Chapter 100 Alkmaar

In the weekend's league match, Derby County hosts Birmingham, and Birmingham is also an old rival.

In March last year, Derby County was seriously dealing with the game against Birmingham. It was in the FA Cup. At that time, Birmingham was a very strong opponent for Derby County. After all the main starters, they fought a battle with Birmingham before they eliminated Birmingham and advanced to the next round of the FA Cup.

In the first half of the schedule, Derby County also played against Birmingham, and the team also carefully prepared for that game for two days.

Derby County won both times, but preparation for the game also showed that Birmingham was a serious opponent to deal with, but now it's different.

When faced with the opponent Birmingham, there was no tension in the team.

For the players of Derby County, Birmingham has become an ordinary opponent, and some players even feel that they do not need to prepare for the game at all. They only need to play in form when the time comes, and the team is enough to win.

This idea is a bit careless and very threatening in the world of football, but in fact, Wansheng thinks the same way.

There are 38 games in the league alone, plus two cups and European competitions. There are too many games for the team to deal with. It is impossible to prepare carefully for every game, and Birmingham is included in the list. A serious opponent.

This speaks to the improvement of the team.

Derby County is no longer the second-tier league team that it used to be, and it is no longer the ordinary promoted team of the Premier League. Now the team is also a top-notch team in the Premier League, and it can completely compete with strong teams such as Chelsea and Manchester United. Not at a disadvantage yet.

One team is improving, and the opponent is not improving, so the result is now - facing Birmingham, the Premier League powerhouse, the whole team is not nervous at all.

The two teams meet again. Wansheng also performed quite easily.

At the pre-match press conference, Wan Sheng smiled to the media, "If I were to say that we have prepared a lot for the game, you will believe it... but we will win the final victory, I believe my players."

Birmingham coach Bruce was so angry that he was speechless, but in fact, it didn't matter what he said, the most important thing was that his team performance was not good. So far, Birmingham are 16th in the league and are on the verge of relegation, putting Bruce's position in jeopardy.

The only thing he can do is hold his breath and try to get points in the game.

Wan Sheng didn't care about Bruce's thoughts.

In fact, the two are not familiar with each other but still know each other, but now they are opponents, so there is nothing to say. The two represent two teams, so naturally there is no personal relationship to talk about.

Now that the two teams are not on the same level at all, it is not an exaggeration for Wan Sheng to say these words.

in the past. The coaches of other teams came to Pride Stadium to arrogantly disdain Derby County, and now it is his turn to represent Derby County to express disdain for the incoming team.

There is a saying in China. 'Fengshui turns', strength is reality.

The result of arrogance and disdain is also different. During the two years of Wan Sheng's coaching, after many other team coaches did this, they all tasted the bitter fruit of being slapped.

Bruce also wanted to incite a slap, but unfortunately his team did not have this strength.

......

In the game against Birmingham, Wansheng did not let Ribery, Alfred and Leighton Baines play, which is a certain rotation for him. Let the three rest for a round in preparation for the upcoming UEFA Cup.

Ribery can be replaced by Lu Xi, Leighton Baines is also in Lichtsteiner's position, and Alfred is easier. Whether Vidic or Marcus, their strength and state are very good. .

Although Derby County did not send all the main force, they still played an 'IS-Fast' attacking momentum at home.

Derby County suppressed the Birmingham audience, and Bolton Reiter, who was in excellent form, scored early for the team. It also makes the game without any suspense.

There were no twists and turns in the whole game, the goal was smooth, and the opponent had no ability to resist. These three sentences are enough to describe the game.

3:0, Derby County easily won Birmingham.

Wait until the game is over. Wan Sheng looked at the stadium, thinking about the team's progress over the past year. There are a lot of sighs in his heart. He knows that now the team under his command has really become a strong team.

But the weak team has the goal of the weak team, and the strong team has the troubles of the strong team.

For a team like Birmingham, it is their goal to avoid relegation. They will be ecstatic, while Derby County needs to win the championship. If they can't win another championship, let alone a player, even he himself will be very happy. dissatisfied.

Because the goal is bigger, the pressure is also bigger.

When the game was over, the whole team didn't even have the heart to celebrate the victory, so they went straight back to the club. Wansheng announced the disbandment of the team and gave the players a day off.

Now vacations are absolutely precious, even luxurious.

Derbyshire has gotten to the point where a day off is a luxury.

......

After playing the league with Birmingham, Derby County ushered in the UEFA Cup opponent - Alkmaar.

This is a powerhouse in the Eredivisie with a very short history, but the results are very good, they even have the ability to compete with PSV for the Eredivisie championship.

For this team, Derby County still has to seriously prepare for the game.

Wansheng asked everyone to face the game and prepare for the game seriously. Under his request, the team's training became a lot more serious.

