Super Wingstorm

To show how seriously Almere was taking this assessment, the venue was set at the club’s home stadium.

The municipal stadium belonged to the Almere City government but was on a long-term lease to the club. It was connected to the club’s training grounds, with a rugby field to the east and tennis and baseball courts to the south.

The first team’s home stadium was not large, surrounded only by low, single-tiered stands.

When Yang Yang and the others came out of the locker room and onto the field, they saw that aside from a cleared section in the center of the main stand, the other stands were already filled with quite a few fans. More fans were still entering through the passageways, and some players’ families and friends had even put up encouraging banners.

Yang Yang also spotted his uncle’s family in the east stand. Even the employees from their Chinese restaurant had come to cheer him on. Since it was warm-up time, he didn’t go over, just waved to them from a distance.

As Yang Yang was meticulously going through his warm-ups on the field, a stir came from the main stand.

The club chairman, René Telberg, appeared, accompanying several distinguished guests. Although there was no welcome ceremony, many people still recognized that the guests included the mayor of Almere and key government officials. Many of the others accompanying them were also local celebrities from Almere.

Being a newcomer, Yang Yang was unfamiliar with these people and paid them no mind, continuing his warm-up drills. Henk Demyer and the others, however, were thrilled by the mayor’s arrival.

"Looks like the rumors about the city government strongly backing Almere’s push for the Eerste Divisie are true."

"With the city government’s support, plus the club officially becoming a satellite club for Ajax, I’m sure Almere will achieve great things in the next few years. Getting into the Eerste Divisie is just a matter of time."

"Yeah, you’re right. If not this year, then definitely next year."

Yang Yang listened in silence. He only recognized the chairman, René Telberg, who was said to be a local tycoon from Almere but didn’t live in the city itself, residing instead in Brackham.

Laren and Brackham, in the southeastern suburbs of Amsterdam, were residential areas favored by the wealthy and corporate executives, but they were actually closer to Almere, located just south of Hoy Lake, southwest of Almere.

What truly impressed Yang Yang was Telberg’s vision and drive. To have founded Almere less than seven years ago and brought the team to its current level was nothing short of incredible. The main reason behind this success was that Telberg placed his complete trust in John Reep, handing over almost full control of the club’s affairs to him, aside from finances.

In contrast to the lukewarm football atmosphere in China, football was the trendiest topic of conversation among all the political and business elites in the Netherlands. This was evident from the way Telberg was laughing and chatting with the mayor and other government officials in the main stand.

The government was also very generous with its investment in infrastructure. For instance, the grounds leased by Almere included not only a standard pitch with stands and two training buildings, but also six full-sized training pitches and three half-pitches. There were at least three or four other training facilities of a similar scale in Almere.

While Yang Yang was marveling at the Dutch Government’s investment in football, another stir went through the main stand.

Looking up, he saw the first-team head coach, John Reep, appear in the main stand, politely guiding two distinguished guests behind him. Telberg and the others, who had already been seated, all rose to their feet.

"Who’s that?"

"What’s their story, that man and woman?"

"Ah, oh my god, that’s... that’s..."

"Van Gaal!"

"Who?"

"Van Gaal! Louis van Gaal!"

"For real?"

"It’s real, it’s really Louis van Gaal."

"Oh my God, what’s he doing here?"

It wasn’t just the players on the field who were buzzing with discussion; the parents and fans in the surrounding stands also broke into an uproar.

Louis van Gaal. In Dutch football and at Ajax, he was a Super Coach whose name was legendary. He had a long history in Ajax’s youth development program, cultivating numerous star players. He later led Ajax to the Champions League throne in the nineties, marking the club’s last period of glory. He was hailed as the last godfather of Ajax, after Michels and Cruyff.

After all, the current head coach of Ajax, Ronald Koeman, was a player Van Gaal had developed.

While everyone was marveling at Van Gaal’s appearance, Yang Yang was also staring, completely dumbfounded.

He recognized him. The man walking behind Head Coach John Reep was none other than the middle-aged Dutch man who often came to watch him train. And the middle-aged woman behind him—wasn’t that his girlfriend, Trus Opmel?

’Holy cow, so he was Louis van Gaal!’

Yang Yang was utterly shocked, finding it hard to believe.

Back in China, he had been fairly familiar with football news, so the name Louis van Gaal was certainly not new to him. But he was from a county-level city in Quanzhou where newspapers and information were not widespread, and La Liga games weren’t broadcast on TV. In the year he had been in the Netherlands, he had buried his head in training, ignoring everything else. Plus, every time Van Gaal saw him, he was wearing a golf cap that hid most of his face, so Yang Yang hadn’t recognized him at all.

’But wasn’t Van Gaal coaching Barcelona?’

’Oh, right. There was some news back in January that he had been fired early.’

