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

Chapter 730 An Unexpected Gap in Strength: Ten Hag is a Rat Coach?

Live Match Report: In the 21st minute, Rodri's long-range shot was saved by Meret, and Tang Ye's follow-up shot went high.

"Fuck!"

Tang Ye stood in front of the Napoli penalty area, feeling regretful for not being able to capitalize on his scoring opportunity.

This is where the importance of warm-up matches becomes apparent.

Playing a match against Napoli will allow Manchester United's players to determine if they are in top form.

"Yes, we can see that Tang Ye's competitive state in this game was somewhat lacking."

"Of course, we don't mean to say that Tang Ye played poorly, but relatively speaking, he played poorly."

"Yes, because of the more than one-month break, professional players need some time to regain their form from last season. We can see the difference by comparing Tang Ye's current performance with his performance at Dortmund last season."

"The other Manchester United players, including the Napoli players you mentioned, are actually pretty much the same; they're all the same."

"Neither Manchester United nor Napoli are clearly ready for the upcoming new season," was the conclusion reached by two commentators on Bilibili after discussion.

The discussion took place during the live stream, but the two had actually prepared before the live stream started.

The actual match was close to the prediction, and that's when the preparations made came in handy!
Pooh!
Tang Ye spat on the grass.

It was supposed to be a warm-up match, but it felt like a real game.

But there's no other way, so we might as well treat this warm-up match like a real competition.

Regardless of whether the result is important or not, let's win the game first.

If they can't even beat Napoli this badly, what are they going to do in the new season?
"..."

"Wan-Bissaka, beautiful!"

"This dribble doesn't seem to be Wan-Bissaka's intention, but Rui clearly made a mistake!"

"Hey, you're giving me a chance!"

"Manchester United..."

Wan-Bissaka dribbled the ball towards the center.

As the team's offensive core, Tang Ye was surrounded by Lobotka and Zielinski at this time and had no chance to get the ball at all.

"Don't send it yet!"

De Jong called out.

Wan-Bissaka should have continued dribbling at this point, but he clearly doesn't have that level of football intelligence.

Snapped!
Wan-Bissaka passes back to De Jong!

"I'll come, I'll come!"

De Jong suddenly accelerated after receiving the ball, directly taking Zielinski away.

With the number of defenders reduced from two to one, Tang Ye was thus relieved.

At this moment, De Jong, who was originally moving towards the right baseline, changed direction and ran to the left, while Tang Ye moved from the middle to the right.

Cross-positioning by Tang Ye and De Jong!

"That's it!"

With a shout, Tang Ye immediately received a pass from De Jong and came to a sudden stop.

They returned to Osimhen and found Tang Ye.

Wan-Bissaka was reaching out to him, but Tang Ye wasn't in a hurry.

"Come!"

Pretending to pass Wan-Bissaka through the net, Tang Ye's single move fooled both Wan-Bissaka and Osimhen.

Tuck your right foot behind your left foot!

Snapped!
"Wow!!"

An unexpected rabona pass found Haller at the far post, who rushed into the penalty area and jumped over Marolas' challenge.

boom!
“GOOOO——AAAA——LLLLLL!!!”

Manchester United's attacking play was overly aggressive, consisting of a rabona cross and a header from the center forward.

The game was so violent that the Napoli goalkeeper could only watch helplessly as his team conceded a goal.

【Comfortable】

[Damn, how can a friendly match feel like a Champions League knockout stage match?]

Napoli wanted to take Manchester United seriously, but found themselves outmatched.

Some astute fans have already discovered the true meaning of this match.

Napoli's early attack was clearly aimed at putting Manchester United on the back foot.

They want to use Manchester United as a sacrificial lamb before the start of the new season, using the blood of the Little Red Devils to boost the morale of the players in the new season.

result……

The result is the current situation.

Manchester United are starting to get serious with Napoli.

After taking a 1-0 lead, Manchester United held only a slight advantage, but after the second goal, they almost unilaterally dominated Napoli.

"..."

boom!
A long pass from De Gea in the backfield was aimed at Dembele in the front.

Tang Ye began observing the ball while it was still flying in the air.

Lobotka, Politano, Koulibaly, Dembele, Rashford...

Based on the positioning of the players from both sides, Tang Ye quickly calculated several possible passing routes.
Find the most suitable one from among them!
"Come!"

