Super Wingstorm

After their match against the Vitesse B Team, the Ajax Second Team went on break, but the first team still had one more game to play.

A home game against Zwolle.

The visiting team wasn’t very strong. After narrowly avoiding relegation last season, they were once again a top candidate to go down this season.

In the first two rounds of the league, they had lost 0-1 away to Utrecht and 0-3 at home to Vaalwijk. Now, coming off two consecutive losses, they were visiting the Amsterdam Arena. Everyone thought Ajax should be able to end their August matches with a resounding victory.

But the result was a huge surprise.

Playing at home and with all their star players, Ajax played terribly. Their defense was organized well enough, but their offense was lackluster. The only bright spot came in the thirty-second minute, when the Swedish Striker Ibrahimovic assisted a goal by Pinaar.

It was also the only goal of the entire match.

After the match, head coach Ronald Koman was criticized by the media. Everyone felt that Ajax’s performance this season was disappointing. Although they had secured three consecutive wins, both their on-field display and the results were unacceptable.

Koman stated that the team was still in a period of adjustment and finding its chemistry.

"The visiting team was very tenacious in this match. Their head coach, Pete Bowey, set up a 5-4-1 formation with five defenders and three defensive midfielders. They packed the central channel, which made it difficult for our offense to get going."

As for the external rumors about Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart being incompatible, Ronald Koman claimed they were baseless. He said there was no animosity or conflict between the two players.

"They are both exceptionally talented players with immense potential. There’s no such thing as them being ’incompatible’ on any team, under any circumstances. The issue now is that they need to quickly adjust their own pace to get in sync with their teammates and the team as a whole, to be on the same rhythm."

After three rounds of matches, Eindhoven’s top scorer, Kezman, led the scoring chart with five goals, followed closely by Vaalwijk’s Ivan Reden with four. Ajax’s players had only scored one goal each, placing them far down the rankings.

However, on the Eredivisie table, Ajax’s performance was excellent. They had nine points from three consecutive wins, tying with Vaalwijk. They were ranked second on goal difference, two points ahead of Eindhoven.

Despite their good position on the league table, the Dutch media was very dissatisfied with Ajax’s performance, especially on the offensive end.

In the analyses of many reporters and club legends, Ajax’s problems on the wings were a persistent issue plaguing the team.

Many believed that the conflict between Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart wasn’t irreconcilable. The current problem was that Ajax’s wings couldn’t create any threat, which meant that any team playing against Ajax only needed to defend the center. This was a significant disadvantage for the Eredivisie giants.

Last season, with Van der Meede commanding the right wing, Ajax was the most lethal team in the Eredivisie. But judging from this season’s performance, after losing Van der Meede, Ajax suddenly looked like they had completely forgotten how to attack. The root cause was the loss of threat from the wings.

Reporters and legends alike expressed that if Ronald Koman couldn’t solve this problem soon, it would be difficult for Ajax to last until the end of the season, especially with the UEFA Champions League to contend with.

After a difficult victory to eliminate Graz AK, the draw for the Ajax’s Champions League group stage was officially announced.

Due to a change in the UEFA Champions League format this year, the second group stage was eliminated. After the first group stage, the top two teams would advance directly to the knockout rounds, the third-place team would drop into the UEFA Cup, and the last-place team would be eliminated.

Although Ajax reached the quarterfinals in last season’s UEFA Champions League, they were still placed in Pot 3 for this year’s draw. The Pot 1 team drawn was the reigning champion, AC Milan; the Pot 2 team was the La Liga powerhouse Celta Vigo; and the Pot 4 team was the Belgian powerhouse Bruges.

Even though Van der Meede and Qi Wu had left in the summer, players like Ibrahimovic, Van der Vaart, and Talabesi had all remained with the team, preserving its core strength. Coupled with the emergence of talented rookies like Sneijder, Pinaar, De Jong, and Heitinga, Ajax’s prospects were still viewed favorably.

However, none of the four opponents in their group were weak.

AC Milan and Celta Vigo need no introduction, as they are both famous powerhouses in Europe. Even the strength of Belgium’s Bruges could not be underestimated; they had advanced by eliminating the Bundesliga powerhouse Dortmund in the third qualifying round.

As soon as the draw results were out, the Dutch media was in an uproar, believing that Ajax, plagued by internal and external troubles, was in a precarious situation.

This climate of public opinion added even more pressure on the first team.

But as a player for the second team, Yang Yang returned to the familiar skate park in Almere.

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Influenced by next year’s European Cup, the Eredivisie schedule for this season was very compressed. However, the youth league only had thirteen participating teams. Even though it was also a double round-robin, the pressure of the matches was much lighter.

