Super Wingstorm

In the 21st round of the Eredivisie, Ajax played an away match against Warrendan.

Just twelve minutes into the first half, Escude seized a corner kick opportunity to open the scoring for Ajax, putting them up one-nil. However, the team struggled to build on their lead afterward.

After the seventy-fifth minute of the second half, Yang Yang came on as a substitute once again. In the eighty-seventh minute, he used a forceful solo run to draw a foul from the Warrendan player Lulinke. The referee showed no hesitation, awarding a red card and a penalty. Galasek successfully converted the spot kick, extending Ajax’s lead to two-nil.

In the end, thanks to goals from Escude and Galasek, Ajax defeated Warrendan two-nil in their away match.

In another match played simultaneously, Eindhoven secured a narrow one-nil home victory over Twente, thanks to a goal from Kezman.

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In the 22nd round of the Eredivisie, Ajax hosted Twente.

In preparation for the midweek Champions League knockout match, Ronald Koeman adjusted the team’s starting lineup.

Once again, a goal came in the first half, with Greek striker Anastasios scoring for Ajax. This was also his first goal since joining the club.

Afterward, Ajax continued to ease up on their attack, especially in the second half. Although Yang Yang had an excellent run down the right flank at one point after coming on as a sub, he played with a very relaxed mentality and didn’t have a standout performance for the rest of the game.

When head coach Ronald Koeman sent him on, he told him that the purpose of subbing in for this match was just to maintain his form. There was no need to go all out; he should save his energy for the midweek match against Arsenal.

That was the crucial battle for Ajax in the coming stretch.

Although there was a huge gap in strength between the two teams, neither Ronald Koeman nor the players were willing to give up without a fight.

In the end, Ajax secured a narrow one-nil victory over Twente at home.

Eindhoven, meanwhile, took the lead twice in their away match, only for Heerenveen to equalize both times. To make matters worse, they conceded a last-gasp winner to Heerenveen’s Hansen, ultimately losing the match two to three.

Van Bommel lost control of his emotions just before the final whistle and received a red card.

After this round of matches, Ajax extended their lead over Eindhoven to seven points, and their path to the title looked more and more certain.

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”That damned old man finally said something that makes sense.”

The morning after the Twente match, Ibrahimovic was helping himself to the breakfast Yang Yang had bought and reading the newspaper he’d brought back, all while cursing Technical Director Van Gaal, whose whereabouts were currently unknown.

That’s just how people are. Once you take a dislike to someone, every word they say and every single thing they do becomes irritating.

This was exactly how Ibrahimovic felt about Van Gaal and Van der Vaart.

But this time, although he was cursing, deep down he seemed to agree with Van Gaal’s words.

”What’s up?” Yang Yang asked curiously.

Maxwell and Vermaelen were just as confused. ’Why bring up Van Gaal out of the blue?’

”Here,” he said. ”That damned old man said in an interview with the Dutch Telegraaf that he believes we can take down Arsenal. He thinks we have that kind of strength and said we’re going to hand Arsenal a crushing defeat at the Amsterdam Arena.”

Everyone looked at the newspaper spread across the dining table, and following Ibrahimovic’s finger, they easily found the article.

It was just a typical pre-match morale boost, but it seemed to have struck a chord with the Swedish striker.

”You really want to play against Arsenal, don’t you?” Yang Yang asked pointedly, keeping his head down as he ate his breakfast.

Ibrahimovic hadn’t been in a good mood lately. He hadn’t scored in several league matches and, due to squad rotation, wasn’t even included in the squad for the last game against Twente. Meanwhile, Anastasios, his replacement in the starting lineup, had scored the winning goal.

Although the media and fans didn’t make a big deal of it after the match, Yang Yang was sure that with the Swedish striker’s proud and arrogant nature, he couldn’t possibly be indifferent to it—especially given his already foul mood.

Hearing Yang Yang’s question, Ibrahimovic visibly paused, the bread in his hand momentarily forgotten. He looked up at Yang Yang, only to find him still focused on his soup. After a moment’s hesitation, he finally nodded.

”I do. More than anything.”

”Want to score?” Yang Yang asked.

”Yeah.” The Swedish striker said no more.

Yang Yang more or less understood his predicament. As a center forward, Ibrahimovic had always been a controversial figure at Ajax, the main issue being his low scoring rate. The club’s signing of Wesley Sonck last summer and Anastasios during the winter break were both intended to address this problem. Yet, as things stood, Ibrahimovic was still the team’s primary striker.

’It was hard to say for sure. Did Ibrahimovic lack a clinical finish? Or were there problems with Ajax’s attack? Or was it both?’

”Playing for Ajax is a strange thing,” Maxwell suddenly said.

”What do you mean?” Vermaelen asked.

