Chapter 63: The Three Giants of the Eredivisie, Ajax!

On December 6, in the 15th round of the Eredivisie, Utrecht faced De Graafschap away from home. Thanks to a long-range strike by Ramselaar, Utrecht defeated their opponents with a score of 1:0.

Buoyed by this victory, the frustration that had weighed upon the Utrecht players vanished entirely.

"Woohoo!"

In the locker room, Tang Ye, Amrabat, and Barazite locked arms in a tight embrace.

"Tang, you didn't score today!"

Haller pointed at Tang Ye and said with a smile.

"That's just a matter of luck."

Tang Ye gestured for Haller not to be impatient. "Did you guys see that shot in the second half? My long-range effort—it was inches away from going in!"

"You call that inches?"

Amrabat lowered the arm he had draped over Tang Ye's shoulder. "The ball you hit flew all the way into the stands! Come on, you don't seriously want to replicate that trivela shot from training, do you?"

"That wasn't a trivela."

Tang Ye wore a serious expression. "It was just a long-range shot, but it missed by a hair. You know what? That goalkeeper kept blinking when he looked at me—he was terrified!"

"Wow?"

Haller leaned forward. "Whether the opposing goalkeeper was terrified, I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I was scared to death. Good grief, sixteen years old, and he's unleashing super long-range missiles!"

"You guys really don't understand anything."

Tang Ye waved his hand dismissively and walked over to take a seat on the bench.

Would football even be fun if you just played it conventionally?

How do you make football interesting?

Long-range shots!

And they had to be absolute screamers!

Unfortunately, Tang Ye's current shooting attribute was only 61.

"All right, all right, quiet down everyone."

Ten Hag walked back into the locker room after exchanging pleasantries with the opposing manager.

He glanced around the chaotic locker room. A wild celebration must have just taken place here!

"You will all get a two-day break after this match."

Ten Hag was in high spirits following the win. With this victory, they had firmly consolidated their second-place position in the league table.

They were now level on points with league leaders PSV Eindhoven, trailing only by four goal difference!

Hearing about the holiday, Tang Ye sprang up from his bench.

"Hey, don't get ahead of yourselves just yet. I can see some of you have already started celebrating, and someone even jumped straight off the bench. Stop looking around, Tang, I'm talking to you."

Ten Hag pointed at Tang Ye in the corner. Prompted by the manager, the eyes of every player in the locker room converged on Tang Ye.

The latter touched the back of his head.

Yikes—

This was a bit awkward!

"Um... I stood up to show my respect to you, Mr. Eric."

"Well, that's good to hear."

Ten Hag nodded. "Winning makes everyone happy, I know, because I'm happy too. But I need to share some bad news with you all: the pressure upon our return from the break will be immense!"

"Because our opponent in the next match is... Ajax!"

Huh?

Tang Ye took a deep breath, then pulled out his phone to check the standings. "Isn't Ajax third in the league? They have fewer points than we do."

"Who taught you to judge a team's strength solely by points?!"

Ten Hag walked toward Tang Ye, narrating as he moved. "Ajax are an extremely difficult opponent to handle. Their passing and possession tempo might even be faster than Eindhoven's..."

Tang Ye didn't know how strong this Ajax side really was, but hearing Ten Hag speak like that gave him a lingering sense of foreboding.

***

The two-day break passed in a flash, and the first-team players quickly resumed training.

Before the session began, assistant coach Van de Looi briefly introduced Ajax's tactical characteristics to the players.

Lightning-fast short passing!

And they had a penchant for pinning opponents entirely within their own half!

Simply put, playing against this team would subject the Utrecht players to enormous pressure.

Since build-up play and possession were inherently weaknesses for Utrecht, if Ajax deployed those tactics, they would likely pin Utrecht to the turf and dismantle them.

Tang Ye shook his head, unconvinced by Van de Looi's words.

Possession?

He and team captain Ramselaar were absolute masters of retaining the ball!

If they truly went toe-to-toe with Ajax in a passing and possession battle, Utrecht might just stand a chance!

"Ah, yes, Tang, I know what you're thinking. Do you think you're some kind of possession genius?"

Van de Looi noticed the smile that had crept onto Tang Ye's face. The Utrecht assistant coach was no professional psychologist, but Tang Ye's thoughts were simply too transparent.

"Uh..."

Tang Ye bit his fingernails in mild embarrassment. "I'm alright, I guess."

"..."

"In any case, we won't be playing an open, attacking game against them. The core of our strategy will be the flanks. We're playing with a front three, focusing entirely on wing attacks!"

Under Van de Looi's guidance, the first-team players commenced their training routine.

