Super Wingstorm

Yang Yang still clearly remembered playing piggy-in-the-middle back at the Almere Youth Team. He would always feint, using his positioning to trick the player with the ball into passing it to the area he actually wanted to intercept, before suddenly changing direction to pounce on it.

He recalled how Old Ice from the Super Training ground had given him a rare compliment: ’You’ve finally learned how to play football.’

Henk Demyer had suffered greatly from this move. His teammates liked passing to him, and Yang Yang loved targeting him for interceptions.

Even now, every time Yang Yang went back to Almere and saw Henk Demyer, all he got was an earful of complaints.

Later on, Yang Yang learned Ronaldo’s Rush. He discovered that many moves on the football pitch achieved the same end through different means, and they all tended to start with a feint to deceive the opponent. The Pendulum Move, the elastico, the step-over... they were all like that.

This principle even scaled up to the tactics of an entire team.

Ajax’s favorite method of attack was to push down one flank, then suddenly switch play to the center or the other side of the pitch to catch their opponents off guard.

Yang Yang had always been curious about this, so he later asked John van Schip and Luther Carroll. They both told Yang Yang that deceptive feints were everywhere on the pitch. They didn’t just appear when dribbling past someone, but also in passing, running, and even during shooting and defending.

”Relying on just speed and technique won’t get you very far in football, because opponents will study you and target you. You need to be able to adapt, but no one can give you a specific answer on how to do that. It’s something you have to figure out for yourself.”

Van Schip and Carroll both mentioned a term: the reverse feint run.

As the name implies, if you want to make a run in behind a defender, doing so directly makes your intention too obvious. The defender will react in time to defend and plug the gap. Therefore, the best way is to first take a few steps back before suddenly changing direction and darting in behind.

It sounds simple, but in practice, it’s very difficult to learn.

First, you must remain calm and be able to clearly analyze the situation for both your team and the opponent. You feint a run into an area that benefits the opponent, or where they expect you to go. This often lulls them into a false sense of security, allowing you to suddenly change direction and burst into the space you truly wanted.

If successful, you’re guaranteed to create a pocket of space for yourself despite being tightly marked.

But this brings its own problems: the timing and judgment of the feint versus the real run. You have to deceive the opponent without missing the window of opportunity, and the move has to be effective. On top of that, there’s the chemistry between you and your teammates. Otherwise, if the ball isn’t passed accurately, even the best run is useless.

Many top stars, after deceiving an opponent with a reverse feint run, will even add another deceptive move before receiving the ball.

Just as Van Schip and Carroll said, off-the-ball movement is fundamental to football. Everyone can run, but running intelligently—running to deceive opponents and find space—is a profound art. Many players have been able to establish themselves in competitive professional leagues based solely on their outstanding off-the-ball movement.

No coach can teach a player how to run step-by-step. At most, they can instill the theory. But how to put it into practice, how to seize the right moment to use it in a constantly changing match—that is the true test of a player.

Many players go their entire careers without learning it, yet some are simply born with the instinct.

Yang Yang didn’t have extraordinary natural talent, but he was always in the Super Training ground, constantly reviewing his games, thinking and probing, and summarizing his experiences to improve his performance.

Yang Yang had been pushed to his limits by Van Haren in the previous match against Feyenoord. Now, facing Lee Yong-Soo in this game, he was beginning to realize with stark clarity that if he didn’t improve quickly, he would eventually be shut down by his opponents.

He had to find a way to shake off this Korean player, and fast.

Yang Yang found an excuse to walk over to Sneijder and tell his teammate his idea.

”Will it work?” Sneijder was a little doubtful.

”Let’s try. That guy sticks to me like glue; he’s incredibly tight. We have to figure out a way to shake him.”

Only twenty minutes of regulation time remained, and Yang Yang’s opportunities were dwindling.

Sneijder furrowed his brow in thought before finally nodding in agreement.

”Alright, I trust you. I’ll do my best.”

His chemistry with Yang Yang was indeed getting better and better, but this was clearly different from before. He wasn’t confident he could pull it off.

”Don’t worry. You just make the pass; I’ll chase it down.”

”Okay.”

...

...

In this match, Eindhoven was using a 4-4-2 formation. Of the four midfielders, the two wide players were positioned further forward. The left winger, Robben, shouldered the bulk of the team’s attacking duties and almost never tracked back to defend.

This created a defensive vacuum in the area between Eindhoven’s left-back, the left flank, and the midfield. It could only be covered by the left-back and a holding midfielder, putting immense pressure on them.

This was especially true after the seventieth minute of the second half. With their stamina heavily depleted, they were beginning to find themselves unable to keep up.

Before Yang Yang came on, Luther Carroll had pointed out this very area on the tactics board, telling him to exploit it. And after taking the field, Yang Yang had been operating primarily in this zone.

He knew very well that what Lee Yong-Soo wanted most was for him to drift toward the center and avoid pulling too wide, which would lead to a one-on-one situation.