”At other clubs, their attitude toward players is usually pretty straightforward. For example, if you play well, they’ll praise you. If you play poorly, they’ll criticize you. But at Ajax, it’s completely different.”

”How is it different?” Yang Yang asked, suddenly very interested.

In fact, even now, he still didn’t really understand Ajax.

Or rather, he didn’t understand it completely.

”Well, how should I put it?” Maxwell frowned. ”Ajax encourages players to experiment. They like to promote young talent and give them plenty of room to make mistakes, because they believe that making mistakes is part of the improvement process. In that respect, they’re better than other clubs.”

Yang Yang and Vermaelen exchanged a glance and both nodded. It was true.

”But when you play well, you rarely hear any praise. They’ll always analyze your performance to find the things you did poorly, point them out, and tell you to correct them in the future. It gives you the feeling that no matter how well we play, we can never satisfy them. We can never live up to their expectations.”

Yang Yang and Vermaelen fell silent.

It had to be said, Ajax was a club that was certainly stingy with its applause and praise for players.

At least, that was certainly the case within the team itself.

”Do you know why?” Ibrahimovic suddenly asked.

Yang Yang and Vermaelen both shook their heads.

”Because they always want to mold you into the most perfect, most outstanding player from their memories. For example, they’ve always wanted me to be the next Van Basten, the next Cruyff. But they’ve never wanted to build the first Ibrahimovic. That’s why I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Suddenly, Yang Yang didn’t know what to say. He deeply sympathized with Ibrahimovic’s resistance. Being forced to live in someone else’s shadow was a painful thing; no one would ever want that.

It was just like with himself; Yang Yang also hated being compared to the Van der Meede of last season. And he was convinced that as he continued to grow and his place in the first team became more secure, that dislike would only deepen, perhaps even turning into hatred.

’Of course, the best way to dispel those feelings,’ he thought, ’is to prove with my performance that I can do even better than Van der Meede. That’s how I’ll make everyone stop the comparisons.’

”You know why I want to play against Arsenal?” Ibrahimovic suddenly looked at Yang Yang and asked again.

Yang Yang shook his head.

The Swedish striker opened his mouth as if to speak, then stopped, but quickly let out a sigh. ”Before I came to Ajax, I visited Arsenal. Wenger contacted me through their scout and invited me to visit London. You know how it is, it’s the classic trick big clubs use to lure in young players.”

Yang Yang nodded. It was true.

He still clearly remembered the awe he felt when he saw the Amsterdam Arena for the first time.

Back then, in his eyes, the Amsterdam Arena was the football palace of his dreams.

But a person’s ambitions grow with their station. Now, when Yang Yang walked into the Amsterdam Arena, he no longer felt that initial thrill, but he still cherished the memory of that feeling.

For him, it was a source of motivation.

”Before I went to London, their scout told me Arsenal wanted to sign me, and I was more than happy to play for them. That was the whole reason I went to London.” The Swedish striker let out a self-deprecating sneer.

”Wenger was very busy. While I was waiting to meet him, I kept imagining what he’d say to me. I thought he would just come out and say, ’Zlatan, you’re fantastic. We’ve decided to sign you right now. Here’s the contract…’”

Yang Yang and the other two listened in silence. They had never heard this story before; Ibrahimovic had never mentioned it.

”But in the end, do you know what he said to me?” Ibrahimovic asked through gritted teeth. ”He told me he wasn’t familiar with my abilities. He wanted me to stay at Arsenal for a trial so that he and his technical staff could ’take a closer look’ before deciding whether or not to sign me.”

”I was furious. I told him straight up: ’Either give me a contract, or get lost.’ The result was obvious. I got lost. From Arsenal, from London, from the United Kingdom, all the way back to my hometown. I became a laughingstock to so many people.”

Yang Yang knew that, with Ibrahimovic’s personality, he must have bragged to all his teammates before leaving for Arsenal. So when he failed to get a contract and came back, he naturally became a laughingstock.

And it was clear the incident had left an indelible scar on him.

As such a proud and arrogant person, he would naturally want a chance to settle the score—at the very least, to make Wenger regret his decision. His recent poor form was very likely linked to this.

It was like when you try too hard to fall asleep, you only end up staying awake.

”When we play Arsenal at home, I will make Wenger regret it. I’ll make sure he knows exactly who beat him!” Ibrahimovic said, gritting his teeth.

Listening to him, Yang Yang, Maxwell, and Vermaelen couldn’t help but sympathize.

Even now, to a man like Arsenal’s Wenger, Ibrahimovic was a nobody. Wenger had probably even forgotten that meeting ever happened.

But Ibrahimovic had never forgotten.

He remembered it now, and he would remember it for the rest of his life.