Super Wingstorm

Nordwijk, a seaside city just over forty kilometers southwest of Amsterdam.

With its beautiful North Sea beaches, far from the hustle and bustle of the big city, the scenic town was the perfect spot for a summer vacation.

It was this tranquility that Van Gaal had fallen in love with years ago, prompting him to buy a plot of land in the resort area and build an exquisite home. Since then, aside from his winter holidays in Portugal, he spent most of his time living here.

Especially in the last six months, after returning to the Netherlands from Barcelona, he had only stayed in Almere for a short while.

Every night, a sea breeze from the North Sea to the west would sweep across the balcony, bringing with it a hint of coolness. Lying on a beach chair, he would gaze at the tranquil, magnificent night sky. The cheerful laughter of tourists occasionally drifted from the distant beach, making him feel as if he were completely immersed in the peaceful darkness.

He didn’t know how long he sat there before he finally pulled his gaze away from the starlight. He then noticed that Trus had sat down beside him at some point. She always kept him company so quietly, yet he often felt like a child who needed looking after.

’Perhaps it has something to do with me being the youngest of nine siblings,’ he thought.

’The youngest one always gets special treatment.’

"I was just inside listening to Aaron Moye’s Football Online," Trus said with a faint smile.

"Mm," Van Gaal grunted noncommittally. It used to be his favorite radio show, but he hadn’t listened to it in a long time.

"Tonight, they spent a good portion of the show talking about Ajax. Their situation isn’t looking good."

Van Gaal nodded slightly and let out a deep sigh.

The world of professional football in Europe was changing too quickly, especially in the years since the Bosman Law. The changes were happening so fast he could barely keep up.

Player transfers had become much easier. The big, wealthy clubs no longer valued youth development, instead resorting to a quicker method of strengthening their squads: spending huge sums of money.

It was understandable. All the powerhouse clubs operated this way, and Van Gaal had done the same when he coached Barcelona. In reality, though, he knew he wasn’t skilled at this. His greatest strength was developing and promoting young players, molding a team into shape step by step, just as he had done with Ajax in the nineties.

Unfortunately, modern professional football would never afford him that kind of patience.

All the clubs, whether it was Barcelona or Ajax, were becoming increasingly impatient for quick success. The pace of everything, from player turnover to performance expectations, was accelerating. It was so fast that his second tenure at Barcelona had lasted only six months.

Of course, that had a lot to do with the club chairman Gaspart stepping down. But Van Gaal was also well aware that this whole world was becoming increasingly unfamiliar. He needed to adjust and re-adapt to this new environment.

Some time ago, the Ajax chairman, Michael van Praag, had personally come to Nordwijk to see him. He wanted him to take over from Leo Benhak as the club’s technical director. Interestingly, when Van Gaal took the head coach position at Ajax in the nineties, his predecessor had also been Leo Benhak.

Van Gaal was somewhat resistant to the idea because the club’s head coach was Ronald Koeman.

He knew Koeman well—a head coach with very strong opinions. But he also knew himself. To put it nicely, he was frank and direct. To put it bluntly, he lacked tact, wasn’t diplomatic in his dealings, and was too abrasive, which made it easy for him to offend people.

’If I really take the technical director position at Ajax, can I coexist peacefully with Koeman?’

’Even if I could, would it solve the myriad of problems Ajax is currently facing?’

Ajax was one of the biggest victims of the Bosman Law. Not only had the entire Champions League-winning squad from the nineties been lost, but this summer they probably wouldn’t be able to hold onto Qi Wu and Van der Meede. In the future, they certainly wouldn’t be able to keep players like Ibrahimovic, Van der Vaart, and Sneijder.

’Even if Van Gaal and Ronald Koeman could join forces, what could they really change?’

At this thought, Van Gaal sighed deeply again. "It’s all bad news."

"Not entirely," Trus chuckled softly.

"Oh?"

"Aaron Moye spent more than half the show discussing one person."

"Who?" Van Gaal asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Yang Yang."

"It’s him." Van Gaal immediately remembered the young Chinese boy he’d met in Almere. An image of him practicing relentlessly against the wall in the skate park surfaced in his mind, and his heart warmed at the thought.

’This was the best thing that had happened to him in the past six months.’

"He’s famous now," Trus said with a smile.

"Hm?"

"In the past four matches, he’s played for Almere in the amateur tournament and they’ve won all four. He’s been outstanding. Aaron Moye had never even heard of him before, but tons of fans called the hotline to share stories—dribbling past three players, doing the Pendulum Move, calling him the next Ronaldo, that sort of thing. They were all incredibly excited about it."

Hearing this, Van Gaal couldn’t help but chuckle. That was something he hadn’t expected.

"So the kid got famous that way," he said, shaking his head with a wry smile.

"Well, Almere isn’t a famous club. It’s rare for an underdog team to produce such a promising young talent, so the fans are thrilled."

