Chapter 78: Ten Hag Refuses to Make Substitutions (230k words, seeking monthly votes!)

The match ended, and Utrecht, with their second consecutive victory, maintained their position at the top of the league. Ten Hag once again entered the press room.

Click-clack! Click-clack!

"Erik, this is your second league win this month. Next Saturday, you will face Willem II at home. Do you think Utrecht can maintain their winning streak?"

"Willem II? Of course!"

Ten Hag answered without a moment's thought: "We defeated Willem II in the first half of the league season, and one week later, we will win again. That is beyond question."

"But..."

The reporter paused briefly: "We have observed that your next match against Willem II is scheduled to kick off at 9:30 PM."

"Oh, that makes no difference."

Ten Hag shrugged his shoulders: "Whether it's 8:30, 9:30, or 10:30, we will win the match. We are currently in our best form."

"Is that so?"

The reporter glanced down at his notes: "According to the Dutch Child Protection Act, minor players are not permitted to work after 10:00 PM. This means Tang will have a maximum playing time of only 30 minutes in the next match."

?

The camera focused on Erik Ten Hag at the podium; the expression of this dark-horse head coach suddenly froze in shock.

Ten Hag patted Fan Fan Dejiahe on the shoulder and asked in a low voice, "Is this true?"

Fan Fan Dejiahe frowned; he was unaware of this matter as well.

He took out his phone to search.

Damn, it's true!

"Hmm..."

Ten Hag took a deep breath: "This is not a major issue. Regardless of how long Tang plays, we will compete with all our might. However, I must state here that no team can win forever."

"As you all know, even the most outstanding team, paired with the most outstanding head coach, cannot guarantee a 100% win rate. Willem II is a club with profound heritage, and I hold them in the highest respect."

The reporter nodded: "Erik, did you change your statement because Tang cannot play the full match?"

"No, this has nothing to do with the players; I am simply stating a fact."

Ten Hag smiled: "Mr. Cocu's experience has made me realize that a team's head coach should speak more rigorously. I respect Willem II, and I cannot guarantee a 100% win rate. That is the fact."

Front-page headline of the "Utrecht Evening Post"—Due to regulations under the Dutch Child Protection Law, Tang will have a maximum playing time of only 30 minutes in the upcoming match against Willem II. If he does not rest on the substitutes' bench after 10:00 PM, the team will face penalties from the Utrecht municipal government.

Check Dongqiu Di: The match time is too late; Tang Ye's playing time has been restricted.

【What the hell? They directly banned my Brother Meng. How is Utrecht supposed to play like this?】

【Holy crap, did they trigger the Minor Protection Law?】

【I felt this match time was too early anyway. Can Utrecht apply to the Football Association to start the match earlier? That would be more comfortable for us here in China.】

【Willem II: We do not agree to starting the match earlier!】

【Ten Hag is still showing off. Wait until my Brother Meng gets subbed off, and it will become clear who the dead weight really is.】

【Ten Hag: Tang is dead weight; how much he plays doesn't really matter. I am the team's sole core.】

That evening, Tang Ye carefully washed both his hands with hand soap in the bathroom.

On the return bus, Tang Ye learned from Fan Fan Dejiahe that he would be subject to "legal protection" in the next match.

Being limited to only 30 minutes of play in the next match made Tang Ye feel somewhat uncomfortable, but there was nothing he could do about it.

After all, what he was facing was not a rule from the Football Association, but the damn Child Protection Law!

However, there was no point dwelling on it now. Tang Ye carefully dried his hands with a towel.

He sat down on the chair, and then...

Opened the treasure chest!

【You have obtained the Mbappé Volley Shot Template.】

Volley Shot!

Although he didn't know who Mbappé was, it wasn't a big problem.

The name "Volley Shot" sounded like it had something to do with shooting!

Closing his eyes to feel it carefully, as expected, this was indeed a very powerful shooting technique.

It was truly stylish, but the only drawback was that the activation conditions were somewhat stringent.

After all, opportunities for a volley shot do not arise just anytime!

After opening the treasure chest, Tang Ye prepared to watch a movie to relax, but just then, there was a knock on his door.

Suspecting it was Ten Hag breaking in and having learned from previous lessons, Tang Ye immediately turned off his computer.

Then he went to open the door.

"Tang Ye!"

Holy crap?

Suddenly embraced, Tang Ye felt somewhat stunned.

The visitor was not the detestable Ten Hag at all, but his parents!

"Tang Ye, hmm, let me see, let me see."

Zhang Zhang Qingqing carefully examined Tang Ye standing before her, while Tang Tang Zhengxiong behind her wore a look of pure pride: "How about it, Tang Ye? Are you moved?"

