Chapter 27 Tang En's Declaration of Victory (Part 1)

British winters always get dark very early. After five o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was already dark. The street lamps came on one after another. The neon lights of the bars on the street preceded their work. They were hung on the transparent glass windows, reflecting the brilliant brilliance, giving people an illusory feeling, really like a drunkard The sight in the eyes.

Burns' Forest Bar is at the corner of the street, at the intersection of two streets, where bars and various Pubs gather. Burns' bar is the best in business and the most famous, not only because of its good location, but also because it is opened in a place where Forest team fans gather.

You can already tell what kind of fans' place Forest Bar is just by hearing its name. The main color inside and outside the bar is red, dark red. There is also a huge Forest team logo on the outer wall, which can be seen from a long distance. Before the game, after the game, Forest fans like to come here for a few drinks, chat with other people, and even have a heated argument. People who don't have a ticket during the game will watch the forest team game broadcast on pay TV here. Whenever this is the time when the bar business is the most prosperous.

Tang En has been waiting for Walker in the bar, and he even ate dinner in the bar. When the business is not too busy, he sits in the corner and chats quietly with Burns. Burns congratulated Tang En on his performance in the second half of the FA Cup, and then regretted the two draws. During this period, fans who came here to drink would come in, and Burns would greet them, and someone would recognize Twain, and then come up to say hello politely. When everyone was not drunk, these British guys still Very good.

Walker didn't come until after dinner, he wasn't like Tang En who was alone, he could deal with him anywhere. He is a man with a wife and children.

"The family man is here." Tang En saw Walker appearing at the door, pointed at him and said to Burns.

Burns greeted him with a smile, brought Walker over to sit with him, and then went to the bar to get a beer himself.

"What's the matter, Tony." Walker took off his coat and hung it on the back of the chair.

"Boring, find someone to chat with." Dunn lit a cigarette for himself. He didn't pass the cigarette to Walker. That kid doesn't smoke, it's a habit he developed as a professional player.

"I don't think Mr. Tony Twain is someone who would chat with someone just because he was bored." Walker smiled and took the wine from Burns, "Thank you Kenny."

"Uh, yes... I'm going to find a woman."

The three men laughed knowingly.

"Seriously, I do have something to ask you, and I also want Kenny to give me advice." Walker didn't speak until he had a sip of his wine. "Before I tell you what I think, I want to ask you a few questions, Des."

"Please say."

"As a fan and spectator, Des, what kind of game do you like to see? Don't think about it, just give the answer..."

"Uh..." Walker was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "I think there should be many stars, the two sides are evenly matched, you come and go, the kind of exciting game?"

"Is it a confrontational battle?" Tang En asked.

Walker nodded: "That's right...it's true, the two sides played offensive football. Many, many beautiful goals..."

Tang En chuckled: "You are so cruel."

"ah?"

"Des, you can embarrass the defenders and goalkeepers by saying that." Burns also laughed beside him.

Walker understood. The offense is good-looking, but for the defensive players playing on the field, it is a painful thing. "Well, it was Tony who asked me to speak from the perspective of a fan audience..."

"Okay. Now you stand in your shoes as a player, you like that kind of game? Don't think about it, just go with your gut."

"Of course it's a game where we win easily and there is no suspense." This time, just as Tang En asked the question, Walker gave the answer.

"That is to say, as long as you win, don't worry about the process." Tang En asked.

"Uh, it's not about winning easily regardless of the process... But it's not bad for you to say that, as long as the winning game is a good game. When I played football, sometimes I wished I wouldn't break a sweat for 90 minutes, sometimes And I would rather pay all the price myself, as long as I get a victory in the end."

Hearing what Walker said, Dunn snapped his fingers. "Okay, now is the last question. Des, if you are the head coach of a team, which of the above two games do you like?"

This question stopped Walker, and he opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer. Tang En looked at Walker's rich and changeable expression with great interest. He seemed to be engaged in a psychological struggle. After a while, Walker shook his head honestly: "I don't know, I've only been a coach for half a season."

Burns knocked on the table next to him: "Tony, don't be a fool. Tell me what you think?"

Tang En said to the two: "The last three games have touched me a lot. In the three games, we have one loss and two draws. We have the upper hand. If technical statistics can determine the final result, we should win three consecutive victories, and It's not three wins."

Walker knew what Dunn was going to say, he coughed. "Tony, we really deserved to win the first game, but the reason for the loss was not this, but the referee. It was the referee who made us eliminated in the third round of the FA Cup."

"Well, except for the first game. The two league games... As you can see, Kenny, we are completely in the upper hand. No matter from which point of view, we should be the final winners. The result?" Tang En He leaned back in his chair, spread his hands, shrugged, and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Card..." He originally planned to talk about Capello's famous "possession is useless theory" that was repeatedly criticized by the Spanish media after he took over Real Madrid, but he immediately remembered that it was four years ago. At this time, Capello was still there. Rome, playing the most beautiful and most offensive offensive football in Italy. At this time, tell them that Capello advocates the theory that possession of the ball is useless, and let a team like Real Madrid play extremely conservative and ugly football. They definitely don't believe it.

