Chapter 494: Volume 4: The Storm, Watch Your Steps

"How many times a year do we have to come to London?" Sitting on the bus leading to Fulham's home stadium, Craven Farm Stadium, Tang En asked casually as he looked at the London street scene outside.

"Who knows." Chris Lak also casually said.

"At least six times," Tang said.

"There are six Premier League teams...London may be the city with the most top league teams." Dunn drifted his gaze into the distance, getting closer and closer to Fulham's home stadium, but the place that caught his attention was not Craven Farm Stadium, but to the northeast.

Looking over there now, the huge blue figure could not be seen under the gray sky, only row upon row of houses.

Tang En couldn't see it with his eyes, but he knew very well in his heart that it was the direction of Stamford Bridge, Chelsea's home stadium.

In the huge London, there are six Premier League clubs, large and small. But for Twain, there were only two opponents that he really cared about. One was Arsenal in north London, and the other was Chelsea in central London.

From a historical point of view, English football as a whole presents a situation where the north is strong and the south is weak. Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, and Newcastle in the north are all well-known old-fashioned teams. Most of the teams from the north participate in the top league in England. We need to discuss this issue , It will be traced back to the initial period of vigorous development of modern football - the background of the Industrial Revolution era.

Since most of the heavy industry bases are concentrated in the north of England, and modern football has developed rapidly in the working class, where there is a rich football culture and accumulation, it is not surprising that the world powerhouses such as Liverpool and Manchester United have emerged up. In the south of England, London has the highest concentration of football clubs. This has something to do with London being the capital and the concentration of population.

Although Fulham was established earlier than the West Club, and the Stamford Bridge Stadium was originally built for Fulham (because the Stamford Bridge Stadium is in the Fulham area), but Fulham declined the offer. This gave birth to today's Chelsea club.

Before Betts took charge of Chelsea, both clubs were relatively unknown, with few big names. The arrival of Bates brought Chelsea the first glory, and then the Russian rich Abramovich brought the team a second glory.

After that, although Fulham also had the backing of the billionaire Fayed, they gradually distanced themselves from Chelsea. Today's Chelsea is a quasi-rich club that can form a force in European football. What about Fulham? It's just an ordinary Premier League team.

The direction Tang En set his sights on where Stanford is located is a good illustration of the status of the two teams in his heart - even if the opponent in this game is Fulham, Tang En still thinks about Chelsea. Who brought the two clubs so close together?

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When the team arrived at the Craven Farm Stadium, the CCTV5 setup team was ready, and they were allowed to film in the locker room for five minutes, although they could only take pictures of the players changing clothes and going out to warm up in these five minutes.

Tang was held by them for a brief interview, and Chris Lark could only be responsible for the specific affairs.

He loudly reminded the players in the locker room to take the time to go out and warm up. Tang En hadn't come yet, and he was blocked by more reporters at the entrance outside the stadium.

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"Two consecutive victories, as long as they win Fulham in this game, they will be able to achieve a three-game winning streak. Manchester United's game will not be played until tomorrow. If this game wins, Nottingham Forest will temporarily climb to No. 1 in the league standings. One. This is a wonderful temptation for Tony Twain's team - since leading the team back to the Premier League, Twain's team has not tasted the taste of being the leader of the league. Even if it is just For the time being, it is worth their efforts to fight for it.”

On TV, experts were analyzing the game for the audience. He didn't say that everyone really didn't know that Nottingham Forest had never been number one in the league...

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When Twain finally got rid of the entanglement of the reporters and returned to the locker room, the warm-up of the team was almost done. Tang was not there, nor were the CCTV reporters. They went to the stadium together to film the warm-up of the team and work with Tang.

The locker room, which was playing loud music just now, suddenly fell silent. Tang En paced here alone slowly, turning in circles. What he thinks in his mind is not how the game will be, but the future of the team.

Suddenly a noise from the direction of the court broke his contemplation, and he turned around to find that the door of the locker room was pushed open, and players and coaches walked in one after another.

