Chapter 87: Ten Hag's 18+ Remarks

"Tom, can you give me the ball?"

Tang Ye walked along the substitute bench as fans in the stands demanded the match ball he held.

"Do you want to keep this ball, or give it to the fans?"

Ale walked beside Tang Ye, watching him sign his name on the match ball with a pen.

He wrote "Tang," not "Tom."

"Hmm..."

Tang Ye stood still, thinking.

This was his first hat-trick in the Eredivisie, and the first of his professional career.

With such profound commemorative significance, Tang Ye naturally wished to keep the ball if possible.

However, the fans on-site were simply too enthusiastic.

Tang Ye did not want to disappoint his supporters.

Thus, Tang Ye stepped forward and handed the match ball in his hand to a young fan in the first tier of the stands.

"Wow!!!"

Fans in the stands let out envious shouts as Tang Ye shook hands with the young supporter.

Though called a young fan, in truth he was probably not much younger than Tang Ye.

"Tom, keep it up!"

"Tom, keep going, you are Utrecht's future!"

The Utrecht fans heaped praise upon Tang Ye, making him feel quite embarrassed.

Tang Ye exchanged simple high-fives with the few fans closest to him, then prepared to return to the locker room.

Yet during this process, Tang Ye overheard a conversation between two Dutchmen nearby.

"Truly amazing; this talent must be number one in the Eredivisie. Where in Asia is he from?"

"I don't know; probably Japan..."

What the hell?

Tang Ye turned his head, glaring at the Dutch fan who had called him Japanese, his brows knitting tightly.

The fan grew somewhat nervous: "Wh-what's wrong?"

"Hey, Tang!"

Ramselaar quickly pulled Tang Ye back: "It's fine, it's fine, it's a misunderstanding!"

The fan stared at by Tang Ye flushed red, clearly unaware that he had just offended him.

"Are you okay, Tom? Sorry, I'm sorry!"

"..."

Tang Ye touched his nose, walked over to shake that fan's hand, and then left the scene.

"Damn it, what did I just say!"

The fan clutched his head; being stared at by several thousand people nearby truly felt unbearable!

"You mistook a Chinese person for a Japanese!"

The young fan who had just received Tang Ye's signed ball turned around to explain: "It's written in our textbooks: Chinese people don't like Japanese people. What you just said was insulting him."

"I..."

The fan was speechless.

Inside the locker room, the Utrecht players began their celebration.

Ten Hag was not in the locker room; he was currently in the press conference room battling reporters.

"This is the fact; as I said, today's match explains everything."

Ten Hag spoke slowly: "You claim I lack coaching ability, but what was today's result? 3:1. We completely controlled the match; the opponent played uncomfortably. That is the result."

"We should have finished the match 3:0, but our opponent was slightly luckier today. Nevertheless, it doesn't matter; I am willing to accept this scoreline."

Unlike his usual habit of continuing to score goals during press conferences, Ten Hag behaved very modestly this time; he did not let his team continue scoring during the presser.

Just as he said, the 3:1 scoreline was sufficient to prove many things.

Click-click!

Reporters below the stage frantically took photos.

Tang Ye completed a hat-trick in this match; it seemed as though Ten Hag had simply ridden on his coattails to victory, yet no reporter asked Ten Hag about this aspect.

Ten Hag knew what the reporters wanted to ask, so he kept talking nonstop by himself, giving the reporters no opportunity to pose questions.

The great Mr. Sitting Like had completely taken control of today's press conference!

Check Dongqiu Di: Tang Ye's hat-trick helps Utrecht defeat Nijmegen 3:1, securing first place in the Eredivisie.

Check Dongqiu Di: A roundup of Ten Hag's outrageous post-match remarks.

1. We should have scored more goals, but the opponent was a bit lucky, so we didn't win by a larger margin in the end.

2. The scoreline of this match shouldn't have been 3:1; it should have been 4:1, or even 5:0. We controlled this match; the opponent was extremely passive, but their luck was very good.

3. I never talk about luck, because the strong do not rely on luck to win. As it happens, Utrecht's own luck is not very good, so if we want to win, we can only rely on strength.

