Football: I am only 16 years old, and you want me to retire and make a comeback?

Chapter 134: The Model Team in Escrivá’s Mind
After Manchester United's 3-0 home win over Leicester City, manager Erik ten Hag was interviewed by reporters.

Today’s reporters are not very strong and they ask some of the most classic questions.

These problems may be okay for ordinary head coaches, but they are indeed not enough for Ten Hag.

After a quick thought, Ten Hag answered all the questions fluently.

When the reporter asked about the team's winter transfer window, Ten Hag fell into thought.

"Well... this is a very serious issue. We know that signings are very helpful to a team, and the right signings can even directly improve a team's strength. Especially for Manchester United, I think Manchester United needs large-scale signings now. This is the premise for us to be on the right track."

The reporter nodded: "So you have a plan now?"

"I'm thinking about it, but it's still early, so there's no rush."

"Everton's Lukaku is outstanding, as is Chelsea's Matic"

The reason why the reporter mentioned these two people is because Manchester United had rumors with them during the summer transfer window this year, but the transfer was ultimately unsuccessful.

"Lukaku and Matic, well, I know them"

Ten Hag nodded: "But I need to say something here. I have always held a view that it is not only the players from the top five leagues who are the best. Players from the top five leagues are very expensive. You may need to spend 5000 million euros on a striker, but in the end you get nothing. I think it is inappropriate to gamble 5000 million euros on the future."

"So, Eric, what do you mean?"

"Some players from non-top five leagues are also outstanding and we cannot forget them"

Ten Hag's words immediately made the reporters in the audience look at him with admiration.

With the strong support of Manchester United, Ten Hag did not let the team spend a lot of money to pry players from other top clubs.

This is not Manchester United's style!

Yes! Manchester United shouldn't have done that!

Ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United's signings have become distorted.

Premium!

Still a premium!

Previous head coaches only knew how to spend money, and ended up buying inexpensive players at high prices.

What Ten Hag means is to change Manchester United’s way of buying players at a premium!
Financial recruitment!
Signings that can make the team earn money!
He wants to put Manchester United on the right track!
Click, click, click!

Click, click, click!

The sound of camera shutters kept ringing, and many of the reporters in the audience were Manchester United fans.

We spend a lot of money on buying players every season, and the transfer window is always in the red.

Now Ten Hag is about to take action to stop all this!

"Can you tell me which leagues you are looking for players in? Portuguese Super League, Brazilian Serie A?"

"No, no no no, I'm sorry, the season has just started and I won't say too much about transfers"

Ten Hag refused to answer reporters' questions about player transfers, and the helpless reporters had to change the subject.

There is a very popular player in La Liga at the moment. He used his goal in the 80th minute of the game to help the team tie with Real Madrid.

The Ten Hag in front of him has a close relationship with that player.

"Eric, Escrivá said in an interview with reporters that Tom's training attitude is very serious. This is very strange..."

Ten Hag lowered his head slightly, pricked up his ears, and motioned for the reporter to continue.

"When he was in Utrecht, Dutch fans generally thought that Tom's training attitude was not so correct, but after arriving at Villarreal, why did his training attitude change?"

"Is it because Tom gets along better with Escriva than with you?"

"No, noono, impossible, absolutely impossible, this is absolutely wrong speculation"

Ten Hag shook his head: "My relationship with Tom is better than you think"

Tang Ye was late for training under Ten Hag, but not late when Escrivá was coaching?

How could Ten Hah admit the truth of this matter!
This is absolutely wrong!
"Tom's training attitude is actually very serious. Yes, that's right. When he was in Utrecht, he often arrived at the training ground 30 minutes early. By the way, what time does he arrive at the training ground in Villarreal now?"

“Arrived on time”

"That's right."

Ten Hag leaned back and spread his hands: "After entering the La Liga, his training enthusiasm has declined. For a young player like Tom, I think this is understandable, because you can't guarantee that he will always meet a coach that suits him."

"Okay, I won't say anything more about Tom, you just need to know that I have a good relationship with him. Now I need to focus on Manchester United."

hiss--

Looking at Ten Hag who was being interviewed on TV, Escrivá looked worried.

The pressure from the fans is enough.

