Chapter 84: Crushing Fans, Long-Range Corner Shot LV3! (20k Update, Seeking Monthly Votes!)

Back at the base, Tang Ye's first order of business was to clear off his computer desk, then carefully place the February Player of the Month trophy he had just received upon it.

Clap clap!

Clapping his hands, he briefly counted the items arranged on the desk.

Six Eredivisie MVP trophies, two KNVB Cup MVP trophies, and one monthly Player of the Month trophy with the highest prestige!

Tang Ye's heartbeat quickened involuntarily.

This was the feeling of success; Tang Ye hadn't experienced this sensation last season, and such a drastic change left him momentarily dazed.

Lost in thought with his head bowed, Tang Ye suddenly remembered something; he pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped a photo of his desk.

Tang Ye's Instagram account now boasted over twenty thousand followers, nearly one-third of whom were compatriots.

How did Tang Ye know so many of his followers were compatriots?

Because those domestic fans were commenting in Pinyin!

Less than two minutes after posting the photo, Tang Ye's Instagram account exploded with dozens of notifications.

【Tom, keep playing well, you'll win even more (thumbs up) (thumbs up)】

【The future of Utrecht!】

【Proof that hard work pays off!】

【Ten Hag should promote more young talents like Tang; this is crucial for the first team!】

【Tang Tang Qiuwang, a die-hard fan of twenty years reporting for duty!】

【Tom, do you still play FIFA? I saw the PS5 on your desk.】

Hm?

Seeing the comment, Tang Ye paused, then opened the photo he had just posted.

At first, he noticed nothing, so Tang Ye zoomed in on the image, only then spotting half a controller peeking out from the bottom left corner.

These fans really have sharp eyes!

Intrigued, Tang Ye left a reply beneath that fan's comment.

【Send me your ID.】

The fan replied quickly, sending the version of the game he played along with his account ID.

Tang Ye launched the game, added the fan as a friend, and the two immediately started a one-on-one match.

"Hello (in Dutch)!"

"Hello, hello."

The opponent was Dutch; barring any surprises, he was likely an Utrecht supporter.

"Tang? Is this really Tang? Damn, hahaha!"

Being added as a friend by Tang Ye left the opponent somewhat agitated, babbling excitedly.

Can you imagine playing FIFA only to find your opponent is a star player from the Eredivisie?

And Tang Ye had just won Player of the Month!

"Tang, I live in Utrecht, though I'm not from Montfoort; if I beat you, could you send me a signed jersey?"

Just as Tang Ye was about to start the match, he suddenly stopped: "How would I send a signed jersey? Are you coming to the base?"

"You can mail it to me; I'm right here in Bunnik!"

"Okay, okay, but you have to win the match first."

Tang Ye started the game.

"Of course, of course!"

The opponent was very confident; as a passionate FIFA enthusiast, wasn't beating Tang Ye an easy task?

It is a fact that professional players possess a profound understanding of football, but professional players are generally very busy.

Take Tang Ye, for instance; a sixteen-year-old player shouldering immense pressure to train with the first team—how much time could he possibly spend on games?

"Tang, I will win!"

The opponent sent the message, and Tang Ye burst into laughter.

A few minutes later, staring at the current 0:4 score, the fan fell into deep thought.

This...

Something doesn't seem right!

"Can we play another round?"

Sending a rematch request to Tang Ye, the fan received immediate agreement without a second thought.

Having just finished a match today with no training scheduled for tomorrow, he had plenty of time to play games with this fan.

Although this fan played rather poorly, he was still better than Ramselaar!

The fan was tenacious; the two played a full ten matches, lasting about an hour and a half, yet the fan failed to win a single one.

"Do you not play this game often?"

Reading Tang Ye's message in the chat box, the fan plunged into self-doubt.

"I play at least three hours every day."

Three hours?

Tang Ye shook his head: "No wonder; your proficiency is too low, go practice more."

???

The fan played somewhat poorly; according to their prior agreement, he wouldn't receive Tang Ye's signed jersey, yet Tang Ye still asked for his address in the end.

After suffering ten consecutive losses to Tang Ye, the fan became extremely excited and rushed to comment on Tang Ye's account.

The fan lavished praise on Tang Ye's gaming skills, but unfortunately, most people generally didn't believe that busy professional players could be that good at FIFA, so this fan was ultimately labeled a "noob."

