Chapter 35: No Derby, No Football

There are naturally reasons why Don En values ​​this game so much.   The same is Nords County head coach Don.

It can even be said that since the matchup came out, Tang suddenly became very serious. Although he was very serious, the Nordsshire players still smelled an unusual smell - judging from the sudden stricter training requirements than before, their boss obviously wanted to win this same-city derby.

But this is exactly their hope.

As opponents in the same city, they can only watch Nottingham Forest stand tall, but they can't catch up. Don't think that they are low-level league players and have no dreams of higher level. They are just as fascinated when watching the Forest team call the wind and rain in the top league and the European Champions League. Otherwise, why can the call of Premier League teams always tempt batch after batch from them?

Water flows to the lower part, people walk to the higher part...

Loyalty? A capable person is only loyal to a capable team.

The players in Nords County hope to prove their ability by defeating former European champion Nottingham Forest. If they can lead the team to the Premier League, it will be good. Even if they can't help, they can attract more attention from senior teams.

For Nottingham Forest players, this city derby must be just an ordinary FA Cup game, because the strength of both sides is not on the same level at all. And for the Nords County players, this is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They seem to be in urgent need of meeting the fish in the gantry and encountering an excellent springboard.

Tang Jing was able to find the anxiety that her husband showed in this short period of time. He was always distracted, always frowning and seemed impatient, locking himself in the study until the second half of the night, and the children were not attentive to care about it, and the couple had no past tenderness...

Tang Jing felt that if this continued, she might have ended her marriage with her husband.

She wanted to find an opportunity to have a good chat with her husband. Her introverted and shy husband had never been so anxious.

But in fact, if Tang Jing had met Tang before December 31, 2002, she would not have been confused about it.

Because Tang was exactly the same as he is now. But he was single at that time. No one would see the anxiety that he showed when he hid himself in the house. For others, he was always the medieval antique that wrapped himself in a cold shell.

Now is the last night before the Derby war. Her husband doesn't seem to be as anxious as before. This is a good time to talk. So while taking advantage of the rare leisure time after coaxing the baby to bed, Tang Jing quietly pushed open the door of the study, tiptoed to her husband's back, and hugged Tang's neck from behind.

Tang Jing felt her husband struggle in her arms for a while, and when she found out that it was her, she became quiet.

"I think something is wrong with you during this period, my dear." Tang Jing said in a gentle tone. She doesn't want to stimulate her husband. "What's wrong with you? You have coached alone for seven seasons. This is the first time I have seen you like this..."

Instead of answering his wife's inquiry directly, Tang looked up at his wife behind him: "Tomorrow is a derby."

Tang Jing was stunned for a moment, and then realized that this was the first derby her husband faced since coaching Nordsshire. The word "derby" has a very, very special meaning in the football world. As a reporter who once reported on football, Tang Jing could not know the profound meaning of it. But she was still a little confused: Since the strength of Nordsshire and Nottingham Forest has always been on the same level, the gunpowder smell between the two teams is not strong, because there are too few times when they can meet it. There is also a lack of direct conflicts of interest. Nordsshire and Nottingham Forest do not want the Milan heroes to fight for the league championship, nor will they continue the grudges of a century like Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​nor will they be as mixed with religion as Glasgow's "old brand" derby, which is terrifying and daunting.

So why does my husband care so much about a derby?

Tang put his hand on his shoulder and covered his wife's hand: "My opponent is Tony."

"Aren't you friends?" Tang Jing didn't understand even more. If you want to talk about someone's jealousy, Tang Jing had probably eaten Tang En's jealousy, because sometimes she felt that her husband cared about Tang En more than her.

"I am a friend, so I have to defeat him even more."

Tang didn't explain much. He just said that.

Tang Jing turned around, stared at Tang's face for a long time, and then turned around and left.

"The friendship between you men is really hard to understand."

Seeing his wife closing the door of the study, Tang smiled bitterly.

Some words cannot be said to others, even the closest person around him. His wife must not accept the fact that he actually occupied someone else's body and was unfamiliar with his soul. This issue is very complicated and involves deep ethical issues. He is not willing to think too much. But the relationship between him and Tang En is probably not as simple as a "friend".

Looking back now, it is unclear whether he snatched Tang En's body or Tang En's body. No matter what, he is still doing football-related work, just changing his team. If there was no such change at the beginning, would he do better than now? Or if he is more ambitious... would he be better than what Tang En did?

Although this kind of problem is meaningless to discuss, it is impossible to happen. But this period of time has troubled himself like a nightmare, making him consider the possibility of "Guan Gong fighting Qin Qiong" all the time, as if he was possessed.

Tony Tangen. This guy with his own body and body is a brilliant achievement created by another person's soul, just like a mountain standing in front of him. The huge shadow cast in the sun shrouded the world around him, as if in the dark night.

Do you always have to live in this shadow? Next season, you will only be called "Tony Don't be the successor" by others.

In this case, why did I still agree to Don'ten's proposal and return to Nottingham Forest?

No.  I want to defeat him!

Perhaps only in this way can I prove to myself that I am really not the panic-stricken self sixteen years ago.

Perhaps those players who thought this derby was just an appetizer before the game, should let go of some contempt when they saw Don En's expression that was so gloomy that it was about to rain.

"I need to remind everyone, is this a derby?"

It's now the halftime of Nottingham Forest's FA Cup match against Nottingham County, home team Nottingham Forest is trailing 0-1 at the Crimson Field.

