Chapter 67: KNVB Cup Quarter-Finals

Still in training, Tang Ye set those matters aside for now and continued grinding his proficiency.

【De Bruyne Far-Corner Curling Shot Lv2: Similar】

Proficiency: 3.2/70

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv3: Simulate】

Proficiency: 14/400

After returning to the dormitory that evening, Tang Ye finally had time to study his system.

First, this Lv6 Super Positioning was most likely a bug, which directly made Tang Ye feel ecstatic.

To be honest, Tang Ye actually felt it was a pity; if this Lv6 bug had been stuck on shooting, that would have been ideal.

With a vision attribute of 93+, Tang Ye could already imagine scenes where he scored hat-tricks match after match, carrying his teammates.

Amrabat would definitely be staring with wide eyes!

Then, besides the skill 【De Bruyne Spatial Positioning】, Tang Ye also obtained one other thing: the French High-Level Chest!

【French High-Level Chest (Growth Version): A special reward for being eager to learn; you can open it immediately to obtain a star player template, or wait for the chest to upgrade.】

Upgrade Condition: 5 league assists (0/5)

Upgrading to a Super Chest with just 5 assists was an extremely good deal. Moreover, according to Tang Ye's recent research, there was no time limit for completing these 5 assists.

Since that was the case, he should definitely nurture it first.

After all, the difference between a High-Level Chest and a Super Chest was far more complex than just five assists!

……

Time flew to the day of the KNVB Cup match, where Utrecht traveled away to face Eerste Divisie side Excelsior.

Before the match began, reporters asked Ten Hag if he was confident about winning this game.

Ten Hag did not answer the reporters' question directly but instead briefly explained to the journalists on site the gap between the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie.

"We have players who come from the Eerste Divisie; Tang, as you all know, was playing in the Eerste Divisie last season. So what is the Eredivisie, and what is the Eerste Divisie?"

Ten Hag smiled and offered his analogy: "Tang's assisting and positional awareness are at a top-tier Eredivisie level, his shooting is at an Eerste Divisie level, and his defensive ability is at the level of an Eerste Divisie substitute. Hmm, that's about right."

"Utrecht facing Excelsior is just like comparing Tang's assisting ability to his defensive ability."

"They are completely not on the same level!"

Click!

Click-click!

Ten Hag's remarks made some of Tang Ye's loyal fans on Check Dongqiu Di feel very dissatisfied, but the Dutchman soon proved his strength in the match.

Utrecht defeated Excelsior 5:1.

Two of these five goals came from Tang Ye's assists, while Utrecht's single conceded goal resulted from a marking error by Tang Ye during defense.

Just as Ten Hag had said.

Utrecht playing against Excelsior was like comparing Tang Ye's passing ability to his defensive ability!

Tang Ye did not know what Ten Hag had said at the press conference, because while Ten Hag was being interviewed, he was in the locker room celebrating with his teammates.

This was because he greatly enjoyed the moments of celebrating with his teammates after a high-scoring victory.

Moreover, after winning this match, Utrecht successfully advanced to the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup!

"Hey, quiet down, everyone quiet down, I want to say a few words."

Captain Ramselaar used an empty mineral water bottle as a microphone and walked to the very center of the locker room.

"We won this match very easily, but what I want to say is, this is just the beginning!"

"We still have the quarter-finals, the semi-finals, and the final; we must reach the final and win the championship in the final!"

"Championship!"

……

Time passed quickly; three days after the match against Excelsior, on December 19th local time, Utrecht faced their last match of the month.

In Round 17 of the Eredivisie, the opponent was AZ Alkmaar!

"Utrecht's opponent today, AZ Alkmaar, is in very good form; they rank just below Utrecht and the Big Three of the Eredivisie in the standings, so this match won't be easy to play," Wang Chao said slowly.

"But!"

"As a lifelong fan of Tang Tang Qiuwang, I will always firmly stand on Utrecht's side!"

Upon careful observation, one could discover that the PSV Eindhoven jersey in Wang Chao's livestream room had been taken down, and now two Utrecht jerseys were hanging there.

One was an authentic fan version, priced at 599 Happy Beans.

The other jersey faced away from the livestream camera, with "Tang" and "99" written on the back.

Obviously, this was Tang Ye's player-version jersey; however, since Tang Ye was only promoted to the first team early in the season and was not valued highly during that initial period, there was currently no channel within China to purchase an authentic Tang Ye jersey.

This one of Wang Chao's was a counterfeit, priced at 79 Happy Beans.