As a result, Ten Hag now puts pressure on him!
Damn!

Tang Ye was so outrageous that Escriva almost ignored that he had an even more outrageous mentor!

Snapped!
Escriva turned off the TV using the remote control and lay on the sofa, feeling a little overwhelmed.

The draw with Real Madrid will definitely raise fans' expectations for Villarreal this season.

The problem that Escriva is facing now is that he has no idea what the current strength of the team he leads is.

He seems to be slowly losing control of the team!
If you asked Escribá to predict the score of a game before the season started, he would be able to tell it very clearly.

Villarreal can beat Malaga, Villarreal can beat Zurich, Villarreal will lose to Real Madrid.

But now you ask him to make predictions.

Can Villarreal beat Malaga?
Escriva wasn't sure.

Villarreal is going to lose to Real Madrid?

Escrivá wasn't sure either.

Because the team always scores goals and loses goals inexplicably.

He still hasn't figured out Tang Ye's approach to playing football.

Escriva's only idea now is to change the team's existing tactical formation.

442 is not suitable for yellow diving.

So what formation is suitable for Villarreal now?

433, 343, or 541?

Escriva didn't know.

He picked up the Coke on the table and gulped it into his mouth.

With constant internal friction, Escrivá feels that he is not far from depression!
I wish he had the same strong leadership ability as Ten Hag.

and many more!

Escrivá's hand holding the Coke hovered in the air, and he suddenly thought of something.

Ten Hag!
After closing the lid and throwing the Coke on the sofa, Escrivá took out his mobile phone and the thumbs of both hands jumped quickly on the screen.

[Eredivisie, Utrecht, match records]

Utrecht vs Ajax, formation: 4231
Utrecht vs Alkmaar, formation: 4231
Utrecht vs. Willem II, formation: 4231
"Huh, huhu..."

The room was so quiet that Escriva could even hear himself breathing.

found it!
He found the answer!

……

The schedule is a bit tight, so after a day of rest, the Villarreal players immediately resumed training.

This is Tang Ye’s current habit. After his account balance gradually increases, he will buy corresponding props whenever there is training.

Buy chicken breast for strength training, buy hair paste for technical training, and just make whatever you want if you have a lot of savings.

Today was an unexpected situation. Because he spent 320 counterattack points to unlock the purchase rights of new props, Tang Ye is now very poor, but he gritted his teeth and bought the hair mud.

After getting used to the benefits of chicken breast and hair mud, Tang Ye would feel that he was at a great loss if he didn't buy these two items during training. Since he had already made efforts, he should maximize the benefits, this was Tang Ye's idea.

[De Bruyne crosses from the bottom level 2: similar]

Proficiency: 41/200
[De Bruyne arc pass level 4; realistic]

Proficiency: 14/1000
[De Bruyne 45-degree cross level 3: simulation]

Proficiency: 65/100
[De Bruyne's long-angle shot level 3: simulation]

Proficiency: 121/250
"call……"

With a long breath, Tang Ye completed his training task for the day.

The proficiency of the four skills are all increasing, and the one closest to upgrading should be [De Bruyne 45-degree cross].

This thing is about to be upgraded to level 4!
"Beep!"

Escribá blew the whistle, and the players who completed the first phase of training quickly gathered around the coach.

"Did you find your bike?"

Bruno reached out to slap Tang Ye's butt, but Tang Ye dodged it very flexibly.

"Ha ha!"

"Okay, okay, I won't film you, just tell me whether you found your bike or not."

Tang Ye looked Bruno up and down, and after confirming that Bruno really wanted to ask, he slowly said: "It seems that I can't find it back, but I bought a new one."

Tang Ye made a bicycle riding gesture: "I need to go home when there is no one around, because it is too embarrassing when there are people around. They all look at me in the elevator."

“Do you know why they are looking at you?”

Rodri slowed down and came to Tang Ye's side: "You should push your bike into the elevator instead of riding it directly in."

“It’s all the same.”

Tang Ye spread his hands, not thinking there was anything strange about riding a bicycle into the elevator.

"So you didn't call the police?"

“I called the police, but it was no use.”

Tang Ye spread his hands and said, "The policeman asked me for an autograph and said he would definitely help me get it back."