But on the contrary, the media does not look down on Alkmaar. The English media commented that this team was lucky enough to get into the UEFA Cup round of 16. It can also be said to be a dark horse in the UEFA Cup. Opponents, Derby County to reach the quarter-finals is appropriate.

Wansheng scoffed at these comments.

Eindhoven is not a weak team. They are about to monopolize the Dutch League Championship. Will the team that can compete with Eindhoven for the championship be a weak team?

These are just a matter of thinking about it.

However, he also understands the thinking of those media. In the eyes of the media, fame may be more important than strength. For example, Real Madrid, whose entire team is a big star, is also one of the most famous clubs in Europe. The power of the 'Galaxy Battleship' shocked the world, so although Real Madrid have not performed well in the past two seasons, they are still one of the strongest contenders for the European Champions Cup every year.

Alkmaar is the exact opposite.

This is just an emerging Dutch powerhouse, not well-known in Europe, and cannot be compared with Ajax and Eindhoven, so the media naturally think that they are underdogs.

Before the game, Wansheng asked everyone to pay great attention to their opponents and not to listen to the remarks of those media.

But he knew it was just talking. The players will also think that the coach only pays attention to the game. When it comes to Alkmaar, they don't think it will be a strong team. Even Diamares thinks so. He discussed it with Wansheng in private. "I think we should pay more attention to the next game with Chelsea. It would be good to have a substitute in this game. Anyway, even if we lose, there is still a chance in the next round."

Wan Sheng looked at Diamares and remained silent.

Diamares' thoughts. It also represented the thoughts of the rest of the team, but Wansheng still felt that he had to deal with it seriously because he wanted to win the UEFA Cup. If there is any accident, it will be difficult to recover in the second round. After all, the second round is going to the Netherlands.

But what Wansheng can do has been done, and he can only hope that AZ is really just like the media said, just a weak team, not a strong team.

But he was disappointed.

When the two teams really played against each other, the Derby County players also knew the difficulty of the opponent.

Alkmaar is not weak, their defense is solid. The offense is also very Dutch, sometimes it looks rigid, sometimes it's a bit fanciful.

It's a bit difficult to describe in this way. Specifically, Alkmaar's offense is often unexpected, especially the long pass conversion from the left and right, which caught Derby County's defense a bit by surprise.

The result came in the eleventh minute of the opening. Alkmaar took a chance and put the ball in the net.

0:1.

This goal is quite beautiful, but also makes Derby County fans feel incredible, they simply look down on Alkmaar, think this is just an underdog. In the end, Alkmaar scored so quickly.

This is an away goal.

In a two-legged match, away goals are very important. Alkmaar has this goal, even if Derby County scores the next two goals, it is equivalent to losing the game, because Alkmaar is back at home and only needs a 1:0 to eliminate Derby County.

Next, Derby County frequently organized attacks and tried to tie the score, but throughout the first half, Alkmaar's defense was very tight.

Soon it was time for halftime.

In the Derby County locker room, Wan Sheng looked at all the players solemnly, and every player who was swept by his eyes could not help but bow their heads, their faces full of apprehension.

Wansheng repeatedly asked them to deal with the game seriously before the game, but many players did not perform well. Obviously, this is directly related to their mentality. They did not face up to their opponents and were caught off-guard by their opponents. Their state was naturally affected. When a few players on the team are like this, the performance of the entire team suffers.

In the first half, the team could not play any advantage at all - the score was behind, and the situation was not suppressed.

"Now you all know what kind of opponent this is!?"

Wan Sheng asked questions, but no one answered. Even Diamares bowed his head embarrassedly. Before the game, he advised Wan Sheng to send a bench lineup. Who would have thought that it was almost all the main lineup now, and the result was still behind. a ball.

Wan Sheng stared at everyone seriously and said, "I don't want to criticize any of you, and I don't want to talk about the first half of the game, but I hope to see you return to normal in the second half!"

Wan Sheng didn't say anything else, he knew that it was enough for the players to know how difficult their opponents were.

If the opponents show their strength and they make careless mistakes again, it is not careless, it is purely in poor condition, of course he doesn't mind replacing these players.

At the end of fifteen minutes and the whole team was about to return to the court, Wansheng emphasized this point again, "I have three substitutions in my hand, and I don't mind using them all in a while!"

"The person who was replaced will not have to play next time!"

Wan Sheng said loudly.

When is the next time, there is no need to talk about it, everyone in the team knows that the team's next game against Chelsea, the league first and second in the league, is enough to attract the attention of most fans in England.

Fans who follow the Premier League in the whole of Europe, and even the whole world, are likely to pay attention to the game. I don’t know how many domestic and foreign TV stations will broadcast the game live.

There is no player who would not want to play in a tournament like this.

So everyone in the team is forced to perform well, otherwise, if they are replaced, it will be shameful not to mention... I will really lose a lot! (To be continued ~^~)