Chapter 79: The Minor Protection Law Saved Willem II, Facing Feyenoord

The match entered the second half; just when everyone thought Ten Hag had completely ignored the law, the guy suddenly substituted Tang Ye off in the 60th minute.

"Damn it!"

"Why make a substitution!"

Tang Tang Zhengxiong shouted loudly, feeling extremely angry at Ten Hag's substitution.

Unfortunately, Ten Hag did not understand Chinese.

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

The full-time whistle blew; Utrecht finally defeated Willem II 2:1 at home.

After the match, in the press conference room.

"Yes, that's correct; constrained by the law, I had to substitute Tang off the field in the 60th minute."

Although they won the match, Ten Hag's mood was not very good.

This reflected his high standards for the team!

"Hmm, we had many chances in the second half that we should have taken but didn't; one could say the Dutch Minor Protection Law saved Willem II."

Ten Hag's words surprised the reporters below the stage.

"Mr. Sitting Like, your team might face penalties after this match; do you have any statement regarding this?"

Ten Hag spread his hands: "We will accept the punishment."

PSV Eindhoven Official: Head coach Cocu has been dismissed; assistant coach Verena will serve as interim head coach, with former Eindhoven II head coach Van Nistelrooy tentatively appointed as the new head coach.

"Dutch Football": Utrecht Club has been fined 27,000 euros for violating minor labor clauses; the club must pay the fine within one month.

Dutch internet-famous lawyer Jonathan: If Utrecht had let Tang play the full 90 minutes, the estimated fine could have exceeded 42,000 euros.

"Utrecht Evening Post" Front Page Headline: Utrecht Club applied to the Royal Dutch Football Association to modify match times, but the request was rejected.

"Unless the opposing club agrees to modify the match time, Utrecht's application cannot possibly be approved."

Reports indicate that after the spring match period begins, Utrecht still has about six matches scheduled during the 10 PM time slot, including the KNVB Cup semi-finals.

Actually, before the incident occurred, Ten Hag had no idea Tang Ye would be restricted by the Minor Protection Law; it was only when the spring season started that Eredivisie fans discovered this issue.

Utrecht was thus forced to hold a press conference.

"So far this season, Tang has delivered excellent performances in both the league and the KNVB Cup matches; however, since spring match times are generally later, you have six upcoming matches in the season that will fall into the 10 PM time slot, which will become seven if you advance to the KNVB Cup final."

"Tang will be restricted in these matches; Mr. Sitting Like, may I ask how the team plans to address this problem?"

The reporter held the microphone up to Ten Hag's mouth; Ten Hag stood in place, his posture relaxed.

"I think this is no big deal."

"Tang is not Utrecht's core player; even without him on the field, we will still perform well. The Minor Protection Law can restrict us, but it cannot defeat us."

"But..."

The reporter reminded him awkwardly: "In all matches this season where Tang Ye did not start, Utrecht won only one."

"?"

Ten Hag frowned tightly: "Where did this data come from?"

"The Royal Dutch Football Association's official website."

The reporter took out his phone and displayed the screen content in front of Ten Hag.

Ten Hag carefully read the content displayed on the phone, then swallowed hard.

"This is a simple probability issue; even children know there is no direct relationship between these things."

"The reason Utrecht could reach first place in the league this season is that our overall team is strong, not because any single player played a decisive role; as we all know, football is a sport of eleven people."

The restrictions imposed by the Protection Law caused very serious consequences for Utrecht.

A fine of tens of thousands of euros per match is something Utrecht can afford; the problem is that Dutch law is very strict, and the amount of the fine increases with the number of offenses.

The club had Tang Ye personally write a letter, which Utrecht's Youth Protection Organization forwarded to the provincial government, but after four or five days, there was still no response whatsoever.

Halfway through the training session ended, Tang Ye, seeing Ten Hag's worried face, couldn't help but walk over: "Mr. Sitting Like, I really feel bad about this..."

"Feel bad about what?"

"It's about the Minor Protection Law issue... if necessary, you can reduce my playing time."

Tang Ye had taken the initiative to understand the situation.

The fine itself is a minor matter, yes, but if paying fines later cannot completely solve the problem, then it becomes a major issue.

"I will not reduce your playing time."