But... wait! Tang En had a plan in his mind. He didn't know if anyone had clearly raised this "ball possession theory" before Capello, but football should have known this for a long time, but he didn't seem to hear any expert general He summed up and carried forward. Since I'm four and a half years ahead of the world, why can't I summarize it and officially launch it? Four years later, maybe Capello would say: "I admire coach Tony Twain's theory of 'ball possession is useless'." ah.

Thinking of this, Tang En became excited. It felt so good to play with history in the palm of his hand.

"It's like this..." Tang En started his work of promoting this theory. First of all, he had to get everyone to emotionally accept this theory. "I know fans like to watch good games, like to attack, like to score more goals, but what do you think the winning rate of such games is?"

"Arsenal is playing very well, and they are now ranked first. Manchester United is five points away from them." Walker retorted.

Dunn rolled his eyes. When he asked this question, he knew that Walker would answer him like this. Now this Arsenal is indeed an outlier in the whole of England. There are more and more technical teams in the Premier League today, but no one can play it to the extreme like Arsenal. "Professor" Wenger is a great coach, Twain never denied this, even though he is not an Arsenal fan. However, he also clearly remembers who was the last Premier League champion in the 2002-03 season this season. It was Manchester United, the one that was five points behind Arsenal. Of course, Twain couldn't use this fact to refute Walker. He could only change his perspective: "Five points are nothing. I think Manchester United still have a good chance of winning the championship after the season is over."

Walker laughed, and Burns whistled beside him. Twain knew that they didn't believe it. Arsenal were in great shape now, while Manchester United was in decline. He wasn't going to convince the two of them either, anyway, that's not what he wanted to talk about. But...he doesn't mind making some money with this thing.

"Well, I know you don't believe it. Let's make a bet. I bet that Manchester United will become the Premier League champions at the end of the season. The bet is...you choose." Dunn was very confident.

"OK, I bet too." Walker said first, and Burns took over his words, "I bet Walker and Arsenal to win the championship. If we lose, I will open for free for a day, and Tony, you will come to my place to drink later. You don't need to pay a penny."

Not a bad bet. Tang En laughed happily, "I'll drink you up, Kenny."

"I don't mind. But if you lose, Tony, you have to do what I want."

"No problem. What's the request?"

"Hmm..." Burns thought for a while, "I don't think about it now, I will tell you when I have an idea."

"Okay, it's a deal."

That's how the bet was settled. Tang En continued to promote his "original" theory to them, "In today's football, besides Arsenal, which team can you name that reached the peak by playing beautiful offensive football and artistic football?" Tang En He dared to grin and brag because he knew that Barcelona was still in chaos at this time. Ronaldinho did not go to Barcelona, ​​Messi had not yet become famous, Deco was still playing under Mourinho in Porto, and later swept Spain and Spain. The attacking football frenzy in Europe is far from coming.

"Don't talk about five years, how many teams can you name in ten years? I don't want those teams that have a high reputation but haven't won any honors. Reaching the top means winning the championship."

Walker and Burns thought about it, and there were really not many, and Arsenal, whom they admired, hadn't won the championship this season.

"That's right. Modern football is more utilitarian. This is a fact. I think there is nothing wrong with it. Because I am a coach, I look at things from the perspective of the head coach. I don't want my team to be praised and played in the future. It was so beautiful, took the initiative, played attacking football, excited the fans and the media, and then...we won't win anything. I repeat, I am the coach. How do you judge a coach? It's simple- — Results, achievements, victories, championships. A coach who cannot lead his team to victory is definitely not an excellent coach, no matter how good his tactical style is, no matter how gorgeous his team plays, he will not be successful." Tang En thought of it Rijkaard, the 06-07 season was the beginning of the collapse of Rijkaard's artistic football, and it also shows that it is impossible to achieve long-term success relying on artistic and gorgeous football. "How to win? I don't think it's possible to rely on those beautiful football scenes, at least it is impossible to use it against Forest."

"Ah, Tony, are you the coach of conservatism?" Walker pointed at Dunn and said.

"No, I have no background. I only care about victory. I only pursue victory. As long as I can win, I don't care about total defense or defensive counterattack." Dunn thinks this is why he is better than those who are always noisy about offensive football. Defending football, or talking endlessly about defending football is the strength of the domineering scumbags. He has jumped out of the realm of pursuing football's superficial style...

"Professional football...I say professional football is not something that school kids play for fitness, or a pastime for street play. What is the most important thing about professional football? What is the ultimate goal? In my opinion, it is victory, the pursuit of victory. The ultimate is the champion." In a small bar in Nottingham, Dunn set the consistent pursuit of his coaching career and established his own style. "I'm a coach. I don't want to lose my job or be forgotten. There is only one way to go, which is to lead the team to victory after victory and championship after championship!" He raised his voice.