Upon hearing Tang Ye's voice, Dembele decisively received the ball with his chest and accurately passed it to Tang Ye.

Before the ball even hit the ground, Tang Ye raised his right leg and delivered a powerful outside-of-the-foot slice.

Snapped!
The ball hit Rashford!

The opportunity is coming!

Wow!!!

"Rashford!"

"Pass him, pass him!"

"Run! Run!"

Manchester United played at a fast pace in their attack, which created opportunities for them.

Rashford dribbled the ball toward the penalty area, showcasing a series of excellent changes in rhythm against Napoli's defense.

Entering the restricted area!

boom!
A shot was taken.

Rashford's shot hit Manolas and bounced out.

Point 2!
Rodri received the ball and accelerated sharply into the penalty area.

Seeing this, Rashford quickly stepped aside to help set a screen.

Rodri...

boom!
Manchester United's defensive midfielder unleashed a powerful shot that flew straight toward the goal and into the net.

The third goal of the match has been scored!

"My goodness, haha!"

"3-0! Manchester United's lead is quite large now!"

After scoring, Rodri raised his hand and gave Rashford a high-five: "Nice! Keep it up!"

The camera panned to Koulibaly and Meret in the penalty area, where the Napoli defender and goalkeeper exchanged glances, as if hoping the other would admit their mistake.

But in reality, both of their minds were already somewhat confused.

To put it simply, Koulibaly seemed a bit stunned.

The pre-match goal was to defeat Manchester United as a sacrificial lamb, but the result was a complete shock to Napoli's players, especially the young ones.

39th minute!

"Osmine!"

"Head!"

"Eh!"

"Almost!"

"...Rodri committed a foul!"

"It's a clear foul, that should be a penalty!"

Osimhen wasted his third scoring opportunity in this match, but Rodri seemed to concede a penalty to Napoli in the ensuing scramble between the two sides.

Of course, it all depends on how the referee decides!
"Beep!"

There was no VAR review in this match, and the referee decisively awarded Napoli a penalty.

“Insigne…”

boom!
The score went from 3-0 to 3-1, with Napoli slightly recovering their lead.

And that was the final score of the first half. "Beep, beep beep—!!!"

……

After the whistle blew to end the first half, the director immediately focused the camera on Tang Ye.

At this moment, Tang Ye was chatting with Rhodes, and the two were laughing and talking. It seemed that Tang Ye was teasing Rhodes for giving away points.

The camera then focused on Ten Hag on the sidelines.

The camera then panned to the Napoli striker wearing the number 9 jersey.

Osimhen!

The Nigerian is also one of Manchester United's rumored targets, and many Chinese fans know his name because of this connection. Bilibili commentators have also shared their opinions on Osimhen's performance.

“We said that regardless of whether the rumors between Osimhen and Manchester United are true or not, we will treat it as true and analyze it as true.”

"At least based on his performance in the first half, Osimhen is not a good enough player for Manchester United."

"He is far from meeting Ten Hag's requirements for a Manchester United center forward."

Let's not even compare Osimhen to top strikers like Kane and Lewandowski; in this match, Osimhen didn't even play as well as Haller.

"If Osimhen doesn't perform well in the second half, then I think Manchester United will have one less target in the summer transfer window."

……

Midfield, in the Manchester United dressing room.

Ten Hag is making substitutions and tactical arrangements for the second half, and if you look closely, you'll notice that Tang Ye and Rodri are not in the room.

Van der Gach called them away separately.

"You played very well, Tom!"

Van der Gach and Tang Ye punched each other.

Manchester United assistant coach can see that Tang Ye has gradually recovered from the off-season.

There were meetings at the Football Association and final exams, but these things didn't make Tang Ye forget that he was a professional player.

"Not even close, haha!"

Tang Ye punched Van der Gach: "I feel that Napoli played quite well, but only for the first 20 minutes. They played very poorly after that."

"Sir, when do I leave the second half?"

"..."

Van der Gach did not answer Tang Ye's question directly. In his opinion, the second half of the game was no longer important, and the topic of conversation among the three shifted.

“Marcus is facing some problems right now, as you have probably seen.”

When the topic turned to Rashford, Tang Ye, who had been laughing and joking, suddenly became serious: "Yeah, so you want us to help him get through this, right?"

"You're very smart, haha."

