Super Wingstorm

The final score of the match was 4-0.

After Yang Yang was substituted off, Demuer ultimately failed to take charge of the team’s attack on the right wing.

The Belgian right winger was certainly fast and skilled individually, but he played too much of a solo game. Moreover, his crosses were not very threatening, and neither Babel nor Fred Benson were skilled enough at getting on the end of them in the center.

This was a widespread problem at Ajax, from the first team down to the youth squads.

First team player Ibrahimovic was dominant in the penalty box, but he wasn’t a Cruyff-type center forward. In fact, you couldn’t find a single striker of that type in the entire Ajax Youth Academy. This was a widely-held consensus at Ajax, which was why they had signed Wesley Sonck over the summer.

The Belgian stood at only 1.74 meters, but he was a potent scorer. His league goal tallies over the past three seasons were thirteen, thirty, and twenty-four, respectively. This goal-scoring prowess was evident, which was why Ajax was willing to pay 6 million euros for him.

As for the Ajax Second Team, neither Babel nor Fred Benson were strong finishers, and they also lacked a dominant presence in the box. This was currently the second team’s biggest problem.

But Ajax was Ajax, after all. The second team was full of young talents from all over the World. Even if their attacking spearhead wasn’t the sharpest, they were more than enough to defeat a team like Vitesse B Team, securing a resounding 4-0 victory.

Since it was a home game, the team, led by their captain Zwinkels, went to thank all the fans in attendance after the match—a fine and long-standing tradition among European Teams.

The people who made a special trip to watch the Ajax Second Team play were either die-hard Ajax supporters or the players’ relatives, and they all gave the home team a warm round of applause.

After the game, Yang Yang went to meet his uncle, Shen Ming, and his family. He then chatted briefly with Ibrahimovic and Maxwell, and was introduced to Helena, who had traveled a long way to be there, before heading back to the locker room.

But he didn’t shower and change like the others. Instead, he grabbed his gear and a ball and went to practice by himself against the wall behind the field, not returning to the locker room until sunset.

When he got back to his home in Oude Kerk from De Toekomst, Vermaelen and Maxwell had already ordered takeout and were eating while they waited for him. Meanwhile, Ibrahimovic had taken Helena out somewhere for a night on the town.

Filled with envy and resentment, the three single guys naturally spent some time bad-mouthing the Swedish Striker.

After they finished eating, Maxwell went home early.

Unlike other Brazilian players, he had almost no nightlife and disliked parties. His favorite thing to do was chat on the phone for hours with his family, making long, overseas calls every night.

According to him, he needed to work even harder to earn a new contract. After renewing and getting a raise, he planned to bring his entire family over to live in Amsterdam. After that, his biggest dream was to build an estate for his family back in his hometown in Brazil.

It was a humble and unremarkable dream, but it was what constantly motivated Maxwell.

After seeing everyone out and tidying up a bit, Yang Yang made the excuse of needing to study and slipped into his room.

...

...

Post-game analysis was a routine task for Yang Yang in the Super Training space after every match and practice session.

Through this review and analysis, Yang Yang could clearly and intuitively pinpoint his weaknesses. Old Ice would also provide his own suggestions for improvement, helping Yang Yang quickly eliminate his problems and bad habits.

This method had helped Yang Yang develop a much better understanding of how to play the game in just a few short months.

With the youth league match having just ended, Yang Yang immediately began his review while the memory was still fresh. He looked for the mistakes he had made, but also identified his moments of brilliance, trying to understand the reasons behind them.

His crosses during the match had been very threatening, which left Yang Yang quite satisfied.

He had started diligently practicing [Beckham’s Crossing] back when he was at Almere, and now his hard work was finally showing some results. Although he was still a far cry from Beckham himself, he was delighted with his progress.

"Old Ice, do you think I can start working on a third Star Skill?" Yang Yang asked tentatively.

He already had a plan. The next weakness he needed to address most urgently was his first touch.

As for his shooting technique, that would have to be improved gradually.

It couldn’t be helped. He had too many weaknesses to fix them all at once.

But he hadn’t expected that the moment the words left his mouth, Old Ice’s cold voice would completely shatter his notion.

"Your crossing is nowhere near good enough. Don’t even think about practicing a third Star Skill for now."

Yang Yang frowned. "It’s still not good enough?"

"That depends on you."

"What do you mean?"

"What’s your goal?"

"Can you be more specific?"

"If you’re satisfied with your current performance on the Ajax Second Team, then I can tell you that the two Star Skills you’ve learned are sufficient. Combining Ronaldo’s explosive dribbling with Beckham’s crossing is enough to secure your spot on the second team. But if your ambitions lie beyond that, then you need to continue perfecting these two Star Skills."

"But I feel like I’ve really got a knack for crossing now," Yang Yang said honestly.