Ten Hag's attitude was very firm: "It's not necessarily about how important you are to the team; it's just, you know, since you are my player, I must give you sufficient playing time!"

"This..."

Tang Ye blinked his eyes.

To be honest, he was feeling a bit moved right now!

"Mr. Sitting Like!"

"Hey, it's fine, go train."

Ten Hag waved his hand: "These are all things I should do; Tang, remember, as long as you are in my team, you will absolutely receive the fairest treatment!"

Tang Ye didn't know what to say, nodded to Ten Hag, and then ran back onto the field.

Although this guy Ten Hag is a bit detestable, he really has nothing but praise when it comes to his players.

With the club being fined, Ten Hag, as the head coach, definitely felt under pressure.

But he chose to shoulder the pressure himself!

"Is there no way to resolve the situation?"

Allai passed the ball to Tang Ye, who flicked it up with his heel, caught it in his hands, and said, "I don't know; I never expected to encounter something like this. If only I were two years older."

Tang Ye's birthday is March 4th; he had half a month left before turning seventeen.

Regrettably, the Netherlands' regulations regarding minors are the same as China's: both apply to those under eighteen.

Being one year older would not help Tang Ye in any meaningful way; it would merely slightly reduce the fine the club needed to pay.

"This is the first time I've heard of such a thing either."

Ramselaar clasped his head with both hands: "The Football Association probably never anticipated players under eighteen competing in the top division. The Eredivisie reserves and youth leagues are much better; they have no matches starting after 8 PM."

"If the match had started right at 8 PM, I might have been restricted as well,"

Tang Ye reminded him.

"Why?"

"Because of the post-match interview... post-match interviews count as working hours."

"Damn!"

"It's fine, it's fine."

Jansen walked over: "It's only six or seven matches; do you think Erik will get arrested by the police for violating the rules too many times? It's just a fine; no need to worry!"

Speaking of which, the club's veterans truly knew their stuff; after Jansen spoke a few words, Tang Ye instantly felt much better.

That's right; Ten Hag wouldn't get detained just because of him.

It didn't matter!

Tang Ye should focus his attention on training.

Powerful shooting and long-range quick passing both rely on physical strength; Tang Ye must use Cristiano Ronaldo's chicken breast to rapidly improve his strength levels!

Before afternoon strength training began, Tang Ye went to the gym to measure his physical data once.

His height was 177 cm.

His weight was...

68 kg!

His height hadn't increased much, but this gain in weight was quite satisfactory.

Although the current Tang Ye couldn't physically clash head-on with those adult players in their twenties, maintaining his center of gravity during confrontations wasn't too difficult.

"You need to strengthen your aerobic training,"

Ten Hag suddenly said: "After your body fat percentage rises, your endurance will decline; your endurance wasn't good to begin with."

"So?"

"So you have an extra training session tonight, but don't worry; it's not a heavy load."

Ten Hag took the notebook from Fan Fan Dejiahe's hands; Fan Fan Dejiahe, coordinating with the fitness coaching staff, divided players ranked sixth to tenth into groups, each with a different training plan.

Among them, Tang Ye occupied a separate page because his training volume was 1.5 times that of other first-team players.

"Five kilometers of jogging, then five sets of 300 meters; originally it was 450 meters, but I changed it to 300 because we have a very important match at the end of the month."

Ten Hag slowly uttered that Dutch word.

"Feyenoord!"

Jonathan, the famous Dutch internet lawyer: Utrecht's deadline for paying the fine is one month, and Tang's birthday is March 4th; if Utrecht pays the fine after Tang's seventeenth birthday, the original fine of 27,000 euros will drop to around 15,000 euros.

Utrecht RTV: Currently, Ten Hag is leading in the voting for February's Best Coach; if they defeat Feyenoord, Utrecht's new manager is poised to win the third monthly Best Coach trophy of his coaching career.

On match day, Ten Hag was extremely excited; for the past few days, he had been affected by Tang Ye's playing time, and only after seeing the news did he realize he might win February's Monthly Best award.

Clearly, today's match against Feyenoord was even more important than he had imagined!

In a certain lively livestream room in China.

"OK, brothers and friends, welcome to Xiao Wang's livestream; I've already posted the preview for this stream in the group chat: Utrecht versus Feyenoord."

