Chapter 273: Ace

Chapter 273: Chapter 266: Ace

When head referee Dick van Egmond blew the whistle to end the first half, the entire Amsterdam Arena erupted in deafening cheers.

Thanks to Yang Yang’s first-half brace, Ajax held a temporary two-to-one lead over Alkmaar.

Yang Yang was already drenched in sweat, but his expression was ecstatic as he continuously high-fived his teammates on the way off the pitch.

The head referee, Van Egmond, also had a good impression of Yang Yang. Seeing him approach, he proactively shook his hand.

Among Eredivisie referees, Yang Yang had a very positive reputation. He rarely resorted to dirty tricks, focused on the game, and never dived. There was even a saying circulating among the refs: if Yang Yang went down, it was definitely a foul.

A player like that, combined with his increasingly outstanding performance this season, was naturally popular wherever he went.

“Thank you, Dick!” Yang Yang said, shaking Van Egmond’s hand.

“Keep up the great work.”

The head referee didn’t linger. After the handshake, he headed back to the players’ tunnel with his linesmen.

Such an open and public interaction was still permitted by the rules.

Yang Yang then spotted Van Gaal standing at the mouth of the players’ tunnel, his face ashen, looking like someone had just cheated him out of millions.

“So? How does it feel to be back at the Amsterdam Arena?” Yang Yang walked over and asked with a grin.

This was rubbing salt in the wound. Van Gaal fumed inwardly.

But Yang Yang was delighted. After all, the old man had specifically called him before the match to provoke him.

“The match isn’t over. What are you so happy about?” Van Gaal said grimly.

“I’m happy,” Yang Yang replied, still grinning. In Van Gaal’s eyes, that look made him want to slap the kid.

“I told you I wouldn’t disappoint you. That was true for the first half, and it’ll be true for the second.”

After saying that, Yang Yang even gave him a deliberate wave goodbye before ducking into the players’ tunnel.

Van Gaal stared viciously at his retreating back for a long time before finally shaking his head with a helpless, wry smile.

‘That little rascal…’

……

……

“Alkmaar’s defense is still pretty solid, especially down the middle.”

“Yeah. If we’re going to score in the second half, we’ll probably have to attack from the right flank again.”

“I didn’t expect this. Van Gaal has always been known for coaching offense, but now that he’s at Alkmaar, he’s whipped their defense into shape. You just can’t figure him out.”

“Some principles are universal. Van Gaal may be famous for his attacking football, but his skill in coaching defense is actually quite good too. Besides, as a head coach, even if he didn’t know how, he has assistant coaches, right?”

…

Despite their two-to-one lead, the Ajax players didn’t dare let their guard down in the locker room.

Alkmaar had indeed shown a remarkably high level of play this season, improving as it went on. Based on the first half, their raw talent might not match Ajax’s, but their performance on the pitch was certainly holding its own.

You don’t lead the Eredivisie table by being a pushover, and Alkmaar was certainly no exception.

“Yang, what’s wrong?” Sneijder asked, looking curiously at the silent Yang Yang.

At some point, it had become a habit in the Ajax locker room. More and more players would seek out Yang Yang’s opinion before doing something, even if it was just a symbolic, casual question.

The players themselves hadn’t noticed this shift, and neither had Yang Yang. It was a subtle, gradual transformation that had taken place over time, unconsciously accepted by everyone.

“Have you guys noticed something interesting?”

Yang Yang’s question captured everyone’s attention in the locker room. They all wanted to know what interesting thing he had noticed.

“Van Gaal has always believed in a possession-dominant tactical style, but this approach places very high demands on the players’ abilities. In the Eredivisie this season, both we and Eindhoven use this style, but Eindhoven’s is built on a defensive foundation, while Van Gaal’s philosophy has always been built on offense.”

This difference in starting points leads to different player selections, tactics, and set plays for the two teams.

Of course, to the average fan, they probably look more or less the same.

“But Alkmaar’s players don’t have the ability to execute Van Gaal’s system perfectly, so they have to compensate with more running. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when the ball is on the left flank, their players and their entire defensive shape shift rapidly to that side to create a numerical advantage and apply pressure.”

In theory, if the pressure is sufficient and the players’ defensive positioning is flawless, it’s very difficult for the opposition to pass the ball out.

“Alkmaar’s players clearly haven’t been able to fully implement Van Gaal’s ideas. When they’re shifting at high speed, they struggle to maintain the proper distance for their defensive cover—around ten meters.”

Ajax used this same system, so Yang Yang was very familiar with it.

Take his two goals in the first half, for example. Although they looked different, they were fundamentally born from the same principle.

He would pull out to the flank to receive the ball, cut inside at high speed, and use his pace to disrupt their defensive formation, forcing an error in their covering positions, which he would then exploit to score.

