Taking advantage of the Christmas break, Yang Yang made a special trip to Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
He had not come to sightsee. He had come specifically to visit someone who was ill.
Van Basten was sick, and seriously so. That was why he had resigned as Alkmaar's Head Coach in September and become Alkmaar's Assistant Coach instead. He had kept it hidden, telling no one. Yang Yang had only found out recently.
So, during the Christmas holiday, he flew over especially to visit him.
Over the years, Van Basten's coaching career had never gone smoothly. It had always been on and off.
His time coaching the Netherlands National Team had been fairly successful, ending in the quarterfinals. His stint at Ajax afterward had not been successful, and his later time coaching Heerenveen had shown little improvement either. That continued until he took charge of Alkmaar in the summer of 2014.
After one win and two losses in his first three matches, he had resigned from the club for personal reasons.
At the time, Yang Yang had called him to ask how he was doing, but he had not thought much of it. Now, seeing Van Basten with his own eyes, he realized that this was nothing like the elegant, refined legend he remembered.
Van Basten was at least two sizes thinner than he had been back then. His hair had turned gray, and he seemed dispirited as well.
"Actually, I really don't have much of a problem. It's just that once you reach middle age, aches and pains are unavoidable." Van Basten poked fun at himself.
He had lived in Amsterdam for the past few years. Yang Yang was simply too busy and rarely visited the Netherlands. Whenever he had a break, he would hurry home or spend it