He wasn’t being blindly arrogant or complacent; he knew there was still a large gap between him and the best players his age. But he genuinely felt that his crossing was coming along well, and the fact that he had repeatedly used it to create danger during the game was the best proof of that.

"That’s because your opponents were too weak."

"Huh?"

"Talk is cheap. Let’s practice. I’ll have a level-two player defend you."

The moment Old Ice finished speaking, several players suddenly appeared in the Super Training space to run an attack-versus-defense drill with Yang Yang.

Yang Yang was positioned as the right winger, defended by the same Eerste Divisie-level player he usually trained against. His task was to break through the defense and cross the ball into the penalty area for a teammate to score.

This was the first time Yang Yang had ever simulated a live-game crossing scenario against an opponent of this caliber. He was filled with doubt. ’Could it be true, just like Old Ice said? Is my crossing ability really not good enough?’

Yang Yang quickly composed himself, burst forward, and dribbled toward the defender. But his first attempt at the Pendulum Move failed to shake the defender, who immediately broke up the play. He didn’t even get a chance to cross.

But Yang Yang wasn’t discouraged. He quickly went for a second attempt, and this time, he successfully broke through.

But just as he got past the defender and was adjusting his stride to cross, the defender quickly recovered, closed in from behind, and poked the ball away, rendering all of Yang Yang’s effort useless.

Yang Yang regrouped and charged forward with the ball again. Once again, he successfully beat his man.

This time, he was more cautious. He was starting to realize that even after being beaten, a defender at the Eerste Divisie level would stick tightly to his inside. When he wanted to cross, he inevitably had to adjust his stride, which naturally slowed him down. The defender would then quickly close the gap and ruin his cross.

If it had happened just once, it could have been a coincidence, but the next several attempts all ended the same way.

Yang Yang quickly adapted. He tried crossing without adjusting his stride, maintaining his speed. He was barely able to get the ball away like this, but the quality of his crosses became abysmal. Not a single one landed accurately in his intended target area.

"Do you understand why now?"

After countless consecutive attempts without a single success, Yang Yang was feeling utterly demoralized. It was then that Old Ice’s voice sounded in his ear again, as cold and emotionless as ever.

"My crossing really is terrible," Yang Yang admitted.

"The opponents in your last two matches weren’t strong, and their defense wasn’t tight. They gave you too much time and space to adjust at your own pace. But as you face stronger opponents with more disciplined defenses, they will never give you that kind of time and space. Even if you beat them, they’ll stick to you like glue, not giving an inch."

"Under those conditions, do you think you’ll still have enough time and space to leisurely adjust your stride and rhythm?"

Old Ice’s words made Yang Yang feel ashamed, but they also brought a sudden realization.

’Isn’t this the biggest difference between lower-level and top-tier leagues?’

’When you watch on TV, Beckham’s whole crossing motion seems so slow. But what’s it like in reality?’

’Forget the Four Major Leagues; just look at the Eerste Divisie-level defender he was facing now. The moment he tried to adjust, the defender was already on top of him, breaking up the play. Where was the time and space then?’

’In the much faster-paced Premier League, Beckham still managed to achieve such a high crossing success rate. It was a testament to his incredible skill.’

’And here he was, getting a bit of an advantage against a couple of semi-pro level players and thinking he’d already mastered crossing. He had been getting a little conceited.’

’Perhaps things had been going a little too smoothly for him lately, making him overly optimistic.’

’This lesson from Old Ice was the bucket of cold water he needed to see himself clearly.’

’That’s right. If he was content with just playing for the Ajax Second Team, content with the third tier or the Eerste Divisie, then the skills he had now were certainly enough. But was that all he was aiming for?’

’After making it into the Ajax Youth Academy and joining the second team, was he really just satisfied with playing under Van Basten?’

’Hadn’t he ever thought about making it to the first team? Or even playing in an official match?’

’The answer was yes. He wanted it like crazy. He was dying for it.’

’Van Basten was his idol, but more than that, he wanted to forge his own career with his own two feet.’

At this thought, Yang Yang took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"I get it now, Old Ice. Thanks for the wake-up call." The determination and confidence returned to Yang Yang’s eyes.

"I’m just telling it like it is."

"Then please, keep up that fine tradition. Anytime, as long as it’s for my own good, don’t hesitate to tell me the harsh truth, no matter how hard it is to hear. I’m not so fragile that I can’t handle it," Yang Yang said with resolve.

"Fine."

"From now on, I won’t train [Beckham’s Crossing] in isolation anymore. Let’s combine it with [Ronaldo’s Explosive Dribbling] and train the two Star Skills together. As for the defender, keep him at the Eerste Divisie level."

He had just been thoroughly dominated by a defender of that level, so that was the level where he would begin his new challenge.

Once he could handle an Eerste Divisie-level player with ease, he would start challenging Eredivisie-level opponents, and then even higher.