Balotelli felt that his position in the team should be bright because he was reassigned to the position of the striker, and he scored the only goal for the Forest team in that lost match. He thought that he was the best player in the entire Nottingham Forest team in that game. Of course, the media did not agree. Many different media gave the same score for the game — George Wood was the best player in Nottingham Forest.
He admitted that Wood's performance was not bad, but he was the best player in the team.
More importantly, he believed that the goal made the new manager see his value clearly. That was a wonderful goal that broke through the defense of two players!
Just as he was thinking about this, Twain stopped him after the training ended.
"Do you have time, Mario? I want to talk to you alone. "
Looking at the manager's smiling expression, Balotelli was even more certain of his thoughts. He deliberately hesitated for a moment to not let himself appear too excited. Then he slowly nodded. "Okay …"
"Come to my office." Twain turned and walked away.
Balotelli was stunned for a moment. He did not expect the manager to turn around so decisively and leave so quickly. Somewhat dissatisfied, he dawdled and followed behind.
Actually, Twain didn't turn around and leave because he wanted to put on airs in front of Balotelli. Right now, his mind was filled with thoughts on how to start this conversation with Balotelli, how to make their conversation as harmonious as possible, and finally achieve the result he wanted.
The result he wanted was not for both sides to suffer, but to maximize Balotelli's ability to help the team.
This matter made him lose a lot of brain cells, and he could not pay attention to other details.
Balotelli, on the other hand, felt that he was being looked down upon, and he guessed that the conversation between him and the manager was definitely not going to be a pleasant experience.
There was no one else in the manager's office except for the two of them.
Twain gestured for Balotelli to sit down and then asked if he wanted to drink something.
Balotelli shook his head. He was not interested.
Twain did not expect Balotelli to reject him so directly, and he was also a little embarrassed. At this time, he noticed a problem — compared to when he was at Inter Milan, the current Balotelli was much fatter now …
It was no wonder that his condition was fluctuating.
Tang En decided to start from the goal. As a striker, all he cared about was scoring goals. "Mario, your goal in the last round of the league tournament was very exciting."
Balotelli was secretly happy to hear the manager say so. He finally recognized his own value!
"But …" Twain changed the topic. "Can you score goals like this often?"
Balotelli was taken aback by the question.
Even when he was sandwiched by two players, he was still able to nimbly dodge a gap, and then hit the football between the legs of a defender, and then through the crotch of the goalkeeper. He really couldn't score such a goal often …
Twain didn't give Balotelli a chance to answer. In fact, he didn't expect Balotelli to answer. He was just asking out of habit.
He threw out another question, "Do you prefer the right midfielder or the striker?"
This time, Balotelli said without hesitation, "Striker."
Tang En laughed. This was exactly the same as the answer he had predicted. "Can you tell me what you think about the current situation of the team?"
Balotelli's answer was not too surprising to Tang En. "I think I should be the core. With me as the core, the team can score a lot of goals, and winning games won't be a problem. "
Tang En nodded slightly, seeming to agree with Balotelli's words. But after listening to him, he said, "But I've never had the habit of treating the striker as the core …"
What he said was the truth. Ever since he became a professional manager, he had never treated the striker as the core of the team. Whether it was Anelka, van Nistelrooy, Eastwood, or Mitchell, none of them were the core of the team under him. The team's tactics would never be developed around these strikers. How could a manager who favored defense let the striker be the core? All attacks came from the backfield, and the defensive midfielder was naturally the best candidate for the core.
But Balotelli didn't understand. When he heard the manager pour a bucket of cold water on him, his face immediately turned from sunny to gloomy.
How could this little change in his expression escape Tang En's eyes? Of course, this conversation was to make good use of Balotelli's talent, but if Balotelli asked for too much, it wouldn't do. For example, now …
Be the core?
Stop joking! Letting a striker be the core is tantamount to completely negating my tactics. Do I have so much time to reformulate tactics and re-establish the core? Then let the whole team adapt to the new tactics and new core? What I lack the most now is time. Do I have time to dilly-dally with you on issues that have long been decided?
Besides, you're not in a stable state at all. Why should I use you as the core? The core must be stable. If you sleepwalk in that game, won't the whole team suffer?
I won't do such a stupid thing!
Although that was what he thought, Tang En couldn't say it out loud. He thought about it again. The concept of the core of a striker and the core of a midfielder was not exactly the same. If he was allowed to score more goals, then he could barely be called a "core" …
Since he wanted to maximize the effect of squeezing Balotelli, then this could be a good idea …
So he immediately changed his expression. "But you know, Mario. Our tactic is to stagger the two strikers, one at the front and one at the back … "He made a stagger gesture, and Balotelli nodded to show that he understood. "I let you play as a striker, not as a center forward at the front."
Balotelli also knew that as a center forward, he had to be embedded in the opponent's penalty area. At that time, there would be the enemy's defenders around him. Not to mention scoring, it would be good if he could even hold the ball.
"Your position is the second striker." Tang En grabbed a piece of paper, wrote and drew on it, and then handed it to Balotelli.
On the map, Balotelli's position was cruising near the penalty area. It seemed to be a little far away from the penalty area, but it was a position that suited Balotelli's style. There was more freedom here than in the penalty area.
Seeing this map, Balotelli's view of this manager gradually changed. It seemed that this boss was different from the previous ones. He really studied his characteristics before coming up with this idea.
"Your position is more flexible …" Tang En pointed to the map and explained to Balotelli. He didn't expect the conversation to become a tactical discussion, but it was good. Instead of talking nonsense, it was better to get straight to the point.
