Chapter 32 He's Red

Noordwijk is a coastal city more than 40 kilometers southwest of Amsterdam.

There are beautiful Beihai beaches, far away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, and beautiful scenery. It is definitely a good place for summer vacation.

Van Gaal just liked the leisure here, so he bought a piece of land in the resort area and built an exquisite residence. Since then, except for vacations in Portugal in winter, most of the rest of the time he lives here.

Especially in the past six months, after returning to the Netherlands from Barcelona, ​​he only lived in Almere for a while.

Every night, the sea breeze blowing from the North Sea in the west swept across the balcony, bringing the slightest coolness. Lying on a beach chair, overlooking the quiet and magnificent night sky, the laughter of tourists from the beach in the distance from time to time made him feel whole. They all seem to be immersed in this peaceful night.

I don't know how long it took for Van Gaal to withdraw his eyes from the starlight in the night sky, only to find that Truss sat beside him at some point, and she always accompanied him so quietly, but He was always like a child who needed someone to take care of him.

Maybe it has something to do with him being the youngest of nine siblings in the family.

The youngest is always especially taken care of.

"I just listened to Aaron Moy's Football Online in it." Truss smiled slightly.

"Well." Van Gaal was noncommittal. This was one of his favorite radio programs in the past, but he hadn't listened to it for a long time.

"Ajax is being introduced for half of the show tonight, and it's not a good situation right now."

Van Gaal nodded slightly and sighed deeply.

European professional football has changed too fast, especially in the years since the emergence of the Boseman Act.

The transfer of players has become more convenient. Those big teams with wealth and power no longer pay attention to youth training, but blindly start to adopt a faster way to improve the strength of the team, that is, burning money.

This is understandable, all the giants play like this, Van Gaal also played like this when coaching Barcelona, ​​but in fact, he is very clear that he is not good at these, what he is best at is to train and promote young players, step by step The team is shaped like he was at Ajax in the 1990s.

But unfortunately, it is impossible to give him such patience in today's professional football.

All teams, whether it is Barcelona or Ajax, are becoming more and more eager for quick success, whether it is the flow of players or the results of the team, the speed is getting faster and faster, as soon as his second time When coaching Barcelona, ​​he only had half a year.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the resignation of club president Gaspart, but Van Gaal is also very clear that all this is becoming more and more unfamiliar, and he needs to adjust himself and adjust to this environment again.

Some time ago, Ajax chairman Michael van Prague personally went to see him in Nordwijk, hoping that he would succeed Leo Benhak as the club's technical director. Interestingly, in the 1990s In the 1990s, when Van Gaal took over the Ajax position, his predecessor happened to be Leo Benhak.

Van Gaal resisted a bit because the club's manager was Ronald Koeman.

He knows Koeman very well, and is definitely a very assertive head coach, but he also knows himself. To say it nicely is to be frank and direct.

If he really takes over as the technical director of Ajax, can he coexist peacefully with Koeman?

Even if it can, can it solve the dilemmas that Ajax is currently facing?

Ajax is one of the biggest victims of the Boseman Act. The squad that won the Champions League in the 1990s has been lost. I am afraid that this summer will not be able to keep Qiu and Van der Mede, and they will definitely stay in the future. Ibrahimovic, Van der Vaart and Sneijder, among others.

Even if Van Gaal and Ronald Koeman can work together, what can change?

Thinking of this, Van Gaal sighed deeply again, "It's all bad news."

"Neither." Truss chuckled.

"Oh?"

"Aaron Moy spends most of his time talking about a person."

"Who?" Van Gaal was curious.

"Yang Yang."

"It's him." Van Gaal immediately thought of the Chinese teenager he had met in Almere, and the figure of him practicing hard against the wall in the skate park appeared in his mind, and his heart couldn't help but warm.

This is the most beautiful thing that has happened to him in the past six months.

"He's red." Truss laughed.

"Um?"

"In the past four games, he represented Almere in amateur competitions and won all four games. He performed very well. Aaron Moi had never heard of him before, but many fans called the hotline to break the news. What about three people in a row, the pendulum is extraordinary, Ronaldo II, etc., the chat is very lively."

Van Gaal couldn't help laughing after hearing this, which was something he didn't expect.

"That kid is famous in this way." He shook his head with a wry smile.

"Almere is not famous. It is rare for such a good seedling from an unpopular team. The fans are excited."

Van Gaal can understand the mood of the fans. If Almere really has a star, all the citizens will be honored for it, even if Yang Yang is not Dutch.