【Can the streamer give us a channel for the counterfeit jersey?】

【No way, upstairs, Tang Tang Qiuwang helped you make so much money, and this is how you treat him?】

【What do you know? There is a two-hundred-percent chance Tang Ye's contract has no jersey royalty share, and the current Tang Ye is no longer the player from last season who needed fans to buy jerseys to stay on the team.】

【Anyway, the money won't reach Tang Ye's hands; my suggestion is to just not buy it.】

【Truth be told, buying authentic jerseys is just sending money to the Netherlands; it's better to buy counterfeit jerseys to show patriotism!】

"To be honest, fans who buy authentic jerseys are just sending money to the Netherlands; it's better to buy counterfeit ones and show patriotism!"

【I think true patriotism relies on foot baths to boost the city's GDP, what do you guys think?】

【Stop talking about authentic versus counterfeit; Utrecht will definitely come to China next year to sell jerseys, so just buy the authentic ones then.】

"The match has already started; Tang Tang Qiuwang, okay, chew some gum, and start today's performance!"

"The match has already begun, Tang Tang Qiuwang, okay, chew some gum and start today's performance!"

Alkmaar is a formidable opponent, second only to the Big Three.

When facing the Big Three, Ten Hag likes to set up with five defenders to play defensively.

But you, Alkmaar, are after all not one of the Big Three, so Ten Hag directly deployed a 4-3-3 formation.

This is Ten Hag's confidence!

Confidence stemming from being the Eredivisie Manager of the Month!

In the 16th minute of the match, Alkmaar launched an attack down the wing, capitalizing on a mistake by Haller.

Lukassen broke through Jansen's defense!

A 45-degree cross found Hamdavi.

Hamdavi headed the ball at goal!

Goal!

Half a minute ago it was Utrecht on the attack, and now it is Utrecht whose goal has been breached!

"Holy crap, why is the home team's counter-attack speed so fast!"

"Damn it, how do we handle this? We're behind!"

Wang Chao began to panic.

The situation in the first 15 minutes was clear; any football fan could see that Alkmaar's hard strength was superior to Utrecht's.

If the match continued along this trend, Utrecht would basically lose!

Of course, this is the view of the fans.

The views of the Bean Warriors and the fans are not always consistent.

【"Brothers, don't panic; this is a trap deliberately set by Tang Tang Qiuwang. The odds for Utrecht have just doubled, so hurry up and place a bet!"】

After the next kickoff, the broadcast camera cut to Ten Hag on the sidelines.

Alkmaar's counter-attacking speed was even faster than he had imagined.

The Dutch manager had already begun to panic!

"It's fine, it's fine, we can still win; we're only down by one goal!"

"Calm down, pay attention to defending the wings!"

Five minutes later.

"goooooo——aaaaaa——lllllll!!!"

"2-0, holy damn it, there's no point in playing anymore!"

"Why is Alkmaar so strong?"

"No, I give up, why did it turn out like this?"

Wang Chao pointed at the computer screen: "Before the match, Ten Hag clearly said we would win easily; what does this mean?" Because Ten Hag was Tang Ye's mentor, Wang Chao respected Ten Hag.

He still remembered that during the pre-match interview, Ten Hag had solemnly declared that "First is greater than Fifth."

But the current result was that Utrecht was two goals behind!

Ten Hag had deceived him!

Damnable!

Wang Chao realized he had made a fatal mistake.

He should have believed in Tang Ye, not some Erik Ten Hag.

This guy is nothing but a liar!

Entering the second half, despite being two goals down, Ten Hag still had not switched to a five-defender formation, which made the Bean Warriors in the live stream somewhat flustered.

Ten Hag sat back down in his spot on the substitutes' bench, while Fan Fan Dejiahe beside him looked worried: "Are we going to keep this tactic?"

"Mm, it's fine."

Ten Hag nodded, then turned to glance at the countdown board held by the fourth official: "Based on my experience, Utrecht will suddenly become stronger in the second half."

"Huh?"

!

Fan Fan Dejiahe didn't quite understand what Ten Hag meant, so he asked Ten Hag for clarification.

Ten Hag indicated that he didn't know why either; it was just a feeling.

"But we are coaches; shouldn't we be more rigorous?"

Fan Fan Dejiahe was puzzled; Ten Hag was actually entrusting the fate of the match to something as mystical as luck.

"Every coach has their own characteristics; only coaches with characteristics can win the Manager of the Month trophy."

"!!!"

Arriving at the 52nd minute, Utrecht inexplicably began to gain momentum; this surge originated from a soul-stirring movement by Tang Ye, who ran in front of Lukassen to block his line of sight, causing the home team's midfielder to fail to move into position in time to receive his teammate's pass.

Ramselaar stepped up, easily controlled the ball, and then began to push forward.

Passed to Haller!

