Chapter 63: The Three Giants of the Eredivisie: Ajax!

December 6, Utrecht played away against Graafschap in Round 15 of the Eredivisie, winning 1-0 thanks to a long-range shot by Ramselaar.

Thanks to this victory, the Utrecht players’ gloomy moods vanished.

“Wuhu!”

In the locker room, Tang Ye, Amrabat, and Barazite hugged each other, arms around shoulders.

“Tang, you didn’t score today!”

Aale pointed at Tang Ye and laughed.

“It’s a matter of luck.”

Tang Ye gestured for Aale not to rush: “That shot in the second half—you saw it, right? My long-range attempt? It was just a hair off!”

“That’s ‘just a hair off’?”

Amrabat removed his hand from Tang Ye’s shoulder: “Your shot flew straight into the stands. Come on, you’re not seriously trying to replicate that training ground ball—outside-of-the-foot strike?”

“That wasn’t an outside-of-the-foot strike.”

Tang Ye’s expression turned serious: “It was just a long-range shot—but it was a hair off. You know, the goalkeeper kept blinking at me—he was terrified!”

“Wow?”

Aale leaned forward: “I don’t know if the opposing keeper was scared, but I was completely freaked out. Holy shit, sixteen years old, insane long-range shot!”

“You really don’t understand anything.”

Tang Ye waved his hand and walked over to sit on the bench.

Would football be interesting if played honestly?

How do you make football interesting?

Long-range shots!

And they must be world-class bangers!

Unfortunately, Tang Ye’s current shooting stat is only 61!

“Alright, alright, quiet down.”

Ten Hag returned to the locker room after exchanging pleasantries with the opposing manager.

He looked around the chaotic locker room—clearly, a wild celebration had just taken place.

“After this match, you’ll get two days off.”

Ten Hag was thrilled after the win; the victory solidified their second-place position in the league.

They were only level on points and four goals behind PSV Eindhoven at the top!

Hearing about the break, Tang Ye shot up from his bench.

“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourselves—I see some of you already celebrating, even jumping off your seats. Don’t look away, Tang—I’m talking to you.”

Ten Hag pointed at Tang Ye in the corner; under the coach’s gaze, every player’s eyes turned to him.

He rubbed the back of his head.

Ssshh—

So awkward!

“Um… I stood up to show you respect, Mr. Eric.”

“Then that’s perfect.”

Ten Hag nodded: “Winning is great—I know, because I’m happy too—but I need to tell you some bad news: after the break, the pressure will be enormous!”

“Because our next opponent is… Ajax!”

Huh?

Tang Ye took a deep breath, then pulled out his phone to check the standings: “Ajax is third in the league—they have fewer points than us.”

“Who taught you to judge a team’s strength by points alone?!”

Ten Hag walked toward Tang Ye, speaking as he moved: “Ajax is an extremely difficult opponent—their passing rhythm may even be faster than Eindhoven’s…”

Tang Ye didn’t know how strong Ajax was, but hearing Ten Hag say this, he felt a bad premonition.

…

The two-day break passed quickly; the first-team players resumed training.

Before training, assistant coach Fan Dejia briefly introduced Ajax’s tactical characteristics.

Ultra-fast short-passing!

And they especially love keeping possession in the opponent’s half!

Simply put, playing against this team would put enormous pressure on Utrecht’s players.

Because passing and possession are Utrecht’s weaknesses—Ajax excels at both; they’ll likely crush Utrecht on the ground!

Tang Ye shook his head—he didn’t fully agree with Fan Dejia.

Possession?

He and captain Ramselaar were absolute masters of ball control!

If they truly engaged Ajax in a passing battle, Utrecht might still have a chance!

“Hey, Tang—I know what you’re thinking. You think your ball control is amazing, right?”

Fan Dejia noticed Tang Ye’s slight smile. The assistant coach wasn’t a psychologist, but Tang Ye’s thoughts were painfully transparent.

“Uh…”

Tang Ye sheepishly bit his fingernails: “Not bad, I guess.”

“….”