***

Rondo warm-ups, 3v3 duels, followed by tactical simulations rehearsing the aforementioned three-forward lineup.

These were the main agenda items. Aside from them, Tang Ye and Ramselaar also undertook some set-piece training.

During the session, Ten Hag observed Tang Ye and Ramselaar in action, noting a very distinct contrast.

Ramselaar's set-pieces were remarkably consistent; the Utrecht captain could reliably deliver the ball into promising areas, though his technique lacked finesse, making it somewhat uncomfortable for strikers attacking crosses.

As for Tang Ye, his set-pieces were somewhat abstract—they wouldn't always find the intended spot, but when they did connect accurately, the probability of creating a goal was astronomically high.

Weighing these two traits, Ten Hag established a clear hierarchy for set-pieces within the squad.

Ramselaar and Tang Ye would stand over the ball together, with Ramselaar retaining primary authority.

However, if Tang Ye felt the angle or position favored him, he could call for the ball and take it over.

Tang Ye felt a surge of excitement.

He felt like a seasoned set-piece specialist now!

***

The day of the match arrived.

This was a clash between the second and third-placed teams in the Eredivisie standings, and around twenty journalists had gathered in the Stadion Galgenwaard press room.

Click!

Click-click!

The first reporter to stand up fired off the opening question: "Mr. Eric, you won the Manager of the Month award for October, but missed out on the accolade for November. Is there anything you'd like to say about that?"

"Well, I suppose I lost out based on the team's win rate. Last month we lost one match and drew another," Ten Hag analyzed.

The Manager of the Month award was determined by tactical implementation and win percentages.

There was no way Ten Hag's tactics were flawed—that was simply impossible in this lifetime.

Therefore, the only variable must have been the win rate.

Just as Ten Hag had remarked to reporters after the match against Eindhoven:

Utrecht should have been the victors of that encounter.

Had they won that match, the team's stellar win rate combined with Ten Hag's near-flawless tactics would have given the Eindhoven manager no chance of claiming the November award!

"What about today's match? Facing league heavyweights Ajax, is the pressure high?"

"The pressure is high, but I believe the pressure on our opponents is even greater," Ten Hag smiled. "We are second in the standings, and they are third. Second place is stronger than third; they should be more afraid of us than we are of them."

!!!

Before a ball was even kicked, Ten Hag had already landed the first psychological blow!

Ajax were pushed entirely onto the back foot!

***

"Ahem!"

"Damn it, I messed up the broadcast time today. I thought kickoff was at 8:30, but it's actually 7:30. No worries though, we're right on time, the match is just getting underway!"

Wang Chao skillfully opened his streaming page, and the familiar 480p resolution appeared before the audience in the livestream room.

A 7:30 kickoff was wonderfully convenient for fans in China!

"Let me quickly run through the starting lineups. Utrecht has tweaked their formation slightly, but the main protagonist remains Tang Ye—that hasn't changed."

"And now, Ajax!"

Ajax (3-4-3):
Goalkeeper: Cillessen
Defenders: Riedewald, Veltman, Tete
Midfielders: Seroo, Klaassen, Van de Beek, Bazoer
Forwards: Younes, Milik, El Ghazi

"Let's look at the market values of both sides."

"The total market value of Ajax's starting lineup is four times that of Utrecht's, with their highest-valued player being midfielder Davy Klaassen, worth a staggering 10 million euros!"

"As for Utrecht, things are a bit more awkward. Their highest-valued players are Haller and Barazite at 2.5 million euros each, while the lowest-valued player is number 99, Tang Ye, coming in at a hefty 0 euros!"

Transfermarkt still lacked appreciation for young players; Tang Ye had played a grand total of five minutes in the Eerste Divisie last season and still lacked an official market valuation.

In this regard, the Germans hadn't done as good a job as the Americans—Tang Ye had already been featured in the FIFA video game series this summer!

[So what if it's 0 euros? In just one match from King Tang, the combined net profit of tens of thousands of us viewers is at least a few million!]

[A few million? Damn, you're underestimating Brother Meng way too much. Careful, or Brother Meng might pass up a stoppage-time winner next match and bankrupt your whole family!]

[Brother Meng, I was wrong, sob sob!]

[Ajax looks kind of strong, does Brother Meng have a plan?]

[Why is Tang Ye called Brother Meng? Can someone explain?]

[Are you even a real fan upstairs? I suggest you look up 'Happy Beans' first. Once you understand Happy Beans, you'll know what Brother Meng means.]

The viewer count in Wang Chao's livestream room skyrocketed to 50,000, many of whom had tuned in after hearing about Tang Ye's exploits on Dongqiudi.

