Chapter 62: Utrecht's Set-Piece Tactics (Please Keep Reading!)

Because of this holiday, Tang Ye missed Utrecht's 14th-round match against Heracles Almelo.

This was Utrecht's third loss of the season, and the 1-2 scoreline left both players and coaches somewhat irritated.

However, Ten Hag did not blame the players for this defeat, because the referee in that match was extremely, extremely biased.

Two penalties were not called; otherwise, Utrecht would have already won the match 3-2!

This sudden loss made the atmosphere within the Utrecht team become depressed.

Since Tang Ye did not play, he could not feel the rage one experiences on the field when facing a biased referee, so his mood was not greatly affected.

But Tang Ye was not very happy either, because his teammates—Amrabat, Haller, and Ramselaar—had not shown a single smile in the days following the match.

With no smiles on his teammates' faces, Tang Ye found himself unable to find anyone to play with during training!

"It's fine, we just need to win it back in the next match."

Tang Ye sent a message to Amrabat via WhatsApp; just moments ago, the Moroccan had rejected Tang Ye's invitation to play FIFA.

"Damn it, you have no idea how idiotic that referee was; we should have won the game the day before yesterday."

Amrabat sent back a voice message, leaving Tang Ye unsure of what to say, so he could only start a game by himself.

Being angry was certainly justified, but as professional players, everyone's ability to adjust their mindset was quite strong; after exchanging insults with the referee and fans online, the guys in Utrecht's first team felt much better.

"Pass it to me, pass it to me!"

Tang Ye sprinted quickly to the left baseline, and Van der Mareel seized the opportunity, lofting a high ball over.

"OK, watch this!"

Tang Ye shouted, using a feint to trick Kleibe.

Chest trap!

And then...

A volley shot!

Smack!

Tang Ye kicked the ball straight out of the training base; the leather sphere flew outside the compound and smashed into a fox lying on the grass.

"Haha!"

"Tang, what was that?"

Tang Ye's super world-class shot shocked the entire scene; Ramselaar hugged his stomach, laughing uproariously: "I feel like you've kicked with the aura of the Ball King."

"Hey, don't laugh, it was just a little off!"

Tang Ye pointed in the direction the ball had flown: "If I had kept my foot a bit flatter just now, it would have succeeded; Ruiter wouldn't have been able to save it!"

"You could have waited for the ball to bounce once before shooting."

Ten Hag shouted from the sidelines.

To be fair, Tang Ye's volley displayed quite rich imagination.

It was just that his hard skill was too poor to support the execution of his imagination!

"No, you can't wait for the ball to hit the ground."

Tang Ye shouted back: "Once it hits the ground, the defenders will be on top of me; I have to get the shot off immediately!"

Tang Ye pointed at Kleibe beside him; if he waited for the ball to land, Kleibe would absolutely not give him a chance to shoot.

This shot had to be a volley!

"But shooting like that is useless anyway."

Ten Hag walked over: "A goal ten times higher still couldn't catch your ball; you're just shooting into the air, do you like shooting into the air?"

"Don't rush me, I'm practicing."

Tang Ye repeated the shooting motion he had just performed.

What a pity!

If only he had lowered his foot a bit more just now, that ball would definitely have gone in!

"OK, I'm starting to get scared."

Goalkeeper Ruiter crossed his arms over his chest, mimicking a shivering motion.

"Alright, alright, let's stop the scrimmage here; we need to practice set pieces."

Ten Hag and Fan Fan Dejiahe walked onto the field together, and the players slowly gathered around.

Utrecht's set-piece tactics were very simple, essentially just having Ramselaar or Kleibe deliver crosses from deep.

But now it had been discovered that this guy Tang Ye was secretly hiding a special skill: free kicks!

Excellent head coaches devise special tactics based on their players' characteristics, let alone a Manager of the Month like Ten Hag!

"We'll practice set pieces next, but this time we won't split into cards; everyone together, midfielders, forwards, including defenders must participate. We are practicing tactical strategy, not just the technique of taking set pieces."

Ten Hag said; the sprinkler work on Field No. 2 was already complete, so they could start at any moment.

Under Ten Hag's arrangement, the final training session of the morning, the set-piece drill, began.

They were still divided into Team A and Team B; Team A consisted of the starting lineup including Haller, Di Di Bala, Tang Ye, and Ramselaar.

Team B comprised Amrabat, Ayoub, Joosten, and others, along with some players called up from the reserve team to assist in training.

Tang Ye looked around, wanting to find Zaka's figure, but unfortunately, Zaka had not come.

"You two, come out."

Ten Hag took Tang Ye's hand and called both Tang Ye and Ramselaar out of the formation.

In the new set-piece tactic, the set pieces needed to be taken by either Tang Ye or Ramselaar, which was the reason Ten Hag had called these two out.

Inside the penalty area, Ten Hag adopted a tactic he preferred.

Haller, Di Di Bala, and Van der Mareel stood in a diagonal line; before the corner kick was taken, these three heading experts from Utrecht would use secret signals to assign their running directions.

After arranging matters inside the penalty area, Ten Hag walked to the designated set-piece spot and began explaining things to Tang Ye and Ramselaar.

Of course, these words were mainly meant for Tang Ye.

"You don't need to worry about how they run; you stand at the very back, where your field of vision is the best. You need to observe. Pass the ball wherever you intend to; the rest is up to those inside the penalty area."

"Understood? Tang, you go first."

Ahead, Ten Hag stood with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression very serious.

He really wanted to see again that free kick of Tang Ye's, with its eerie change of pace.

Tang Ye placed the ball on the ground, slowly backed away, and found what he considered a suitable position.

He carefully observed the situation inside the penalty area, raised his right hand, and then...

... turned his head to look at Ten Hag: "Um... which team am I on?"

"..."

Ten Hag clutching his head: "The Colorless Team! You're on the Colorless Team! Those wearing the fluorescent vests are your opponents, understood!? Damn it, hell, I'm starting to get nervous and you hit me with this?"

"Sorry, sorry."

Tang Ye turned his head back.

After confirming he was on the Colorless Team, Tang Ye needed to figure out how to deliver the ball to a specific spot.

A place where a Colorless Team player could easily reach it, but where a Colored Team player would struggle.

Hmm...

Got it!

Slap!

The leather ball shot out at high speed, its arc angled upward, very similar to the kick he had taken against Nijmegen before.

This ball also had topspin!

It soared over the heads of players from both sides, then began to descend!

"Nasser!"

Ten Hag shouted loudly. Di Di Bala, whose name had been called, did not disappoint Ten Hag's expectations; leaning his upper body forward, he slammed the ball in front of him fiercely to the ground with his head.

Slap!

It bounced once, then fell into the net.

"Clap clap clap clap!"

Ten Hag offered applause: "There are still some areas for improvement, but that's about right."

Designing and executing set-piece tactics is relatively difficult.

But Ten Hag, after all, belonged to the tier of head coaches with higher ability.

He only needed to emphasize a few points, and Utrecht's offensive problems with set pieces could be more or less solved!

As for Tang Ye.

Ten Hag placed his hand on Tang Ye's shoulder: "Lazy pig, being lazy doesn't matter, but as long as you keep up with my rhythm, you will achieve success."

(End of Chapter)