"Tony, are you drunk?" The smile on Walker's face disappeared, and he asked cautiously.

"No, I'm awake." Tang En shook his head, then downed half a glass of wine, "Do you think I'm wrong?"

"Uh, no..."

"That's good. I've said the essence of professional football. Des, didn't someone tell you before? Why do you think we engage in professional football? To keep fit? To entertain the public and entertain ourselves?" Tang En made a With a sneering expression, "I tell you... why do twenty-four first-tier teams fight back and forth every weekend? Twenty super teams fight to the death for ten months of the year? For victory! For the championship! If it is not for the victory, why do we train the team and spend a lot of money to buy those players? Football in this era and football more than a hundred years ago are two completely different sports... "

Hearing what Tang En said, Walker and Burns fell silent. Not to mention the difference from more than a hundred years ago, it is also very different from thirty years ago. Twenty-four years ago, Nottingham Forest set off a red whirlwind in the European continent. A team without a solid economic foundation and a high reputation won the highest honor in European football-the European Champions Cup for two consecutive years. This experience later became known as the "Nottingham Miracle". Why is it called a "miracle", because it is becoming more and more difficult to reproduce in modern football. In today's European football, which team without a solid economic foundation and no financial backing can win the European Champions Cup? No, not one. This is the difference between now and before.

Walker sighed: "Maybe you're right, Tony. The establishment of the Super League changed everything..." He thought of the Forest team he played for.

Even in the late 1980s, Nottingham Forest could still be considered a strong team. They reached the FA Cup final for two consecutive years, once losing to Tottenham due to bad luck, and once losing to Manchester United. However, after the establishment of the Super League, lack of financial support, the forest team without the pound plummeted. Even the amazing coach Brian Clough, who can lead the team from a second-tier team to a European champion in three years, cannot compete with the tide of the pound. . Both he and his team ended up being victims of the new era.

"It was TV broadcast that changed everything." Tang En said, "The emergence of TV broadcast fees changed everything." After learning about his situation, Tang En learned about English football from the Internet, and he was confident that he could already I can hardly be considered a die-hard "English fan" who is familiar with the history of English football.

The development of English football can be roughly divided into several stages: the establishment of the sport of football; the establishment of football clubs and football leagues; the establishment of football leagues...then the next sign is the intervention of television.

A whole new era began in 1955 when the newly formed British independent television company (ITV) offered the FA and Football League a selection of their league matches for £1,000 a game. You know, at that time, the ticket revenue for a League One game was only an average of 3,000 pounds.

Television officially entered the football world, and then gradually achieved dominance in this world.

Then came 1992, the establishment of the English Premier League, which marked the opening of another era. Because the original intention of this league was established precisely because the big clubs were dissatisfied with the law of equal distribution of TV broadcasting fees. They needed more money and they deserved more money.

The Super League saved a company of one person. Sky Television (SKY), which had an annual debt of 47 million pounds, successfully bought the rights to broadcast the Premier League in the first five years, and made a profit of 67 million in the first year. TV empire . It was precisely because he made a lot of money relying on football that Brother Murdoch suddenly wanted to buy Manchester United. He did have that strength, and it was just brought to him by the Premier League represented by Manchester United.

The famous big clubs are earning more and more money, but the small clubs gradually lose their living space. Wealth is always in the hands of a few. Nottingham Forest was relegated after struggling for a season in the Premier League.

More than half a century ago, TV needed football, and now football needs TV. This is the biggest difference between the two eras, and it is also the tragedy of countless small clubs.

Of course, Tang En is not the strong man in the Hong Kong comics who is full of "hustle and mouth", he doesn't want to go against the sky. Regardless of whether this era is good or not, sad or not, since it cannot be overthrown, then obey. Twain felt that in this increasingly utilitarian world, the pursuit of victory and championships was an idea that was in line with the development requirements of the times and reflected harmony and progress. Nothing wrong. Human memory is a wonderful thing. In competitive sports, what can be remembered in the end is the winner. The loser has nothing but a few words of innocuous consolation.

Twain was not such a fan at first, he also likes beautiful artistic football, Brazil, Ronaldinho, Zidane, and Kaka. What caused such a drastic change in his thinking? In fact, in the final analysis, it has something to do with Tang En's current situation after time travel. Tang En was always worried that one day he would be fired by the chairman, and then lose his job, lose his source of income, and starve to death alone on the street... He has a very insecure feeling, and this feeling is very strong, always with him, lingering. Tang En realized that if he wanted to completely get rid of this sense of security, he had to lead the team to achieve satisfactory results. What is a satisfactory result? Naturally, it was a victory. Tang En's subconscious thoughts are very simple: as long as he wins, he will have a job, and if he has a job, he will have no worries about food and clothing. Survival is the only truth in this world, everything else is illusion, illusion...

He didn't know that even if he didn't have a job... With the high welfare in the UK, he would be able to live a little bit, and he would be able to live without worrying about food and clothing. Of course, finding a woman for entertainment is impossible.