Chapter 267: The Pain of the Golden Boot

Chapter 267: Chapter 260: The Pain of the Golden Boot

Every day at noon, Yang Yang could be seen at the swimming pool in De Toekomst.

From a landlubber who used to be terrified of the water, he could now switch effortlessly between breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke, gliding through the pool like a little water dragon. Yang Yang’s progress in the pool was every bit as fast as his progress on the pitch.

As Luther Carroll reached the poolside, he saw Yang Yang swimming laps, effortlessly switching strokes. He watched with a mixture of surprise, admiration, and amusement. ‘This doesn’t look like training,’ he thought. ‘It’s more like he’s just playing around.’

“There’s no one else here. Who are you trying to show off for?” Luther Carroll asked with a laugh.

Winston Bogard laughed heartily. “You get used to it. Otherwise, swimming by yourself every day would be really boring.”

Luther Carroll nodded repeatedly. It was only then that he realized that Yang Yang was, after all, just an eighteen-year-old kid. His usual mature and steady performance with the team made it easy for people to forget his age.

“How’s his physical condition now?” Luther Carroll asked with concern.

“He’s made huge progress. His physicality has improved a lot. But as you know, the period between eighteen and twenty-three is a critical time for a young player to build muscle mass. And Yang Yang is right at the beginning of that phase, so it’s best he doesn’t overwork himself.”

“The coaching staff feels the same way, which is why we’re keeping him out of the Dutch Cup. We’ll be cautious with him even in the Eredivisie and the UEFA Cup. You and Kluivert need to monitor him constantly and strictly manage his workload,” Luther Carroll instructed gravely.

He was a former professional player himself, so he knew better than anyone that having a healthy, strong body was an absolute blessing for any professional player. If you were frequently injured like Robben, it didn’t matter how much talent or diligence you had; it would all be for nothing.

Yang Yang’s physique was relatively weak, paling in comparison to his European peers. However, his persistent, long-term hard work, combined with recent targeted strength training, had allowed him to improve very quickly.

Luther Carroll was a coach who had watched Yang Yang’s journey from the beginning. He knew very well how difficult it had been for Yang Yang to get to where he was today, and he was also very eager to see just how far Yang Yang could go and what he could achieve.

But he knew even more clearly that rushing his development would do more harm than good.

For a club, every player is ultimately just passing through.

Just like Robben at Eindhoven. Eindhoven wouldn’t take any responsibility for Robben’s future; they were more concerned with whether Robben could bring them profits and victories. As for what happened to Robben later on, who cared?

So, they pretty much ran the young Robben into the ground.

It wasn’t just Eindhoven; even his current club, Chelsea, was basically the same.

Ajax, by comparison, treated its young players with a bit more warmth. Plus, with people like Ronald Koeman and Luther Carroll being former professional players, they also paid special attention to a player’s long-term development.

Van Gaal’s reforms were aimed at turning Ajax’s player development into a business from now on.

In reality, however, some philosophies were ingrained in their very bones, etched into the soul of everyone at Ajax. They couldn’t be changed.

…

…

After finishing his swim, Yang Yang climbed out of the pool, only to be surprised to find that the one handing him a towel was Luther Carroll.

“What are you doing here?”

Luther Carroll chuckled. “I’m your personal coach. I heard you’ve been putting in extra practice here every day, so how could I not come and check on you? If you were to get injured by any chance, I’d have to write a report. What a hassle!”

Yang Yang smiled, not believing him for a second.

The coaches at Ajax were genuinely good to their young players; there was no denying that.

“I heard you want to challenge Kuyt for the Top Scorer title?” Luther Carroll asked casually.

Yang Yang was taken aback. “You heard about that already?”

“Heh, you kids were discussing it openly on the training ground. Did you really think the coaches and staff setting up the field are blind and deaf?” Luther Carroll retorted with an amused smile.

Yang Yang didn’t mind. It wasn’t a big deal anyway.

“What do you think?”

“Go for it! Of course, you should go for it!”

Luther Carroll’s reaction surprised Yang Yang. ‘Wasn’t he here to talk me out of it?’

“Do you know how many Eredivisie titles we’ve won in the past ten years?”

Yang Yang frowned, thought for a moment, and shook his head. “I haven’t kept count.”

“In ten years, five titles. Eindhoven won four, and Feyenoord only won one.”

Yang Yang nodded. He knew that while the Eredivisie was known for its “traditional big three,” in terms of results, Feyenoord had clearly fallen behind in recent years. Eindhoven and Ajax were the true rivals.

“Then do you know how many Eredivisie Golden Boots we’ve won?”

Yang Yang knew this one because he had heard his teammates talking about it that morning. “None, I think.”

Luther Carroll nodded. “That’s right. None. Not a single one.”

