Chapter 63: The Big Three of the Eredivisie, Ajax!

On December 6, in Round 15 of the Eredivisie, Utrecht traveled to face De Graafschap; thanks to a long-range strike from Ramselaar, Utrecht defeated their opponents 1-0.

Because of this victory, the dejected mood of the Utrecht players vanished completely.

"Wuhu!"

In the locker room, Tang Ye, Amrabat, and Di Di Bala stood shoulder to shoulder, arms locked together.

"Tang, you didn't score today!"

Haller pointed at Tang Ye and said with a laugh.

"That's a matter of luck."

Tang Ye gestured for Haller not to rush: "Did you see that shot in the second half, my long-range effort? It missed by just a tiny bit!"

"You call that 'just a tiny bit'?"

Amrabat dropped his hand from Tang Ye's shoulder: "The ball you kicked flew all the way into the stands; come on, you're not trying to replicate that shot from training, are you? An outside-of-the-foot volley?"

"That wasn't an outside-of-the-foot volley."

Tang Ye's expression turned serious: "It was just a long-range shot, but it missed by a hair; you know, that goalkeeper kept blinking while looking at me—he was terrified!"

"Wow?"

Haller leaned his head forward: "I don't know if the opposing goalkeeper was scared, but I was practically frightened to death; good heavens, a super long-range shot from a 16-year-old!"

"You guys really don't understand anything."

Tang Ye waved his hand and walked over to sit down.

If football is played too honestly, how could it possibly be interesting?

How does one make football interesting?

Long-range shots!

And they must be spectacular world-class strikes!

Unfortunately, however, Tang Ye's current shooting attribute is only 61!

"Alright, alright, quiet down a bit."

After exchanging pleasantries with the opposing head coach, Ten Hag walked back into the locker room.

Glancing around at the chaotic locker room, it was clear a very intense celebration had just taken place here!

"After this match, you will receive a two-day holiday."

Ten Hag was extremely happy after the win; with this victory, they had firmly secured their position as second in the league.

They trailed the leaders, PSV Eindhoven, by only zero points and a four-goal difference!

Upon hearing about the holiday, Tang Ye sprang up from his bench.

"Hey, don't get ahead of yourselves; I see some of you already starting to celebrate, and someone even jumped straight off the bench—stop looking, Tang, I'm talking about you."

Ten Hag pointed at Tang Ye in the corner; under the coach's influence, the eyes of every player in the locker room turned toward Tang Ye.

The latter rubbed his head.

Hiss—

A bit awkward!

"Um... I stood up to show my respect for you, Mr. Erik."

"Then that is even better."

Ten Hag nodded: "Winning is joyful, I know, because I am joyful too, but I need to tell you some not-so-good news: after we return from the holiday, our pressure will be immense!"

"Because our opponent in the next match is... Ajax!"

Hmm?

Tang Ye took a deep breath, then pulled out his phone to check the league table: "Isn't Ajax third in the league? They have fewer points than us."

"Who taught you to judge a team's strength by their points!"

Ten Hag walked toward Tang Ye, beginning his explanation as he moved: "Ajax is an extremely difficult opponent to handle; their passing and control rhythm might even be faster than Eindhoven's..."

Tang Ye did not know how strong this Ajax team was, but hearing Ten Hag speak like this, he felt a rather bad premonition.

The two-day holiday passed quickly, and the first-team players soon resumed training.

Before training began, assistant coach Fan Fan Dejiahe briefly introduced the tactical characteristics of Ajax to the players.

Extremely fast-paced short passing!

And they especially love keeping the ball in the opponent's half!

Simply put, playing against this team would place immense pressure on the Utrecht players.

Since possession and ball control are Utrecht's weaknesses, if Ajax employs these two tactics, they will likely pin Utrecht to the ground and beat them senseless!

Tang Ye shook his head, not entirely agreeing with what Fan Fan Dejiahe said.

Ball control?

Both he and captain Ramselaar were absolute masters of ball control!

If they truly had to play a possession game against Ajax, Utrecht might still have a chance!

"Eh, right, Tang, I know what you're thinking; do you feel your ball control is superb?"

Fan Fan Dejiahe noticed Tang Ye smiling just now; this Utrecht assistant coach was no professional psychologist, but alas, Tang Ye's thoughts were simply too easy to read.

"Uh..."

Tang Ye bit his fingernails awkwardly: "It's alright, I guess."

"..."

"Anyway, we will not engage them in an open attacking battle; the core of the match lies on the wings—we will play with three forwards and attack from the flanks!"

Under Fan Fan Dejiahe's guidance, the first-team players began their training.