“Anyway, we won’t play them head-on. The key is the flanks—we’ll play three forwards and attack down the wings!”

Under Fan Dejia’s guidance, the first-team players began training.

Circle drills, 3v3 scrimmages, then direct simulation matches to practice the three-forward formation.

These were the main drills; additionally, Tang Ye and Ramselaar received set-piece training.

During training, Ten Hag observed both Tang Ye and Ramselaar and noticed a crucial difference.

Ramselaar’s set pieces were extremely consistent—he could reliably deliver the ball to the right spot—but his technique lacked finesse; forwards found his headers uncomfortable.

Tang Ye’s set pieces were unpredictable—he often missed the target, but when he hit it, the chance of scoring was very high.

After weighing both traits, Ten Hag established the team’s set-piece rules.

Ramselaar and Tang Ye would stand together; Ramselaar held the final decision on set pieces.

But if Tang Ye judged the position favorable, he could request possession from Ramselaar.

Tang Ye was excited.

He felt like a true set-piece specialist now!

…

The day of the match arrived.

This was a clash between second and third in the Eredivisie; nearly twenty reporters gathered at the Goffert Stadium.

Click!

Click-click!

The first journalist stood up and asked: “Mr. Eric, you won October’s Coach of the Month award, but missed November’s—what do you have to say about that?”

“Hmm, I think I lost because of win rate—last month we lost one, drew one.”

Ten Hag analyzed.

Coach of the Month is judged by tactics and team win rate.

Ten Hag’s tactics could never be flawed—never in a million years.

So the problem must be win rate.

As Ten Hag had told reporters after the Eindhoven match:

Utrecht should have won that game.

Had they won, their stellar win rate combined with Ten Hag’s near-perfect tactics would have prevented Eindhoven’s manager from winning November’s award!

“And about this match—facing league giants Ajax, are you under pressure?”

“We’re under pressure, but I believe the opponent is under even more.”

Ten Hag smiled: “We’re second in the table, they’re third. Second is stronger than third—they should fear us more than we fear them.”

!!!

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

Ajax was completely on the back foot!

…

“Cough!”

“Damn, I got the broadcast time wrong—I thought the match was at 8:30, but it’s at 7:30. Still on time—the game just started!”

Wang Chao skillfully opened his livestream page; the familiar 480p resolution appeared before the audience.

A 7:30 match time was very friendly for Chinese fans!

“First, let me introduce both teams’ lineups. Utrecht made a slight formation change, but their main striker is still Tang Ye—unchanged.”

“Now, Ajax!”

Ajax (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Cillessen

Defenders: Reijnders, Veltman, Tete

Midfield: Sailoro, Krause, Van de Beek, Bazol

Forwards: Yunes, Milik, El-Ghazi

“Let’s take a look at both teams’ market values.”

“Ajax’s starting lineup has a total market value four times that of Utrecht; the highest-valued player is midfielder Krause, worth a staggering 10 million euros!”

“As for Utrecht, it’s awkward—the highest-valued players are Ale and Barazite at 2.5 million euros each, while the lowest is No. 99 Tang Ye, valued at exactly 0 euros!”

The German transfer market still lacks appreciation for young players; Tang Ye played a full five minutes last season in the Dutch second division and still had no market value.

The Germans haven’t done as well as the Americans—this summer, Tang Ye was already online in the FIFA game!

【So what if he’s 0 euros? Tang the King, in one match, our tens of thousands together have made at least a few million in net profit!】

【A few million? Fuck, you’re underestimating me, Mengge! Watch out—I’ll skip the winning goal next match and bankrupt you!】

【I’m sorry, Mengge, sob sob】

【Ajax is strong—any insights, Mengge?】

【Why is Tang Ye called Mengge? Can someone explain?】

【Are you a real fan upstairs? Go learn about Happy Beans first—then you’ll understand what Mengge means.】

Wang Chao’s livestream viewership surged to 50,000, many of whom came after hearing of Tang Ye on Dongqiu Di.