"Has he... been doing well recently?" Van Gaal was interested.

Truss nodded, "I heard it's very good, but I don't know the specifics, or... let's watch him play?"

Van Gaal hesitated for a while.

Last time he lost a bet with Truss, the bet was to do one thing, Truss hoped that he could find a job as soon as possible, not to stay at home all day, and there are also invitations from several teams and Ajak Van Gaal is seriously considering his recruitment.

Is it appropriate to watch Yang Yang's game at this time?

But soon, Van Gaal laughed himself, whether he was suitable or not, just go and see.

"Okay, let's go and see."

…………

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Volendam, a professional team located in Volendam, a small town northeast of Amsterdam, finished sixth in the Dutch League last season and was successfully promoted to the Dutch League through the play-offs.

This professional team, born in 1920, was once a powerhouse in the Eredivisie, but was relegated in the late 1990s and struggled for five years in the Eredivisie before returning to the Eredivisie this year.

As a small team, Volendam and Ajax are inextricably linked. The two teams have a very close cooperation with each other. Wim, who played for Ajax in the early 1990s · Jonker is from the Volendam youth training. He joined Inter Milan at the same time as Bergkamp in 1993, and returned to the Netherlands to join PSV Eindhoven two years later.

As a team in a small town, Volendam has limited financial resources and the youth training is not outstanding, but he can't stand his back against the big tree of Ajax. Kers has a number of young players on loan.

Participating in the summer amateur game are center defender Gerard Afeyes, left back Paul Quisten, left winger Sebastian Stuer and forward Rowan van Saan, these four players Both come from the Ajax youth academy, coupled with the young central defender Henny Schard and the right winger Charles Diesels, who were promoted from their own youth training, Volendam's lineup is quite good.

It is also inextricably linked with Ajax. Almere is even a satellite club signed by the Eredivisie giants, but the gap at the league level makes Almere far less supportive than Volendam.

At the very least, there is not even a single Ajax youth training squad in the amateur team.

Different from Fraferantz, who was weak in defense and weak in attack in the previous round, Volendam faced by Almere this time is the most typical Dutch team. Almere was bombarded at the start of the game.

Rao Shi Almere was mentally prepared for this, and he assumed a weak defensive and counterattack attitude at the beginning, but he was still very embarrassed by Volendan. .

Although Yang Yang is a right winger and the core of the team's offense, when he sees his team is in a dire situation, he also chooses to return to the defense, actively presses the opponent's defense line, and retreats at any time to help the midfield and backcourt. Instead, he is on the offensive end. Didn't have a good performance.

But even so, Almere still scored a goal calmly in the 29th minute when he was inserted into the penalty area by Volendam's right winger Charles Diesels.

After opening the scoring, Almere was a little confused and the scene became more passive.

Yang Yang also saw that the mentality of his teammates had changed, and everyone became a little restless, and he was secretly anxious in his heart.

If it continues like this, not to mention winning this game, I am afraid that I will lose a fiasco.

Thinking of this, Yang Yang resolutely returned to the 30-meter area, stationed at the front of the penalty area, and at the same time constantly signaled his teammates to actively retreat, temporarily abandoning the attack in the frontcourt, and blocking Volendan's attack first.

The fans of the home team on the sidelines shouted very vigorously.

Those who can enter the fifth round are basically strong teams. Volendam has a good luck and draws the weaker Almere, which is equivalent to walking the sixth round. For Rendan, it is definitely a good opportunity.

Van Gaal and Truss also stood in the crowd on the sidelines, looking at the two sides facing each other on the pitch, he shook his head helplessly.

"The strength gap between the two sides is too great, and Almere has no chance." Trus shook his head.

"I don't think so. As long as he hasn't given up, there must be a chance." Van Gaal didn't think so.

There is still the second half of the game, as long as the tactics are right, everything is still possible.

Football is a game of eleven players, and it is difficult to change the trend of the game alone.

Besides, Yang Yang is not an extraordinary genius, how could he change the trend of the game by himself?

Others may not know, but Van Gaal is very clear that Yang Yang has today's achievements, everything comes from his hard work, not talent.

But Yang Yang on the court didn't seem to pay attention to the others, still running at all costs and defending every ball.

With the players in the frontcourt actively returning to defense, Almere was able to block Volendam's surging attack.

At the end of the first half, the home team Volendam took the lead 1-0 with Diesels' goal.