"Uh, after Tang Ye became famous, many fans found this livestream room; many newcomers don't follow the Eredivisie, so here I'll professionally introduce both teams."

Wang Chao truly lived up to his status as a top streamer on the Huanle website; this level of thoughtfulness was something ordinary streamers couldn't compare to.

"First, the home team, Utrecht; this team doesn't need much introduction—it's the team where Tang Tang Qiuwang plays, and its popularity on Check Dongqiu Di is even higher than some Premier League and La Liga teams."

"Then, the away team, Feyenoord, one of the Big Three in the Eredivisie; they finished fourth in the league last season, and this season they are currently third, trailing only Utrecht and Ajax."

"Oh, here they come! We can see the player standing on the right, holding the hand of a female ball girl, is Tang Ye!" The camera focused on Tang Ye, who hadn't yet noticed the lens pointing at him.

"Can I have a piece of chewing gum?"

The female ball girl on the left looked at Tang Ye with wide eyes.

Tang Ye reached into his pants pocket, pulled out a folded strip of chewing gum, and just as he was about to hand it to the ball girl, his hand suddenly stopped mid-air.

"No, I need to chew four pieces during the first half; if I give this to you, I won't have any left to swap."

Tang Ye put the chewing gum he had just taken out back into his pocket; the ball girl drooped her face, looking somewhat aggrieved.

Fortunately, Allai, standing behind Tang Ye, resolved the situation in time by taking out the chewing gum he had prepared himself.

"The match has started; let me first introduce the starting lineups for both sides!"

"First, the home team, Utrecht, wearing red-and-white striped jerseys!"

"..."

!

"Then, the away team, Feyenoord, attacking from the left side of the screen to the right."

Feyenoord (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Vermeer

Defenders: Kong Kong Geluo, Bottegin, Van Beek, Karsdorp

Midfield: Vilhena, Vikićević, Ahmadi

Forwards: Elia, Kramer, Kuyt

"Bijansdoeteenbalprecies"

"Wateenbalmoetdoen"

"Wehebbengoedespelers"

"……"

The match had just begun when the chants of the Utrecht team song erupted from the fans at Galgenwaard Stadium.

The opponent was Feyenoord, one of the Big Three, so it was no surprise that the stadium was packed.

In the family stand, six Asian faces stood out prominently.

Fortunately, they had bumped into Tang Ye on the way; otherwise, these six international students might not have been able to get tickets for this match at all!

"Utrecht!"

Bang bang!

"Utrecht!"

Bang bang!

The atmosphere on site was so lively that even though the temperature was still in the single digits, Tang Ye actually felt his body warming up.

Shortly after the match started, Tang Ye, playing as an attacking midfielder, ran straight to the wing.

Back during match preparations, Fan Fan Dejiahe had already emphasized Feyenoord's tactics to the players.

Feyenoord's style of play was very similar to PSV Eindhoven's, focusing primarily on wing attacks, a characteristic shared by almost all top teams in the major European leagues.

But Feyenoord had another extremely strong point: set pieces.

Feyenoord's set pieces were top-tier across the entire Eredivisie!

On the left wing, Tang Ye retreated step by step alongside Ahmadi, observing Vikićević in the center as he fell back.

Physically on the wing, but mentally in the center!

Slap!

Ahmadi passed the ball to Vikićević in the center, and Tang Ye stretched out his leg.

Unfortunately, he was just a tiny bit short of reaching the ball!

Feyenoord's attack continued!

Vikićević passed to Vilhena, who then sent a through ball forward to Elia!

This was the advantage of Feyenoord as a traditional powerhouse: their speed in shifting the attack was incredibly fast!

"Damn it!"

Tang Ye cursed, knowing it was too late for him to get over there now, so he could only focus on marking Ahmadi beside him.

"Elia! Take on Van der Mareel one-on-one near the baseline!"

"Van der Mareel is playing as a full-back; Ten Hag must have conducted specific research on Feyenoord's formation!"

"Van der Mareel is performing exceptionally well in one-on-one defense near the baseline; Elia can't find any opportunities!"

"Elia!"

"Cut it back directly!"

In the camera shot, Elia's cut-back cross flew toward the arc, where Vikićević, lying in wait at the top of the box, suddenly rushed to the spot where the ball was landing.

