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

Chapter 789 Ronaldo's Consecutive Substitutes
pia!

pia!

On the way to the training base in his Rolls-Royce, for some reason, Ronaldo kept having images of himself being whipped by Tang Ye flash through his mind.

The scenes and costumes—all these elements in the dream felt so unreal.

But at the time, I believed it because I was dreaming!
Furthermore, even though he has now emerged from the dream, Ronaldo still occasionally recalls what happened last night.

"Audacious beyond belief," these are Tang Ye's original words.

Why would he say something like that to himself...?

"……Depend on!"

Boom!

Drop drop! ! !
He slammed his fist on the steering wheel, and the horn beeped, but there were no other vehicles in front of Ronaldo.

“Fuck!!”

The biggest problem now is not what happened in the dream.

Instead, Ronaldo clearly wanted to talk things out with Tang Ye, but he couldn't do so.

As Mendes said, maintaining a good relationship with Tang Ye is a prerequisite for him to stay at Manchester United.

“...Ronnie.”

In the passenger seat, Dalot sensed Ronaldo's distress: "It will be alright."

In fact, Dalot didn't know how to comfort Ronaldo, after all, his Portuguese compatriot was much more experienced than him.

"Ronnie... have you ever regretted it? I mean, regretted coming back to Manchester United?"

Upon hearing this, Ronaldo turned his head away.

"..."

"Maybe, I don't know what to say."

……

"Hurry up, up ahead!"

Ronaldo rushed over quickly and, together with Rashford, pressed Varane.

Snapped!
Varane forced the ball out.

"Pretty!"

Van der Gach raised his hand, signaling for Team B to launch a counter-attack.

"His (Ronaldo's) pressing has a lot of problems... but it's much better than before."

Van der Gach was in a good mood.

This morning in the cafeteria, Tang Ye and Cristiano Ronaldo did not have any argument or communication.

In Michelle’s eyes, this was a sign that things were moving in a positive direction.

"Tom solved your problem."

Van der Gach whispered.

"It doesn't matter."

Ten Hach answered quickly.

"No matter how this matter ultimately develops, Ronaldo will never be our core player. His technical characteristics are what they are. Letting him return to Manchester United was a mistake by the management, a huge mistake."

"So... you're not going to give him even the slightest chance?"

"I've already given him a chance!"

Ten Hag stated that almost half a year has passed since Ronaldo returned to Manchester United, and during this time, he has given Ronaldo opportunities, but so far, the Portuguese player has not seized them.

It's not that Ronaldo played badly, it's just that he was too obsessive in some aspects.

It just so happens that Ten Hag is also a somewhat stubborn person, and he was unwilling for Ronaldo to challenge his authority.

“Perhaps you should give him more time. Marcus (Rashford) took a whole season before. Well, you know, sometimes it takes more than six months to get back into form.”

Van der Gach spoke up for Ronaldo.

"It's a matter of personality. He's always rebelling against me, so I can't possibly go along with him. That's the logic!"

Ten Hag stated unequivocally that he was clearly placing Ronaldo in opposition to him.

Ok.

Since that's the case, there's nothing Van der Gach can do.

Watching Ronaldo on the field trying to learn from Rashford and Dembele's pressing tactics, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.

The road to Ten Hach is now blocked.

In other words, for Cristiano Ronaldo now, if he wants to become a core player for Manchester United, or to renew his contract with Manchester United, there is only one way left: to improve his relationship with Tang Ye.

Tangye was the only possible breakthrough for the Portuguese, that's all.

……

"Marcus."

After training, Ronaldo walked over to Rashford: "Want to have dinner together tonight? You and me, and Dalot too."

Cristiano Ronaldo put his hand on Rashford's shoulder.

"wow?"

Rashford paused for a moment.

Just as I was about to agree, something suddenly occurred to me, and I swallowed back the words I was about to say.

"Well... I have something to do tonight, so let's skip it for now."

"Well, okay then."

Cristiano Ronaldo shrugs.

Generally, few people would refuse an invitation, but since Rashford had something to do, there was nothing he could do.

In the middle of the road, near the entrance to the locker room, Ronaldo encountered Dembele.

Dembele is a member of the Tang Ye faction, and a direct descendant at that. Ronaldo hesitated for a long time before agreeing to approach Dembele.

