Chapter 642: Fan Fan Dejiahe's Fishing Rod, Ten Hag

Dongqiu Di Match Report: In the 3rd round of the German Cup, Dortmund defeated Paderborn 3:2; Tang Ye sat through the entire match on the substitutes' bench. (52,732 comments)

"Nice!"

Tang Ye exchanged high-fives with Bellingham and Pogba, who were coming off the field.

"To be honest, that was a bit dangerous."

Bellingham spread his hands helplessly.

Playing against a second-division team and only winning 3:2, to be honest, is actually a somewhat terrible scoreline.

Previously, when playing against Bayern, Dortmund also only led by one goal.

"Haha, as long as we won, that's what matters."

Tang Ye and Bellingham returned to the locker room together.

The first match of February has concluded; there are currently five matches remaining this month.

"That includes four Bundesliga matches and one Champions League match. TY, in the 2018-19 Champions League season, your Manchester United fell in the quarter-finals; the team that defeated you back then was Paris Saint-Germain."

Although he did not play, Tang Ye still became a target for reporters' interviews.

Speaking of which, Tang Ye is indeed quite good, because players actually have the right to refuse some post-match interview requests from reporters, but Tang Ye himself rarely refuses.

This is because post-match interviews are also part of training; after all, given Tang Ye's current stature, he must be extremely cautious when speaking.

"But was the loss due to Marcus's injury?"

"Hiss... I don't think it was entirely Marcus's fault; Marcus is excellent, but at that time we indeed failed in many areas. However, it's fine; we won the championship in the 2019-20 season."

Tang Ye said: "That match made us much more serious when dealing with the Champions League."

"You didn't encounter Paris in the Champions League last season; so, will you seize the opportunity this season to exact revenge on Paris?"

"Haha!"

The reporter's words made Tang Ye laugh out loud: "It doesn't quite count as revenge... but we will find a way to win."

Diario Sport Front Page Headline—New Round of Transfer Market Values: TY remains unchanged at the top, Mbappé returns to the €200 million bracket, Manchester United valuations generally decline, and Bellingham records the largest increase.

German Transfer Market, World Ranking of Football Player Values (2021.02.04):

1. Tang Ye (Manchester United, Dortmund, China), 260 million EUR. (-)

2. Mbappé (Paris, France), 200 million EUR. (↑20 million EUR)

3. Rodri (Manchester United, Spain), 140 million EUR. (↓10 million EUR)

4. Haaland (Dortmund, Norway), 140 million EUR (↑40 million EUR)

5. Dembélé (Manchester United, France), 120 million EUR. (↓20 million EUR)

6. Kane (Tottenham, England), 120 million EUR. (-)

7. Pogba (Dortmund, France), 110 million EUR. (↑20 million EUR)

18. Bellingham (Dortmund, England), 75 million EUR. (↑50 million EUR)

Only a small number of players can increase their value by 50 million EUR in less than four months, and Bellingham is one of them.

As for why Bellingham could rise so much, football experts suggest this may be due to the excellent intensity of Dortmund's midfield.

Partnering with two hundred-million-euro-level midfielders like Tang Ye and Pogba, the naturally talented Bellingham successfully played with the feel of a player worth over 100 million EUR.

Player values within a team influence each other, and the influence between midfielders is the most obvious.

Basically, if there are two particularly fierce midfielders in the team, the values, or rather the on-field performances, of the other midfielders in the team will synchronously see considerable growth.

In this update of transfer market values, it is unclear who won, but it is crystal clear who lost.

At Old Trafford, having just suffered a defeat in the Double Red Derby, Ten Hag was accepting interviews from reporters below the stage.

"In this latest transfer market valuation update, Manchester United players saw a general decline; although individual decreases were modest, the total drop across the squad's 20 players has reached €190 million, ranking first globally. Erik, do you have any comments on this?"

"Um, I think..."

"Do you believe this is the reason why Manchester United's performance this season is not as good as last season?"

Just as Ten Hag opened his mouth, the reporter fired another question, wanting to gain the upper hand in this interview.

"That is certainly part of the reason; that definitely exists."

Ten Hag was straightforward enough, not directly denying the reporter's viewpoint.

Raising his right hand to a position slightly higher than his forehead, Ten Hag seemed to be measuring his height against the air: "Last season, Manchester United reached a relatively high position, a level that other teams could not reach. After reaching that position, our players naturally gained recognition from the transfer market. But what I want to say is, this position cannot be reached casually, not even by this season's Manchester United."

This was Ten Hag's meaning.

Last season, Manchester United pushed a bit too hard.

"So your meaning is that last season, Manchester United players' values were in an inflated state?"

"No! Of course not; that was the real Manchester United; Manchester United displaying its best form should look exactly like that."

"As for the situation this season... the fact is, a team's form fluctuates; even a team capable of dominating an entire era has periods where it is relatively strong and periods where it is relatively weak. Um, all of this falls within a reasonable range."

"Then can this season's Manchester United still win the Champions League title? Achieve a second consecutive championship? Erik, you have already led Manchester United to a revival, so can you still lead Manchester United to even greater heights?"

"Of course, that goes without saying; I came to Manchester United specifically to do this."

Click-click!

Just as Ten Hag finished speaking, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang.

【Tom】

"Um, I need to discuss tomorrow's FA Cup match with the coaching staff, so I must leave now; truly sorry."

Ten Hag stood up.

"What kind of coach do you think Fan Fan Dejiahe is? Does he have the capability to become a head coach for a top-five league team?"

Click-click!

"Eric, can you answer my question?"

He arrived at the locker room door.

"Tsuk tsuk, Eric! Tsuk tsuk, come, come here, come here."

Ten Hag:?

He pushed the door open and entered.

Well, actually, the Ten Hag mentioned in the locker room wasn't Erik ten Hag, but the little French Bulldog named Eric.

This was the fourth coach within Manchester United's squad for last season's Champions League, and also one of the Champions League winners.

"Haha, Eric, come here!"

Rodri picked up little Eric, then suddenly realized Ten Hag was right in front of him: "Oh, Er... Mr."

Rodri felt somewhat awkward.

Speaking of which, the name Tang Ye gave the French Bulldog was truly too abstract.

Precisely because of this French Bulldog's existence, Manchester United players always felt a sense of awkwardness whenever they called out Ten Hag's name.

"Hmm, everyone stop talking for now; I have a few matters to announce."

Ten Hag slowly walked toward the center of the locker room.

The tactical meeting was about to begin, so Rodri quickly carried the little French Bulldog outside.

Seemingly unwilling to leave the locker room, Eric barked twice just as he was about to be taken out the door.

"Wang Wang!"

"Hey, don't make noise, don't make noise, Eric! If you keep making noise, you won't be allowed into the locker room anymore."

The Sun, front-page headline: Rashford photographed enjoying himself with two blonde women at a nightclub; player's latest market value drops by 20 million euros.

Sports Weekly: AMD Ryzen officially announces Tang Ye as its global brand ambassador.

GamerSky: Football superstar makes a powerful entry! Tang Ye may become the promotional ambassador for the 2021 Major (CS League).

Tang Ye endorsing AMD processors is already an officially announced, confirmed fact.

As for the 2021 CS League, that remains merely a rumor circulating between football fans and gaming enthusiasts; after all, the venue for the 2021 Major hasn't even been determined yet, so confirming Tang Ye's status as ambassador at this stage is somewhat premature.