There’s no official livestream for the Eredivisie in China—Wang Chao’s stream was completely flooded!

“Hey, here it comes! Lechelt kicks straight to Tang Ye!”

“Smart!”

“Now Tang Ye has the ball! Okay, let’s see how our Tang King performs.”

“Don’t rush—Tang Ye is moving slowly, observing!”

“Pass to the flank—Ram Saierer !”

“Beautiful! Perfect decision—this pass is worth at least 5 million euros!”

On his first touch, Tang Ye’s livestream market value surged by 5 million euros.

This is because fans observed that Tang Ye’s first touch in a starting appearance usually comes after three minutes—this time, he touched the ball before three minutes.

Good form!

“Go!”

Ram Saierer dribbles down the flank!

Sailoro and defending Yunes double-team Ram Saierer !

Ten Hag is under psychological pressure—he can see Ajax’s formation was deliberately designed.

They knew Utrecht would attack down the wings, so they played 3-4-3, fielding four midfielders!

“Here I am!”

Tang Ye jogs over, and Ram Saierer quickly passes the ball.

Utrecht’s two midfielders execute a combination, and Tang Ye retrieves the ball.

Excellent—top-class coordination!

Tang Ye is observing!

Left flank—Ale’s position is perfect!

Pass it now!

Just minutes into the match, Utrecht immediately launches a long-ball attack.

The coach said before the game that the opponent’s passing and control are excellent—so Tang Ye must play long balls.

The long ball flies toward the left baseline; Tang Ye uses a trick—he applies the topspin technique from Ward-Prowse’s free kicks to this pass.

The ball arcs toward Ale, drops sharply, and slows—Ale receives it comfortably with his chest!

“Here it comes—only Tang Ye can do this!”

“Not perfectly accurate, but the speed control is perfect—Ale! Start your run down the line!”

“Ajax moves fast—Tate!”

“Ale, come on, Ale!”

“Push forward—I swear, he didn’t bump him! Ale is 1.9 meters tall—what’s going on?”

“Don’t rush, don’t rush—press the defensive line, clear strategy.”

“Pass back!”

Utrecht executes a classic tactical maneuver—Ale, pretending to be a winger, dribbles to force Ajax’s defense to contract.

Once Ajax’s defense pulls back, he passes back!

Jansen’s position is now open!

Bang!

He fires a shot—the ball whizzes past Veltman’s ear.

Goalkeeper Sillesen saves it!

“Shit!”

“This Ajax goalkeeper is that good? Fuck, seriously!”

“What a pity!”

Wang Chao and Ten Hag make the same gesture—raising their hands in regret over Jansen’s long-range shot.

“Damn it, Jansen wasted Tang King’s perfect pass!”

“But no matter—Utrecht’s home advantage still gives them strong momentum.”

As Wang Chao said, though Jansen’s shot didn’t score, it ignited the fans in the stands.

Facing the powerhouse Ajax, Utrecht was the first to shoot—this is excellent!

But Ajax, as a traditional Eredivisie giant, is no pushover—after being shot at, their players didn’t panic; they followed the coach’s instructions to counterattack.

Top-tier discipline—even Ten Hag was envious!

At the 25th minute, neither side has scored, but Ajax is gradually gaining momentum.

65% possession—Milik and Yunes treat Utrecht’s half like their own backyard.

Sustained possession creates chances—Krause, Goudel, and Milik execute a series of short passes in Utrecht’s half, leaving Ram Saierer and Jansen overwhelmed.

Finally, Krause seizes the opportunity and sprints toward the penalty arc.

He’s incredibly confident—he shoots before even reaching the arc.

Danger!

But at that moment, a red-and-white-clad player lunges out with a sliding tackle from Krause’s left.

Thwack!

Krause’s low drive hits him squarely.

Tang Ye, who cleared the ball, crashes his head into Krause’s stomach, sending Krause sliding nearly half a meter.

“Amazing, Tang Ye!”

“Who the hell says Tang Ye only knows how to tackle?”

“Tackles the man himself! Tang King—ruthless!”

…

(End of Chapter)