Elite Positioning, Scoring in Consecutive Matches! (4k)

Elite Positioning, Scoring in Consecutive Matches! (4k)

Amsterdam time, September 26, afternoon.

A bus carrying eighteen players and more than ten club staff members headed toward Galgenwaard Stadium.

Today was the seventh round of the Dutch Eredivisie, with Utrecht hosting Cambuur!

"The home tickets are completely sold out. It'll be a full house today."

Standing in the aisle of the bus, Erik ten Hag braced his hands on the seats on either side. "A full house might put some of our players under pressure, so if any of you are especially nervous, you can tell me. Michel and I will help you."

Captain Ramselaar folded his arms across his chest. "Come on, Erik, we've all played in front of full houses before. Some of us have even played at Old Trafford. This little pressure won't affect us."

"I know it won't affect you, but it will affect some people."

"Not everyone on our team has played in front of a full house."

As he spoke, Erik ten Hag looked toward Amrabat.

Sure enough, after hearing how many fans would be there today, Amrabat looked somewhat uneasy.

Erik ten Hag sighed. It seemed he had made the right choice by not starting Amrabat today.

Then he looked at Tang Ye, who was sitting beside Amrabat.

Tang Ye had his eyes closed and was leaning against his seat.

"Hey, Tang!"

Erik ten Hag called out.

Tang Ye did not respond.

"Sir, he's asleep," Amrabat said quietly.

"..."

"You should all have Tang Ye's mentality. Well, I mean mentality, not attitude. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Okay, brothers, welcome back!"

"Today, Utrecht are finally playing again. Although it's only been four days since the last match, a lot of you brothers have been washing your feet too often, and your Huanledou may already be gone. These four days must have been agonizing for you!"

"But it's okay. Tang Ye is still in the squad for today's match!"

"Now we'll see whether Tang King is in the mood to treat the brothers to a foot wash today!"

"First, let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams!"

Cambuur (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Zeinstra. Defenders: Andriuskevicius, Peersman, Dammers, Pereira...

"Ole, ole, ole..."

Galgenwaard Stadium was buzzing. Utrecht's opponent today was Cambuur, the weakest team Utrecht had faced in the Dutch Eredivisie so far.

Since their opponent was relatively weak, Erik ten Hag decided to try something fancy.

A 5-3-2?

No. Today, Erik ten Hag had gone straight for a 4-3-3, or more specifically, a 4-1-2-1-2.

Two attacking midfielders and two strikers. They were clearly aiming to attack Cambuur down the flanks.

Just as planned before the match, Utrecht came out aggressively. Before the first half had even reached twenty minutes, Balazhit smashed a header straight into Cambuur's net.

By the thirtieth minute, Utrecht were already two goals ahead.

It looked as though the momentum had completely swung Utrecht's way, but things soon began to go wrong.

This was Utrecht's first time using a back four this season, and the midfielders and defenders were all a little confused. The culprit, Van der Maarel, committed two blunders in just five minutes and directly gifted Cambuur a goal.

"Oh!"

Erik ten Hag clutched the back of his head, took a deep breath, and sat down on the bench.

"We've adjusted already. Let's switch to a back five," Mitchell van der Gaag said into Erik ten Hag's ear.

Utrecht were one goal ahead now, and shifting directly into a defensive setup was the safest option.

But Erik ten Hag did not want to play that way.

"If we suddenly switch to a back five, we'll lose even more!"

The Dutchman knew the guys on his team very well.

He had never instilled the idea of making temporary formation changes into his players during training. If he suddenly changed the formation in a match, these players would not be able to handle it.

Erik ten Hag rejected the suggestion to return to a back five, leaving Mitchell van der Gaag no choice but to keep quiet.

At that moment, Erik ten Hag felt someone patting his shoulder.

When he turned around, he found Tang Ye.

"Lazy pig, what is it? Do you need the toilet?"

Tang Ye pointed at his teammates, who were attacking on the field. "Mr. Erik, let me give it a try."

Tang Ye could see clearly from below. Cambuur focused on attacking down the wings, which meant Tang Ye, playing centrally as an attacking midfielder, would not have many defensive responsibilities.

The pressure on him would be relatively low! Of course, the most important thing was the comeback points.

The opponent was not strong in this match, and Tang Ye felt he had a chance to earn comeback points.

"You want to go on?"

Erik ten Hag looked Tang Ye up and down. "But your eyes were still closed an hour ago. Can you do it?"