Warm-up with rondo, 3v3 drills, then direct simulated matches to practice the so-called three-striker formation.

These were the main contents; besides these, Tang Ye and Ramse Lal also received some set-piece training.

During training, Ten Hag observed the performances of both Tang Ye and Ramse Lal, discovering a very important characteristic.

Ramse Lal's set-pieces were very stable; the Utrecht captain could consistently deliver the ball to a suitable position, but his footwork lacked finesse, making headers uncomfortable for the strikers.

As for Tang Ye, his set-pieces were somewhat abstract, not always hitting the intended spot, but if they did, there was a very high probability of creating a goal.

After comprehensively considering these two characteristics, Ten Hag clarified the team's rules regarding set-pieces.

Ramse Lal and Tang Ye would stand together, with Ramse Lal holding the decision-making power for set-pieces.

However, if Tang Ye felt the position was suitable, he could request possession of the ball from Ramse Lal.

Tang Ye felt somewhat excited.

He felt he was now already an expert at set-pieces!

……

Time arrived at match day.

This was a clash between the second and third-placed teams in the current Eredivisie standings; nearly 20 reporters had gathered at the Galgenwaard Stadium.

Click!

Click-click!

The first reporter to stand up asked immediately: "Mr. Eric, you received the Coach of the Month trophy for October but missed the one for November; what would you like to say about this?"

"Hmm, I think I probably lost out on the team's win rate; last month we lost one match and drew one,"

Ten Hag analyzed.

The evaluation for Coach of the Month was determined by several factors, including the head coach's tactics and the team's win rate.

There was no way Ten Hag's tactics could have any problems, not in this lifetime.

Therefore, the only thing that could have gone wrong was the team's win rate.

Just as Ten Hag had said to the reporters after the match against PSV Eindhoven.

The winner of that match should have been Utrecht.

If they had won that match, with the team's extremely high win rate combined with Ten Hag's nearly perfect tactics, the PSV Eindhoven head coach would have had no chance of winning the November Coach of the Month award!

"What about this match then? Facing the league giant Ajax, is the pressure great on you?"

"The pressure is great, but I believe the opponent's pressure is even greater."

Ten Hag revealed a smile: "Because we are second in the standings and they are third; the second must be stronger than the third, so they should fear their opponent more than we do."

!!!

Before the match had even started, Ten Hag had already scored the first goal!

Ajax was completely on the back foot!

……

"Cough, cough!"

"Damn, I got the broadcast start time wrong today; I thought the match kicked off at 8:30, but it turned out to be 7:30. But it's not too late, the match has only just begun!"

Wang Chao skillfully opened his broadcast webpage, presenting the familiar 480p resolution to the live-stream audience.

A 7:30 kick-off time was very friendly for Chinese fans!

"Now let me introduce the rosters for both teams; Utrecht has slightly changed their formation, but the main carry is still Tang Ye, that hasn't changed."

"Then there is Ajax!"

Ajax (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Cillessen

Defenders: Riedewald, Veltman, Tete

Midfielders: Serero, Klaassen, Van de Beek, Bazoer

Forwards: Younes, Milik, El Ghazi

"Let's first look at the market values of both sides."

"The total market value of Ajax's starting lineup is four times that of Utrecht; among them, the highest valued is midfielder Klaassen, with a value reaching 10 million euros!"

"As for Utrecht, it's a bit awkward; the highest values belong to Haller and Di Di Bala at 2.5 million euros each, while the lowest is number 99, Tang Ye, with a staggering value of 0 euros!"

The German transfer market still lacked attention for young players; Tang Ye played a full five minutes in the Eerste Divisie last season yet didn't have a single market value data point.

In this aspect, the Germans didn't do as well as the Americans; by this summer, Tang Ye had already been launched in the FIFA video game!

【So what if it's 0 euros? In one match, King Tang Ball generates net profits of at least several million for tens of thousands of us combined, right?】

【Several million? Damn, you're underestimating Brother Meng too much; be careful, in the next match Brother Meng might give up a last-minute killing opportunity and directly make you bankrupt!】

【Brother Meng, I was wrong, boo-hoo-hoo.】

【Ajax looks a bit strong; does Brother Meng have any take on this?】

【Why is Tang Ye called Brother Meng? Can anyone explain this?】

【The person above must be a real fan; I suggest you first understand 'Happy Beans', and once you understand 'Happy Beans', you'll know what Brother Meng means.】

The number of people in Wang Chao's live stream surged to 50,000, many of whom came after hearing Tang Ye's reputation on Check Dongqiu Di.

With no official live broadcast source for the Eredivisie in China, Wang Chao consumed all the traffic!