17. Tang is an excellent player; being able to develop him is a very joyful matter.

18. We lacked a bit of luck; otherwise, we should have been able to secure victory in this match.

【Awesome; I must memorize every single one of these lines so that when I become a leader in the future, I can PUA my subordinates.】

【"Hahahaha, damn it, look closely, these 18 sentences from Ten Hag contradict each other!"】

【"Ten Hag: So what if they contradict? As long as they don't contradict within a single press conference, it's fine."】

【"I don't care, anyway we won the match, Saint Ten!"】

Ten Hag's 18 taboo statements, abbreviated as the "18 Forbidden Remarks," gained widespread circulation and recitation among fans.

Once you master the art of speaking like Ten Hag, you will be invincible when facing anyone.

"Tang Ye's Hat-Trick Reveals Declining Form, Ten Hag Returns as King at Press Conference!"

……

Returning to the base in the evening, the first thing Tang Ye did was place the match trophy he had just received on the table.

He took a photo and posted it on Instagram.

Tang Ye's purpose in this action was to record the trophies he had won, but of course, he had another objective: to randomly select fans from the comments section for one-on-one challenges.

After playing high-level ranked matches that left him somewhat tired, sometimes one needed to crush a few fans to relax.

After an eight-game winning streak, Tang Ye put down his phone and prepared to sleep.

However, he suddenly thought of something.

He glanced at his account balance.

【Account Balance: Counterattack Points * 201】

201 Counterattack Points!

Setting aside his Huabei credit limit, this was arguably the wealthiest Tang Ye had ever been in his life.

Most crucially, Tang Ye had been consuming Ronaldo Chicken Breast worth 10 Counterattack Points every day recently, so managing to still have 201 Counterattack Points left could be called a miracle.

【Spend 160 Counterattack Points to unlock purchasing permissions for new items?】

Tang Ye took a deep breath.

Fan Fan Dejiahe had recently assigned him a lot of strength training, which meant Tang Ye needed to frequently purchase both chicken breast and hot chocolate milk.

The chicken breast was fine, costing only 10 Counterattack Points, but the hot chocolate milk used to recover from fatigue was slightly more expensive.

To achieve faster improvement, Tang Ye spent at least 25 Counterattack Points for every strength training session, and sometimes, when encountering arduous training, he even had to buy draft beer.

As the Counterattack Points he earned increased, Tang Ye's expenditures grew larger as well, placing him now in a dilemma of choice.

Should he really spend 160 Counterattack Points to unlock new items?

Tang Ye hesitated somewhat, but ultimately gave up.

160 was still too expensive, and he didn't have anything he particularly needed right now; it would be better to consider new items once he had 300 Counterattack Points!

……

After a day of holiday, the players of the Utrecht first team resumed training.

"Tang, you don't look very happy?"

Haller jogged side-by-side with Tang Ye during the warm-up, and the latter's terrible expression caught Haller's attention.

Tang Ye looked left and right, and only after confirming no one else was nearby did he begin speaking: "Paul called me yesterday, damn it..."

"Paul?"

Only then remembering that Haller didn't know who Paul was, Tang Ye explained: "Oh, that's my agent, someone I knew before."

"Oh oh, so what happened with your agent?"

"Paul previously said that Sevilla and Frankfurt had inquired about my quote from the club."

"That's good news, you shouldn't be sad."

Haller laughed heartily: "By the way, Sevilla contacted me too; maybe we can go together!"

"Can't go..."

Tang Ye murmured, explaining to Haller the reason for his bad mood today.

Sevilla and Frankfurt had submitted offers to Utrecht at prices of 8.5 million euros and 10.5 million euros respectively.

After the last Transfermarkt value update, Tang Ye's market value reached 4 million euros; logically, the transfer progression should have been a certainty.

But Paul told Tang Ye that his performance in the second half of the season was equally outstanding, and currently, Utrecht's valuation of him had exceeded 15 million euros.

Simply put, the offers provided by the Spanish and German clubs did not meet Utrecht's requirements.

"They aren't willing to offer more money?"

Knowing the reason for Tang Ye's sadness, Haller suddenly asked.

Tang Ye turned around, spreading his hands helplessly: "It seems that way for now."

"But you don't need to be sad; it's only April."

Haller reminded him: "Transfer fees are something that can change; if you perform even better in the upcoming matches, they will be willing to put up more money."

Tang Ye shook his head and began his stretching exercises.

Originally, Tang Ye hadn't planned on going to one of the top five leagues so soon, but with Sevilla and Frankfurt suddenly inquiring about his price, this situation made Tang Ye, who originally had no thoughts on the matter, suddenly have thoughts.