"Definitely."

Tang Ye patted his chest in assurance. Erik ten Hag frowned and thought for a while before finally deciding to send Tang Ye on.

"Here we are, the forty-fourth minute of the match. Utrecht's coaching staff have requested a substitution."

"Let's see whether Erik ten Hag's substitution decision is a good one..."

"Tang Ye replaces Ayoub!"

"A perfect substitution, a perfect substitution! The great Dutch manager has brought on the strongest attacker in his squad!"

Three minutes later.

"The first half is over. Unfortunately, although Tang Ye has come on, he still hasn't touched the ball."

"Damn it, can't these Utrecht defenders play football? Is passing the ball to Tang Ye really that hard?"

The first half ended with Tang Ye recording a grand total of zero touches.

This back four Erik ten Hag had deployed today was far too unfriendly for Tang Ye. Whenever the defenders got the ball, they passed it out wide.

Tang Ye was not the kind of player with a huge running range to begin with. With things like this, he could only wander back and forth in the front half of the pitch.

As a result, even after stoppage time ended, Tang Ye still did not know how much air was in the match ball.

At halftime, Erik ten Hag was giving a speech in the middle of the locker room while Tang Ye sat in the corner with both arms resting on his thighs.

The more he thought about it, the more it felt wrong. Tang Ye rubbed Van der Maarel's arm. "Man, you can pass to me in the second half."

"But you don't drop back to receive the ball. How am I supposed to get it to you?"

"Then I'll drop back."

"C-can you do that?"

Tang Ye patted Van der Maarel's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm reliable."

The second half began! Utrecht, who had already made a substitution in the first half, made another change, with Amrabat replacing Janssen.

At this point, both players promoted from the reserve team were on the field.

The bond between Tang Ye and Amrabat had formed! "Run forward, I'm watching!"

Amrabat controlled the ball and signaled Tang Ye to push forward. Tang Ye started moving up as Amrabat instructed.

But Amrabat immediately made a mistake. Ogbeche charged in, used his shoulder to take position, and stole the ball directly from Amrabat.

"Get back!"

Ramselaar shouted as he sprinted back. The instant Ogbeche played a square pass, he ran in front of Barto and kicked the ball back to the defenders.

Van der Maarel had the ball now! Cambuur's attacking line had not pushed too far up today, and their pressing was fairly mild. This was what people called a low block.

But with the ball right in front of him, Ogbeche had no choice but to rush forward.

"Give it to me!"

Tang Ye boldly called for the ball. Seeing Tang Ye being so brave, Erik ten Hag could not help clapping in approval from the sideline.

Bang! Van der Maarel remembered what Tang Ye had told him at halftime and passed the ball to Tang Ye.

Tang Ye received the ball and prepared to turn. At that moment, Amrabat shouted, "Behind you!" Tang Ye turned his head and saw that Overgoor behind him was still quite far away.

When he turned back, Ogbeche had already stolen the ball at his feet.

Fuck!

Tang Ye sensed trouble and hurried back.

Van der Maarel was facing a crisis now!

Tang Ye was having trouble catching Ogbeche, but his thinking was very clear.

Ogbeche was the attacker. As long as he did not intend to shoot directly, he would definitely have to slow down once he reached the edge of the penalty area.

Sure enough, Ogbeche slowed down, preparing to move the ball out wide. Tang Ye seized the chance, slid in, and tackled the ball away. Ramselaar rushed back and quickly cleared it.

Tang Ye got up from the ground and gave Van der Maarel a thumbs-up. "I told you, passing to me is reliable."

Van der Maarel: ...

"What the hell are you two doing? Where's the coordination? What kind of coordination was that?!"

Erik ten Hag had been in a decent mood, but after watching Amrabat and Tang Ye pull off that insane sequence, it felt as though his heart had suddenly stopped beating.

They had both come up from the reserve team, so why could they produce something like that?

"It's fine, it's fine, I'm working on it."

Tang Ye raised a hand toward Erik ten Hag outside the pitch. "I've found the feeling. Watch my link-up play."

The match reached the sixty-eighth minute. Cambuur finally managed to get an attacking chance, with Barto breaking through down the flank before Ramselaar blocked him.

The two immediately went one-on-one.

Tang Ye normally would not go out wide, but he had touched the ball so few times this match that he took the initiative to move to the right.

He pretended to drop back, but actually curved his run and quietly slipped in behind Barto.

"Someone's behind you!"

