importantly, one Champions League title.

His achievements were nothing short of monstrous; indeed, Ten Hag's win rate with the team had already surpassed that of Manchester United's legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson.

Fierce he certainly was, yet in the eyes of fans and reporters, Ten Hag's honors remained controversial.

"Erik."

Looking Ten Hag straight in the eyes, a reporter asked the question most people dared not ask: "Do you consider yourself a free-rider, just like that French Bulldog?"

The camera panned to a French Bulldog wearing a Champions League winner's medal beside the interview area; this French Bulldog was bought by Tang Ye and named Erik.

The reason for choosing this name was primarily Tang Ye's hope that Erik could serve as an inspiration; there was absolutely no second intention behind it.

"Am I a free-rider?"

Ten Hag curled one corner of his mouth upward, showing disdain: "I simply didn't participate in the final few Champions League matches; I participated in all the domestic English competitions."

"Three, three trophies. Do you not recognize the value of the Premier League title and the FA Cup? You say I lay down to win; then let me ask you, where exactly did I lie?"

"Lying in bed."

"..."

The reporter produced a photo of Ten Hag lying in bed watching matches during the quarter-finals.

Pfft!

Several reporters in the room accidentally laughed out loud, but they quickly controlled themselves.

The reporter asking questions today was clearly a Ten Hag hater; he seized every opportunity that needed seizing to mock Ten Hag.

Tang Ye felt somewhat uncomfortable, because the Mr. Erik he respected was currently suffering an attack from the reporters.

"So you feel that my value should be negated just because I didn't appear in three matches?"

"You always want to look at statistics, look at statistics, but do you know? I have always emphasized to the players in my squad, including the coaches on my staff, that one cannot blindly look at statistics, because that stuff will alienate people."

Ten Hag frowned.

It was evident that being mocked for lying in bed by the reporter had indeed made Ten Hag somewhat unhappy.

"I lay in bed; fine, I lay in bed because I was sick. There was no way around it. I don't know why I fell ill at that time; that was not something I could decide. But what I must emphasize is that a coach's honor is not determined by three matches."

"I didn't play in three matches, so I 'lay down to win'; can you say that?"

"No, you cannot. To a certain extent, a coach and a player are the same; if you want to evaluate a coach, you must comprehensively consider all his matches, not simply three matches."

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became; Ten Hag even analyzed his contributions to Manchester United from various angles such as tactics and player quality.

A Champions League gold medal hung around his neck.

He needed to ensure the fans recognized the gold medal around his neck, because an outstanding head coach deserved recognition.

"TY alone scored ten goals and provided five assists."

The reporter reminded him.

During the knockout stage, Manchester United scored a total of thirteen goals, with Tang Ye involved in ten of them.

"What about those other three goals?"

Ten Hag said.

【84】 "For those three goals, TY was involved in the second-to-last pass."

"Those three balls participated in the second-to-last pass."

"..."

Ten Hag gritted his teeth: "This is exactly what I said earlier: statistics will alienate people. You cannot understand football by looking only at goals and assists."

"TY is amazing, but does that mean I made no contribution here?"

Ten Hag's upper body leaned forward involuntarily, exerting strong pressure on the reporter: "If I hadn't instructed the club to buy Tang during the 2017 summer transfer window, would Tang not be sitting opposite us right now, over at Barcelona?"

"Come on, tell me."