Super Wingstorm

The semester performance review is a traditional feature of the Ajax youth academy. Two evaluations are held each year to assess players’ competitive form and skill development. In each age group, the five players with the worst scores are cut every semester, and new talent is brought in when the teams are reorganized.

The strict evaluation criteria, a brutal elimination rate, and the constant pressure from new talent joining the ranks all fuel intense competition within every Ajax age group. Every player has to work hard to improve and meet the team’s standards.

Even after countless rounds of selections and cuts, only one in six players from the highest age group will sign a professional contract, join the Ajax Second Team, and receive a two-year trial period. If they fail to meet the first team’s standards within those two years, they are forced to leave.

It is precisely because of this nearly ruthless system that Ajax’s development rate is extremely high. Ninety-five percent of the players who pass the academy’s evaluations eventually turn pro, though not always with Ajax.

Almere adopted and adapted Ajax’s entire youth training system, including the performance reviews. However, limited by the maturity of their youth program and the difficulty in recruiting new talent, they only hold one evaluation per year and cut just three players.

But even so, this was enough to put everyone on the team under immense pressure.

Previously, Yang Yang was the undisputed favorite for elimination in everyone’s eyes. But over the past month, his outstanding performance—especially his improvement in each of the last four games—has made him an indispensable member of the youth team. It would be no surprise for him to pass the review now.

There were even rumors circulating that the first-team head coach, John Reep, was planning to call up Yang Yang, Henk Demyer, and a few other top performers to train and play with the first team in the new semester.

Yang Yang had secured his spot, but this only intensified the internal competition. The number of players on the chopping block had effectively gone from two to three, and now any player at risk was on edge.

Since daily training counted toward the review scores, everyone gave their all on the practice field. At times, their tackles were a bit too aggressive. Even during training sessions, the atmosphere was perpetually cutthroat.

John Reep and Dick Van Puer watched the training from the sidelines without a word, neither making any move to intervene.

In their opinion, the team’s training atmosphere had been far too relaxed before. This—this was real training, with players genuinely fighting for their spot.

”Based on his performance recently, Yang Yang shouldn’t have any trouble passing the review,” Dick Van Puer said with satisfaction.

In their last four matches, Baken Academy had three wins and one loss, their only defeat coming at the hands of their crosstown rivals, Omni-Bass. Yang Yang had been outstanding in the last three games, recording an assist in each one. He was a key player in the team’s three-game winning streak, much to the delight of his coach.

”His academic performance is the best on the team; he’s considered a top student even at Baken Academy. His speed, agility, explosiveness, and stamina are all fine. His one-on-one attack and defense are among the best on the team, and there are no issues with his mental fortitude either.”

Dick Van Puer hadn’t realized it until he started listing them off, but he was suddenly struck by just how many strengths Yang Yang actually had.

”The biggest problem at the moment is his fundamental technique—his shooting, passing, and crossing.”

The review consisted of three parts. The coaching staff evaluated the players’ regular training sessions and match history, and they also scored each player on specific drills during a final test. Both the drills and the scoring criteria were adapted from Ajax’s system, covering a total of twenty individual categories.

After scoring each category, the coaching staff would perform a final assessment, combine it with the player’s training and match history, and calculate a total score.

The top three players would be rewarded with the chance to represent Almere at Ajax’s ”Talent Day” tryouts, while the bottom three would be forced to leave the Almere Youth Team.

John Reep listened to Van Puer’s report and nodded slightly. It matched his own recent assessment.

As a famous right winger in Europe himself, he was growing more and more interested in Yang Yang, who played the same position. The boy’s progress over the past month had been astonishingly fast.

Even now, his fundamentals were still weak, barely meeting the minimum standard for the youth team. But he was using his one trick, the Pendulum Move, with increasing mastery. In the last few academy matches, no one had been able to defend against him.

This astonished John Reep, but it also made him see Yang Yang’s potential clearly.

After all, the kid was only sixteen. Given his current rate of improvement and his dedication to training, ’he might just be full of surprises.’

”The review is in a few days. Make sure you’re well-prepared,” John Reep reminded him seriously.

”This time, in addition to officials from Almere City and some of our regular club partners, I’ve also extended a special invitation to a world-class legend. He’s not an easy man to get, but he actually agreed to come. With his influence in the Netherlands and at Ajax, we absolutely have to showcase the results of our youth program.”

