Chapter 241 Opportunity

A 2-0 away victory over PSV Eindhoven, Ajax made the entire Dutch football earthquake.

After the nine rounds of the league, Ajax, with the recent two-game winning streak, has also risen rapidly in the rankings, jumping directly to the sixth position, and scored 15 points, only shy of Eindhoven, the second in the league. Seven points.

Feyenoord won another 4-0 in this round, reversing PSV Eindhoven and leading the Eredivisie standings with 25 points.

At the same time, Feyenoord's two strikers Kalou and Kuyt were the top two scorers with nine and eight goals respectively.

Players such as Heerenveen's center Huntelaar and Heiselink tied for third with six goals.

Yang Yang has scored four goals so far this season, and his performance is even better than last season, but he still ranks outside the top ten of the scorer list.

Even so, in addition to the four goals, Yang Yang has four assists, one goal and one assist in the Champions League, and one goal in the European Super Cup. The top scorer in the competition, with a total of six goals, which has exceeded the total number of goals scored in the first team last season for half a year.

Although the data can't fully reflect the performance of the players, it proves Yang Yang's progress to some extent.

More importantly, these goals from Yang Yang directly brought five victories to Ajax, and every goal is very important.

With a brace against PSV Eindhoven, Yang Yang once again made everyone clearly aware of his importance to Ajax, and also pushed his fame and influence to a new level.

The next morning after Eindhoven, before the training session, De Tokmost gathered 20 or 30 Ajax fans, many of them wearing Yang Yang's No. 11 jersey. Fans watching training outside the barbed wire at the training ground with flags.

It was the first time for Yang Yang that there were fans present to support him.

It was also the first time after the departure of two star players, Van der Vaart and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

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Ajax board managing director Ali van Eden accompanied the Dutch national team coach Van Basten all the way from the Amsterdam Arena to De Tok Most.

As the national team coach, Van Basten's coaching performance is also quite good.

In Germany's World Cup qualifiers, the Netherlands first beat the Czech Republic 2-0, then drew with Macedonia 2-2 away, and won Finland 3-1 at home. It can be said that Van Basten's coaching tour of the national team handed over one a satisfactory answer sheet.

And today, he came to De Tokmost to examine the state of Ajax players.

Accompanied by Van Eyden, Van Basten saw this group of enthusiastic fans as he stepped into De Tokmost.

This somewhat surprised Van Basten and Van Eden.

"Unexpectedly, Yang Yang began to gradually be loved by fans."

When mentioning Yang Yang, Van Basten couldn't help thinking of the first time he saw Yang Yang last summer.

Van Basten is still very concerned about this young player who once performed very well under his command.

"The team really needs such a person now." Ali van Eyden said with a smile.

Van Basten nodded slightly.

"What we are more worried about is the recognition of him by the local fans. You know, our leaders have always been local players from our academy for so many years."

From UEFA's rules, Yang Yang is of course Ajax's youth training, but if it is strictly defined, he is not at all.

Even Yang Yang is not a youth training player in Almere.

The reason is simple, he has only been in the Netherlands for two years so far.

Ajax's flag-bearers have always come from the academy, from Cruyff to Bergkamp to Kluivert.

Previously, in Ajax's captaincy battle, Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic were at a stalemate, and the club's management chose Van der Vaart without hesitation because he was his own.

But things are completely different now.

Today's Ajax has more and more foreign players. Although local players still dominate the dressing room, they have been weakened a lot. Especially after Van der Vaart left the team, there is no new generation of flag-bearers.

Sneijder would have been the right fit, but his character and position on the pitch limited him.

And Ryan Babel, who was originally optimistic about many people, has now been completely overshadowed by Yang Yang's light.

"Time has changed, Van Gaal's transformation has changed a lot of things, bringing a new development direction to our team, but also allowing us to see the development of the European professional league in the new era."

Van Basten smiled softly, "Over the years, Qiu, Litmanen, Escud and Galasek have all served as captains of the team, and they have all led the team very well. It proves that keeping up with the trend of the times and making some appropriate changes is a good thing.”

Ali van Eyden clearly agrees with this statement, but...

"This kind of thing still has to take its time."

Van Basten frowned and quickly figured it out.

Like all giant teams, Ajax has a solid background. There are countless stars and legends that have emerged in history, and many of them have a certain influence in the media field.

The most typical is the war of words between Van Gaal and Cruyff last season. The former is in control of the club's authority, while the latter is in control of public opinion.