"Then what……"

"And then nothing happened. I bought a new car and I will never trust the people here again."

"Ha ha!"

The players gathered in front of Escriva, and Marty came over from the far end pushing a tactical blackboard. The blackboard's universal wheels rubbed against the grass, making a constant creaking sound.

The tactical board is not ready yet, so Escriva briefly explained his thoughts: "From the current situation of the league, we need to change our tactics."

Marty's tactical board was in place. The players looked over and saw densely packed numbers and Spanish words written on it.

"What does that mean?"

Alai put his head close to Tang Ye and asked in a low voice.

"too weak!"

"what?"

"Oh, I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about the words written on the blackboard"

Tang Ye pointed to the word circled by Escriva on the blackboard.

"We also played 442-45-4 last season. I took a quick look at some of our statistics last season and found that we scored less than 14 goals in total. Did you know that we were fourth in La Liga last season, but our number of goals ranked only th in the entire league?"

"Our attack is too weak!"

Escriva concluded: "Others have three forwards, but we only have two. It's a simple truth. We also need more forwards on the field so that we can score more goals."

"I can go to the front and join the attack."

Tang Ye raised his right hand, like a student answering his teacher's question.

"Don't talk"

"All right……"

"My current idea is 4231, this formation is more suitable for our current situation"

Escribá laid out his expected starting lineup in a 4231 situation on the tactical board. Rodri nudged Tang Ye's arm with his elbow, and the latter raised his head.

He saw his name on the blackboard.

The one in the middle of the row with numbers 3, the standard attacking midfielder position!
In fact, Escriva had already started studying 4231 the night before.

I have to say that the 4231 that Ten Hag played in Utrecht was really a very good formation for Villarreal.

Villarreal is good at passing and controlling the ball, but not strong in attack. Adding a striker can solve this problem.

Then there is Tang Ye.

Compared with 4231 and 442, Tang Ye's position will be further forward.

Originally, Tang Ye switched back and forth between attacking midfielder and defensive midfielder, but in the 4231 system, Tang Ye will run back and forth between attacking midfielder and winger.

Avoid Tang Ye’s shortcomings of weak running coverage and poor defensive ability, and fully activate his offensive ability!
God knows how much Escrivá admired Ten Hag when he was studying this tactic the night before!

4231 is simply Villarreal’s ultimate answer!

"Dong dong!"

Escriva tapped the blackboard behind him twice with his fingertips: "Before us, there was a team that used this formation and they had very good success."

The players watching nodded, and Tang Ye asked his question: "So are we going to learn from that team?"

"almost"

“So that team is pretty good?”

“In a sense, yes.”

Tang Ye wanted to know which model team Escrivá was talking about. He had played many different teams on FIFA, so he might know something about it.

However, what disappointed Tang Ye was that Escrivá did not reveal the name of the team.

According to Escriva, the name of the team is not important, what is important is the tactics they need to execute next.

In that case, Tang Ye did not ask any further questions, but from the tactics that Escriva mentioned next, he could vaguely feel that the head coach of that model team was very powerful!
Tang Ye estimated that if he played under that coach, he would at least win a league championship!
Can we even win one more cup championship?

An admirable team!
Awesome head coach!

"Mr. Phelan"

The players disbanded, and Tang Ye took the initiative to stay: "The attacking midfielder position is very important, right? If I don't play well, will it affect the team?"

"it does not matter"

Knowing that Tang Ye was concerned about the team, Escriva felt warm in his heart and replied: "Our goal is to imitate those successful teams."

"But they have achieved success, and we haven't. Is there a big gap between me and their attacking midfielder?"

Tang Ye was chewing gum.

Compared to 442, it would definitely be more comfortable for him to play 4231.

The reason is simple. Compared with defense, Tang Ye prefers to attack continuously, and the 4231 formation perfectly suits Tang Ye's characteristics.

But as he said before, the attacking midfielder in the 4231 is too crucial. Tang Ye is very afraid that he will not handle it well and affect the team, just like when he was in Utrecht's second team.

"In fact, there is not much difference between you and that team's attacking midfielder"

"Not a big gap? Then...how big is that?"

“It doesn’t matter”

……

(End of this chapter)