Tang was still being interviewed at the door. These Chinese reporters really saw the needles, and tried every means to film the situation inside the locker room. Tang En walked over and closed the door.

"Guys, win this game and we can be the boss." He turned to the players who had just taken their seats.

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"This is our home stadium, don't give those outsiders a chance to act wild here!" Like Dunn, Fulham's head coach is a young man—36-year-old Chris Coleman (Chris_Coleman) , but he is not as famous as Twain.

Since they are also young people, they are naturally unwilling to admit defeat. Before the game, both the bookmakers and the media were unanimously optimistic that Nottingham Forest would take all three points in the away game, completely ignoring the feelings of the home team Fulham. Coleman didn't want to prove them right. He didn't have the idea that he must win this game, but he had the belief that "Nottingham Forest must never win". He instilled this belief in the players, and everyone in Fulham hoped to cause some troubles for Twain in this game.

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Players from both sides played, and the coaching staff of both sides also came to their respective positions.

"Tony, I'm a little worried." Tang turned to Tang En as soon as he sat down. There is an idea in my heart that I have always wanted to say, but unfortunately I have never had the chance just now.

"Um?"

"Before the game the Fulham manager said it would cause us a lot of trouble..."

Dunn waved his hand nonchalantly: "Any head coach who faces us would say that, even I would say that to our opponents. It's no big deal, just nice words to boost morale."

"Well, Fulham have played five defenders."

"Let them watch."

Seeing that Tang En was not worried about anything, Tang stopped talking. He also hoped it was his own illusion.

After the start of the game, Fulham really put on a defensive posture at their home court. In this game, Coleman formed a lineup of 451. From the first minute of the game, he recovered half-court defense.

No matter how Nottingham Forest handles the ball outside, they just can't come out.

I would rather take only one point at home, and never take the risk of attacking and let the opponent fight back. Now the whole of England knows how fast Nottingham Forest can counterattack, and one negligence may have irreparable consequences.

Coleman told his players that he would rather watch scoring opportunities go to waste than rush forward and lose the defense.

Under such a tactical guiding ideology, the first half of the game was extremely dull. Facing the monolithic Fulham, Nottingham Forest has nothing to do. Except for Van der Vaart's long shots, the Forest team couldn't find a more suitable way to break the goal. Both Ruud van Nistelrooy and Eastwood were marked to death, and the penalty area was full of people. The dignified center Ruud van Nistelrooy had to be forced to the side to catch the ball.

Not to mention Eastwood. After the injury, he was no longer a forward who relied on his body to confront the opponent head-on. Later, he gradually pulled out of the penalty area to try long-range shots.

Throughout the first half, Nottingham Forest scored eleven shots, eight of which were long-range shots, Van der Vaart had three, Eastwood had four, and George Wood had one. Seven of the eleven shots were on target, but none were scored. Fulham's united defense did cause some trouble for the Forest team.

For Fulham, zero goals are not easy to achieve. For this they paid the price of four yellow cards. It's just that their offenders are scattered and not concentrated on the defenders. There are people from the forwards to the defenders. This is obviously what Coleman's head coach specially ordered. For the final result of this game, he has worked hard.

"The first half is over! With Fulham's crazy press and defense, Nottingham Forest did not get any good chances. Their quick counterattacks did not have room for Fulham's defense. Coleman's tactics were very good. Success, he contained the Forest team's attack!"

"I believe that Tony Twain bought Van Nistelrooy definitely not to sell jerseys, but to make up for the weakness of the Forest team who was not good at positional warfare last season. However, Van Nistelrooy's state is not good in this game. So far Not a single shot so far."

What the commentator said was not bad at all. Ruud van Nistelrooy's condition was not good in this game, and Tang En could also see it.

But he still intends to continue to give Ruud van Nistelrooy chances in the second half.

During the mid-term break, Tang En adjusted the team's lineup.

Ribery, who was completely restricted on the left, was replaced by Petrov, and Eastwood withdrew from the penalty area.

Because Ribery is used to being popular in the Premier League for the past two years, everyone has thoroughly studied him. This game sounded a wake-up call for Twain. Ribery's role on the wing is becoming more and more limited, he has to consider another way out...