Dick Van Puer nodded solemnly, though he was burning with curiosity.

’Considering John Reep’s standing at Ajax and in the Netherlands, who could possibly be so hard to invite that even *he* found it difficult?’

But since the head coach didn’t intend to reveal the name beforehand, he knew better than to ask.

”After training, tell the lads that the top three performers will not only get the chance to go to Ajax’s Talent Day, but the club will also sign them to a professional contract and bring them up to the first team next season.”

Almere was currently at a critical juncture, fighting for promotion to the Eerste Divisie. If they succeeded, joining the first team would mean a chance to play in the Eerste Divisie—an enormous temptation for any young player.

Even if the club was unfortunate enough to fail in their promotion bid, playing in the third-tier league next season would still be a major step up for them.

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Just as expected, when Dick Van Puer relayed the head coach’s promise after training, the atmosphere among the team became electric.

This was especially true for the top players led by Henk Demyer. They were already the team’s best performers, so with such an attractive prize on the line, what wouldn’t they do to win it?

Yang Yang was just as motivated. He desperately wanted to claim one of those spots.

It wasn’t just for the professional contract and a spot on the first team; he wanted a chance to meet his idol, Van Basten.

Ever since he’d witnessed the magnificent Amsterdam Arena with his own eyes, he’d been dreaming of meeting Van Basten and competing against his peers at Ajax—and even against the star players on their first team.

He desperately wanted to know just how big the gap was between him and the best players of his age in the World.

Seeing that gap clearly would only give him more motivation.

Baken Academy had no matches for the next few days, so Yang Yang threw himself into training day and night. Aside from school, he didn’t even have to help at the restaurant; his uncle, Shen Ming, knew the performance review was imminent and strictly ordered him to focus solely on training.

He spent his days at the skatepark and his nights in the Super Training, endlessly practicing the fundamental drills that other players had mastered before the age of ten. He didn’t dare to slack off for a single moment.

In the blink of an eye, the morning of the review arrived.

It was a rare, brilliant day. The sky was a vast, cloudless expanse, so blue it looked as if it had just been painted.

On Old Ice’s advice, Yang Yang—still full of energy despite a night of intense practice—drastically reduced his morning training load at the skatepark to conserve his energy. He timed his departure perfectly, jogging and juggling a ball all the way to the training ground.

The atmosphere in the locker room was palpably more tense than usual. Everyone was silently focused on organizing their kits and cleats. No one spoke. Even when Yang Yang entered, most people only glanced up at him for a second, their expressions complicated. Only Henk Demyer and a few others gave him a friendly nod.

Clearly, they were all aiming for the top three and didn’t consider Yang Yang a threat.

Just over a month ago, Yang Yang had been the consensus worst player on the team. No matter how much he had transformed, it was impossible for him to improve by leaps and bounds in little more than a month, let alone crack the top three.

Building fundamentals was a gradual process. A rate of improvement like Yang Yang’s was already considered exceptionally fast, but it was impossible for him to catch up to players like Henk Demyer, who had been training diligently for nearly a decade, in just over a month.

Yang Yang was well aware of this himself, but he was still determined to give it his absolute all.

Yang Yang could sense the reluctance, envy, and even resentment in the eyes of the other teammates who were on the brink of being cut. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness, yet he knew that survival of the fittest was the only way for a team to stay competitive.

Even if Head Coach John Reep took pity and let them stay, they would only fall further and further behind the team’s pace in the future.

’The same goes for me,’ he thought.

After changing into his jersey and cleats, Yang Yang walked out of the locker room to see Dick Van Puer standing by the door, offering a word of encouragement to each player as they filed out. When it was Yang’s turn, the coach added a few extra words.

”Mr. Reep wanted me to tell you to work hard and show them your best. He’s confident you can secure your spot.”

”Okay. Please thank Mr. Reep for me.”

”He also said that as long as you pass this review, keep working hard, and maintain your current rate of progress, the team will sign you to a professional contract next season. And he’ll find the right opportunity to call you up to the first team. Don’t let him down.”

”I understand,” Yang Yang nodded.

He could sense that while John Reep and Dick Van Puer thought highly of him, they still believed it would be difficult for him to truly excel in the review. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have needed to give him this promise beforehand.

But that only made him want to fight for it even more.

At the very least, he had to prove that all the blood, sweat, and tears he’d poured into his hellish training over the past month had not been for nothing.