Chapter 839: Need to Be Prepared for a Huge Psychological Gap

【Can't beat them, bros, the gap is still huge】

【Fun fact, the Netherlands is basically a half-favorite to win it all, doing this well against them is already pretty good, are you still not satisfied with 0:1 against the Netherlands?】

【The problem is the first half isn't even over yet……】

【Zhang Xizhe, keep your cool, don't let De Jong injure you, Manchester United still needs to fight for the Champions League this season】

【Honestly, Tang Ye could actually be a bit more selfish, Es, be a little bolder, otherwise there won't be a chance!】

The fans' cheers were loud, but unfortunately Escriva couldn't hear them.

As head coach, Escriva's perspective on problems was naturally more comprehensive than the fans', which also meant he had more worries than them.

Some things are nowhere near as simple as imagined!

At the 30th minute, both sides took a water break, and Escriva found Wu Lei and Wei Wei Shihao: "Your positioning is too far forward, drop back! ty can't go too far up front, if you two are positioned too far forward the middle will have a gap!"

"The link-up has to be done well!"

Escriva's veins bulged on his arm.

Oh, Alexander!

Gulp!

Pfft!

Taking a sip and spitting it out, Tang Ye handed the water bottle to Wang Wang Shenchao, his eyes locked on the far end where the Dutch players were positioned.

As a strong European side, the Netherlands really did play very well……

Tough to deal with!

"If we can beat the Netherlands, then against Argentina and Germany we should have a chance too."

Tang Ye said thoughtfully, while beside him Marti was somewhat speechless: "……Can you say something useful?"

"Hey, isn't that useful? Just give it our all, everyone's got a chance."

Marti waved his hand and didn't say anything more.

The match resumes!

Now down by 1 goal, but the Chinese team had been playing rather conservatively.

This was mainly reflected in Tang Ye.

The national team captain adjusted very quickly, and after returning from his club to the national team, his entire playing style had also shown a clear change, from the original infinitely aggressive approach to now leaning slightly conservative.

The fans had only watched 30 minutes of the match, so they couldn't judge whether Tang Ye's change was good or bad.

The 37th minute.

"I'll go!"

Coming down to the goal line to help defend on his own initiative, Tang Ye signaled Zhang Zhang Linpeng to coordinate with him while observing the positioning of the players behind him.

The instant Zhang Zhang Linpeng pressed forward on Blind, Tang Ye suddenly stuck out his foot behind Blind, directly intercepting the pass Blind had originally intended for Aké.

Snap!

Passing back to Zhang Zhang Linpeng, Tang Ye turned and immediately started running forward.

Zhang Zhang Linpeng threaded a through ball from behind!

Lifting his foot, Tang Ye let the ball roll naturally to his front.

Holding onto his first touch, he used his peripheral vision while running to observe the positioning of players on both sides.

"Zhang Zhang Xizhe, hurry up!"

Shouting once, Tang Ye suddenly changed his rhythm, weaving straight past De Jong.

De Jong tried to chase back, but Tang Ye seized the chance with a sudden stop and nutmegged him.

!

De Jong had the chance to drag Tang Ye down, but there was no need to do that in a friendly.

Moving slightly toward the middle, Tang Ye's left-footed pass precisely found Zhang Zhang Yuning up front.

Zhang Zhang Yuning took the ball with his back to goal!

He wanted to turn, but the rapidly closing Van Dijk gave Zhang Zhang Yuning no chance at all.

Damn!

With no choice, he could only find Wei Wei Shihao.

Wei Wei Shihao played quite fiercely, taking the ball and suddenly accelerating, trying to use his pace to simply blow past Aké, but unfortunately he failed.

Aké kicked the ball out.

"Oh damn!"

"Hao-ge! Playing too fancy!"

"That's the Netherlands out there, not Vietnam!"

"……"

"Corner kick delivered."

"Wow, it's played in very high, kind of got that Tang Tang Qiuwang vibe."

"Look at the back post……"

Bang!

Van Dijk leaped up and headed it clear.

Wang Wang Dalei's fingertips reached the ball, but it didn't matter.

Goal!

2:0!

"What a pity, bros……"

"Then there's probably no chance to turn it around in the first half..."

"Still thinking about a comeback... Hey, of course you have to think about a comeback; if you don't even want to win, what are you playing for? I feel China still has a slight chance."

Wang Chao's national team filter was too strong, causing him to overlook the huge gap in strength between the two sides!

Actually, whether the Chinese team had a chance could be roughly gauged just by looking at Tang Ye's expression, since this guy basically never hid his emotions.

The camera cut to Tang Ye.

The captain of the Chinese team stood on the grass, contemplating life.

Hiss!

That indeed presented considerable difficulty!

"..."

"Beep, beep-beep—!!!"

Halftime.

"Actually, we played quite well in the first half, especially at the beginning; the switches between the left and right flanks were executed very well."

"The key point I want to emphasize is that wingers must not position themselves too far forward, even though we are currently trailing."

"Does positioning wingers forward guarantee goals? No, it doesn't; at least not for us."

Escrivá and Martí had studied extensive data on the Chinese team together; in reality, there wasn't much correlation between the national team's goal statistics and striker positioning. Given this, Wu Lei and Wei Wei Shihao didn't need to be so aggressive: "Move more toward the center. I said we were passing back and forth between the left and right flanks, but our true focus, our actual focal point, is the center. Do not forget this crucial issue."

"You could actually look to combine with me more often."

Tang Ye suddenly spoke, drawing the attention of all his teammates in the locker room.

"I still have plenty of stamina left after the first half; you looked for me too few times during the first half."

"Mainly because their two midfielders were constantly hovering right beside you," Wu Lei explained.

"Yes, I know that, but it's fine. Don't just hold the ball waiting for me to make my run; you need to keep running and keep passing, and then their positioning will change."

Tang Ye spread his hands: "As soon as their positioning changes, I will definitely be able to run into open space; at that point, you just pass the ball, and that solves it."

"They have two defenders; I can't create open space all by myself. You need to help me."

"That's the point!"

Martí suddenly nodded: "Our running distance is still too limited; Lei and Hao should reduce their forward-and-back runs; we need more lateral movement."

Noticing the shift in Tang Ye's mood, Zhang Zhang Yuning placed his hand on the captain's thigh.

Although Tang Ye had a good temper, in truth, Chinese national team players still felt considerable pressure when playing alongside him.

It was fine when he wasn't yelling, but once he started yelling, it became extremely terrible; no one in the entire Chinese national team could escape it.

King Tang of Football, you must stay calm!

Time moved into the second half.

Both substitute benches were fully occupied, yet seemingly due to insufficient gathered information, neither Van Gaal nor Escrivá made any substitutions.

The 52nd minute.

"Hiss, brothers, I feel like we've picked up a bit in the second half."

"Although we haven't taken a shot yet, our possession rate is actually leading against the Netherlands; Saint Escrivá must have some trick up his sleeve."

"Wu Lei, find Tang Ye in the center."

"Crossing runs!"

"Holy crap, that was cool."

An extremely fast crossing run was executed; after receiving the ball again, Tang Ye had already moved to the right flank, temporarily assuming the duties of a right midfielder.

When Tang Ye played on the flank, he was far more ruthless than Wu Lei, alternating possession between his left and right feet while constantly changing rhythm.

When Tang Ye played as a right winger, he gave people the sensation that Dembélé was the one playing.

This was because a significant portion of Dembélé's technique had been learned from the Master.