Chapter 152 Gradually Adapting (Part 1)

George's debut at Ewood Park became the focus of media reports after the game. There was a highlight in the third round of the Premier League, Newcastle United faced Liverpool. Liverpool was on a killing spree in this game, beating Newcastle with a score of 4 to 1.

This did not look like a strong dialogue at all. Liverpool beat Newcastle with a crushing momentum at St. James' Park and had no chance to fight back.

Michael Owen, who became famous with one goal in the World Cup and started his legendary journey, even performed a hat trick at St. James' Park in this game. Last season, Owen had already become the top scorer of the Premier League with 18 goals.

Owen's performance in the World Cup was even more exciting, and Owen's state is still hot in the new season. This is only the third round of the game, and Owen performed a hat trick in the strong dialogue with Newcastle.

However, such an exciting game did not attract as much attention as George's debut at Ewood Park. George's debut at Ewood Park was booed by his own fans and became the focus of all media after the game.

Of course, it was a big joke in the English football world, and many people couldn't stand George's arrogance.

The Sun even wrote a large article about the origins of George and Blackburn, and even wrote about the grievances between George and Blackburn when George was the head coach of Burnley.

Among them were photos of George provoking Blackburn fans after winning the first League Cup against Blackburn. There was also a photo last season in which George said Hendry should be banned for life, which led to a war of words between the two sides in the media for a period of time.

Even many of George's words that satirized Blackburn that year, which George himself had forgotten, were listed by The Sun.

Finally, they said that the cause of the past is the result of today.

Then they also analyzed below that George's football has entered a dead end and George's tactics can no longer adapt to the Premier League.

"George started his career at Burnley by relying on defensive counterattacks. Fortunately, George picked up a treasure. That is Michael Ballack, the former Burnley midfielder and current Leverkusen player. Ballack is a strong player with excellent defense, and of course his long pass dispatch is extremely accurate. In addition, he has excellent headers and earth-shattering long shots. With such an excellent midfielder, George can play his defensive counterattack so well."

"But such an excellent player as Ballack can't be picked up casually. Does Blackburn have such an excellent midfielder as Ballack now?"

"But George still didn't give up the tactics he was no longer used to, and the result was that Blackburn didn't score a goal in the first three rounds. This is the dead end of George's tactics."

The Sun is definitely one of the most influential tabloids in England, and their newspaper circulation is counted in the world newspaper industry. They became the pioneers against George this time. Of course, George is a small figure for The Sun, but George's news has been selling better recently.

Anyway, in football, there is no shortage of such people who take advantage of others' misfortunes. George was still a famous coach in the English media in the summer, and the most outstanding young local coach in England in recent years. Now many media say that he has run out of ideas.

"George used the most rogue tactics in Burnley to win the League Cup and FA Cup. His Burnley has never encountered any strong enemies in the entire League Cup and FA Cup process. Only in the finals did they meet Chelsea and Arsenal."

"But in the final, George only used the most rogue tactics to defeat Arsenal. If it weren't for Bergkamp's lack of calmness, Burnley would not have won the FA Cup."

"It can be said that Burnley's League Cup and FA Cup titles are the least valuable in recent years. If George continues to be in Burnley, relying on Burnley's current team, he can still make a difference in the Premier League."

"But George came to Blackburn, a strange club, and a A hostile club. A coach without any experience in the top league does not understand the cruelty of the top league. He does not understand the difference between the top league and the lower league. Otherwise, there would not be so many teams that are so powerful in the lower league, and have to work hard to stay in the top league. "

"Blackburn was dazzled by George's two accidental cup championships, so he invited George. And he supported George so much that George did whatever he wanted in Blackburn. I believe that although it was only three short games, Blackburn has begun to regret it. "

This was written by a reporter from the Post, and was also the first reporter to ask George a question in George's first press conference as Blackburn head coach. He was well insulted by George at that time, but he remembered it firmly in his heart.

So he said that George's two cup championships won last season were obtained by George using shameless tactics, and also accounted for many unexpected factors. Of course, cup competitions are like this, and unexpected factors occupy many aspects. Just like the simple schedule and no strong opponents. In addition, Bergkamp's very unexpected red card in the FA Cup final can be said to be a benefit to Burnley.

But this did not prevent George from defeating two Premier League rivals, Chelsea and Arsenal, in the League Cup final and FA Cup final.

And he did not mention George's other contribution to Burnley. That is, George led Burnley to a two-level jump from the English League to the Premier League in three years. This is impossible to do by luck alone.

But the arena is like this. When a person succeeds, everyone will praise you. Now George's performance is not good, and all the media are kicking him when he is down. George has long seen through the reporters' faces. These reporters are a bunch of guys who have no position and follow the wind.

Now the results are not good, and George can't refute it. So George directly closed the Ewood Park Stadium, not only not allowing fans to come in, but also not allowing reporters to come in. It was said to the outside world that it was a closed training, and even the ten minutes, twenty minutes, and even half an hour of interview time given to reporters before were all withdrawn.

George even ordered all the players not to accept any media interviews at this time.

Now George has no other way but to rely on results. As long as the results are good, these media will immediately turn their positions and praise George.

…………

In the fourth round of the league, Blackburn will face Coventry at home.

Coventry is a professional football team located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It was founded in 1883. Although it has a history of more than 100 years, the club's honors are almost blank. Only more than ten years ago did Coventry win an FA Cup for the first time.

Although Coventry has been fighting for relegation in the past few seasons, Coventry last season was impressive. Under the leadership of Gordon Strachan, the team won the relegation battle before the end of the season. And relying on the heroic performance of Dean Dublin and Darren Huckabee, the team created a record of 13 consecutive unbeaten games, and entered the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 1987.

With his outstanding performance last season, Gordon Strachan was only a little behind George in the selection of England's best young coach of the year. If George hadn't come out of nowhere, Gordon Strachan would have been the best young coach of the year last year.

But this year, the most important person in Coventry's forward line was Dean Dublin, who was sold to Villa.

Coventry is weak in itself, and Dean Dublin left this year. The strength has declined even more, which is a great opportunity.

Like the first game, George was booed at home again. But George is used to it. Unlike the first game, he sat on the bench and stood on the sidelines from beginning to end. No matter how the fans booed him, he didn't care at all.

George kept asking the team to control the ball on the court, not to rush to attack, and not to defend with all players.

Coventry is relatively weak, and George wants to use them to make Blackburn's new players adapt to the rhythm of the Premier League as soon as possible.

The results of these games also made George understand that the ambition before the season should be in line with reality. Before the season, George thought he could lead Blackburn and soon become a strong team in the Premier League. In the competition between Manchester United and Arsenal, Blackburn also has a place.

But George soon understood that a strong team cannot appear casually. Now Blackburn's players are all strong, but it doesn't mean that they are strong now. They still need to cooperate and adapt before they can become a strong team.

Therefore, George did not attack Coventry in this game, but controlled the ball and advanced slowly.

Judging from the progress of the game, Blackburn's performance met George's requirements. Makelele did a very good job in the defensive midfielder position, unlike the previous games where he was a little sticky. Miku and Deco no longer lost the ball all the time, and could control the ball calmly. Occasionally, they could pass very imaginative passes.

Amid the boos of the fans, they were not affected much. In the end, they were tied by Coventry at home. George led Blackburn to get the second point in the Premier League.

Although they only tied Coventry 0-0 and did not score, George was very satisfied with the team's status.

In four rounds of games, Blackburn had two draws and two losses, and only got two points. Nottingham Forest ranked second from the bottom in the Premier League, and the last one was Nottingham Forest. They only drew one game with Blackburn and only scored one point.