Although he had been let go from Barcelona twice and had an unsuccessful stint coaching the Dutch National Team in between, Van Gaal’s status in Dutch football was still incredibly high. Everyone treated him with great respect, and the entire Almere club felt honored to have a world-class manager of his caliber visit.

As Yang Yang watched Van Gaal from the field, the famous Dutch manager also spotted him from the stands. He smiled, raised his right hand, and gave Yang Yang a wave from afar. This gesture immediately caught the attention of John Reep beside him.

"Louis, you know Yang Yang?" John Reep asked in surprise.

Van Gaal’s smile faded. He gave a slight nod. "You could say that."

He didn’t seem to like discussing his private matters in front of outsiders.

"More than that, he secretly followed the kid for over a month, and he even misjudged him in the end," Trus chimed in with a laugh, teasing him.

John Reep was even more curious. "What happened?"

Trus glanced at Van Gaal and saw he wasn’t going to say more, so she briefly explained. It was nothing more than how Van Gaal had initially thought Yang Yang’s grueling basic training wouldn’t last long, only to be completely surprised by the outcome.

She was vague, but John Reep was stunned by what he heard.

’As the team’s head coach, I’ve already completely changed my opinion of Yang Yang and have high hopes for him. But to hear from Trus that even Van Gaal holds him in high regard—to the point of tracking his training for over a month—what does that mean? Everyone in the Netherlands knows about Van Gaal’s notoriously foul temper; he’s an absolute perfectionist who can’t tolerate the slightest flaw. For him to follow Yang Yang for a month—what else could it mean other than that he sees immense potential in him? And who doesn’t know that Van Gaal has a famously sharp eye for talent? Being favored by him is more convincing than being scouted by Ajax’s chief scout. If this news got out, Yang Yang’s value would skyrocket, attracting the attention, and even offers, from countless Dutch teams. More importantly, I have confirmed news that Van Gaal’s next destination is...’

A stream of thoughts flashed through his mind, and the Almere head coach was caught completely off guard.

...

...

After the players finished their warm-ups, Club Chairman René Telberg began his pre-assessment speech. He also took the opportunity to announce a major event for the club: Yanmar, an agricultural machinery company from Japan, had officially become the naming sponsor for Almere’s stadium.

In other words, the municipal stadium would from now on be officially renamed Yangma Stadium.

This sponsorship from Japan would greatly alleviate Almere’s financial pressure and also serve as a major morale boost for everyone at the club.

Regardless of whether the team succeeded in its push for promotion to the Eerste Divisie this season, the club’s business operations were, at the very least, clearly on the rise.

After Chairman René Telberg, Head Coach John Reep solemnly explained the purpose of the assessment and announced that they had invited the famous manager Van Gaal to serve as the technical consultant for this evaluation, which was met with thunderous applause from the entire crowd.

The test was the same as a normal training session, lasting ninety minutes. The drills were also similar to their usual training, consisting of a few conventional exercises with the most assessment value, such as ten-meter and thirty-meter sprint shuttle runs, rondo (keep-away), and four-on-four and six-on-six small-sided games. The only difference was a thirty-minute full-field scrimmage scheduled at the end of the session.

Since none of the drills were out of the ordinary, everyone quickly began the final assessment under the direction of Dick Van Puer.

Although these were the same drills they did in training every day, everyone could clearly feel the difference. There were now many coaches on the sidelines with notepads, watching and grading them. This put a lot of pressure on many players who usually performed well but were prone to getting nervous, causing them to make frequent mistakes.

The coaches showed no sympathy for this when grading, as it was part of the psychological evaluation.

A lack of mental fortitude also limits a player’s future development. After all, on a real competitive pitch, opponents won’t show the weak any mercy or pity.

Just like in the match against Omni-Bass, the right-back who had replaced Nick put on a terrible performance and had been benched by Dick Van Puer ever since, never getting another chance to play.

The coaches weren’t just grading based on whether a player made mistakes, but on a comprehensive evaluation.

For passing, for example, they would evaluate the quality of the pass—such as its speed, trajectory, whether it was delivered to the receiver’s preferred foot, and how easy it was to control—while also assessing the receiver’s movement to get open and their first touch.

Yang Yang’s passing and receiving were his weak points. Although he had improved significantly after more than a month of hard practice, he was still not on par with the others. However, his off-the-ball movement to receive passes and his understanding of passing lanes repeatedly showed flashes of brilliance.

In the speed tests, whether it was the ten-meter or thirty-meter sprint shuttle runs, he was the fastest on the team.

Over the past month, in addition to the most basic training, he hadn’t neglected his greatest strength, his speed. Under the professional guidance of Old Ice, both his speed and explosiveness had improved.

In the subsequent rondo games and small-group scrimmages, Yang Yang also demonstrated his progress.

When it was time for the final full-field scrimmage, Head Coach John Reep and technical consultant Van Gaal both came down from the stands to personally oversee the match from the sidelines and grade the players.