Chapter 723: Volume Six, Crimson, Powerless
Luther van Nistelrooy has left Nottingham in final preparations before surgery on the American author. After this operation, whether he can return to the court, everyone has no idea. Even if the 34-year-old Ruud van Nistelrooy returns, it is a question of whether Nottingham Forest will want it. After all, his salary is considered first-tier domestically. When he recovers, the difference between him and Nottingham Forest The signed contract is almost up.
So when we went to the US this time, everyone had a lot of preoccupations. Only Tang En forced himself to comfort him: "Come back alive and kicking, I'm still waiting for you!"
Ruud van Nistelrooy's injury has further aggravated the team's weakness, and this is just one of the effects. The bigger impact is that his injury has dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the team.
Now in the Wilford training base, the scenes of constant laughter in the past are basically gone. As long as everyone in the locker room talks about injuries, they will sigh and then can't say anything. During training, everyone would rather not work so hard, but first ensure that they will not get injured... It can be said that everyone has reached the point where everyone is in danger.
And in the face of all this, Twain has nothing to do. He can't scold everyone for working hard in training, because that will reduce or even lose his prestige in the team.
During the game, the players' fear of injury is even more obvious. Their opponents seem to understand this very well. Any team that plays against Forest will show their tough and fierce side in the game, using almost rough defense to control the dominance of the situation on the field.
When facing such a defense, Nottingham Forest players can only choose to give up football most of the time.
Only George Wood, as always, was not affected by any external factors. But he can't support a team by himself. Morale was low, stamina was exhausted, and the forest team, which was in constant fear of injury, suffered a two-game losing streak in the league.
On December 6th, Nottingham Forest lost 0:2 away to Arsenal. On December 13th, they lost 0:1 to Blackburn at home. After two consecutive defeats in the league, Nottingham Forest's ranking slipped from third to seventh, Aston Villa and Everton are ranked above them, and Hull City is with them in eighth. On December 16th, the entire forest team set off to Japan, thousands of miles away, to participate in the World Club Cup. Due to the exhaustion of the journey and the fact that even Twain didn't care about such a match, the Forest team lost to the Copa Libertadores champion Fluminense in the final and the Club World Cup champion.
The only good news is that in the final round of the Champions League group stage, Nottingham Forest was at home, and amidst the cheers of 30,000 fans, they made a last stand and beat Dynamo Kiev 4:1, winning the last place in the group. If the Champions League is saved, the money will be saved...the money for living next season will be considered.
But people didn't let him go because of his embarrassing qualifying in the Champions Cup. The media scolded him more and more, because these media found that this time was different from the past. Tony Twain might not be able to do anything for a while. Turned over and scolded him not to worry about being slapped back arrogantly after he won the game.
There are many people who scolded him for only caring about performance and disregarding the health of players, which caused Ruud van Nistelrooy to suffer this catastrophe.
Some people scolded him for being incompetent when he faced the team's dilemma but couldn't come up with any solution.
Some people ridiculed that he usually fights with the media, but he doesn't care about the team's physical fitness at all.
Some people think that no head coach has ever produced so much news outside the field, and it is precisely because of this off-field affairs that he is distracted in training and directing games. Such a head coach can't be said to be excellent, at least not qualified.
"...If a player is too enthusiastic about off-court affairs that have nothing to do with his job and leads to a sluggish state in the game, we can criticize him, and the head coach can put him on the bench or in the stands to make him reflect. Then A head coach cannot fully devote himself to his job because of too many distractions. Is there any way we can punish him? Tony Twain thinks he is the king of Nottingham Forest. I have no intention of proving whether he is or not here. But if the king of a country has a problem and makes a mistake, where is the country going to go?"
...
All kinds of critical voices attacked him, and every morning when he opened the newspaper, he would see at least two columns scolding him. Later, he stopped reading newspapers at all, and his bad habit of reading newspapers while eating was eliminated in this way.
In fact, he is not afraid of how the media scolds him. Anyway, it is not the first time he has been scolded.
What makes him more pressure is the will from the top of the club.
No matter how good the relationship with Evan is, now that the team's performance is not good, he was called to the office by Evan with a serious expression to talk for an hour.
Evan did not criticize him, but said that the team is now in a difficult situation, and he hopes that he can distract people from the club's financial problems through victory, and at the same time change people's minds about the current perception of the Forest team. As long as you win, no problem will be a problem. As long as you win, those sloppy media will definitely cheer for the Forest team...