Van Gaal could understand the fans’ sentiment. If Almere really produced a star player, all the town’s citizens would feel a sense of pride, even if Yang Yang wasn’t a Dutchman.

"Has he... been playing well recently?" Van Gaal was intrigued.

Trus nodded. "I hear he’s been excellent, but I don’t know the details. Why don’t... we go see him play?"

Van Gaal hesitated.

He had lost a bet to Trus last time, and the stake was that he had to do one thing for her. She wanted him to find a job as soon as possible and stop being cooped up at home all day. With several offers from other teams and the one from Ajax, Van Gaal was seriously considering his options.

’Is this really the right time to go watch Yang Yang play?’

But soon, Van Gaal laughed at himself. ’Who cares if it’s appropriate or not? If I want to go, I’ll go.’

"Alright, let’s go see him."

...

...

Warrendan, a professional team from the small town of Warrendan northeast of Amsterdam, had finished sixth in the Eerste Divisie last season and earned promotion to the Eredivisie through the playoffs.

The club, founded in 1920, was once a powerhouse in the Eredivisie but suffered relegation in the late nineties. They struggled in the Eerste Divisie for five years before finally returning to the top flight this year.

As a small club, Warrendan had intricate ties with Ajax. The two teams had a very close partnership. Wim Jonk, who played for Ajax in the early nineties, came from Warrendan’s youth academy. In ’93, he joined Inter Milan at the same time as Bergkamp, then returned to the Netherlands two years later to join Eindhoven.

As a small-town team, Warrendan had limited financial resources and an unremarkable youth academy. However, they were backed by the giant that was Ajax. As a newly promoted Eredivisie team, Warrendan loaned several young players from Ajax all at once this summer.

The players participating in the summer amateur tournament included center-back Gerard Afies, left-back Paul Quist, left-winger Sebastian Stuer, and forward Roven Van Sane—all four from the Ajax youth academy. Adding to them were young center-back Henny Schelder and right-winger Charles Disels, who were promoted from their own academy. Warrendan’s tournament lineup was quite formidable.

Almere also had intricate ties with Ajax and was even a signed satellite club for the Eredivisie giant. However, due to the difference in league tiers, the level of support Almere received was far less than that of Warrendan.

At the very least, there wasn’t a single player from the Ajax youth academy in their amateur tournament lineup.

Unlike Flaefranz from the previous round, who were strong in defense but weak in attack, Warrendan was a typical Dutch team: strong on offense, weak on defense. Playing at home, they launched a relentless barrage of attacks on Almere from the very start of the match.

Even though Almere was mentally prepared for this and adopted an underdog’s defensive counter-attacking posture from the kickoff, they were still suppressed and left in a sorry state by Warrendan. Their opponents repeatedly penetrated the penalty area, leaving Almere’s goal in constant peril.

Although Yang Yang was the right winger and the team’s offensive core, seeing his team in a dire situation, he chose to track back and defend. He actively pressed the opponent’s defensive line and constantly dropped back to support the midfield and defense, which meant he wasn’t able to contribute much on the offensive end.

But even so, in the twenty-ninth minute, Almere was still broken down. Warrendan’s right winger, Charles Disels, cut into the box and calmly scored a goal.

After conceding the first goal, Almere fell into some disarray and became even more passive on the field.

Yang Yang could see that his teammates’ mentality had shifted; they had all become anxious and restless. He grew worried internally.

’If this continues,’ he thought, ’forget about winning. We’re going to suffer a crushing defeat.’

At this thought, Yang Yang decisively dropped back into the thirty-meter zone, positioning himself at the edge of the penalty area. At the same time, he continuously signaled for his teammates to retreat, temporarily abandoning their attack to first hold off Warrendan’s offensive.

On the sidelines, the home fans were cheering with great enthusiasm.

The teams that made it to the fifth round were generally strong. Warrendan had gotten lucky, drawing the weaker Almere. This was practically a free pass to the sixth round, which was a fantastic opportunity for a team that had just been promoted to the Eredivisie.

Van Gaal and Trus were also standing in the crowd on the sidelines. Watching the two teams on the field, he shook his head with a sense of helplessness.

"The difference in strength between the two sides is too great. Almere doesn’t stand a chance," Trus said, shaking her head.

"I don’t think so. As long as he hasn’t given up, there’s still a chance," Van Gaal countered.

’There’s still the second half. As long as their tactics are right, anything is possible.’

’Football is, after all, a game of eleven players. It’s difficult for one person to change the course of a match single-handedly.’

’Besides, Yang Yang isn’t some extraordinary genius. How could he possibly change the outcome of the match all by himself?’

Others might not know, but Van Gaal knew very well that Yang Yang’s current success came from his relentless practice, not from raw talent.

On the pitch, however, Yang Yang seemed oblivious to everything else, still running tirelessly and contesting every single ball on defense.

With their forwards actively tracking back to defend, Almere barely managed to hold off Warrendan’s tide-like assault.

The first half ended with the home team, Warrendan, leading one-nil thanks to the goal from Disels.