"Mitchell will be in the front to attract the attention of the opponent's defenders, and you need to connect the midfield line with the forward line. He will push the opponent's defenders up, leaving you this empty space … "Tang En drew a circle in front of the penalty area." It's up to you to shoot or pass from here. "
Hearing this, the first thought in Balotelli's mind was to shoot, but Tang En seemed to know what he was thinking. "Of course, if you always force yourself to shoot, I'll have to reconsider your position …"
In fact, Balotelli wasn't a particularly solitary striker, or else he wouldn't be in the position he was most used to being a right midfielder. He would also pass to his teammates many times in a game, which was especially prominent when he was at Inter Milan. It was just that after he came to Nottingham Forest, he was the most expensive player in the team at that time (George Wood hadn't transferred, so there was no way to know his exact value, so there was no comparison), so he was somewhat arrogant and always wanted his teammates to pass to him instead of cooperating with them himself.
Now, Tang En had to use both carrot and stick to get Balotelli to cooperate with him again. He didn't need a striker who only knew how to shoot and score, because his team's tactics were all about teamwork, and no one could be a solitary hero under him. If there really was such a person, it could only mean that he was incompetent as a manager.
"As a second striker, a person who can shoot and score by himself, and also cooperate with his teammates to assist them is obviously better than a person who only knows how to shoot. I hope you can understand what I'm saying, Mario. "
No matter what, Tang En was a manager who had won the Grand Slam for both the club and the national team. No matter how arrogant Balotelli was, he had to restrain himself when faced with Tang En's stern face.
In fact, players' minds were very simple. If the manager had a brilliant resume, then no matter how famous the star players were, they could be subdued. One of the reasons why Balotelli was so unruly before was that the managers who came to coach him were somewhat below his level in his eyes …
"Then when should I shoot and when should I pass?" Balotelli asked a question that he soon felt was very stupid.
Sure enough, Tang En looked at him with a grin. "You're a genius, Mario. Don't tell me you don't know the answer to this question? "
Balotelli was also a little embarrassed by Tang En's teasing. "I know, of course I know!" He answered Tang En's question loudly, as if lowering his voice would cause him to lose confidence and confidence.
Tang En also didn't want to embarrass him too much. For these extremely talented players, management methods could not be too extreme. At 50 years old, he was no longer himself in his thirties. At that time, in order to maintain his own authority, he could firmly press Anelka to the bench. He couldn't do such a thing anymore. Perhaps it was because he was old, or perhaps it was because he had experienced too many things, but now it was just a passing cloud. He didn't have much aversion to Balotelli's deliberate display of arrogance.
That was why he was only thinking about how to make use of Balotelli, instead of how to chase Balotelli away.
Of course, the authority of a manager needed to be maintained, but it was not reflected by a talented player who was in his prime and was in the prime of his career. Didn't Ferguson also say to Cristiano Ronaldo, who wanted to go to Real Madrid, "I'd rather let him rot in the stands than sell him to Real Madrid"? But did he really do that? No. Not only did he not, but he still let Ronaldo be the core of Manchester United and even sacrificed Rooney for this. This was the magnanimity and skill that a godfather should have — everything was for the benefit of the team.
Tony Twain, who was over 50 years old, had really matured. But it was a pity that he would only be in the position of manager until the end of this season. If his heart did not have a problem and he was healthy, who knew what kind of brilliant achievements he could have created in this position …
So, was his retirement a blessing or a curse for the world of football?
For the rest of the time, Tang En and Balotelli discussed specific technical and tactical strategies on the field. The atmosphere between the two was very harmonious, which was something that both Tang En and Balotelli did not expect. In Tang En's view, Balotelli, the 28-year-old Italian boy, was indeed qualified to be arrogant because he was really a genius. He did not need to emphasize his tactical intentions too much, as he could understand it once he explained it. In Balotelli's eyes, this manager, who had created countless brilliant achievements, was not just a glib talker like the media said. He was just lucky. He really understood football and himself. He was a "boss" who was worthy of Balotelli's undying loyalty.
When he was at Inter Milan, there was such a person who gave him a similar feeling. Later, that person went to Manchester United. During his four years at Nottingham Forest, he always said that he wanted to go to Manchester United, in fact, to follow that person. But now he found that he did not need to do that.
They had originally planned to talk alone for ten minutes, but when Tang En and Balotelli reacted, it was almost two o 'clock …
Balotelli laughed heartlessly when he realized the predicament he was in, as if this kind of thing happening to the godfather of a champion was hilarious.
Tang En did not care about the way the players looked at him. He touched his belly and said to Balotelli, "Let's go, it's my treat today."
After more than an hour of communication, the relationship between the two became very harmonious, and Tang En's words did not make Balotelli feel that it was strange.
"Whatever, I don't have anything in particular to eat. I'm actually not hungry … "
"That won't do, there's still a training session in the afternoon. Do you think you can handle my training session on an empty stomach? If you can't handle it because you're physically weak, I won't let go of this opportunity to punish you. You should know how much I want something to go wrong in the team now … "
The way Tang En said this with a straight face really shocked Balotelli — he was sure that the boss was serious.
Look at how he treated Bale, the team's veteran player, during training. Just because he did not seriously run a set of shuttle runs during training, he made Bale do 20 sets under the hot sun.
He was the king of Wilford, and here, no one dared to go against his will.
"Okay, I'll listen to you, boss …"
※ ※ ※
During the training interval the next day, everyone suddenly found that Balotelli was chatting with his fellow Italian, Fiorillo, which was not a common occurrence. Even Fiorillo himself was very surprised, and he could not keep up with Balotelli's topic.
Kerslake and Eastwood both cast inquiring gazes at Tang En, wanting to know what he had said to the Italian.
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