The players took the team bus back to the hotel to rest. The next morning, they were dismissed for the holiday. Tang En used the excuse that he wanted to relax and act alone. He did not curse in the locker room, nor did he criticize Matthew Upson for his mistake. He did not even express disappointment at the team's final performance. He just wished everyone a nice holiday and announced that they were disbanded.
He had been sitting in the locker room and only came out after the Arsenal fans who were singing outside had all dispersed. Other than the cleaners who were still working, there was not a single fan in the stands of the City Ground stadium. There were still a few fans gathered in the square outside, but they did not care about the middle-aged man who slowly walked out of the gate.
Walking out of the stadium, Tang En stood at the edge of the square, not knowing where he was going. He did not want to drink, nor did he want to find a girl. He stood by the side of the road, intending to walk around and calm his mind. He wanted to seriously think about the mistakes he made today and the team's shortcomings, as well as plan the team's future direction.
The English Premier League had already gone through three rounds, and his team had yet to taste victory. Thinking back to the invincible Nottingham Forest team in the First Division (now known as the English Football League Championship), Tang En did not know if others would have such thoughts. They had won the lower-level league championship and been promoted to the English Premier League. They had been filled with joy and anticipation, as if they were strolling in the clouds. But after half a month, the team had been beaten down from the clouds by their opponents.
No matter how many players the team bought in the summer, or how much money they spent, Tang En did not think his team had the ability to deal with multiple battles. This had nothing to do with the thickness of the bench, but a problem of insufficient experience. Whether it was this young Forest team or him, neither had the experience of facing multiple battles at the same time. Putting their lives on the line on one was enough to give Tang En a headache.
He had to choose one path and give up the others.
The answer was almost obvious. No matter when, the Premier League was the most important. League results were the foundation. Even if you won all the domestic cup titles, what was the use if you were to be relegated to the English Football League Championship? It could be said that the cup results only represented the present and the past, while the league results represented the team's future.
But when he thought of how hard it was to get into the UEFA Europa League and participate in a European competition for the first time, it would be a pity if he just gave up.
For Tang En, playing in a European competition was more exciting than playing in the domestic league because there would be new opponents and more people paying attention to them.
Another point was that the European competitions could increase the chances of meeting other European powerhouses. Although Forest had yet to achieve much in the English Premier League, Tang En could not wait to play against the European powerhouses that he could only see on television in the past.
Thinking about it this way, the Premier League was still the most important. If the results of the Premier League were not good, they would not be able to qualify for the European competitions. Forest Team could not play in the UEFA Europa League every year … The Champions League was Tang En's highest goal.
However, the qualification to participate in the UEFA Europa League, which he had worked so hard to obtain, could not be given up in vain. At the very least, he had to fight his way out of the group stage and enter the top 32 to prove his strength.
Although the Forest team was the champion of the EFL Cup, they still had to participate in the UEFA Europa League qualifying round because it was the second cup competition in the country. According to the schedule, the Forest team would face the Czech Republic's Ostrava Banik at home on September 16. Then on September 30th, the Forest team traveled to the Czech Republic for the second leg of the qualifying round. Only by passing the qualifying round could the Forest team participate in the main competition. When the time came, they would be regrouped. They still did not know who their opponents would be, but no matter who it was, Tang En had the confidence to fight against them.
Nottingham Forest might not be able to win the UEFA Europa League title, but we have to leave our own voice and tell the whole of Europe that we have been here before, and we will come again in the future …
※ ※ ※
The newspapers published the next day put Arsenal on the front page. The pictures of Henry, who scored, Fàbregas, who assisted, and Manager Wenger became the highlight of the headlines. As a team that had created a new record, it was no exaggeration to praise them.
However, the Nottingham media only briefly mentioned Arsenal's new record. Most of their attention was still on Forest Team. Almost everyone thought that Forest Team's performance in yesterday's game gave them hope. Although they did not maintain the previous unbeaten record of 42 rounds of the Premier League, they had a bigger goal.
"… Let the people who broke the record break the record. We, on the other hand, have harvested an exciting new Forest." This was Pierce Brosnan's comment article in the Evening Post. He spoke the thoughts of many people.
The team returned to normal training the next day. The first part of training was to watch the game. Tang En showed the players the video of the game against Arsenal the day before. Then, he and David Kerslake analyzed and discussed the various details of the game with the players. This was not a criticism meeting. It was to point out everyone's problems so that it would be easier for them to improve during training and pay attention to them during the game.
This was a "training method" that Tang En had only developed within the team this season. Through watching the video of the previous game, he found the team's problems and also discovered the team's strengths. However, Tang En still had to thank one person for this idea — Dunn. It was precisely because he saw that Dunn watched videos every day when he got home that Tang En discussed the game videos with him. Then, he associated it with the team's situation and had this idea: Why not gather the players together to watch the game videos and discuss the gains and losses together?
There were many details in the game that were known at the time but forgotten afterwards. Wouldn't it be better to let everyone relive it through the video? Moreover, they could play a certain clip repeatedly through the remote control, freeze it, and comment on it.
This kind of teaching method was common in the Managers' Association's courses. However, Tang En had never received real systematic coaching training before, so he neglected it.
Although they had lost the game, the atmosphere was still very relaxed when they watched the video. Unless Tang En was especially angry, he would try to use a teasing method to criticize others. It was easier for the players to accept it, and at the same time, it could also close the relationship between him and the players. As a manager, he did not have any other advantages, but he was very good with the players. Perhaps it had something to do with him being a fan in the past.
When talking to the players about yesterday's game, he did not mention the word "record," as if it was just an ordinary league game that could not be any more ordinary. David Kerslake was in charge of the main commentary, while Tang En supplemented. The two cooperated to tell the players about yesterday's biggest mistake.
"Here … It's right here …" Tang En used the remote control to point at the television screen. On it was the image of Upson abandoning his position and pouncing towards Gilberto. "Matthew, are you and that Brazilian opposites attracted?"
Hearing the manager's words, the video room burst into loud laughter. Matthew Upson shook his head vigorously amidst the laughter. "No, Boss. I'm straight."
There was another burst of even louder laughter.
"In fact, when I saw this scene the day before yesterday, I thought to myself: Oh my god! Matthew must be crazy. What was it about the Brazilian that attracted him to her? He even gave up his position … "
The laughter did not stop.
"Alright, Matthew, explain to me what you were thinking at that time."
The laughter subsided. Upson scratched his head. "Uh, I don't know … At that time, all I could think about was not letting him shoot, and then …"
Tang En nodded and did not dwell on the reason. "A center back needs to be calm. You should learn from Hierro. Look at him at that time …" Tang En pointed to Hierro in the corner of the screen. "He was calm and unmoving! That's experience! "
Hierro raised his hand. "Boss, actually, I was too tired to run at that time."
"Hahahaha!"
This time, even Tang En laughed along with him. Of course, he knew that Hierro could not run at that time. He was deliberately joking, using this method to reduce the pressure on the young team. Without a win in three consecutive league games, he believed that everyone was under a lot of pressure.
(To be continued. If you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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