Chapter 26: The beginning is unfavorable

There are many problems that can be found during training, and these problems can definitely be seen thoroughly when you are a TV commentator or bystander.

For example, in Balotelli, what surprised him was that this kid had no intention of being passive and slacking off, but instead performed very positively in training. Before, Tang En thought that this kid would definitely disobey him, but his current performance surprised him. He originally wanted to focus on Balotelli, but he was waiting to grab his braid and then kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

It seems that I don’t know the players at all, which is really troublesome.

Thiago Silva is not very worried. Do you still want to be the main force at the 33-year-old central defender? Just put him on the bench and have himself and Wood in the locker room. Can he make any other tricks? For foreign legions, just implement a strategy of differentiation and disintegration.

The reason why foreign legions were formed was related to the lack of a head coach with enough dominance in the locker room. Because they could not find a core that they could trust, they would rely on themselves around the people they thought were strong, thus gradually forming small groups. Now that there is a strong person in the locker room in Nottingham Forest, those people have to reconsider their choices.

Donne decided to find Eastwood to learn about Balotelli's situation. After all, Chris Lack has been with the team for a short time and cannot understand everyone's situation in depth. Eastwood has worked for the Forest for five seasons, and can be said to those players who joined the team after Donne left.

"Ballotelli?" Eastwood frowned when he heard Donn ask about this person. Donn noticed his unconscious little move.

"He is indeed very talented..." Eastwood pondered, thinking about the words. "But this man is a bit arrogant and always wants to leave the team. He has a poor popularity in the team."

"It can be seen." Tang En recalled the training situation in the past two days. During the training intervals, basically no one would take the initiative to chat with Balotelli. During the group training, few people were willing to be assigned to him. But he had to ask another question: "Has he been so active in training before?"

Eastwood thought for a while, then shook his head: "Not."

"Well..." Tang En then fell into silence. He did not continue to consult Eastwood because he felt a little confused.

"Do you want to sell Balotelli, boss?" Eastwood was guessing that Donn asked him what he was doing with this black Italian man.

Tang En shook his head: "No. Now the team is employed, and I just think there are not enough people, so how can I sell people? This winter transfer period. I won't sell anyone."

Then Donn went to find several coaches to learn about Balotelli's situation. He really didn't want to sell Balotelli unless the two of them were completely in a quarrel. Just like he and Anelka at the time, they completely lost their trust. As Eastwood said, this kid is a genius, and for the current Forest team, he needs his strength.

So not only did Tang En not want to fire him, but instead hoped that he would use it for his own purposes.

But by talking to the coaches alone, I'm afraid I can't tell anything. It seems that I have to have a separate conversation with Balotelli. But now he probably doesn't have much time to do this.

He took over the team in the middle of the week, and it's about to be the weekend league.

Nottingham Forest's away challenge to Aston Villa was not the highlight of a strong dialogue, but this game was temporarily selected by bbc TV to broadcast free live broadcasts nationwide. The reason is very simple - this is the first game after Tony Donn returned to the Forest team. It deserves attention.

A few days before the game, the media began to hype the game. Many coaches of Premier League teams were asked in interviews what they thought of retired Tony Donn returning to the forest.

Everyone's answers were all kinds, some expressed their approval, some expressed their irrelevance, and some believed that Tang En's return was a mistake. Because he could never reach his previous height.

"If I were him, I would stay at home honestly." Mourinho did not show any pleasure in meeting opponents. "He is outdated." When facing reporters' questions, his expression was very cold, and he seemed to not know Tony and Tang En at all.

"I welcome Tony's return, and I personally think it's a very brave decision." This sentence by Everton's head coach Moyes seemed to make people think that he and Donne were in the same trench, but the following words made those supporters of Donne dislike him: "But we'd better not have any hope for his team-leading performance. It would be a victory for him to come back."

"I think it's boring for you to hype this topic. Just the return of a head coach." Some people disagree with Don Eun. The person who said this was John Robertson, who is now the head coach of Aston Villa. His team is about to meet Don Eun's team. Of course, he doesn't want the crazy hype of the media to interfere with his own team. "He can change the current Forest team overnight, and he can't let the Forest team become the protagonist of this season again. What's the point of hype?"

Of course, not no one is optimistic about Tang En.

"I don't think those so-called Tony's return is just a show. I know him. If he decides to come back, it must be carefully considered. He must think that he can do his current job before nodding." Leeds United head coach Des Walker commented in an interview. He and Don are the golden partner of the England national team, and he knows Don better than others today. "So I don't think he came back to the forefront's reputation. Anyway, I want to remind you to be careful of him."

Tang Enjun remained silent about these remarks. He did not fight back or agree. Because he has been busy sorting out the relationship within the team these days, he has no time to cooperate with the media to hype.

It seems to be to prove the previous bad words. Tony Donn lost in his first game of his comeback. At Aston Villa's home court, Villa Park Stadium, Nottingham Forest lost 1:2 to the home team. The ranking fell to 17th.

This game made many people who know Tang En unable to understand it. For example, Motson, who was in charge of the game, shook his head many times during the game: "I don't understand what Tang En is thinking..."