As he said this, Luther Carroll’s face was full of regret, a regret shared by all Ajax fans.

“Five titles in ten years, but not a single Eredivisie Golden Boot. This has always been a reason for many of our rivals to look down on us. We’ve developed world-class European attackers like Van Basten, Bergkamp, Litmanen, and Cruyff, yet we haven’t won a Golden Boot in a decade.”

“But you probably don’t know that before that decade, starting in ’91, we won the Eredivisie Golden Boot for four consecutive years. Bergkamp won the first three, and Litmanen won the Golden Boot in ’94. In ’91, Bergkamp shared the Golden Boot Award with Eindhoven’s Romário.”

As Luther Carroll recounted this, there was a clear hint of pride in his voice.

“Starting ten years ago, Eindhoven completely dominated the Eredivisie Golden Boot, from Ronaldo to Nelis to Van Nistelrooy to Kezman. In that decade, only Feyenoord with Van Hooijdonk and Vitesse with Maheras managed to win one each.”

“In these past ten years, neither Cruyff, nor Van der Vaart, nor Ibrahimovic has been able to bring a Golden Boot to the club. The lack of an outstanding striker has always been a major headache for the club.”

Yang Yang understood what Luther Carroll meant.

‘So, Ajax wants me to go for the Top Scorer title too.’

“Earlier, when Marco visited, he told Ronald and me that he thinks you’ll become a killer with sharp instincts,” Luther Carroll said with a small smile.

“Oh?” Yang Yang had never heard Van Basten mention this.

“Great speed, powerful acceleration—these are essential advantages for a killer. But the most important thing is your excellent off-the-ball movement. Back then, your first touch wasn’t good enough, which he found to be a pity. But now, as soon as your first touch improved, your goals and assists immediately shot up. It shows Marco’s judgment was spot on.”

Yang Yang really had no idea Van Basten had given him such high praise behind his back. ‘I really have to find a chance to thank him properly,’ he thought.

“What do the boss and Kluivert say?” Yang Yang asked.

“The fact that I’m here should make Ronald’s intentions clear. The team will do its best to support you tactically, but Kluivert will continue to monitor you strictly. That part is non-negotiable.”

Seeing the “I knew it” expression on Yang Yang’s face, Luther Carroll chuckled.

“Yang, we’re all very happy to see your ambition, but you have to remember: if you don’t win the Top Scorer title this year, you can always try again next year. But if you ruin your body, it won’t be so easy to recover.”

After a pause, Luther Carroll continued, “I took the liberty of analyzing Kuyt’s scoring record this season. He’s an absolute iron man, playing the full ninety minutes in almost every match. But his scoring rate isn’t consistent. He had goal droughts for several consecutive rounds in both September and December. So, you still have a very good chance.”

“I’ll say it again: try to stay level-headed. The more relaxed you are, the more chances you’ll get, and the better you’ll be at taking them. Also, you need to work on being consistent. Scoring steadily and consistently is more beneficial for winning the Golden Boot Award than scoring a hat-trick or a brace, and it’s more helpful to the team too.”

Watching Luther Carroll leave, Yang Yang, still sitting by the edge of the pool, couldn’t help but smile.

‘Looks like even the coaching staff supports my bid for the Eredivisie Golden Boot.’

…

…

「The evening of February 16th, Amsterdam Arena.」

UEFA Cup, Round of 32. Ajax versus Auxerre at home.

The players from both teams filed into the tunnel. The Czech referee, Yaroslav Yara, was conducting the final pre-match inspection of the players. When he saw Yang Yang, his gaze lingered for a moment before he gave a slight nod.

He had long heard of this new Ajax prodigy who had recently made a name for himself in European football. Many were saying that he was the next young genius to come out of Ajax after Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic.

Yang Yang returned the gesture with a polite smile.

Auxerre was a relatively mature team, with an average age between twenty-five and twenty-six. However, the team also had young talents like twenty-two-year-old right-back Sagna, nineteen-year-old central defender Cabul, and eighteen-year-old midfielder Diaby.

In this match, Yang Yang was up against twenty-seven-year-old left-back Sebastian Jores. Standing beside him was the twenty-three-year-old French central defender, Miniot. Yang Yang had already learned all about the strengths and weaknesses of these two players from the scouting report provided by the coaching staff.

Although Miniot was only 1.82 meters tall, he was physically strong, but lacked speed and agility.

As for Jores, his defending was decent, but he had one serious problem: a lack of concentration. He often lost focus during matches, a long-standing issue of his.

One of the key points the coaching staff had drilled into Yang Yang before the match was to exploit this weakness in his opponent.

Yang Yang had also faced these two opponents in the Super Training last night, so he was quite familiar with their tendencies.

Less than six minutes into the match, he seized an opportunity on the right wing, quickly bursting into open space and creating a chance for a counter-attack.