It was precisely because of this that Tang En was under a lot of pressure. Evan is an office worker all day, regardless of the club chairman of the team. He doesn't know how difficult it is to win under the current circumstances. His head coach is very clear.
But Evan is his immediate boss after all, and he is right. No one wants their team to lose, and the decompression is not so reduced.
How to do it? Bite the bullet and grit your teeth.
Twain promised straight away that he would definitely win the next game, he would definitely win. The situation will definitely improve, the current difficulty is only temporary...
But who is the opponent in the next game?
On December 20th, the eighteenth round of the league, Nottingham Forest challenged Manchester United away...
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Although they had a friendship of drinking and horse racing together again, expecting Ferguson to let Tang En go is tantamount to wishful thinking. The arrogant and domineering Nottingham Forest has been rampant in the Premier League for two seasons, and it can be regarded as a chance to beat the dog in the water. Can Ferguson let it go? Even if Ferguson is merciful, Manchester United players and Manchester United fans will not be allowed.
Think about it, who snatched the league championship trophy from them in the last round of last season?
Now that Nottingham Forest is so down and out, Twain can't even make up the starting eleven. Manchester United is not a philanthropist and will help them get through this difficult time.
Before the game, there were even rumors that if Tang En lost again, he might be dismissed from get out of class.
So during the game, a banner appeared on the stands at Old Trafford - "Send Tony Twain off with victory, die to Nottingham Forest!"
The entire stands of Old Trafford were filled with this kind of hostility, wishing they could rush down and tear Tang En to pieces. Tang En was sitting on the coach's bench, and there was a steady stream of voices insulting him from the stands behind him. These Brits scolded him ingeniously and thoughtfully, so that he would not feel lonely for ninety minutes.
Van Nistelrooy was injured and left the team, Van der Vaart was injured and Pepe left the team for half a month, Beckham was injured for a week and Eastwood was injured for two weeks, and Petrov was injured for ten days. Thiago was injured and missed the game for a week, and Sun Jihai was injured and left the team for a month...
Who else is there now?
Such a team played away against Manchester United, still want to win?
If Ferguson knew about Twain's promise to Evan before the game, he would definitely be furious and say that Tony Twain underestimated him and his team.
But Twain could only smile wryly—he also knew how difficult it would be to win against Manchester United in an away game, but he had no way out. If he spoke soft words at this time, it would hit the team's morale even more...
During the match, Tang En always stood on the sidelines, dancing and supervising the battle, very emotional. The commentator of Sky TV joked: "Tony Twain probably wishes he could play in person to help the team win."
The overall state of the team is sluggish, and the individual players who performed well in the past have not shown up at all. The talented Turkish boy Sahin who replaced Van der Vaart in the starting lineup was quickly lost under the pressure of Manchester United's midfield. Rafinha was almost lost by Cristiano Ronaldo. Ayala is obviously old, and Kompany alone can't stand the bombardment of Rooney and Tevez. George Wood ran desperately, taking care of the east but not the west, Ribery couldn't hold his hands alone, was pressed by Manchester United on the side, and he couldn't make it in the middle. Zikic is alone in the frontcourt, without the support of the midfield, he is nothing. Lennon is still looking for a breakthrough, but his way of playing football is too simple, and it is easy for his opponents to see through...
Tang En looked up at the sky, there was nothing he could do...
In the past few seasons, the wind has been smooth and the occasional injury has occurred, which does not hinder the overall situation. Maybe it's God's favor?
But this season, all the unlucky things happened at the same time. Such a density and frequent injuries seemed to be negotiated to come to him together.
God, you are going to play me to death!
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Tang En gave up and continued standing on the sidelines to direct the game. He turned around and walked back slowly, then sat down slowly.
He looked blank.
The score on the field was 3:1, with the home team at the front and the visiting team at the back.
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Nottingham Forest lost three games in a row, and the ranking continued to decline. This time, it even dropped to eleventh place!
In such a chaotic time, Real Madrid stepped in to disrupt the situation again. They publicly announced their interest in Franck Ribery of the Forest team and hoped to buy them during the winter break.
This is not a joke in the Spanish media, nor is it that Real Madrid's top management has a problem with their brains-a player who has participated in the European Champions Cup, they still have to spend a lot of money to buy. The reason is actually very simple.