To give Tang Ye this surprise, Tang Tang Zhengxiong and Zhang Zhang Qingqing had specifically asked for Tang Ye's room number, and finding a translator in between had taken considerable effort!

"Dad, weren't you going to watch the Double Red Derby?"

Smiling, Tang Ye led his parents into the room.

He remembered Tang Tang Zhengxiong saying he was going to England to watch the Double Red Derby, so he never expected them to suddenly appear here.

Tang Ye now felt a bit relieved.

Fortunately, his safety awareness was quite good; he had turned off the computer in advance!

"The Double Red Derby is nothing much; to come find you tonight, I didn't even watch the Double Red Derby."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong waved his hand with an air of nonchalance and sat directly down on Tang Ye's bed.

"Hey, Tang Ye, don't listen to your father talking nonsense; we flew over from Liwupu."

Tang Ye had originally been quite moved, but after hearing Zhang Zhang Qingqing's explanation, he suddenly fell silent.

"Dad, this..."

"Eh, it's all the same."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong looked around Tang Ye's room: "The main thing is to see you; the Double Red Derby was just a stop along the way. But seriously, Tang Ye, your room is even smaller than I imagined; do you really not plan to buy an apartment outside?"

"But don't you think it's very convenient? The cafeteria is right next door, and the training ground is next to that."

Tang Ye opened the window and looked out from the fourth-floor dormitory; you could see directly the three eleven-a-side pitches of the first team.

However, since it was nighttime, everything outside was pitch black.

"That is true; I just toured your club."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong spoke slowly: "It feels like it lacks a lot compared to Melwood (the Liwupu first-team base); your gym only has one floor; is that enough?"

"It's definitely enough; we don't have many players."

Tang Ye had Zhang Zhang Qingqing sit on the bed, then moved his own chair over and sat on it himself.

"Although the Eredivisie is average, the atmosphere here is quite nice; on the way over, I even saw your poster on the street; I told that driver, 'This is my son,' and that driver didn't believe me; damn it."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong gritted his teeth: "By the way, Tang Ye, your mother and I are planning to stay in the Netherlands for two weeks; do you have any family tickets or something like that—the kind where you sit in the stands and everyone around knows you're a player's family member?"

"Ah..."

Tang Ye was rendered speechless by Tang Tang Zhengxiong's question: "Uh, Dad, how about you two buy box seats? The box seats in Utrecht are very cheap..."

"That's not the same."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong shook his head: "Family tickets are the most impressive; aren't you a midfielder? Then when you make a god-tier assist on the field, I'll jump straight up from my chair and shout 'That's my son!' right there on the spot; damn, how cool would that be?"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong began to look forward to it.

As a noble Premier League fan, he looked down on the Eredivisie.

But since this was, after all, his first time watching Tang Ye play live, the spectacle had to be maximized!

"Um, um..."

Tang Ye's face turned red: "I already gave away the family ticket quota..."

"What!?"

Zhang Zhang Qingqing hadn't reacted much yet, but Tang Tang Zhengxiong jumped straight up from the bed: "Grandma's! Wait, Tang Ye, we haven't seen each other for only two months, and you've already found a new dad out here? No way, damn it!"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong pointed his index finger at Tang Ye, then looked at Zhang Zhang Qingqing, who was still sitting on the bed: "I knew what I spawned couldn't be anything good; Zhang Qingqing, look at this yourself!"

"Calm down, calm down!"

Tang Ye stood up and pushed Tang Tang Zhengxiong back onto the bed: "Fans; I gave the ticket to fans! I met a few Chinese fans on the road; they often watch Utrecht matches, so I gave the quota to them."

"Oh?"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong's eyes lit up: "Not bad of you; I knew there was nothing wrong with my family education; Tang Ye, let me tell you, doing this is very good; you must do exactly this!"

"..."

"Tang Zhengxiong, calm down a bit; this is a dormitory; people in other rooms are still sleeping."

Zhang Zhang Qingqing held onto Tang Tang Zhengxiong's clothes: "Tang Ye, are you hungry? How about we go out for something to eat tonight?"

"Let's do tomorrow night; after training tomorrow evening, I'll go out to eat with you two; let's skip tonight; eating too much isn't good."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong stood up and pinched Tang Ye's arm: "You should be eating more; with your physical attributes, you can't play in the Premier League."

Tang Tang Zhengxiong really wanted Tang Ye to play football in the Premier League.

On one hand, it would save face for Tang Tang Zhengxiong.

On the other hand...

Tang Tang Zhengxiong wanted Tang Ye to go to Manchester United as an undercover agent.

This was Tang Tang Zhengxiong's loyalty to his team as a Liwupu fan!