A Cambuur player warned him, but it was already too late. Tang Ye stuck his foot between Barto's legs and kicked the ball directly to Ramselaar.

"Ha ha!"

Having gotten away with it, Tang Ye was extremely smug as he turned and ran.

Ramselaar spotted an opportunity.

A feint sent Barto the wrong way.

Then he threaded a pass forward.

That was Tang Ye's area.

"Tang Ye is making his run! Tang King is on the move, and he controls the ball!"

"Down the right wing, Tang Ye continues toward the byline!"

Tang Ye was now extremely close to the right touchline, almost brushing against it as he moved forward.

It was a great position because he could see all his teammates in the attacking third.

The problem was that Tang Ye had already started panting.

Fuck, I'm exhausted.

Damn it, run! Don't hold your teammates back!

Erik ten Hag shouted at Tang Ye. The next second, Tang Ye made his move.

He did not go to the byline. Instead, he curled the ball from right to left.

De Bruyne Curved Through Ball, Lv. 3: Simulation

Proficiency: 2/200

No wonder that kick had felt so smooth.

So it had activated!

"Woww!"

The fans near the away stand rose to their feet.

From a bird's-eye view, the ball looked like an upside-down letter C.

The ball sailed over Cambuur's fullback and center-back before arriving in the middle, where Balazhit was making his run.

The ball was in the air, and the placement was fairly good.

Its only flaw was that it was a little too far away.

Balazhit timed his run and charged in to meet it with his head.

A header!

But he sent it straight over the crossbar.

"Idiot! Nasser!"

Erik ten Hag angrily roared at Balazhit on the field. "I told you not to hold your teammates back!"

"Tang deliberately slowed down just now, and you still couldn't react? If you'd made your run earlier, you wouldn't have been short by that distance. Idiot, use your brain!"

"Damn it!"

Erik ten Hag turned away and flung out a hand, complaining to Mitchell van der Gaag, who was sitting in his chair. "He can't even see such an obvious tactical pause. Nasser's attacking awareness is terrible!"

Seriously, wasting Tang King's brilliant pass? What is wrong with this number 10? Does he still want to start in the future?

It was almost 3-1.

Lucky Bro wanted to help the team make it 3-1, but these teammates were just too useless.

A bunch of sixteen-year-old brats. Lucky Bro can't carry them!

The world has gone upside down!

Watching Tang Ye play is both nerve-racking and satisfying. That vision! When he stopped on the wing, I thought he was too tired to run, but he was actually preparing to pass. That awareness!

You don't understand. Tang Ye used that sudden stop to evade the fullback's defense. The pass was just incidental!

Fuck, I thought Lucky Bro stopped because he couldn't run anymore. I am guilty!

Second by second, time slipped away, and the Bean Warriors in the livestream chat began to feel the pressure.

It was already 2–1.

But 2–1 definitely didn't earn as much as 3–1.

There was only one goal between them, but it directly determined how many extra hours you could add tonight!

298 was certainly comfortable, but 598 was even more worth savoring!

This match concerned the GDP growth of several cities across the country. Everyone had to take it seriously!...

The match reached the 75th minute, and the data team provided the possession statistics for both sides.

To everyone's surprise, Utrecht, despite being in the lead, had only 47% possession.

Why was that? The camera cut to Tang Ye.

The data team displayed his statistics on the livestream screen.

Thirty-four minutes on the pitch, 9.2 seconds of possession.

So there was a traitor in the team after all! But it didn't matter. The livestream viewers all knew that Lucky Bro was best at atoning for his sins.

"Utrecht, corner kick!"

"Haller and Balazhit are crucial here! But both of them are being marked!"

"Huh? Holy shit, Tang Ye, Tang Ye, get up there, header!"

"Tang Ye didn't get his head to it. I forgot Tang Ye has no heading ability."

"No problem, there's still a chance, a follow-up shot!"

"..."

"It's in! It's in! It's in!"

The livestream viewers and the fans at the stadium now had the same question in their hearts.

Master, weren't you an attacking midfielder? Why were you here? The director showed the replay. After Ramselaar raised his hand on the flank, Tang Ye looped around behind Van der Maarel and quietly slipped into the penalty area.

Cambuur's defenders all had their own marking assignments, and no one noticed Tang Ye sneaking in! A substitute appearance in the Dutch Eredivisie, scoring in consecutive matches! "Top-tier mov... positioning!"

"Top-tier positioning! Tang King is still going strong!"