Tony Twain's words put George Wood on the cover once again. Some media outlets had already pinned the label of "the most expensive player in the world" on Wood. Of course, more media outlets gave Wood the nickname of "Mr. Two Trillion."
In the eyes of outsiders, after this press conference, regardless of whether Tony Twain's words were true or not, one thing was certain — George Wood was indeed not for sale from Nottingham Forest.
Was there anyone in the world who could afford two trillion yuan worth of wealth? A player was almost equivalent to a country. Since no one could afford the price, what else could it be if he was not for sale?
Because of this background, Nottingham Forest's performance in their home game against Newcastle on January 5th, Matchday 22 of the league tournament, attracted much attention. Everyone wanted to see if the performance of "Mr. Two Trillion" was worthy of his "value." They also wanted to see if George Wood would be crushed by the pressure. Some people criticized Twain's statement as being irresponsible to his players. They questioned if he had considered that giving a young player the label of "the most expensive player in the world" would actually harm him. After all, the pressure was not something an ordinary person could withstand.
But Twain did not care about such things. He knew that Wood did not care about things like "the most expensive player in the world" or "two trillion." If it were another player, he might not have said that at the press conference. But George Wood was different. The kid's mental fortitude was better than that of his peers.
The match against Newcastle was also the first time that the Dutch goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, represented Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League. Goalkeepers also had problems getting used to the team, mainly in defense. But van der Sar was very experienced. He could minimize the negative effects of getting used to the team. Twain clearly did not buy a world-class goalkeeper to let him sit on the substitutes' bench. The conditions also did not allow him to let van der Sar continue to get used to the team on the training ground.
Wearing the number 33 jersey, van der Sar stepped onto the field and began the last performance of his professional career.
Twain's transformation of the Forest team's defense continued. Although this match was an away game for Newcastle, they were aiming for three points. Souness had been brooding over the home loss to Tony Twain. He had deployed the strongest lineup for the away game, but the result?
0: 0.
The new goalkeeper and Mr. Two Trillion played flawlessly. No one dared to doubt the form and ability of the 34-year-old Edwin van der Sar, and no one dared to doubt that George Wood would be under too much pressure with the "Mr. Two Trillion" hat on his head.
Wood's performance in this match was no different from any of his previous matches. The media was disappointed to find that he did not behave abnormally because of the pressure, nor was he inspired because of it … Nothing at all. He is really like his name, wood will do.
The media outside was in an uproar because of his net worth, but he acted like nothing had happened!
After the game, the players would be stopped by the reporters to accept some interviews when they passed by the comprehensive area. George Wood and Edwin van der Sar were surrounded by the most people.
Edwin van der Sar was most often asked the same old questions: Why did he choose Nottingham Forest? How do you feel about your first match? Can you coordinate well with your teammates? His impression of the manager? What do you think of the Forest fans …
These questions allowed Edwin van der Sar to deal with them with ease. He knew how to answer to please the fans and get closer to his teammates.
On Wood's side, more questions came from the "two trillion net worth."
He stood in the crowd and waited for all the reporters to ask the question before he asked, "How much is two trillion?"
The reporters were suddenly stumped by such a rhetorical question. How could they explain the concept of two trillion to the man in front of them?
"It's the gross domestic product created in the United Kingdom last year …" The words sounded intimidating, but George Wood, who did not know what "GDP" was, still had no concept.
"Is it a lot?"
"It's expected to reach more than two trillion dollars!"
"How much is two trillion?"
The question came back again …
Some of the reporters let out a whine. They clearly knew that this topic was a juicy piece of meat, but in the face of such a player, it gave them a sense of powerlessness.
Pierce Brosnan stood in the crowd, took out his cell phone, turned on the calculator function, and made some calculations. Then he looked up at Wood and said, "George, at your current weekly salary, you need to work for 7,692,307 years to earn two trillion."
Everyone cast a grateful glance at Brosnan. This number was much more intuitive than the illusory "GDP concept." It was like telling a person who had never seen a yacht that a yacht was expensive. How expensive was it exactly? If you converted the money of a yacht into the food he was most familiar with, it would be clear.
