Erik ten Hag's Lesson

"Um..."

Erik ten Hag looked a little embarrassed. Tang Ye said he wanted to show him the real training videos, but he waved it off.

"Tang, come here. Listen to me!"

Erik ten Hag looked Tang Ye in the eyes. "You're only sixteen. This is the age when you should be striving. You have a lot of shortcomings. From your football skills to your physical technique, you need to spend time training."

"The evenings are a great time. You can use them to improve your feel for the ball, or work on your physicality."

Halfway through, Erik ten Hag suddenly realized something was off, so he added, "Um, not that kind of physicality—this kind of physicality. Do you know what kind of physicality I mean?"

"I know, I know."

Tang Ye hurriedly replied.

"Mm. You need to remember that sixteen is the most crucial age in determining a player's future. If you don't work hard now, what will you do later?"

"Hang around in Europe until you're twenty, then go back home, play a few more years there, and retire from the Chinese league in your thirties?"

"Would you be content with that?"

"Tang, you need to start working hard!"

As Tang Ye's coach, Erik ten Hag had the responsibility to push him to train harder.

But Tang Ye was no super genius, after all. Erik ten Hag could not truly pin the hopes of the team's revival on him.

After chatting briefly, Erik ten Hag left the dormitory.

The date was August 29, the fourth round of the Eredivisie: Utrecht versus Groningen.

"Okay, brothers, I found this feed half an hour early today. The picture quality should be decent, right?"

"The match is about to begin!"

"Streamer, what's today's pick..."

"Can't you see King Tang isn't in the squad? There's only one pick today: Utrecht to win outright!"

Not bad. Thanks for King Tang's blessing—I added three hours yesterday, and the skin on my feet's peeling.

Stop showing off upstairs. But are you sure it's your feet that are peeling?

Tang Ye's doing alright. That tackle in the last match won Erik ten Hag's trust straight away!

I heard there's an amazing player abroad, so I spent two hours looking for a stream just to come watch!

Serious question, how good is this Tang Ye you guys keep hyping up?

Put it this way: with other players, you spend money on them. But King Tang is different—King Tang can make you money!

Tang Ye and Amrabat sat together on the bench as the match quickly got underway.

Utrecht really had terrible luck. Their opponent today was Groningen, also one of the stronger teams this season.

Four straight matches against strong teams!

The camera cut to Erik ten Hag, and the Dutch manager wore a stern expression.

Ever since taking charge of Utrecht, Erik ten Hag had never relaxed! "Utrecht!"

Bang! Bang!

"Utrecht!"

Bang! Bang!

Utrecht's home stadium had more than twenty thousand seats, and roughly fifteen thousand fans were in attendance today.

Although the team's results at the start of the season had been poor, that did not stop the fans from supporting them.

The match reached the twentieth minute!

Ramselaar's mistake in the attacking third was seized upon by Droste!

He drove forward, found an opening, and passed to Linssen on the left flank!

Linssen passed again!

To center forward de Leeuw! Groningen's attack flowed smoothly, putting Utrecht's defense under pressure.

"Van der Maarel, step forward and get tight to de Leeuw!"

"Very good. Groningen's quick break hasn't come off, and Utrecht's back line is starting to drop back!"

"De Leeuw passes to Antonia!"

"Antonia!"

"Long shot!"

"Oof, that was close!"

The Bean Warriors in the livestream let out a long breath. Following the streamer's advice today, most of them had bet on Utrecht.

If Utrecht fell behind, the Bean Warriors would be in for a rough time! "Utrecht's defenders are fucking awful, holy shit!"

Wang Chao launched into rant mode. The match had only been underway for a little over ten minutes.

Yet in those short ten-plus minutes, Utrecht's goal had been threatened time and again.

No wonder Utrecht had performed so poorly in recent years.

The players on the pitch were completely sleepwalking! The director's camera cut to Tang Ye on the bench, and Wang Chao's eyes suddenly lit up.

"To be honest, this Ayoub isn't even as good as Tang Ye. Why not put Tang Ye on?"

"Erik ten Hag, listen to the fans' advice!"

"Put Tang Ye on!"

The Bean Warriors were a very pure bunch. The advice they offered was absolutely objective and fair.

Erik ten Hag, don't you understand yet?

At a time like this, you should put my Lucky Bro on! The match reached the thirty-fifth minute, and the broadcast showed the statistics for both sides.

Groningen, playing away, had 62% possession!

This match was crying out for a possession-oriented midfielder!

Erik ten Hag turned around and pointed at several attacking midfielders, telling them to warm up. Finally, he came to Tang Ye.

"Do you think you can do it?"

"Uh..."

Tang Ye glanced at the situation on the pitch, then gave an ambiguous answer. "I should be able to?"

"Then go warm up too!"

After more than thirty minutes, it was still 0-0. The fans who had bet on goals had begun silently weeping.

Good news: Utrecht's number 99 is warming up! The match entered the second half! Playing at home, Utrecht had recovered some control, but the situation was still far from optimistic.

In a 5-3-2 formation, there were five midfielders and forwards, yet only Haller was performing at a level worthy of the Eredivisie.

"What the hell was that pass?"

The ball flew past him. Haller turned around and gave Ayoub, who had made the pass, an earful.

Haller actually had a fairly good temper, but Ayoub had barely made a single normal pass all match.

A through ball getting intercepted was understandable.

But what did it mean to send a long ball straight out of bounds? "My bad, my bad."

After being scolded by the team's leader, Ayoub sheepishly raised a hand in apology.

It was not as though he had deliberately misplaced the pass. The main issue was that poor form was genuinely difficult to deal with, and Haller himself was rather demanding of midfielders.

There was nothing Ayoub could do!

It was not like he could hit one pass straight through the entire opposing back line, was it? The match reached the seventy-seventh minute, and the score remained 0-0.

Groningen's coaching staff held a brief discussion on the bench, preparing to push their defensive line higher in the remaining time.

Anyone with eyes could see that apart from Ramselaar, Utrecht's midfielders posed no real threat.

In that case, they might as well push the line forward.

Couldn't score?

Let the defenders support the forwards—surely they could score then, right?

Seeing the opponents gradually press into their half, Erik ten Hag realized Groningen was going for one final push.

The Dutch manager had no tactical plan prepared for the final moments. All he could do was adjust the players on the pitch.

In the seventy-ninth minute, Amrabat and Tang Ye came on at the same time! ...