A noob who can't even beat Tang Ye!

"Check Dongqiu Di" reposted Dutch football news: Playing FIFA with a pro? Tang Ye drew a fan on Instagram for a one-on-one FIFA match and crushed them with a ten-game winning streak.

Chinese fans learned Tang Ye's in-game name through the news on "Check Dongqiu Di."

ggbond.

【Brothers, say no more; watch me log on and snipe Tang Tang Qiuwang.】

……

Returning to training, on March 10th Tang Ye took time to check the progress of his two main skills.

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

Proficiency: 61/70

【De Bruyne Curved Through Ball Lv3: Simulated】

Proficiency: 102/400

The passing skill still needed over 300 proficiency points to level up, but the shooting skill was already very close to the next rank.

Without hesitation, Tang Ye proactively requested extra shooting practice from Ten Hag for the coming days.

Through his own tremendous effort, combined with a tiny bit of help from Cristiano Ronaldo and Broccoli, Tang Ye successfully upgraded his Far-Corner Curling Shot ability to Lv3 in the March 13th match against Den Haag.

【De Bruyne Far-Corner Curling Shot Lv3: Simulated】

Proficiency: 2/250

This leveled-up shot helped Utrecht pull the trailing score to 1:2.

First half over!

"Damn!"

Walking in the player tunnel, Tang Ye was in a somewhat bad mood.

"I'm really done; that Number 8 on the other side kept kicking me—why do they have to kick me!"

As Tang Ye walked slowly toward the player tunnel, he showed his fist to Ten Hag.

Being one goal behind, Ten Hag wasn't exactly happy originally, but seeing Tang Ye's disheveled state, the Dutchman suddenly laughed: "Haha, don't point your fist at me; you look like you want to hit me."

"Hitting you works too."

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Erik."

Tang Ye opened the fist of his right hand and touched his nose: "I spoke too fast just now; what I meant was I want to hit that Number 8."

……

Utrecht Evening News headline—Utrecht Suffered a Last-Second Loss to ADO Den Haag; Tang Ye's Brace Failed to Save the Day, Was Ten Hag's Tactics a Fatal Mistake?

Unfortunately, Utrecht was ultimately beaten by Den Haag with a last-second goal, ending the match 3:2.

Ten Hag maintained his stable performance; in the post-match interview, he stated that Tang Ye had a chance for a hat-trick in this game.

It sounded as if Utrecht should have drawn 3:3, but that wasn't actually the case.

Immediately, Ten Hag added another sentence: the players' defensive awareness had issues in the final period; otherwise, it would have been Den Haag, not Utrecht, suffering the last-second loss.

With that back-and-forth, Ten Hag rewrote the original 2:3 score into 4:2, successfully reversing the result to win the match (although no points were gained on the standings).

……

Utrecht's schedule in March was relatively relaxed; after playing Den Haag, only one match against SBV Excelsior remained.

Currently, SBV Excelsior ranked last in the league, but Utrecht still dared not relax in the slightest.

Because the previous match against Den Haag was lost precisely because the players were too mentally relaxed!

"Okay brothers, this is Round 28 of this season's Eredivisie, the match between Utrecht at home against SBV Excelsior."

"During the last livestream, many fans asked me for the names of Utrecht's players, which shows there are quite a few new friends in my stream."

"Then today, I'll first introduce Utrecht's starting lineup!"

Utrecht (4-2-1-3)

Goalkeeper: Ruiter

Defenders: Kleiber, Van der Marell, Timo Letschert, Koom

Midfielders: Ramselaar, Tang Ye, De Rong

Forwards: Balacite, Josten, Haller

"The head coach is Erik Ten Hag!"

"Okay, the match has started; the camera turns to our Tang Ye!"

"February's Best Player, a genius midfielder only 17 years old!"

In today's match, the time of Tang Ye's first touch came very early, yet he remained extremely cautious.

He received the ball but couldn't find a suitable passing position.

He passed it directly to De Rong on the side!

Before the main midfielder Jansen fully recovered, De Rong needed to bear this starting position.

Dribbling forward!

De Rong's advancing speed wasn't fast, but anyway, it was slightly faster than Tang Ye's.