No matter what situation the team faced, he just sat in the coach's seat and didn't get up. He didn't see him get up and make an active adjustment throughout the game. Some people satirized the real Tony Don't return to Nottingham Forest to coach. What he came back was just a wax figure that Don't borrowed from Madame Windsor Wax Museum.

The Forest's tactics in this game were not much different from before, but Balotelli returned to the front line and partnered with Mitcher. George Wood continued to be in the middle, and Gago was helping him next to him. People did not see the Forest's sharp wing attack during the game, and the team's offense was still concentrated in the middle. It caused a huge crowding in the middle.

Villa also enjoyed seeing the Forests concentrate their attacks on the middle of heavy troops to deploy defense, so the game will be much easier for them.

Donn used three substitutions in the game, but did not play any role. Mitchel was replaced by Abanglajo, and Balotelli stayed on the court to play for ninety minutes. Alais Teixeira replaced Gago and topped the front midfielder. Cohen replaced Vienadum and continued to strengthen the attack. After Cohen and Vienadum went up, the Forest's side attack improved slightly, but it was too late. The score at that time was 0:2. The Forest fell behind.

As soon as the game ended, the reporters were waiting at the press conference, excitedly looking forward to Tang En's comment on the failure of the game - this level he would definitely not be able to overcome.

Tang En sat on the stage and looked at the gloating reporters, knowing what they were looking forward to. Of course, he could not leave, as it would only leave the media with the excuse to attack him.

"Aston Villa played very well. So they won the game. We played badly, so we lost the game, that's it." His post-match evaluation was "concise"...

The reporters refused to give in: "Can you tell me in detail what a bad way?"

Tang En was not furious in the face of such provocation, but instead carefully analyzed the team's tactical problems. This surprised the media who were waiting to watch the show.

"Our attacks are piled up in the middle, too crowded..." Tang En spread his hands. He noticed the changes in expressions on some reporters' faces, and this is what he wanted. I'm just not letting you get what you want!

The entire press conference lasted fifteen minutes, and the loser Tony Donn became the focus. Aston Villa's head coach Robertson was very depressed. He found that even if he defeated Donn, he could not be allowed to become the protagonist...

Tang En handled it freely on the stage. The media could not catch too many handles. After the press conference, some people were indignant about it, thinking that Tang En was too cunning, and their low posture made them unable to adapt. But in fact, John Robertson was unfair... As the winner, he was asked only two questions, and the limelight was stolen by Tang En.

Although the Forest team scored a goal before the end of the game, they only saved some face... or in other words, they did not save any face. Tang En and his Forest team still became the target of media ridicule and criticism after this round of league.

"Look. I've said it long ago. Don't have any fantasies about his team-leading performance."

"After staying away from football for more than four months, Tang En still needs time to adapt to his new job now..."

"The main thing in this game is not the score. I think it depends on the process - from the perspective of the process. This game is simply useless!"

"I found a problem. Faced with so many people in the coaching industry's doubts about his coaching ability, Tony Tangen did not respond as usual, which is really unreasonable. Contact Tangen's attitude at the press conference after the game. It is impossible to say that perhaps Tony Tangen had expected the failure of this game before the game started. In fact, he may not have enough confidence to face the matter of returning to the Forest team..."

"This group of media really guessed something right." Tang En said while getting together with the coaches for a meeting. "I really don't think we can win before the last round of the league started. Everyone should also realize through this game that going the middle is not feasible. We must get the Forest back on the previous track."

"Now we have a week to abandon the previous tactics and start over."

"From now on, adjust the focus of training, increase the intensity of defensive training, and strengthen the drills of set pieces offensive tactics. Before January, these two moves will be used to stabilize the team's downward trend."

The coaches have no objection to Tang En's plan. They are all professionals and know that the defense and set pieces are the most effective things now.   Change the offense? Take your time.  The first thing is to restore the team's confidence and morale, so that sharp offense can appear.

After the routine tactical meeting, David Chris Lack and Freddy Eastwood stayed.

"Tony, you're so calm." Chris Lack shook his head, "The media outside almost called you a liar who seeks fame."

Don Eun smiled disdainfully and said, "It's just a game, the media often do this. You have to understand them, David, they are rare and weird."

Eastwood next to him frowned and considered another thing: "The next game is our home court, boss. You can't lose this game..."

It is normal for him to worry so much, and it’s nothing to lose the away game. But at home, the fans of the Forest team now have high expectations for Don Eun. They don’t care about the objective rules of “the head coach just took over the team and it takes time to get familiar with it”. They only know that Tony Don Eun is the team’s savior. As long as he sits on the coach’s seat, he can win no matter how difficult the situation is... This sounds a bit like a human being, but in the minds of Forest team fans, Tony Don Eun has long been equivalent to a god.

Eastwood thought of this. If the Forests lose at home, Donne's path will be difficult. The suspicion and disappointment of the fans and the collapse of the team within the team will only completely drag the team into the abyss.

Although the opponent in this game is not strong, it is very critical to Tang En and cannot be careless.

Tang En obviously also knew the importance of this game. The tactical issues have been explained to the coaches. He doesn't need to worry too much about implementing them in daily training.

What he really needs to worry about is the players. He feels that it is necessary to chat with Balotelli alone as soon as possible.
Chapter completed!