"Eh, here it comes! Leecht sends a ball directly to Tang Ye!"

"Smart!"

"Now Tang Ye is dribbling! OK, let's see what performance our King Tang Ball puts on."

"No rush, Tang Ye is playing very slowly; he is observing!"

"Passing to Ramse Lal on the wing!"

"Beautiful, a perfect decision! This pass is worth at least 5 million euros in market value!"

With his first touch since coming onto the field, Tang Ye's market value in the live stream had already skyrocketed by 5 million euros.

This was because, according to observations by fans in the live stream, Tang Ye's first touch in his starting appearances usually occurred after the three-minute mark, yet this time he had touched the ball before three minutes had even elapsed.

His form looks good!

"Go!"

Ramse Lal carried the ball toward the wing!

Serero and the tracking-back Younes joined forces to defend against Ramse Lal!

Ten Hag was feeling considerable psychological pressure now, as he could clearly see that Ajax's formation had been specifically designed.

They knew Utrecht intended to attack down the wings today, so they deployed a 3-4-3 formation, fielding a full four midfielders!

"Come on, come on, I'm here!"

Tang Ye jogged over, and Ramse Lal immediately passed the ball out.

The two Utrecht midfielders executed a combination play, with Tang Ye ultimately receiving the pass.

Not bad, top-tier coordination!

Tang Ye was observing!

On the left flank, Haller was in a good position!

Pass it directly!

The match had only just begun, yet Utrecht had already launched their long-ball attack.

The coach had stated before the match that the opponent's possession play was formidable, so Tang Ye had to resort to long passes.

The long ball soared toward the left baseline; here, Tang Ye employed a bit of technique, applying Ward-Prowse's free-kick topspin technology to this pass.

The ball flew toward Haller, slowing down after dipping, allowing Haller to control it comfortably with his chest!

"Here it comes, it has to be Tang Ye!"

"The pass wasn't very accurate, but the control of ball speed was excellent! Haller! Start driving down the line!"

"Ajax is moving fast, Tete!"

"Haller, come on, Haller!"

"Push forward! Damn, he didn't win the header! Isn't Haller 1.9 meters tall? What's going on?"

"Don't rush, don't rush yet; press the defensive line, the thinking is very clear."

"Pass back!"

Utrecht executed a very classic tactical combination: Haller, posing as a winger, used his dribbling to force Ajax to contract their defensive line.

Once Ajax's defense had pulled back, they passed the ball backward!

Jansen's position was now wide open!

Crack!

A volley was struck, and the ball flew right past Veltman's ear.

Goalkeeper Cillessen parried the ball away!

"Damn!"

"How is this Ajax goalkeeper so f*cking good? Holy sh*t, damn it!"

"What a pity!"

Wang Chao and Ten Hag made the same gesture, raising both hands upward, lamenting Jansen's long-range shot.

"Motherf*cker, Jansen wasted my Tang Tang Qiuwang's brilliant pass!"

"But it doesn't matter; Utrecht is playing at home, and their momentum is still quite strong."

Just as Wang Chao had said, although Jansen's long-range shot failed to result in a goal, it successfully ignited the emotions of the fans in the stands.

Facing the strong opponent Ajax, Utrecht was the side to complete the first shot, which was very impressive!

However, as a traditional powerhouse of the Eredivisie, Ajax was certainly not to be underestimated; after conceding the shot, the players on the field did not panic but instead launched a counterattack following the instructions of the coach on the sidelines.

Top-tier discipline; it even made Ten Hag envious!

By the 25th minute of the match, neither team had scored any goals, but Ajax was gradually gaining momentum.

With 65% possession, Milik and Younes had practically turned Utrecht's half into their own home.

The result of sustained possession was attacking opportunities; Klas, Gudetti, and Milik executed a series of short-pass combinations in Utrecht's half, leaving the two defensive midfielders, Ramse Lal and Jansen, completely overwhelmed.

Finally, Klaassen seized an opportunity and ran directly toward the edge of the penalty arc.

This guy was extremely confident; he started shooting before he had even reached the edge of the arc.

Danger approaching!

Yet at that very moment, a player in a red-and-white jersey to Klaassen's left charged out with a flying slide tackle.

Crack!

Klaassen's low-driven shot struck squarely against him.

Tang Ye, who had slid the ball away, crashed his head into Klaassen's stomach, sending Klaassen sliding backward nearly half a meter along with him.

"Awesome, Tang Ye!"

"Who the f*ck said Tang Ye only knows how to tackle!"

"Directly tackling the man! Tang Tang Qiuwang, brutal!"

(End of Chapter)