Tactical theory is always perfect, but as long as humans are the ones executing it, mistakes are inevitable.

It’s impossible for eleven players on the pitch to stay perfectly in sync at all times.

“Yang Yang’s observations are spot on!”

Ronald Koeman’s voice suddenly came from the locker room entrance. The players all looked over to see that the head coach and Luther Carroll had been standing there for who knows how long.

“Alkmaar’s players aren’t yet comfortable with Van Gaal’s system, so there are quite a few holes. In the second half, we’re going to exploit that. We’ll draw their defensive focus to one side, then suddenly switch the play to the other and strike!”

Suddenly switching the play from one side of the pitch to the other was not an uncommon tactic.

Hearing this, Yang Yang had a sudden realization.

“Coach, you mean we use the right flank as a feint, then suddenly switch to the left to create a goal-scoring opportunity?”

“Smart!” Ronald Koeman praised with a smile.

Both Koman and Luther Carroll were increasingly discovering what a very intelligent player Yang Yang was. He was good at thinking and summarizing, which was probably related to his strong learning ability. He was, after all, the team’s undisputed top student.

Even during a packed season, he still managed to maintain top grades in his academic classes.

“Kloen Camp is injured, so Alkmaar’s right-back position is a weakness. And Van Gaal is extremely wary of our right flank, so every time the ball goes to our right, they quickly shift and heavily defend their own left side.”

At this point, Ronald Koeman paused, then gave a slight smile. “After Yang Yang’s brace in the first half, I’m sure they’ll be even more wary in the second half. So, we’ll use that to create our chances.”

Yang Yang was like a trump card in Ajax’s hand. No matter where he was on the pitch, Alkmaar had to pay close attention to him. Especially after he’d scored a brace, Van Gaal couldn’t possibly afford not to focus his defense on Yang Yang.

This was Ajax’s greatest advantage.

Alkmaar, on the other hand, had no such trump card of their own.

……

……

After the teams switched sides and the second half began, Van Gaal quickly realized something was wrong.

From the kickoff, Ajax played very aggressively, pushing forward on the attack, spearheaded by Yang Yang on the right flank.

The right-flank combination of Yang Yang and Maicon was an attacking channel that struck fear into opponents across the Eredivisie. A strong push down the right was logical, but Van Gaal still felt puzzled and uneasy.

This continued until the fifty-first minute, just six minutes into the second half. After running into space on the right flank to receive a pass, Yang Yang drew all of Alkmaar’s defensive attention to their left side. Then, he suddenly launched a long, cross-field ball over to the left wing.

Maxwell surged forward, controlled the ball with his chest on the left touchline, and charged up the wing. After a beautiful one-two with Pinaar, he sent a square pass to the edge of the penalty area.

Sneijder made a quick run up, unleashing a powerful shot from the top of the arc that once again breached Alkmaar’s goal. Three-to-one!

This goal was a complete wake-up call for Van Gaal.

He knew with absolute certainty that he had fallen for Ronald Koeman’s trap!

Van Gaal quickly made adjustments, but Ajax had found their rhythm and momentum, continuing to launch wave after wave of attacks. Alkmaar, on the other hand, was forced into a continuous retreat.

Just nine minutes later, it was Yang Yang again. After combining with Maicon on the right, he cut inside horizontally with the ball and passed to Sneijder. Sneijder then played a diagonal ball into the box, finding an unmarked Pinaar on the left side of the area.

Faced with such a golden opportunity, the South African international was not about to let it slip, coolly slotting the ball into the net. Four-to-one!

Van Gaal’s face was ashen as he stood motionless in front of the away team’s technical area, clearly furious with the situation on the field.

After Ajax scored their fourth goal, Van Gaal could no longer hold back and finally made substitutions, taking off two players at once.

Both substitutions quickly had an effect on the match. Notably, the substitute Ramses assisted a teammate in the eighty-sixth minute, successfully changing the score to four-to-two.

But for Alkmaar, defeat in this match was already certain.

Yang Yang himself was substituted off in the seventy-eighth minute, replaced by Ryan Babel.

In the end, thanks to Yang Yang’s brace, Ajax defeated Alkmaar four-to-two at home.

However, because Eindhoven had secured a narrow one-nil away victory over Groningen with a goal from Farfan, Ajax only managed to overtake Alkmaar to claim second place on the league table. Ironically, their win helped Eindhoven reach the top spot.

As for Feyenoord, who had been on an unstoppable winning streak for the past two rounds, they once again showed their erratic side, suffering a crushing one-to-four away defeat to Demboch. A red card for Bosschart just seventeen minutes into the match directly led to Feyenoord’s collapse.

Kuyt failed to score in this round, leaving his goal tally at twenty-two.

Meanwhile, with his brace in this match, Yang Yang closed the gap with Kuyt, reaching a total of twenty goals.