"That... Ottoman?"

"What's your relationship like with Kylian (Mbappe)?"

"Kilian? He's pretty good. He's my teammate on the national team, so we must have a good relationship. What's up?"

"Haha, Killian and I get along quite well. Maybe we can find an opportunity to chat together. I feel that the three of us should have a lot to talk about."

Cristiano Ronaldo laughed and put his hand on Dembele's shoulder.

"Well... um, that's fine, but I don't think we'll have many opportunities to eat together. Unless it's a friendly match before the World Cup."

Dembele has given serious thought to the question of Ronaldo.

"It's alright, we can talk first."

Cristiano Ronaldo grimaced and offered his suggestion.

"This……"

Dembele realized what was happening and took a step back.

"Well, um, haha, I've actually been quite busy lately, as you can see, I go out almost every night. How about this, I'll invite you when I have some free time, okay?"

As he spoke, Dembele kept backing away.

"Okay... Hey, Osman, um... I remember you like playing games, right?"

"Oh, I don't play that anymore, that was a while ago, haha! My mom just called me, I need to go answer her!"

Dembele said hello and then turned and left, leaving Ronaldo alone, unsure of what to do.

"call……"

Cristiano Ronaldo let out a long breath, leaned against the wall, and looked up at the ceiling.

Is 35 years old a stage in life?

Why do he have absolutely nothing in common with players in their 20s?
What does he need to do?
Are we really going to bow down to Tang Ye?

pia!

pia!

The thought of this brought back images of being whipped in his dream, which terrified Ronaldo, who quickly shrank back.

……

On January 15th, London time, the 22nd round of the Premier League took place.

Manchester United played their first match of 2022 against a strong Aston Villa side.

"Fuck you, haha! Stop bragging!"

Dembele pushed Tang Ye forward.

"Why did you give this interview so early today? Are you going to brag to the reporter?" "Remember to include me when you're bragging!"

"I'm not bragging! I already told you this once in the car!"

Tang Ye corrected: "Today, some media from our country came to do an exclusive interview for this World Cup year, and it seems to be going to last almost 20 minutes. I'm not bragging!"

"The World Cup? Isn't that just bragging?"

Dembele followed Tang Ye all the way: "You can add my name when you're bragging. I'm the champion of the last World Cup, and the medal is in my house."

"stop!"

Tang Ye called out to Dembele: "You can't use the word 'bragging' anymore."

"Ha ha!"

"Okay, okay, goodbye!"

"Anyway, remember to include me when you say something. You wouldn't have scored so many goals without me!"

"Fuck you!"

After pushing Dembele away, Tang Ye walked around the corner and saw several Asian faces.

This is probably a CCTV reporter.

"Oh! Mr. Tang Ye, over here! I contacted you on the phone before, yes, yes, we can do the interview with the reporters here, it might take a while, we'll ask questions first, it will be entirely in English. Thank you!"

"It's okay, haha!"

Tang Ye shook hands with several reporters and photographers.

Click, click, click!

"As we just mentioned, this is a World Cup year, and there are less than 11 months left until the start of the Qatar World Cup."

"Yes, I actually felt the pressure during New Year's Day."

Tang Ye smiled wryly: "The Asian Cup qualifiers are not completely over yet, and we haven't secured our place in the World Cup finals. Logically speaking, I shouldn't be talking about the World Cup. But I think our chances of qualifying for the World Cup are still very high, so there's no need to avoid it."

"This year is a World Cup year, which is very important, so my idea is to make as many improvements as possible before the World Cup starts. After all, there are only a few matches in the World Cup, and any bad performance could lead to regret for four years."

Do you think your teammates' abilities will balance your team's performance?

The CCTV and Sky Sports interviews were presented together, and the question was asked by a reporter from the England team.

"...National team matches are indeed tough, but...let me start by talking about myself. I think this season is the best season of my career in terms of overall ability, and I think I should be able to change some things."

Given these results in the Asian Cup qualifiers, it's impossible for Tang Ye not to be confident.

"I will work hard with my teammates; the World Cup is the most important thing."

Click, click, click!

"Some fans believe that a true football king must have a World Cup title, but you may not be able to win that title. How do you evaluate this statement?"

"..."

