Chapter 162 - 155: Beginner’s Game

The morning after the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Ajax’s three-nil victory over Monaco drew a massive response and widespread attention from the media in the Netherlands, across Europe, and even around the world.

Compared to the other, dreadfully dull nil-nil draw, the match between Ajax and Monaco was clearly more entertaining to watch.

Of course, by the semi-finals, neither team held an absolute advantage in strength, making it nearly impossible to play an open, free-flowing game. After all, no one wanted to make a mistake in such a crucial match. Nevertheless, Ajax’s victory still earned them unanimous praise.

Van der Vaart opened the scoring, and Ibrahimovic netted a brace. Ajax’s two ace players contributed all three goals, causing the media to focus heavily on the team’s two stars. At the same time, many people also took notice of the golden substitute, Yang Yang.

Coming on as a substitute again and orchestrating two goals again, Yang Yang’s performance once more left everyone stunned.

For a youngster of only seventeen to perform so well again in a Champions League semi-final was a shock to everyone.

Everyone was saying that only on a team like Ajax could a young player like Yang Yang have such an outstanding performance. Many even began to wonder if Yang Yang could recreate the past glory of Cruyff.

In ’95, an eighteen-year-old Cruyff came off the bench in the Champions League final and scored the crucial, game-winning goal.

What made it even more interesting was that Ajax’s head coach at the time, Van Gaal, is now Ajax’s current technical director. Cruyff had been promoted to the first team by Van Gaal in the summer of ’94 and quickly established himself, scoring an impressive eighteen goals in twenty-five matches.

Van Gaal’s use of Cruyff was always situational. Especially in the Champions League, Van Gaal more often had Cruyff come on as a substitute. The few times he was in the starting lineup, his performance was rather average. In contrast, when coming off the bench, Cruyff repeatedly delivered stunning performances, including that goal in the Champions League final.

Yang Yang is a right winger, while Cruyff was a center forward. The two players are completely different, but Ajax’s method of cultivating and utilizing them was practically identical. Moreover, Van Gaal was the man pulling the strings behind the rise of both players.

However, many people disagreed, arguing that Yang Yang and Cruyff were nothing alike. Cruyff had been far more sensational at the time, displaying superhuman abilities right from his debut. Yang Yang, despite playing well, was still just a role player for Ajax.

"He scored eighteen league goals in his debut season and fifteen in his second, helping Ajax win the league title for two consecutive seasons. Those are Cruyff’s stats. Back then, he was practically the most perfect center forward in European Football."

"Compare that to Yang Yang now. Besides his fast breakthroughs on the wing, his crossing is decent, but his first touch, shooting, and scoring ability are far from outstanding. His first touch, in particular, is so bad you could make a blooper reel of his failed controls."

Still, quite a few journalists who supported Yang Yang rebutted this, arguing that Yang Yang was only seventeen, whereas Cruyff was already eighteen when he debuted. It was obviously unfair to hold Yang Yang to Cruyff’s standards. After all, young players improve step-by-step, year by year. Given Yang Yang’s current momentum, who could say he wouldn’t be comparable to Cruyff next season?

...

...

Yang Yang paid no mind to the arguments raging in the media.

He had never thought about comparing himself to anyone else. He was also very aware of his own weaknesses and shortcomings.

While journalists and fans were arguing endlessly, he was on a small training pitch at De Toekomst, marking out a square and placing two marker poles on two of its sides to act as goals.

Yang Yang and Maxwell stood facing each other on the other two sides, with the ball at the feet of the Brazilian left-back.

"What’s going on?" Van der Vaart, Sneijder, De Jong, and the others ran over, curious.

Everyone at De Toekomst had long grown accustomed to Yang Yang’s extra training after the official sessions, but they hadn’t expected him to come up with some new contraption today. That’s what made everyone curious.

"Extra training."

"Extra training?" De Jong was baffled. "Did the wall over there finally collapse from all the kicking?"

"How is that possible?" Vermaelen gave De Jong—his roommate—a long-suffering look. "Use your brain for a second. How much effort would it take to knock down that wall? Plus, you’d have to pay for it. Who’d be stupid enough to knock it down?"

Everyone laughed at that, admitting he had a point.

"So what’s he doing then?" Sneijder asked curiously.

"I heard it’s a training method Yang Yang got from Luther Carroll. Supposedly, it’s for practicing his first touch." Ibrahimovic replied, his attention fixed on the pitch.

Yang Yang was explaining the specific process and details of the drill to Maxwell.

It dawned on everyone when they heard that.

Yang Yang’s poor first touch was a well-known fact among the whole team. Because of this, everyone took it into account when passing to him, trying to make their passes easier for him to receive to avoid errors.