"That's right, take your time, it's not an overnight thing to be a good standard bearer, at least he has to prove that he has such strength, has such a responsible partner, and most importantly, he has such a leader force."

The leader of a team is not someone who just wants to be the leader of a team. If the strength is not enough, it is absolutely not possible. If the strength is enough, no one will support it. If there is strength, there are people who support it. If there is not enough leadership, it will not work.

Just like Eindhoven's captain Van Bommel, his strength may not be the strongest in the team, but his leadership is definitely recognized.

This is also due to PSV's long-term cultivation of him, which in turn has allowed him to form a leadership player's temperament.

"Based on the current situation, I am afraid that I will contact Raiola again soon." Van Eden said bitterly.

The last time he dealt with Raiola for Yang Yang's renewal, it was a nightmare.

Judging from the current situation, with Yang Yang's performance, Ajax may really have to put the renewal on the agenda again.

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"Why do you arrange a five-on-five small-scale group confrontation at the end of the training?"

On the training ground, Van Basten curiously asked Ronald Koeman and Luther Carroll on the training ground.

When it comes to coaching, he's a novice and is interested in a lot of things.

Generally speaking, in the middle of the season, the team will not arrange intense group confrontation, mainly for fear of injury.

It is true to train with actual combat standards, but the premise is to effectively prevent players from getting injured.

There are more than 20 players in the first team, and there are two or three competitors in each position. In such a small-scale group confrontation, one person may be injured if he is not careful, and when the time comes, who can tell exactly what is going on? Woolen cloth?

So, Van Basten was curious about it.

"The atmosphere in the locker room is very good. Although there is competition among the players, they are well controlled. Local players and foreign players get along very well. The atmosphere in the team is even better than last season, and the players have a sense of trust in each other. Very good," Ronald Koeman explained.

"Yang Yang did not participate in the pre-season training, and our team has many new players. Small-scale group confrontation can effectively increase the tacit understanding of the players, and the players have responded well."

Van Basten nodded again and again, but vaguely figured out another meaning.

The confrontation between Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart has been a hidden danger in the team's locker room in the past two seasons. Even at that time, the locker room was divided into local factions led by Van der Vaart and Ibrahimo. The expatriate group headed by Vicky.

But with the departure of the two stars, the interior of the Ajax locker room has become harmonious.

As early as last season, Van Basten heard that Yang Yang is a foreign player, and he is close friends with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and others, but he has a good relationship with local players such as Van der Vaart and Sneijder. It seems that the current situation is of great benefit to Yang Yang.

"This kid's basic skills have become very solid, and his strength has improved a lot." Van Basten praised with a smile.

Luther Carroll laughed: "He recently offered to strengthen his strength training and get to the gym an hour earlier every day."

"Oh?" Van Basten had a strange look on his face, which was a test of the players' perseverance and determination.

Pity.

If Yang Yang hadn't already played for the Chinese national team, Van Basten would have really considered recruiting him into the Dutch national team. When the time comes to form wings with Robben, the Netherlands' frontcourt offense will be much better than it is now.

Unfortunately, he chose his own country.

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When the team's training was over and Yang Yang walked off the court out of breath, he saw Van Basten beckoning to him with a smile on the sidelines.

"Hey, Marko, long time no see." Yang Yang walked over immediately.

"Yeah, I haven't seen you for a while." Van Basten looked at Yang Yang's body with interest and nodded: "Well, there is progress, but it's not enough, a strong physique can make you more comfortable on the court. ."

"I know, I have been working hard." Yang Yang smiled.

"I heard, work hard, there is a good opportunity in front of you now, you have to work hard to seize it."

Yang Yang vaguely heard what Van Basten meant. He also knew his situation in the team and the current situation of Ajax.

In fact, he really didn't think about it so much, but if he really got to that point, it would be quite good for him.

Afterwards, Yang Yang chatted with Van Basten about some things and asked some questions in training and games. Van Basten also knew everything and said everything.

As a former legendary star, many times his words can solve the problems that have plagued Yang Yang for a long time.

After finally saying goodbye to Van Basten, Yang Yang did not go back to the locker room directly, but went to the corner wall to do basic training alone for half an hour.

When he returned to the locker room, it was already empty.

Yang Yang was accustomed to this too. When he came out of the shower and opened the cabinet to change his clothes, he found that there was an unread text message on his phone. It was Su Xiaomei from China.

"Happy birthday, Yang Yang!"

After Yang Yang watched it, his heart warmed, and then he remembered that today was his birthday.

He couldn't help laughing.