Real Madrid and Nottingham Forest have encountered the same problems-injuries and serious irregularities in personnel. The departure of Robinho in the summer weakened the already weak Real Madrid wing attack. In the last round of the league, Robben was seriously injured and left the field again. It is expected that he will recover for two to three months this time! In this way, Real Madrid has no wing talents at all...Drenthe is too young to be used, and Schuster made it clear that the Dutchman is not in his plan.
In this way, Real Madrid must supplement wide players during the winter break. Cristiano Ronaldo still wants to leave Manchester United, but he will not accept the winter transfer arrangement, and he will leave next summer. After looking around, he can deal with the team's game immediately after arriving, and his strength has been proven long ago. In fact, the most suitable candidate who does not need to take risks is actually only one person-Frank Ribery.
As Nottingham Forest is deeply in financial crisis, this time I believe that Nottingham Forest Club will not refuse again. After all, they also urgently need money to improve their financial situation, and Ribery's weekly salary of 130,000 pounds is really a heavy burden for the club.
After a comprehensive analysis of various situations, Real Madrid shot Ribery again. They reported a transfer fee price of 50 million euros to the Forest team.
Reporters flocked to Tang En, hoping to learn about the latest situation of this transfer transaction. Tang En always shook his head and said that he didn't know about it. Ribery was very satisfied with the current situation and he would continue to stay here.
But Allen admitted in an interview with reporters that the club did receive an offer from Real Madrid. As for how to deal with it, he did not give an answer.
However, media analysts believe that in this economic winter, Nottingham Forest will almost certainly not be able to resist Real Madrid's euro offensive.
Of course Tang En also understood this point, what he said to the media were all lies. Privately, Franck Ribery's agent, Bruno Heidscheid, called again, hoping that Tony Twain would nod and let him go.
"It's in everyone's interest to ease the economic crisis and lower wages for you guys while still getting Frank what he wants. I don't think it's a bad deal."
What he said was reasonable, but Tang En kept his face cold and refused to nod.
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The pressure of the team's performance, the pressure of the different mentalities of the players, the pressure of the media, the pressure of the top management, the pressure of the economy...
Tang En felt that as long as he looked up, all he could see would be a shadow, even if the weather was sunny today.
He felt that this winter was extremely difficult.
What makes him more difficult is not that these pressures hang over his head, but that he can't think of a solution to these pressures-no money to buy people, no time for the team to rest and adjust, the strength cannot be replenished, and the results You can't get better unless you expect a miracle to happen. If the grades cannot improve, these pressures will continue to exist, and will accumulate more and more, and one day when the heavy weight can no longer bear it, it will collapse. Can only be crushed under the Five Fingers Mountain, unable to stand up for five hundred years...
No matter how tortuous the road is, as long as the future is bright, I can make the whole team work hard and grit their teeth to get through it. The current situation is that the road is very tortuous, and the future is not bright at all. If this continues, even if they get into the knockout stage of the Champions Cup by chance, they will probably be eliminated soon.
The problem of comprehensive expansion is not only reflected in the club's economic construction, but also in the team's multi-line operations. He had to give up one or two goals and try to hold a ground.
Here comes the question-is it to guarantee the final ranking of the league, or to create the great cause of three consecutive European Champions Cups in one go?
If the league ranking cannot guarantee the qualification for the European Champions Cup next season, then the next season can only be watched by others for the New Year. The European Champions Cup three consecutive victories are indeed very attractive...
Tang En thought for a long time, and decided to focus on the cup competition, and try his best to ensure the top four in the league.
He feels that no matter how difficult the current situation is, there will always be a day when it will turn around, doesn't it? This period of time is difficult, maybe luck will come after this winter? Misfortunes depend on blessings, and blessings lie on misfortunes. Dunn felt that securing fourth place in the league wasn't a big problem for the current Forest team.
Once the goal is determined, it is actually one thing to implement it-achievements.
The team's results, Christmas is coming soon, Nottingham Forest ranked 11th in the league, which is a world of difference from what he said at the beginning not to be too far away from the first place in the league.
Still want to win...
Thinking of this, Tang En was about to pull his hair out.
How can it be so easy to win?
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Special announcement: The plot has reached a critical moment. So for five days starting from tomorrow, I will have two updates a day, which can be regarded as a small outbreak~ It is a real two updates, and it is definitely not something that splits a chapter into top and bottom to fool everyone. Everyone has a monthly pass to smash the monthly pass~~~~! As a small preview, it's time to draw up the story of Tang En and Shania.
It is still an old habit to update the two shifts at ten o'clock in the morning and at six thirty in the afternoon.
Please don't miss the time.