It seemed he was now determined to drill his first touch into shape.

But how did one practice in a square?

While everyone was wondering, Yang Yang, inside the square, had already finished explaining the rules to Maxwell.

The rules were actually quite simple. Maxwell would have the ball and pass it to Yang Yang. He could use any kind of pass he wanted. Yang Yang’s job was to control the ball.

But it wasn’t that simple. After making the pass, Maxwell could immediately press and challenge for the ball. Yang Yang not only had to control the pass but also had to find a way to evade Maxwell’s pressure and dribble the ball through one of the two goals on the sides.

It sounded simple at first, but it was actually very difficult. Because Maxwell could choose to apply pressure at any moment after the pass, it put Yang Yang’s first touch under constant stress. And since Yang Yang then had to dribble through one of the side goals, he had to, in the instant he controlled the ball, already know where he wanted to direct it and what his next move would be.

Furthermore, Maxwell could decide for himself whether to close in and tackle immediately, challenge as Yang Yang was receiving the ball, or even wait until he had controlled it before making a move. He could also vary the direction of his pressure. This basically simulated all sorts of situations that could happen in a real match.

Maxwell was a good defender, and he deliberately made his passes difficult to help set up his own press. Yang Yang’s first touch, however, was mediocre at best. The result was predictable: Yang Yang was getting absolutely thrashed in the drill, making so many mistakes that even Ibrahimovic, watching from the sidelines, could barely stand it.

"My god, what kind of touch was that?"

"Jeez, it went three meters away! Even a cripple could’ve stolen that ball!"

"Good god, look at that! You call that a first touch?"

"Don’t go telling people you know me! I don’t have a buddy like you!"

"I could control the ball better with my ass!"

Hearing Ibrahimovic’s exaggerated remarks, everyone chuckled, but they all knew that was just his personality.

When it came to friendships, the two players on the pitch were probably his two best friends on the team.

On the pitch, Yang Yang kept making mistakes, and he kept on going. His training partner switched from Maxwell to Vermaelen. Even De Jong and Heitinga couldn’t resist and took turns joining in for a while. But Yang Yang persisted through it all.

Only when he was completely exhausted did Yang Yang call for a stop, panting heavily.

"Heh heh, how does it feel to get tortured?" Ibrahimovic trotted over with a cheeky grin and asked.

"You’re all talk from the sidelines. If you’ve got the guts, get in there and try it yourself."

When Ibrahimovic heard that and saw Maxwell, Vermaelen, and De Jong cracking their knuckles and looking eager to have a go, he immediately deflated. "On second thought, never mind. I don’t play these beginner’s games."

In truth, he wasn’t confident he could do it either.

In such a small space, facing professional players renowned for their defensive skills like Maxwell, Vermaelen, and De Jong, even he, who prided himself on his excellent first touch, wasn’t very confident. It was better to hide his own potential shortcomings.

Seeing the Swedish Striker back down, everyone present burst into laughter and started teasing him instead.

That was just how Ibrahimovic was; he could dish it out, and he could take it.

However, after just one training session, Yang Yang already felt the difficulty of this drill. Especially since Luther Carroll had also said that as his ball control improved, the size of the area could be shrunk even further. ’That would be the death of me.’

’But no matter how hard it is, I have to improve my first touch no matter what.’

’How can I survive in the future without an excellent first touch?’

...

...

On the second-floor corridor of the De Toekomst training facility, head coach Ronald Koeman saw the scene in the corner of the training pitch and shook his head at his assistant coach, Luther Carroll.

"You’ve really thrown him in at the deep end. Aren’t you afraid he’ll lose all motivation after such a setback?"

But Luther Carroll just smiled and shook his head. "If he were that kind of person, he never would have had the chance to join Ajax in the first place. Besides, in his current situation, he needs a strong dose of medicine. Only through relentless training can he improve. Otherwise, how will he adapt to the team’s changes in the future?"

Ronald Koeman fell silent. He knew Luther Carroll was right. What was even more commendable was that Yang Yang had taken the initiative to come and ask for help, showing his determination to improve.

This medicine was indeed a bit harsh, but its effects would undoubtedly be excellent. If Yang Yang could truly temper himself and improve his first touch, his overall performance would become even more outstanding, and his abilities would grow stronger.

Only by constantly improving and enhancing his competitiveness could Yang Yang eventually live up to the expectations that technical director Van Gaal and the coaching staff had for him: to become a pillar of Ajax, take over the mantle from Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic, and carry the Ajax banner.

The path had been laid out for him. Now it was up to Yang Yang to see if he was willing to walk it.