Although Petrov is also a wide player with simpler characteristics than Ribery, he is better than "face-to-face". The Premier League teams don't know him yet, and there is a lack of research on him. Replacing him may have a surprise effect.

Eastwood pulled out of the penalty area to use his long-range shots and ability to penetrate behind. Eastwood's long-range shots at the top of the penalty area are still very threatening. Facing the opponent's heavily defended penalty area, set-pieces and long-range shots are the solution.

Speaking of set pieces...

Bell didn't follow during the intermission, and Tang asked all the substitute players to warm up on the court.

Hopefully the second half will come in handy...

Tang En nervously arranged the team's tactics for the second half in the locker room. He was not as calm as he was at the beginning of the first half.

The CCTV5 filming team did not get the permission to enter the locker room to film during the intermission, so they could only continue to wait on the sidelines, exchanging their views on the first half.

They were a little embarrassed about this situation, because no one expected that this game would be played so hard. Nottingham Forest couldn't start the situation for a long time, and the climax they were looking forward to was delayed.

"Hey, Happy_end won't become Bad_end?" Someone asked.

"Who knows?" The head of the group, the producer of this show, shrugged. "This is beyond our control. You see, the effect of me asking you to prepare two sets of plans in advance will come out? No matter what they play, our program can be successfully produced."

"That's what it means... Mr. Zhang, who doesn't want their own team to win? Speaking of which, I didn't expect Nottingham Forest to have such a close relationship with China. A Chinese player, a Chinese assistant coach, the head coach or China hands who are fanatical about Chinese culture.”

"Yes, maybe even if they suddenly visit China a few years later, it will be a normal thing."

"If there is such a thing, we must ask them to go to the station to record a special program!"

"Don't think about good things. Have you forgotten the shitty thing about Real Madrid? The head coach of Nottingham Forest is not an easy person to get along with. He has a perverse personality. Who knows what he will do then?"

Hearing what the boss said, everyone stopped talking about it. It was a year ago that Real Madrid failed to make an appointment with them, and the impression is deep. For them, it is really not a good memory.

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While this group of people was discussing, players from both sides played again, and the second half began immediately.

The two sides changed sides and fought again, and the scene was no different from the first half. Fulham still sticks to the penalty area and is determined not to go out. No matter how the Nottingham Forest fans provoked them with boos and insults, they were like turtles.

Tony Twain could no longer sit comfortably on the coach's bench like he did in the first half. He had long stood on the sidelines, closely monitoring the changes in the situation on the field.

Seeing Tang En with a somewhat anxious face, the TV commentator suddenly laughed: "Fulham's performance reminded me of Nottingham Forest a season ago. At that time, Tang En's team also let the opponents be at a loss. I didn't expect that Nottingham Forest would be treated like this by the opponent. Coach Tony Twain, you will have such a day..."

After Petrov went up, he flashed a few times, but Ruud van Nistelrooy's state in this game was really too bad, so he didn't catch it. At the 70th minute of the game, Twain finally decided not to wait for Van Nistelrooy to return to form. He replaced the Dutch striker with Niklas Bendtner. Ruud van Nistelrooy is even stronger and physically stronger. Dunn hopes that he can score goals in front of the opponent's goal.

After Bendtner came on the field, Fulham recovered even more. Neither Petrov nor Ashley Young had much chance. The penalty area is crowded with Fulham players, and any long-range shot will be blocked. Looking at those Fulham players, it didn't seem like they were playing a game at all, but they were using their bodies to block the holes of the guns.

In the 80th minute, the score was still 0:0. Tang En's stubborn temper came up. He knew that Fulham wanted to score a point at home, but the more the opponent thought so, the less Tang En wanted them to get their wish. Do you want to be flat? A draw as a victory? I want to win you! Let your one point become zero!

At the last moment, he replaced Leighton Barnes with Gareth Bale, who was very good at setting the ball. Anyway, due to Fulham's crazy fouls, the Forest team has no shortage of frontcourt positioning kicks. It's just that Van der Vaart, who took the penalty a few times ago, didn't kick well. Either he shot high, or he was directly blocked by the wall.