Holy crap!

Tang Ye muttered that this was bad news.

Ramselaar seemed to have lost his position!

Slap!

Vikićević jumped up, using the momentum from his run-up, and headed the ball.

Duang!

The ball hit the post, rebounded to Kuyt, who then tapped it into the goal.

If Vikićević's header had gone directly to Kuyt, it would have been offside; however, since his header hit the post first and rebounded to Kuyt's feet, it was valid.

For a moment, the fans couldn't tell whether Feyenoord's luck was good or bad.

But the result was that the goal went in!

"Crap!"

"Damn it, where are Utrecht's defensive midfielders? Where are they!"

"Both Ramselaar and Jansen have lost their positions!"

"Fucking hell!"

Wang Chao was a bit angry as the broadcaster showed a slow-motion replay of the goal.

"It's all Ramselaar's fault; he was marking his man and then just walked away halfway through!"

With Feyenoord in the lead, the fans in the live stream felt somewhat uncomfortable, while the "Bean Warriors" were literally jumping with rage.

【Holy crap, how can we still play like this? Isn't Feyenoord's heading supposed to be trash? Why was the first goal a header?】

【I've said it many times, the streamer's direction is wrong; anyone who follows the streamer, I'll mock them too.】

【Hiss—this is really uncomfortable now; Feyenoord was already difficult to play against.】

【Can't we let Tang Tang Qiuwang play as a defensive midfielder? Ramselaar's form is too poor.】

【Why not substitute in Amrabat or De Jong? Spending 9 million euros on a substitute and then not using him—Ten Hag is really something.】

【??? The away team scored this goal a bit too fast.】

【Asking if I don't understand: is the Tang Tang Qiuwang you're talking about Tang Ye? Why isn't he running?】

"Di Di Bala!"

"Damn it!"

Ten Hag jumped up on the spot, clearly very dissatisfied with his players' performance just now.

"Mark! Mark your men!"

Ramselaar, whose name had been called, raised his hand to signal toward the sideline.

"Holy crap."

Tang Ye placed both hands on his hips and glanced at the substitution board held by the fourth official.

17'29"

To be honest, this goal came a bit too early!

The match continued, reaching the 32nd minute.

The stadium's large screen displayed the possession statistics; Utrecht's possession had dropped from 42% twenty minutes ago to 37% now.

Oh?

Seeing the updated possession stats, Ten Hag's eyes lit up.

Is it...

Is it coming?

"Pass it to me!"

Tang Ye shook off Vuckic, who was marking him, actively dropped back into his own half to demand the ball.

Leeuw looked up and decisively passed the ball out.

It's a chance!

Tang Ye's eyes lit up, and he actively ran toward the ball's location.

While running, he observed behind him.

Haller, Jørgensen, Di Di Bala, plus six Feyenoord defenders.

Tang Ye memorized the positioning of the nine players upfront, arrived where the ball was, stopped it with his left foot, turned, and immediately smashed it with his right foot.

This move was a bit reckless, but Utrecht was currently trailing, after all.

Tang Ye had to believe in the System.

Believe in Bruno Fernandes' One-Touch Passing Module!

"Tang Ye, very bold, passing directly!"

"Perfect, perfect!"

"It reaches Haller's feet—holy crap, that pass was simply perfect!"

"Can Haller break away for a one-on-one? Let's watch Haller!"

The long pass was very accurate; Haller tried to cushion the ball with his shoulder, but didn't control it well, and the ball rolled a bit too far ahead.

It landed right between Haller and the goalkeeper, Vermeer!

He's charging!

Haller sprinted forward.

If he could reach the ball before the opposing goalkeeper, it would be a goal!

Haller did reach the ball, but because the distance was too close, his push shot was blocked by Vermeer.

Van Beek cleared the danger with a big kick.

Haller covered his face with both hands: "Damn it!"

PS: Today's update is 23,000 words; begging for monthly tickets, brothers!!!

This month, going VIP for 20 days means a base update of 300,000 words (20k/day for 10 days, 10k/day for 10 days); every 500 monthly tickets adds another 10,000 words, with no upper limit!

A simple analysis: if there are 5,000 monthly tickets, that means 20k words per day for 20 consecutive days!

Begging for monthly tickets!

Let's go!

(End of Chapter)