Reaching the center circle, the SBV Excelsior players were unwilling to let him push further; Elbers and Kuwas both ran toward De Rong.

"I got it, I got it!"

Tang Ye hurriedly ran right behind De Rong's butt, preparing to complete the support for his teammate.

As it turned out, this guy De Rong was fierce; with a sudden acceleration, he directly shook off the player marking him. "Holy crap, awesome!"

Tang Ye let out an exclamation of surprise and, without hesitation, quickly followed behind.

"Whoa!!!"

Cheers erupted from the stands; De Rong was now like a bulldozer!

"De Rong is running fast, moving toward the arc, carrying the ball alone for nearly 60 meters!"

"There are three opposing defenders in front of him; there's really no way to advance now. Let's see how De Rong handles this."

"He passes left to Koom, who is making a run down the line!"

"Koom and Haller swap positions, reaching the byline!"

"Utrecht's attack is flowing very smoothly!"

Seeing his teammate receive the ball at the byline, Tang Ye, following his habit, ran to the position at the arc.

This spot allowed for either a pass or a direct shot, making it arguably the most suitable place for Tang Ye.

!

Slap!

Koom delivered a cutback cross; Tang Ye had intended to perform a header, but the opposing center-back shoved him aside directly.

With no other choice, Tang Ye quickly turned around.

"I'll crush you!"

Tang Ye slammed an Iron Mountain Lean into Fischer; caught off guard, Fischer was immediately knocked aside by Tang Ye.

"Perfect! Tang Ye displays top-tier physical confrontation ability; Fischer is completely no match for Tang Ye!"

"He has possession. What do you say? Should he take a blind shot? Should he try a blind shot!"

"A through ball, send it into the penalty area!"

"Haller!"

"Goooo——aaaaa——lllllll!!!"

The live commentator shouted the goal into the microphone.

In the 19th minute of the match, Haller received a pass from Tang Ye and successfully opened the scoring against the away team.

1:0!

In the camera frame, Haller pointed both fingers to the sky.

Shortly after, the Ivorian redirected the fingers that had been pointing to God toward Tang Ye.

He had realized it.

His God was not some Jesus, but Tang Ye!

Hmm?

Ten Hag, standing before the substitute bench, wore a serious expression.

Didn't they say everyone has their own God?

Why is your God the same as mine?

"Come on, come on! Come on!"

Leading by one goal was a good start, but having learned their lesson from the previous match against The Hague, the Utrecht players knew they must proceed with caution.

Ta!

Tang Ye controlled the ball passed to him by Van der Mareel and immediately scanned the penalty area.

Receiving the ball at the center circle and directly aiming for the penalty area might sound absurd, but Tang Ye simply loved doing exactly that.

"Stop him!"

Seeing Tang Ye prepare to strike, Kuwas shouted loudly, and Elbers, the player closest to Tang Ye, immediately rushed over.

"Damn it, get away!"

Tang Ye felt slightly nervous; he quickly created space and launched a long pass.

Slap!

Due to pressure from the defenders, Tang Ye's long pass was not executed very well.

Joosten knew he couldn't control the ball, so he jumped up and headed it directly to Balazet on his right.

It was an excellent combination; after receiving the ball, Balazet suddenly accelerated and cut inside, catching the opposing center-back completely off guard.

Balazet dribbled into the penalty area himself, tangled with the defender for a moment, then passed back to Kleibe behind him; Kleibe then relayed the ball to Tang Ye in the center.

"Damn it, here it comes, here it comes!"

Realizing he had a shooting opportunity, Tang Ye quickly accelerated forward.

Keep your center of gravity low, keep your center of gravity low, keep your center of gravity low...

After silently repeating this three times and deeming the position suitable, Tang Ye wrapped his foot around the ball and fired a pushed shot.

Bang!

The ball soared over the crossbar, straight toward the north stand.

"Damn it!"

Tang Ye closed his eyes in agony, his teeth biting tightly into his own jersey.

Just a little bit off...

Well, it was indeed more than just a little bit off.

What a pity!

"It's okay, it's okay!"

Balazet and De Rong both ran over to comfort Tang Ye, whose expression showed a slight hint of frustration.

That previous play had been a bit too rash.

He should have controlled the ball first before shooting, rather than taking a direct push shot!