In the end, Tang Ye could not resist Tang Tang Zhengxiong and used his phone to send a message to Ten Hag.

Knowing that Tang Ye's parents had come, Ten Hag decisively arranged leave for Tang Ye, indicating that Tang Ye could arrive late for training tomorrow morning.

The next afternoon, Utrecht officially posted a tweet on Twitter, the content being roughly that their U17 player Tang Ye had received a visit from his parents.

In the official photo, Tang Tang Zhengxiong had his back to the camera, both hands raised, thumbs pointing at the number 99 jersey behind him.

This was Tang Ye's number, but the name above the number was not "Tang," but "Tom'sDad."

Accompanied by Utrecht staff, Tang Tang Zhengxiong toured the place for a while, then left Utrecht with Zhang Zhang Qingqing.

They planned to tour the Netherlands and return before the next match.

"Leaving already?"

Zhang Zhang Qingqing seemed a bit reluctant to leave.

"Hey, don't think like that; if we stay here, it will affect Tang Ye's training."

Time arrived at the day of the match between Utrecht and Willem II.

Just as the reporters had said, the kickoff time for this match was 9:30, so Tang Ye would have at most half an hour of playing time.

But even so, Ten Hag still started Tang Ye.

The camera first focused on Tang Ye on the field chewing gum, then panned to Tang Tang Zhengxiong and Zhang Zhang Qingqing in the first-tier stands.

"Brothers, although Tang Ye can only play for 30 minutes in this match, with Tang Ye's father and Tang Ye's mother supervising the battle, I feel Utrecht's chances of winning today are still quite high."

"Agreed, Utrecht is playing very fiercely!"

"..."

"Van der Mareel launches a long pass directly to Haller!"

"Haller lays the ball off to Janssen!"

"Janssen passes again!"

"To Tang Ye!"

"Perfect, Janssen is very smart; he chose to pass the ball to Utrecht's strongest striker!"

"Tang Ye, curls it into the far corner!"

"GOOO——AAAAAA——LLLLLL!!!!"

"Goal! Goal!"

"Tang Ye! Beautiful!"

【You have obtained Counterattack Points *10】

【At 37 years old, you are playing on the field while your 39-year-old father watches from the stands; you gain an additional 1 Counterattack Point】

【At 37 years old, you are playing on the field while your 36-year-old mother watches from the stands; you gain an additional 1 Counterattack Point】

Scoring a goal only ten-plus minutes into the match was somewhat beyond Tang Ye's expectations.

Equally beyond Tang Ye's expectations was this extra reward of 2 Counterattack Points.

So satisfying!

"Wuhu!"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong waved his fist, while Zhang Zhang Qingqing beside him clapped incessantly.

Ten minutes later.

"Tang Ye, run!"

"Run, you damn it! What kind of crap are you playing!"

"Run!"

The scene was noisy, but since Tang Tang Zhengxiong was standing in the front row and speaking Chinese, every single one of these words reached Tang Ye's ears without exception.

Dammit!

As expected, those 2 Counterattack Points weren't earned so easily!

As the match reached the 29th minute, the fans at the scene looked toward Utrecht's substitute bench.

No one was warming up.

"Hmm? Isn't Ten Hag preparing to make a substitution?"

"Hiss—It's already been 30 minutes, and Ten Hag still hasn't made a substitution!"

"Holy crap, awesome!"

"Saint Ten!"

【Uh, didn't they say continuing to play would violate the law...】

【Is Ten Hag this fierce? Is he already prepared to pay the fine?】

【Has Tang Ye's dad been cursing at him this whole time, hahaha!】

【My Meng-ge's positioning is too heaven-defying; even his own father can't stand to watch!】

【Still not making a substitution?】

【What's the situation?】

In front of Willem II's substitute bench, head coach Bochi glanced out of the corner of his eye at Utrecht's substitute bench.

He discovered that Ten Hag had no intention of making a substitution.

Did he forget?

Bochi began his maneuver, instructing a forward on the substitute bench to put on a bib and start warming up.

While warming up, he deliberately ran in front of Utrecht's substitute bench and twisted his body twice right before Ten Hag.

Ten Hag remained unmoved.

Alright then.

Bochi shook his head.

Ten Hag hadn't forgotten at all; he had simply made up his mind not to substitute Tang Ye!

"Ten Hag has not made a substitution (Dutch)"

"Why! Why is this happening! (Dutch)"

The live commentators were completely baffled by Ten Hag's move.

Minors are not permitted to work after 10 PM.

This isn't a regulation of the Dutch Football Association; it's local Dutch law!

Erik, what are you doing!

(End of Chapter)