Tang Ye shook his head slightly: "I think there is some truth to that statement. Anyway, I will try it. For me, it's only been one World Cup, and there are still many things I can't say yet."

Click!

"TY, in a previous interview you mentioned that you and Ronaldo had a good relationship, and that there were some issues between Ten Hag and Ronaldo. Now, three weeks later, when you answer this question again, do you think the relationship between the two of them has improved in any way?"

"..."

this problem……

That's a really difficult question to answer.

"Maybe."

Tang Ye shrugged.

……

Manchester United have announced their starting lineup for the away game against Aston Villa, with Donny Rodri leading the team, Lima returning from injury, and Ronaldo making his second consecutive substitute appearance.

Perhaps due to his poor performance against Wolves, Ronaldo has been a substitute for two consecutive games.

When the players entered the field, the director gave a special shot to Ronaldo. The Portuguese player was wearing a down jacket with the hood on, his arms crossed in front of his chest, and he still looked unhappy.

The camera then focused on Ten Hag.

Unfortunately, Ten Hag still avoided eye contact with Ronaldo, preventing fans from analyzing the situation based on their expressions.

[Ronaldo, why don't you ask Donald Trump for help? Ten Hag is disgusting!]

Even if they have a decent relationship, GG wouldn't help Ronaldo; he's on the same side as Ten Hag.

Still not giving him a chance. Well done, Teng Sheng!

[Invincible... But I'll hold my tongue for now. If you don't start next game, I'm going to start cursing.]

There were people speaking up for Ronaldo and people speaking up for Ten Hag, and there were also many neutral fans.

There are many neutral fans because the football atmosphere in China only started to pick up in 2017, when the Messi-Ronaldo rivalry was already coming to an end, and many Chinese fans had never even seen either Messi or Ronaldo win the Ballon d'Or.

For neutral fans, it doesn't matter whether Ronaldo starts or not, as long as Tang Ye's team performs well.

"but……"

"After 21 rounds, Ronaldo has scored a total of 14 goals, which is a very good statistic in the Premier League. Ronaldo is currently fourth in the Premier League top scorer list. It is indeed a bit strange that he has been a substitute for so many games."

The commentator said something on behalf of Ronaldo.

"..."

China Media Group!

"Alright, the match begins! Now, let me introduce the starting lineups for both teams!"

Villa (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Damian Martinez
Defenders: Cash, Konsa, Mings, Digne

Midfielders: Sanson, Douglas, Ramsey
Forwards: Watkins, Danny Ings, Buendia

Head Coach: Gerrard

Aston Villa's starting lineup is quite good, with a total value of 2.9 million euros. In addition, their manager Gerrard is also very famous.

Manchester United...

Manchester United's starting lineup is still worth over 10 billion euros, outshining everything else.

However, since 2022, Manchester United's luck seems to have been rather bad.

足总杯主场0:1被狼队爆冷，上一场英超3:0领先的情况下被对手连追2球，最后3:2差点被绝平。

Furthermore, the winter transfer window plans are nearing collapse due to Napoli's outrageous asking price.

Manchester United now gives the impression of being a villainous boss.

Because they were so strong, the other clubs instinctively united and immediately launched a BOSS battle.

Napoli's transfer restrictions are helping the Premier League, so this doesn't actually have much impact on Manchester United.

But even God stands against them, which is unacceptable to Manchester United fans.

"Let's see how high Manchester United's shot conversion rate is in this match..."

"Did Rashford and Dembele wear their shooting boots today?!"

"..."

In the 17th minute, Rashford made a powerful run and charged forward.

"Follow!"

Gerrard's voice came through as Sanson struggled to catch up.

We can't give our opponents a chance!
Physical confrontation!

boom!
Rashford fell to the ground.

However, Martial quickly regained possession of the ball.

Manchester United still have a chance!

Martial was about to cut inside to the middle lane when Tang Ye pointed to the left baseline.

!

Martial understood Tang Ye's meaning almost instantly and decisively dribbled towards the byline, while Rashford orchestrated the play from the sidelines.

Dalot, who came up behind, made a diagonal run!

Martial received the inverted triangle pass!
Give it to Rashford!

Rashford passes to Rodri at the edge of the box again!

……

PS: There are 2 more.

I'll start slowly repaying the extra chapters for monthly passes starting today.

(End of this chapter)