After Bell came on the field, the team's right to take the set kick was automatically handed over to him. Bell is not stage fright at such a young age. He has already saved the team with free kicks at the last minute many times. Tang En hoped that this time would be no exception.

Nottingham Forest quickly got a set kick 25 meters away from the opponent's goal.

"Gareth Bale stands in front of the ball with eight minutes to go. He makes a run, he kicks—ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

Amidst the boos at Craven Grange, Bale's beautiful left-footed curve ball hit the junction of the gauge and the post. In the process of the football flying towards the goal, the Fulham goalkeeper did not move at all-he had completely surrendered.

"Too much pursuit of angle!"

Tang En was so excited that he almost went into cardiac arrest. If this goal is scored, Fulham, which has defended for more than 80 minutes, will be finished. The situation he is most willing to watch will then appear, that despicable Coleman will be like a deflated ball, and after the game, he will walk over as the winner, holding the opponent's hand in a pretentious manner, and pretending to comfort him To: "There are still thirty-five rounds in the league, please keep going, Mr. Coleman!"

But now... the reality he was looking forward to did not appear.

"Damn it!" He cursed in a low voice, not cursing Bell, the little monkey had gone well enough, he was cursing the bad luck.

Such a precise free kick was not scored... You must know that when the football was kicked, the Fulham fans could only use desperate boos to try to stop the ball.

"Tony, one point away is not bad..." Tang reminded again.

Tang En, who was scratching his hair in frustration, raised his head, looked at Coleman next door, and then shook his head to Tang, "No, we can still win. We can definitely win. Fulham is at the end of its strength, didn't you see Are they already exhausted? Just apply a little more pressure, put another straw...a straw, and they'll be fucked!" After finishing speaking, he got up and walked to the venue, regardless of asking Tang to explain again. side, signaling the whole team to press on and strive to score at the last moment.

Even Pepe rushed forward to join the attack. Nottingham Forest's backcourt has a large blank area, which they did not notice. All the players in the Forest team thought that Fulham would have to thank God for being able to hold this point in the end. How could they still have the energy to counterattack?

The impossible finally happened. When the fourth official had just raised the sign for three minutes of stoppage time, Fulham stole the ball from the backcourt and suddenly drove forward. Their right midfielder, Wayne, who was on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, Wayne_Routledge (Wayne_Routledge) ran all the way after receiving the ball. This player, who is known for his speed, left the Forest team's defensive player far away, and then faced the attacking Van der Sar single-handedly, and wisely chose a lob !

"Wayne Routledge - GOOOOOOOOAL! The unthinkable has happened, and Fulham, who have defended for 90 minutes, have taken the lead! This is likely to be the final goal of the game! Listen! The cheers at Craven Grange . . . were deafening!"

Amidst the narrator's loud yells and the home team's fans shouting wildly, Twain unexpectedly did not jump into a rage, but turned around and walked slowly back to the coach's bench, then sat down and let out a heavy breath.

"We've been put together, Don. That bastard Coleman didn't think about one point from the start, but three points...Damn it!"

Tang knew what Tang En meant by saying that. That Crowridge was replaced by Coleman at the end of the second half. He was not a striker but was used as a striker. He waited for the moment when the Forest team was restless and pressed heavily to counterattack.

This was Tony Twain's most used trick, but he didn't expect that he would fall into it this time.

When Nottingham Forest was regarded by more and more people as a strong team, Tony Twain, as the head coach, also possessed the demeanor of a "strong team coach". way out.

What is a real strong team? How do you truly have a strong mentality? For young Tony Twain, he still has a long way to go.

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"Bad_end." The man standing next to the camera marked with the "CCTV" logo looked at Tang En who was sitting on the coach's bench and talking to Tang in a low voice, "What an unexpected result. There is a saying in the English media that is right—this A coach who doesn't do what you want."

"Hey, Head Zhang..."

"Um?"

"Are we here to shoot Tang, or Tony Twain?"

"..."