【Tang Tang Qiuwang's shooting technique is still a bit lacking, though this shot was indeed difficult to take.】

【Didn't Ten Hag say he was giving Tang Ye extra shooting practice? Where did all that training go???】

【Does anyone else feel Tang Ye's shooting privileges are a bit excessive? Isn't he an attacking midfielder? Why is he constantly shooting?】

【The Tang Ye you imagine: a lucky-ball midfielder who can do nothing but divine passes; the actual Tang Ye: Utrecht's second-top scorer.】

【I feel Tang Ye's development has gone a bit off track. Didn't Shandong Taishan's youth academy say Tang Ye was a possession-style midfielder? I remember they even posted a photo of his player template.】

【Ten Hag: This is precisely what makes me great!】

The first half ended with a score of 1:0, and Tang Ye regretted not scoring.

But it didn't matter; just as the second half began, Tang Ye seized the opportunity, suddenly cutting from the left flank to the center, and curled a shot into the far corner that went straight into the net.

The SBV Excelsior goalkeeper reached the ball, but he only managed to deflect it onto the post; after the rebound, it was still a goal.

"..."

The match ended, with Utrecht ultimately defeating SBV Excelsior by a score of 2:0.

When they lost to The Hague in the previous match, Ten Hag told reporters that Utrecht had lost due to bad luck, and at the time, many fans thought Ten Hag was just a clown.

Looking back now, Ten Hag truly cannot be questioned!

Eredivisie League Standings.

1. Utrecht, 63 points

2. PSV Eindhoven, 61 points

3. Ajax, 59 points

4. Feyenoord, 53 points

5. AZ Alkmaar, 52 points

After the conclusion of the 28th round of league matches in March, Utrecht maintained their position at the top of the standings.

There was no helping it; this was the pressure that came with being ranked first, where even a slight carelessness would allow Eindhoven and Ajax to catch up.

The good news was that there was a full six-point gap between third-placed Ajax and fourth-placed Feyenoord, which meant the probability of Utrecht achieving their seasonal goal was still quite high.

"Tang, I can feel it; after this season ends, we will definitely secure a top-four finish, and perhaps even qualify for the Champions League."

On the return bus, Ramselaar turned his head to look at Tang Ye behind him, who was staring blankly into space.

"Hey, Tang, are you listening to me?"

"Oh, oh, sorry, Bart, I'm listening, I am listening; I also feel we can secure a top-four finish this season, but..."

Tang Ye paused for a moment, then said something that silenced his teammates on the bus: "We are currently first, so why can't we set our goal on finishing first in the league?"

Hiss—

Ramselaar took a deep breath and said nothing; Ten Hag, sitting at the very front, heard the commotion, stood up, and sat on the chair next to Tang Ye: "Wow, Tang, you're actually not playing a game; that's quite unexpected."

Ten Hag reached into Tang Ye's trouser pocket and skillfully fished out a piece of chewing gum: "You just said we should set our goal on finishing first in the league; are you... serious?"

Ten Hag put the gum in his mouth and squinted at Tang Ye beside him.

"Of course I'm serious; what else could it be but real?"

"Wow, you're more ambitious than I imagined; I remember you weren't like this before."

"I have always been very ambitious."

Tang Ye corrected Ten Hag's words, then placed Ten Hag's hand on his own thigh: "Mr. Eric, can you feel this?"

"Feel what?"

"Feel my muscles; I feel my muscles have been growing very fast recently, especially here in the thighs; don't you feel my thighs are very hard?"

"Hahaha, okay, okay, I can feel it, I can feel it."

"Having high goals is a good thing, but, Tang, did you know that reporters have asked me many times whether Utrecht will win the league championship at the end of the season? Do you know how I answered?"

Tang Ye pursed his lips in thought.

Considering Ten Hag's personality comprehensively: "Um... you said we would win the trophy?"

"No, I dodged the question."

Chewing his gum, Ten Hag spoke slowly: "Since its founding, Utrecht has never won the Eredivisie championship."

Well...

Tang Ye was somewhat speechless.

Obviously, the mouse-hearted Ten Hag could be influenced by public opinion.

PS: 22k words updated, begging for monthly tickets!

Begging for monthly tickets, brothers; 500 monthly tickets equals 10k words!

(End of Chapter)