Haller turned and shot directly!

Goal!

"Clap, clap, clap!"

Ten Hag applauded the Utrecht players on the field, then turned to look at Fan Fan Dejiahe beside him: "You see, I told you, we would suddenly become stronger."

Ten Hag stood up from his chair, raising both hands in celebration.

Arriving at the 75th minute, Tang Ye and Haller executed a crossing run; after swapping positions, Tang Ye moved to the left wing.

"Pass it to me!"

"Pass it to me!"

Allai and Balazit almost simultaneously made requests to Tang Ye, who glanced up.

"No!"

Huh?

While Allai and Balazit stood penalized in the penalty area, Tang Ye curled a shot that successfully found the net!

"2:2!"

"2:2!"

"Tang Ye! Tang Ye! It's Tang Ye again!"

"Utrecht has equalized the score!"

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Wang Chao excitedly hammered his mechanical keyboard, keycaps flying wildly around the room, clattering against the floor with a crackling noise.

Equalizing the score was an incredibly thrilling event.

Unfortunately, however, 2:2 remained the final score of this match.

……

"Damn it!"

On the way back to the locker room, Tang Ye angrily waved his fist.

"If that shot just now had gone in, it would be 3:2 right now!"

Just as Tang Ye said, he had taken a long-range shot in the final moments.

Alas, his shooting attribute points were simply too pathetic; the ball veered wide of the post and flew out.

According to Tang Ye's deduction, if only his shooting had been 70+, he should have already scored twice in this match!

"It's fine, it's fine; reaching that position was already excellent."

Allai placed a hand on Tang Ye's shoulder: "No, I feel your instinct in front of goal is even better than mine, a striker's. When did you run into the penalty area? I didn't even see you."

"He didn't run in."

Ramse, walking ahead, turned his head; he had been watching from behind when Tang Ye entered the opponent's penalty area.

As a defensive midfielder, he could see every move of Tang Ye, the attacking midfielder, with perfect clarity.

"If he didn't run in, then how else did he get in?"

Allai momentarily failed to understand Ramse's words; the latter walked over, reached into Tang Ye's shorts pocket, pulled out a piece of chewing gum, and popped it into his mouth: "He walked in."

"Uh... okay."

Allai smiled bitterly; he had nearly forgotten that this number 99 on the team was a master of positioning.

"Tang, I feel you truly have this talent; you should be playing as a striker, not in midfield!"

Allai patted Tang Ye's shoulder: "Your run... your positioning and your instinct in front of goal are the best I've seen among any players! Such talent belongs on a striker, not a midfielder!"

"Hey, exactly! Allai, you also think I should play as a striker!"

Tang Ye pointed at Allai.

A kindred spirit is hard to find!

What a pity; if only my system were as sensible as Allai!

Hearing his teammates chat, Balazit leaned his head in: "Allai, if Tang plays as a striker, then who will pass the ball to us?"

"I can both pass and shoot!"

Tang Ye said.

"Then isn't that an attacking midfielder?"

"Hmm?"

Tang Ye's eyes lit up.

It seems...

It really does seem that way!

"But I'm a ball-controlling midfielder; wouldn't shooting too much be inappropriate?"

"Screw that; what kind of ball-controlling midfielder are you? I'm the ball-controlling midfielder, okay?"

Ramse strongly disagreed with Tang Ye's statement.

Tang Ye, of course, also disagreed with Ramse's statement.

In Tang Ye's mind, midfield was a position for controlling the ball, keeping it at one's feet to prevent the opponent from gaining possession, and then finding an opportunity to pass to teammates.

This was the purpose of Tang Ye's existence.

However, perhaps the system knew Tang Ye was rather lazy, so it simplified this process.

Skipping the ball-control step entirely, it directly passed the ball to teammates!

……

Check Dongqiu Di Match Report: Utrecht drew 2:2 away against Alkmaar, Tang Ye equalized with a curling shot!

Dutch Football Front Page Headline – In a post-match interview, Ten Hag stated that Tang's long-range shot in the final moments should have gone in; the final score of the entire match should have been 2:3 or 2:4, and Utrecht should have been the winning side.

Ten Hag's outrageous remarks sparked considerable debate on Check Dongqiu Di, with a single interview news item garnering over 2,000 comments.

This guy's popularity was estimated to be about to surpass Mourinho's.

However, the traffic for those news articles criticizing Ten Hag immediately began to decline.

When the mentor faces difficulty, the beloved disciple comes to the rescue!

Check Dongqiu Di Pinned Post – German Transfer Market releases new season/phase valuations for Eredivisie players and some Eerste Divisie players; overseas rookie Tang Ye...

……

(End of Chapter)