Chen Jian had a five-minute meeting time before this game. Although he was not a famous figure, the fans still gave him warm applause. He threw the ball in front of more than 60,000 fans, then spread the forest team's scarf and loyal to the forest team. But the entire meeting ceremony was not very harmonious, because he also heard a lot of booing - all from the fans of their opponents of Nordsshire in this game.

Those Chinese media who specialize in reporting Chen Jian’s first game will definitely be disappointed. Because Chen Jian did not start, and the poor performance of the Forests on the court also made their English colleagues not care about who Chen Jian is.

They are discussing topics like this:

"Why did George lack sufficient support in the midfield?"

"Gago is really old..."

"Look at the performance of the Forest players after falling behind, it's really ugly."

"Mitcher can't get passes from the middle and back court at all. Balotelli is like a headless fly, he only knows how to turn around. He is obviously not in shape in this game."

By the break, the Forests did not change the score on the field, even though their shots were far superior.

"I suddenly thought of a story. Does anyone want to listen?" Tang En said to his dejected players, "More than four years ago, we spent ten years to build a big earth kingdom. There was no one on the entire continent who dared to be enemies. Our red flags floated in every corner of the continent. How beautiful it was..." He raised his head. Looking at the ceiling, as if through the ceiling, he really saw the scene of the red flag planting all over the world.

"The war is over, everything returns to peace. The former cavalry took off their armor and returned to the fields, slowly eroding the last trace of blood and fighting spirit in the peaceful and leisurely days. So when the war broke out again four years later, even the opponents who were least taken seriously before could easily defeat us!" Tang En walked to the players, bent down, and looked over one by one. "Can your old horses still run? Can your bodies still wear that heavy armor? Can your hands still hold up their spears? Your hearts!"

Tang En slammed his heart.

"Can you still beat forcefully with the war drums?!"

He suddenly raised his voice and shouted.

His roar was so loud that many people were so shocked that they raised their heads.

Looking at the astonished faces, Tang En suddenly remembered a sentence:

Lian Po is old, can he still eat?

Lian Po is old.

Can you still eat?

"We are leading, this is a good thing. But I don't want to see a proud look on your face..." When Don En worked hard in the locker room to motivate the morale of the players, Don was thinking about how to suppress the players' overly arrogant momentum. "You must be clear. In front of us is the Premier League team, who have won five Champions League titles..."

Someone interrupted him: "Boss, but that happened four years ago, and the forest team was very different from now. They changed a lot of people..."

Tang looked at the person who stood up to challenge his authority, the team's main core, Paul Johnson No. 10. He is the main player of England's under 21 national team at the age of 20, and has attracted the attention of many Premier League teams. If nothing unexpected happens, he should not play in Nordsshire after the end of this season.

"You're right. Paul. Their last championship was won four years ago, and they also replaced many players. But the person who led them in this game was Tony Don."

This name is well-known in England, and Paul Johnson had to restrain his arrogance. But obviously he was not convinced, because in his opinion, it was the players who decided the game, not the coach.

Don didn't want to waste his saliva on this topic to explain how important Tony Don was to Nottingham Forest. Even if he explained, Johnson might not accept it.

He focused on tactical arrangements.

"In the second half, the Forest will definitely counterattack, but we won't strengthen our defense." Unlike Tang En, Tang is not a defensive coach, nor is he a "one-to-zero". "Tony Tang En will never allow his team to lose to us at home because it's a derby."

It was also because this was the only contest between him and me. This sentence remained in my heart.

"If we shrink back, it's over. So I ask you to continue attacking under pressure and push the offensive of Nottingham Forest back."

Johnson said one thing right.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Therefore, defense is not feasible. Blindly giving in and defending will only make Forest players regain confidence. Coupled with Tony's roar on the sidelines, the situation will also reverse after his mentality changes. Tang Qian tried every means to prevent this situation from happening.

Tang knew very well what kind of guy his opponent was. Once he was given a little chance, he would seize it and restore the situation again. The opponents who were defeated by Tang En have proved this countless times: if you have an advantage against Tang En, you must make full use of it, chase him hard, and then knock him to the ground and have to go up and make up for a few more stabs, then cut his head before you can sit down and breathe a sigh of relief.

"We did a very good job of restricting Wood and Gago in the first half, and continued in the second half. Cut off the connection between them and isolate Wood. Gago is not afraid of being alone, he is already old."

"Ballotelli is the hub of the Forest's midfield and backcourt. His footwork is excellent, so don't swing too hard against him and get stuck in the position. As long as you keep the defensive position, he will have no effect. His set-piece condition in this game is very poor, so don't be afraid of fouls."

"We want to continue to use the scoring opportunities of set pieces. Do you still remember the positioning tactics we trained in our usual practice? Johnson is the penalty kicker of the set pieces. He will choose the appropriate tactics based on the specific circumstances on the field, and everything will be followed by his arrangements."

"Reduce your dribbling and use passes to tear open the opponent's defense line. No matter how powerful George Wood is, he is just a person. If the pass is faster, he can only run away. Everyone will penetrate forward after passing the ball, pulling the opponent's defense line..."

After orders were issued one by one, Tang Shi wanted to push his good friend down the abyss completely.

This is what you have to deal with Tang En, taking advantage of his illness to kill him.

Facing Tang's tactical arrangements, the players slowly put away their laughter. After experiencing the ecstasy caused by the lead, they suddenly understood what kind of game it was.

The boss has never worked so hard as he has today.

This is a city derby!
Chapter completed!