When the international break arrived, the team went on holiday. Players like Vermaelen, who were selected for their National Teams, all left to play for their countries, while Yang Yang continued to go to school and study every day.

After school on Friday afternoon, his cousin Shen Yuzhu drove to Oude Kerk to pick him up.

This was his first time returning to Almere since moving to Amsterdam. It felt like a homecoming. On the way, he found everything novel and interesting. It had to be said, he had adapted quite quickly.

Back at the Chinese restaurant, it was the busy dinner rush. Yang Yang put down his things and offered to help. Everything looked the same as it had over half a month ago, yet the feeling was completely different.

Almere had been founded seven years ago and had been an Ajax satellite club for two years. But Yang Yang was the first of their own to go from the Almere Youth Academy to the Ajax Youth Academy, and he had gone straight into the second team.

The second team, also known as the reserve team, was a squad meant to prepare players for the first team.

Many citizens of Almere recognized Yang Yang. They all encouraged him to work hard and try to get into the Ajax first team as soon as possible. They said they would all be willing to go and cheer for him then, to be his personal cheering squad.

Yang Yang, of course, just smiled, nodded, and agreed.

The first team was still a long way off, but it was the goal he was striving for.

That evening, Henk Demyer and Nick, who had heard the news, made a special trip to visit Yang Yang. Even head coach John Reep and Dick Van Puer came over. They were all very concerned about how Yang Yang was doing at the Ajax Youth Academy.

Fred Arroyo had been in constant contact with John Reep, so they were well-informed about Yang Yang’s performance on the Ajax Second Team. Everyone was astonished that Yang Yang had managed to become a starter in just two matches, and was even showing signs of solidifying his position as a regular.

They knew very well how difficult it was to become a regular on the Ajax Second Team. The only logical explanation was that Yang Yang had made remarkable progress in just over half a month, prompting Van Basten to give him a significant role.

"Ahem, Yang, you’ve got it made. You played in the Dutch Cup, now you’re in the youth league, playing better and better with each game. But we’re the miserable ones! The coach chews us out using you as an example every day. He’s always saying, ’Look at Yang Yang! He wasn’t even as good as you guys back then, and now he’s a starter for the Ajax Second Team!’"

Henk Demyer’s spot-on impression of John Reep’s lecture made everyone roar with laughter. But they also felt a sense of wistfulness, because they could all clearly feel the gap between themselves and Yang Yang growing wider and wider.

Yang Yang never thought that he would one day become the "kid next door" that the Almere head coach talked about. He actually felt a little sense of accomplishment, but he still offered a few humble, polite remarks.

The instigator, Henk Demyer, received a light smack on the back of the head from John Reep.

Only eighty teams made it to the first round of the Dutch Cup. Almere didn’t make the cut, having been eliminated in the preliminary rounds. They could only focus on playing in the third-tier league, which made many players, including Henk Demyer, very envious of Yang Yang.

That was the Dutch Cup, a national competition in the Netherlands. Moreover, Yang Yang was performing better and better on the second team. It was entirely possible that in the near future, he would be noticed by the first team and promoted directly. Things would be completely different then.

John Reep also felt that Yang Yang had a good opportunity at Ajax.

"From what I’m hearing, the Ajax management has no plans to sign a new winger. They spent a lot of money on contract renewals this summer and don’t have enough funds for transfers. They’ve decided to address the weakness on the wings through internal promotion. So, you really do have a good chance."

Yang Yang nodded repeatedly as he listened. As someone who trained at De Toekomst every day, he was naturally aware of all this. But he also knew that Ajax was brimming with talent. There were many players who could play right wing—several on the first team, and Babel and Demuer on the second team could play there too. Even Fred Benson had the ability to play that position.

’Compared to them, although I have a chance, I still need to work even harder.’

When Yang Yang voiced his thoughts, John Reep, a product of the Ajax Youth Academy himself, nodded incessantly. He agreed that for the time being, Yang Yang shouldn’t overthink things and should just focus solely on improving his own abilities.

"Opportunity always favors the prepared mind. You have to believe that the Ajax coaching staff and scouts will absolutely not overlook a single talented player, because that is the foundation on which Ajax stands in European Football."

Yang Yang nodded in understanding and thanked him.

After spending two days in Almere, Yang Yang returned to Amsterdam the following Monday to continue his schooling and training.

Since the team was still on break, Yang Yang trained by himself.

This situation continued until mid-September, when the first and second teams finally regrouped for training.

The second team’s next opponent in the youth league was the Alkmaar Second Team, and the match was away.

The long break from matches and training had head coach Van Basten worried about the players’ form and performance. Even Yang Yang was afraid that his own good momentum would be broken.

But unexpectedly, not long after the match began, a player from the Alkmaar Second Team handed them a generous gift.