Sneijder, the midfielder in charge of distribution, was organizing an attack. After receiving the ball, he first pointed to the left and began dribbling that way, looking like he was about to pass to Maxwell on the left flank. The Brazilian left-back had orchestrated Ajax’s previous goal.

Eindhoven didn’t dare to be careless, and their defense immediately shifted over.

But unexpectedly, Sneijder suddenly trapped the ball, turned, and faced the right side.

Yang Yang, having already anticipated this, immediately started running toward the center, keeping an eye on Lee Yong-Soo with his peripheral vision.

Just as expected, the Korean was worried about him making a run into the channel and immediately shifted toward the middle, maintaining the distance between himself, the holding midfielder Van Bommel, and the center-back Hoffland. This kept the defensive structure tight, but it also left the entire right corridor wide open.

Yang Yang was overjoyed. He immediately gestured to Sneijder, who understood at once and sent a low, driven pass straight to the right flank.

Yang Yang also stopped short, spun around, and changed direction, sprinting toward the right flank at top speed.

”That’s a beautiful pass from Sneijder! A gap has opened up in Eindhoven’s defense on the left.”

”Yang Yang is very fast! He catches up to the ball on the flank and immediately drives forward with it.”

”Lee Yong-Soo immediately runs over to defend. It’s a one-on-one on the flank!”

”Let’s see what Yang Yang does, running directly at him...”

”Brilliant... another fantastic Pendulum Move...”

”Yang Yang uses a skillful Pendulum Move to shake off Lee Yong-Soo and cuts diagonally into the box from the right...”

Yang Yang’s sudden breakthrough on the flank reignited the passion in the entire Amsterdam Arena, and all the fans couldn’t help but roar with excitement.

On the sideline, Hiddink was so nervous he jumped to his feet, signaling for Hoffland to hold the defensive line steady.

”Yang Yang is dribbling at incredible speed! He’s already reached the edge of Eindhoven’s penalty area.”

”Hoffland holds his position, but Yang Yang is right on the edge of the box. It’s another one-on-one...”

”It’s the Pendulum Move again...”

”Yang Yang gets past Hoffland and cuts inside to the center...”

Just as Yang Yang used the Pendulum Move, feinting as if to go to the byline but actually cutting horizontally to create space, he saw a clear channel open up between himself and the goal. He could have taken a shot right then and there, but it would have to be with his left foot.

The problem was, he wasn’t confident in his left foot.

In that moment, Van Gaal’s advice flashed through his mind: ’Work on your left foot.’

Ibrahimovic had overrun the play and was inside the six-yard box; the ball couldn’t reach him. Wesley Sonck was a bit too far away, making a pass to him difficult. Meanwhile, Van Bommel was already closing in.

After getting past Hoffland, Yang Yang had almost no time to think. He immediately feinted a shot with his left foot, baiting Van Bommel into a desperate slide tackle to block it. But instead, Yang Yang suddenly pulled the ball back, evaded Van Bommel’s slide, and then gently passed it horizontally to the left side of the arc.

The veteran Litmanen appeared in that exact area at the perfect moment. He swung his left foot and met the incoming ball with a direct volley.

The ball traced a graceful arc, practically grazing the inside of Eindhoven’s left post as it crossed the goal line.

In that instant, the entire Amsterdam Arena erupted.

”GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!”

”In the seventy-third minute, Ajax scores the go-ahead goal! It comes from the veteran Litmanen, who is about to turn thirty-three!”

”This was a truly brilliant piece of teamwork. Sneijder’s distribution in midfield, Yang Yang’s sudden run back to the flank, his two consecutive solo runs past Lee Yong-Soo and Hoffland, and finally, the feint to fool Van Bommel before laying the ball off for Litmanen. The entire sequence was absolutely spectacular.”

”Litmanen’s finish was also outstanding, showing everyone that he’s still the ’Finnish Ice Blade’ of old—still just as elegant, leaving a deep impression.”

”But we have to say, the main architect of this goal was Yang Yang.”

”After coming on, Yang Yang was tightly marked by Eindhoven, but he still patiently used his excellent movement to find an opportunity on the flank, beating three opposing players before assisting his teammate for the goal.”

”It’s hard to believe this is a player who’s only seventeen years old.”

After scoring, Litmanen was ecstatic and rushed straight toward Yang Yang.

The veteran had mostly been a substitute for Ajax this season, and almost everyone knew he would be leaving the team at the end of the season. Even he himself hadn’t expected to come on as a sub tonight and score his first league goal of the season. It was just too exciting for him.

And the one who had provided the assist was this young teammate now in his arms.

Sneijder, Ibrahimovic, and the others all piled on, and even the Ajax players on the bench ran over from the sidelines to celebrate together.

Two to one. Ajax had mounted a difficult comeback against Eindhoven.

Hiddink was out of options!