Currently, not a single player from all of China is playing in the top five leagues; Tang Ye really wants to be that one and only!

Of course, what Haller said was also correct; if Tang Ye could deliver even more brilliant performances in the upcoming matches, perhaps Sevilla and Frankfurt would be willing to offer more money.

It was even possible that other clubs from the top five leagues might come to make offers for Tang Ye!

Let's train first!

"Beep——!!!"

After blowing the whistle, Fan Fan Dejiahe gathered the players together: "We will start with 15 minutes of rondo."

Upon hearing it was rondo, Amrabat immediately raised an eyebrow at Tang Ye: "I have a feeling you're going to get trapped inside again and won't be able to get out."

"The requirement is one-touch passing."

Fan Fan Dejiahe added, causing Amrabat to freeze instantly on the spot.

Damn, it suddenly switched from the drill Tang Ye is worst at to the one he's best at!

After a simple grouping, the training began; Haller and Di Di Bala each held a fluorescent vest, surrounding a circle of seven players, including Tang Ye, De Jong, and Amrabat.

This rondo drill simulates real match situations.

How we should react when our side has possession and the opponent presses.

How we should coordinate with teammates to press when the opponent has possession—that is what the rondo trains.

"Come!"

De Jong passed the ball to Amrabat, and Haller and Di Di Bala immediately ran toward Amrabat from left and right.

"Wow!"

Amrabat let out a strange cry and sent a very dangerous pass to Tang Ye.

Tang Ye was startled because Haller and Di Di Bala were now less than half a meter away from him.

Under pressure, Tang Ye thought of a flashy move: turning sideways to flick the ball backward to Ayoub behind him.

"Beautiful!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe, supervising from the sidelines, applauded Tang Ye.

This is the purpose of one-touch passing drills; high-level matches sometimes require passes full of imagination like this.

"Sophyan, screw you!"

Tang Ye flipped Amrabat the middle finger, and upon regaining the ball, immediately flicked it back to Amrabat.

This was also a dangerous pass, but unlike Tang Ye, Amrabat failed to save it.

"Haha, Sophyan, get in there quickly!"

Tang Ye pushed Amrabat into the penalty area to act as a defender, while Haller was substituted out.

"Screw it, Tang, just you wait!"

Amrabat pointed at Tang Ye's nose and said viciously.

"OK, I'm waiting, I'm waiting, but you have to get out first—can you get out? Haha!"

Tang Ye and Amrabat kept trash-talking.

For Tang Ye, the one-touch rondo was as easy as juggling; after playing for about seven or eight minutes, he still hadn't been kicked out of the circle.

With no other choice, Fan Fan Dejiahe could only order Tang Ye to be substituted in as a defender.

【Passing: 78→79】

【Overall Rating: 74→75】

【Passing attribute requirement met; you have obtained: De Bruyne Growth Template: 45-Degree Cross】

Oh?

Tang Ye, currently pressing in the center, heard the system voice and immediately shifted his attention to the system.

【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross Lv2: Similar】

Proficiency: 13/100

【Passing 79→80】

Through rondo practice, Tang Ye's Passing attribute increased by 1 point; after obtaining the 【De Bruyne 45-Degree Cross】 skill, his Passing attribute increased by another point, now reaching exactly 80.

This was extremely comfortable, because according to Tang Ye's experience from playing FIFA, the gap between an 80 attribute and a 79 attribute is huge.

"TOM!"

Fan Fan Dejiahe shouted from the sidelines: "Focus! If you act like this, you'll get trapped in there!"

Called out by Fan Fan Dejiahe, Tang Ye immediately refocused his attention on the ongoing rondo drill.

"Mine, mine! You go over there, this one's for me!"

While Group B players were training, Ten Hag finished supervising Group A and walked over to Fan Fan Dejiahe.

"Erik."

Fan Fan Dejiahe greeted him, noticing the worry in Ten Hag's eyes.

On April 17, they would play an away match against Ajax, currently ranked second in the league.

This match concerned their current standing in the league table.

If they lost, Utrecht would drop directly to second place.

Ten Hag was under immense pressure now because the match against Ajax was scheduled for the evening.

Tang Ye had only 30 minutes of playing time!

This was disastrous!

Ten Hag needed to prove himself, yet his prized disciple was restricted by child protection laws.

How could he possibly prove himself then?

(End of Chapter)