"But actually I'm already helping."

Tang Ye chuckled, indicating that he had tried his best to pass the ball to Rashford after the score became 2-0.

"Wow, your reaction was faster than I expected."

Van der Gach was surprised.

"Haha, definitely, Mr. Michel."

It's not that Tang Ye is bragging, it's just that his position on the court is too clever. From his position, Tang Ye can almost sense the changes in the condition of all 10 teammates on the court.

If Rashford plays poorly in one or two games, Tang Ye will be able to recover in the third game.

Don't worry, Michelle.

Rodri comforted him, saying that Van der Gaël didn't need to be too nervous, and that he and Tom would definitely step in when their teammates encountered problems.

"Alright, then I won't say any more."

"Well, let me reiterate, try to get Marcus to make some sprints, and if it doesn't work out, it's best not to blame him."

Tang Ye clenched his right fist and pounded his chest: "I'm too good at this."

The players left the locker room one after another, with Ten Hag and Van der Gaghe being recorded at the very back.

Do you think Marcus can improve in the new season?

Van der Gahr remained silent for a while before finally asking his question.

"I don't know, but... um, it should be okay."

Rashford is very smart, but he and Tang Ye are clearly two extremes.

Tang Ye puts all his mind on football, while Rashford puts his mind off the field, and will tank if he doesn't see an opportunity during the game.

According to Ten Hag's own observations and a report from Manchester United's psychologist, Rashford's brain reward mechanism is very similar to that of a child.

When a player performs well on the court, their brain will naturally release dopamine, allowing them to enjoy happiness for a period of time.

Rashford gives the impression that his dopamine levels don't last very long.

Like a child, if Rashford doesn't perform well in one or two games, his form will become very negative, which will further affect his performance on the field.

Once negative feedback is formed, it is very difficult to eliminate.

Once the same positive feedback loop is established, Rashford's form will improve, and his football talent will gradually emerge. This is why the Englishman can have one season of brilliance and another of slump.

The psychologist's solution was very straightforward: to give Rashford positive feedback as frequently as possible.

In practice, this means forcibly activating Rashford's positive feedback system through his teammates constantly feeding him the ball.

“I really didn’t expect you to not have plans to find a new winger.”

Van der Gach suddenly laughed, as if struck by a thought.

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"I remember you weren't very optimistic about Rashford in the first two seasons, and I thought you had some kind of prejudice against him..."

"Oh! Michelle!"

Ten Hag put his hand on the shoulder of the Manchester United assistant coach: "Is that how you see me?"

"Haha, no, I was just saying that."

"No! I'm not that kind of person! Michelle, I'm a good coach!"

“You don’t need to emphasize this to me, Eric. I’ve always been on your side.”

"Ha ha!"

……

At the start of the second half, Manchester United's focus clearly shifted.

The biggest change is in the attack, which has shifted from Dembele dominating the right wing to Rashford dominating the left wing.

Fifty minutes later, Dembele was substituted, and Manchester United's attacking focus shifted entirely to the left flank where Rashford was positioned.

Even with Rashford not in top form, Manchester United still dominated their opponents thanks to their strong midfield.

"Fuck!"

Ruiz cried out, but he still couldn't escape the fate of being groined by Tang Ye.

"Hey! Tang Ye!"

"Haha, let's have some fun!"

"You played it so easily!"

Tang Ye made a quick run down the left flank and delivered a pass.

Dalot got the ball.

"Don't tell anyone else!"

De Jong knew what Tang Ye wanted to do and immediately gave instructions to his teammates.

Dalot abandoned the idea of ​​passing the ball forward and waited for Tang Ye to move in his direction.

With a gentle push, Dalot set up a cannon for Tang Ye.

boom!
“GOOOO——AAAA——LLLLLL!!!”

"4:1!"

"Pretty!"

"A perfect world-class goal! A goal scored from the ninth angle, by Tang Ye!"

Just like when they played against the Chinese national team, Manchester United substituted in reserve players, but they played better and better.

Is this because Manchester United's starting players are inferior to their substitutes?

of course not!

There is only one reason for this problem: Manchester United actually threw the game.

It's just that there weren't many of them, so the fans didn't notice it at first.

As the camera moved, Ten Hag's head came into view again.

A coward.

Coach Mouse, how long are you going to keep hiding?!
……

(End of this chapter)