Since the Eredivisie had no official legal streaming source in China, Wang Chao was soaking up all the traffic!

"Oh, here it comes! Leerdam launches a long ball straight toward Tang Ye!"

"Clever!"

"Tang Ye is on the ball now! Okay, let's see what our King Tang can do."

"No rush, Tang Ye is taking it slow, he's observing!"

"He lays it off to Ramselaar on the flank!"

"Brilliant, a textbook decision! That pass alone is worth a 5-million-euro valuation!"

With his very first touch of the match, Tang Ye's value in the eyes of the livestream chat had already surged by 5 million euros.

This was because, according to the fans' observations, Tang Ye's first touch in previous starts usually didn't happen until after the three-minute mark, but this time he had connected with the ball even sooner.

He was in good form!

"Go!"

Ramselaar carried the ball down the flank!

Serero and the tracking-back Younes converged to defend Ramselaar!

Ten Hag felt a slight twinge of psychological pressure because he could clearly see that Ajax's formation had been meticulously designed.

They knew Utrecht intended to attack the flanks today, so they deployed a 3-4-3, packing their midfield with four players!

"Come, come, I'm here!"

Tang Ye jogged over, and Ramselaar quickly laid the ball off.

The two Utrecht midfielders linked up smoothly, and Tang Ye ultimately worked the ball out of pressure.

Not bad—top-tier combination play!

Tang Ye scanned the pitch!

On the left flank, Haller was in a good position!

He whipped in a cross immediately!

With the match still in its opening stages, Utrecht initiated their long-ball strategy.

The coach had warned them before the match about the opponent's lethal passing and possession, so Tang Ye had no choice but to opt for long balls.

The cross sailed toward the left edge of the penalty area. Tang Ye applied a subtle technique here, incorporating the topspin James Ward-Prowse used on his set-pieces into this delivery.

The ball flew toward Haller, dipping and slowing down just enough for Haller to cushion it effortlessly onto his chest!

"Here it comes, leave it to Tang Ye!"

"The pass wasn't entirely accurate, but the pace was judged to perfection. Haller! Drive to the byline!"

"Ajax's recovery is fast—Tete!"

"Haller, let's go, Haller!"

"Push forward, dammit, he couldn't muscle past him. Isn't Haller 1.9 meters tall? What's going on?"

"Hold on, hold on, press the defensive line, the thought process is crystal clear."

"Lay it back!"

Utrecht executed a classic tactical sequence: Haller, masquerading as a winger, used his dribbling to compress Ajax's defensive block.

Once Ajax's defense collapsed inward, he played it backward!

Janssen was now completely unmarked in space!

Crack!

He unleashed a fierce strike, the ball whizzing past Veltman's ear.

Goalkeeper Cillessen parried it away!

"Crap!"

"How is Ajax's keeper that good? Bloody hell!"

"What a pity!"

Wang Chao and Ten Hag made the exact same gesture, raising their hands in frustration and lamenting Janssen's missed long-range effort.

"Damn it, Janssen wasted my King Tang's brilliant assist!"

"No worries though, Utrecht are playing at home, the momentum is still quite strong."

Just as Wang Chao said, although Janssen's shot didn't find the back of the net, it instantly electrified the crowd in the stands.

Facing formidable opponents like Ajax, Utrecht were the first side to register a shot on target, which was a very positive sign.

However, Ajax were not traditional Eredivisie giants for nothing. Unflustered after conceding the chance, the Ajax players maintained their composure and launched counter-attacks precisely as instructed by their manager on the touchline.

Their elite discipline made even Ten Hag envious!

As the match reached the 25th minute, neither side had broken the deadlock, but Ajax were slowly seizing the initiative.

Boasting 65% possession, Milik and Younes practically treated Utrecht's half as their own backyard.

Sustained possession inevitably led to attacking opportunities. Klaassen, Gudelj, and Milik orchestrated a sequence of rapid short passes in Utrecht's half, running defensive midfielders Ramselaar and Janssen ragged.

Eventually, Klaassen found an opening and surged toward the edge of the D.

Full of confidence, he unleashed a shot before even fully entering the penalty area.

Danger loomed!

Yet at that exact moment, a player in red and white stripes hurtled out from Klaassen's left side with a flying slide tackle.

Thud!

Klaassen's low-driven shot crashed squarely into his body.

Tang Ye, having thrown himself into the tackle, collided stomach-first with Klaassen, carrying the Ajax midfielder sliding across the turf for nearly half a meter.

"F***ing brilliant, Tang Ye!"

"Who the hell said Tang Ye only knows how to slide tackle?!"

"Straight up diving into bodies! King Tang, absolutely ruthless!"