Then the reporters began to look forward to Wood's views on this, but Wood just nodded when he heard the number. "Oh, I can't live for more than seven million years, so two trillion doesn't mean anything to me."
Everyone was disappointed except for one person. Brosnan laughed happily in the back. He knew Wood would say that because he knew what kind of person George Wood was.
George Wood liked money very much, that was true. But that was when he needed a large sum of money to treat his mother's illness. Now his mother's illness was being treated by the club, and his standard of living was more than a level higher than before. He lived in a brand-new apartment and lived a life that he could only look forward to or fantasize about before. He had nothing to pursue. All that was left was to work hard to play well and live up to the salary that the club paid him.
For him, earning 2,500 pounds a week was a high income, and he did not know how to spend it. On the other hand, there was no difference between earning 25,000 pounds and 2,500 pounds a week. Both were very high, and he did not know how to spend it. His and his mother's living needs were so high. Under the circumstances that they did not need to fork out their own money for treatment, the extra money was saved — there was no need to spend it. He did not buy branded clothes, did not buy high-end sports cars, did not buy any luxury goods, did not have a girlfriend, did not go to high-end entertainment venues, and did not have any hobbies that required spending a large sum of money to maintain. In spite of all the money he now earned, he was essentially the same as George Wood, the porter, except for the improvement of his quality of life.
Brosnan knew why Tang En thought so highly of the silly boy. It was because he had an outstanding quality that many young players did not have. This quality ensured that he would not take the wrong path and lose his way. He would not fall from a shining new model to a shooting star.
His exposure to football did not only begin as a reporter. In Brosnan's more than 20 years of watching football, he had seen countless talented prodigies who died prematurely. It was often not because they were not good enough, but because they could not resist the temptation from outside the football field.
It was obviously better to pin one's hopes on such a player than on those playboys.
George Wood did not have any high education, nor did he receive any professional training. But he had a very simple philosophy, which was instilled in him by his mother from a young age — when you take someone's money, you should do your best to help them. Washing dishes in a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown was the same. It was also the same to become a well-dressed professional player. There was no difference between washing dishes and being a professional player. It was all a job for Wood.
Taking advantage of the group of reporters being stunned by Wood's answer, he turned and left the mixed zone. He rarely accepted interviews. In the past, he was not the most famous and popular player in the Forest team. Not many people would pay attention to a young man who only knew how to do the dirty work on the football field. Now it was different. He scored a goal, so he became a genius overnight. Everyone began to pay attention to him. Even his handsomeness became a reason for being a genius. Now, after almost every game, there would be reporters surrounding the mixed zone, waiting to ambush him. He did not want to say anything in front of so many people. But when Tang En told him that he had to do it, he still did it. But when he accepted an interview, he would never express what he could say in two sentences if he could say it in one sentence. If he could say it in one word, he would never say it in two.
He was not as long-winded as Ashley Young, who repeated his catchphrase "you know" 20 times in an interview.
※ ※ ※
Although it was a draw against Newcastle United at home, Tang En was still very satisfied with his players' performance. This was because he wanted to see how Edwin van der Sar and the team were getting along. Not conceding a single goal was a perfect result. It also proved that Edwin van der Sar and the team were progressing smoothly.
Next up, Tang En was going to face a very special match.
In the third round of the English FA Cup, Nottingham Forest would be facing their city rival, Notts County.
The Nottingham Derby could perhaps be regarded as the oldest city derby in the history of world football, or perhaps "one of the oldest." But in recent decades, as Notts County had always been in the lower leagues, the two teams rarely had the chance to meet. The so-called rivals would also rarely compete on the field. But this did not affect the hostility between the two teams.
The Notts County fans insisted on calling the City Ground "a place full of sin." They called the Nottingham Forest fans "The _ F." The "F" was the first letter of "F * * k." This was probably the same as scolding people in China for "f * * k."
(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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