Regardless of the outcome of Nottingham Forest's appeal, the red card still affected Anelka's mood.
On the day the match ended, Anelka was as gloomy as a ghost in the locker room. Just being close to him made people feel cold.
In fact, Anelka was usually quite "cold," but it was precisely because of what had happened that he was still so cold. Something was not quite right.
Tang En thought about it and decided not to talk to the Frenchman for the time being. He must not be in a good mood right now.
Some things should be discussed later.
After the English Football League committee and the referees' committee received Forest Team's appeal, their reply to Forest Team was that they needed to study it before making a decision. However, they did not say when they would study it.
Hearing this, Tang En cursed in the office, "Damn bureaucracy! Even if the result of those bastards' study is that Anelka is not guilty, he will still miss the match against Arsenal! "
Despite his anger, Tang En could do nothing about it. He could not possibly run to the office of the English Football League committee and make a scene, could he?
He could only make the best use of the remaining time in training to practice his new playing style.
Freddy Eastwood's recovery was not optimistic. Tang En would rather let him continue to recuperate than force him to return to the team.
Now that Anelka could not play, Forest Team's only available forwards were Mark Viduka and Nicklas Bendtner.
Tang En did not plan to send both center forwards onto the field at the same time. He decided to play defensive and counterattack in Arsenal's away game. He would be satisfied if he took one point from Highbury.
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This was a highly anticipated match. Nottingham Forest was challenging Arsenal in an away game.
However, such a heavyweight match did not satisfy people's pre-match expectations, because the match had nothing to do with being "exciting."
Anelka did not make it onto Forest Team's roster. Tang En arranged for a 5-4-1 formation for this match. Mark Viduka charged forward alone, with Matthew Upson and Pepe at the front of the three center backs, and Piqué trailing behind to protect.
Seeing such a lineup, the smarter people would have guessed that Tang En was going to defend in an away game.
That's right. It was not just defense. It was a defense to the death.
The Forest team put three center backs in the middle to block the front of their penalty area tightly. Forest Team's offense was to push forward with large strides, only putting in two or three players. If they could become a threat, then it would be fine. If they could not become a threat, then they would not be countered by Arsenal because of the team's massive pressure.
Henry's speed made Tang En fearful.
Wenger's team did everything they could to find a weakness in Nottingham Forest's defense, while Nottingham Forest did everything they could to disrupt Arsenal's offense.
Tang En's heart was in agony every second. Every attack from Arsenal made him restless. Once they lost the ball, it meant that all their hard work would go up in smoke.
George Wood was in charge of marking Fàbregas. The two sides were entangled in the midfield, with both sides winning and losing. Looking at such a scene, Martin Taylor sighed, "This is the era of the young …" He then looked at Tony Twain, who was pacing back and forth on the sidelines.
Fàbregas, 18, George Wood, 19, and Tony Twain, 37. They were gradually becoming the main force of the league. Regardless of what Tony Twain could achieve in the future, he had already attracted the attention of the UEFA for leading the team into the UEFA Champions League at the age of 37. His Nottingham Forest team had also appeared frequently in the European media.
Generally speaking, a forty-year-old manager was called a "young manager," such as Mourinho, Deschamps, Ancelotti, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Gullit, and so on. But what about Tony Twain, who took over the Forest team at the age of thirty-four, brought the Forest team to the English Premier League at the age of thirty-five, and led the Forest team to the UEFA Champions League at the age of thirty-six?
England had not had such an outstanding manager for many years. Now, the successful managers active in the English football scene were almost all non-English. For example, Manchester United's manager, Ferguson, was Scottish, Arsenal's manager, Wenger, was French, Liverpool's manager, Benítez, was Spanish, and Chelsea's manager, Mourinho, was Portuguese. There was not a single English manager among the four powerhouses, which made the arrogant Englishmen lose face.
Tang En's sudden appearance satisfied the English people's "patriotic passion." The media's unrestrained hype pushed Tang En to the public. On the surface, Tang En was disgusted by the media's hype about him. But in reality, who knew if he had made use of the media …
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Tang En watched the match nervously from the sidelines, completely unaware of Martin Taylor's evaluation of him in his heart. Even if he knew, he might not care.
At the end of the first half, Forest Team was in a sorry state, but the score made Tang En feel a sense of relief. His team and Arsenal were still tied at 0: 0.
During the halftime interval, Tang En did not make any tactical adjustments. He only instilled confidence in the team, telling them not to give up no matter how unfavorable the situation was. A draw in the match was a victory.
In the second half, Forest Team carried out their defensive tactics even more thoroughly. As the match went on, Arsenal's players gradually became impatient.
In the 79th minute, Arsenal scored a goal. But as they were celebrating, the assistant referee mercilessly raised the flag in his hand — offside!
It was indeed an offside ball. Even though it was not obvious, Henry had moved a little too early and was clearly seen by the assistant referee.
Wenger appeared a little angry at the sidelines. Perhaps he thought he had been set up by the referee. Tang En, on the other hand, applauded the main referee on the sidelines. The main referee for this match was Frank Bohr, who had been the fourth official for Forest Team's home game against Everton in the previous round of the league tournament.
"There are only four minutes left in the match before we enter injury stoppage time. This match is another classic 'Arsenal phenomenon.'" Martin Taylor shook his head. He no longer held any hope for a goal.
The so-called "Arsenal phenomenon" referred to controlling the ball for a long period of time and shooting many times without scoring. Arsenal's style of controlling the ball often gave them the upper hand in the match. They played beautifully and were pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately, this habit of controlling the ball under their feet also caused them to miss many chances to score. They would often miss out on opportunities that could clearly be kicked at the goal because they coveted beautiful coordination.
Tang En had seized on this habit of Arsenal's. He deployed a heavy force in the backfield, causing Arsenal, who liked to control the ball, to feel like they were facing a rock that had nowhere to bite. They kept controlling the ball outside, but could not find many opportunities to shoot at the goal.
He had completely given up on attacking in this match. Up until now, Forest Team had only shot at the goal six times. In exchange, they had successfully brought the score of 0: 0 into injury stoppage time.
Tang En was glad that he was not coaching Real Madrid. Otherwise, no matter how good the team's results were, there would only be one fate in the end — dismissal.
Actually, this was not what Tang En wanted. If Anelka could participate in the match, he would not have minded a match against Arsenal at Highbury.
"The match is over. A dull match … Nottingham Forest has forced a draw with Arsenal in the away game! Manager Tony Twain has obtained a point that he is satisfied with. But I'm afraid the fans who came to watch the match will not be satisfied with this kind of match. "
"It's very dissatisfied!" Beside him, Andy Gray covered his mouth as he yawned. "I don't understand. Forest Team's style is not conservative. Why do they sometimes play so ugly …"
"Because Tang En's style is to pursue results," Martin Taylor answered. "If conservatism can bring him the results he wants, he definitely won't mind playing the most conservative style of football."
Andy Gray rolled his eyes and turned off the microphone. "This is the only thing I dislike about him … Sometimes, he's too utilitarian."
Martin Taylor also took off his headphones and ended his work. "That's how it is in the world of football. That's why teams like Arsenal and Barcelona are especially popular, because they're not utilitarian. "
"If Tang En's team could play beautifully like Arsenal, it would be perfect …"
"You're asking too much, Andy." Martin Taylor laughed. He stood up from the broadcast booth and saw Tang En hugging and celebrating with his players by the side of the field. Looking at his happiness, it was as if he had won the match.
"With a team like Arsenal, you should be satisfied with having a team like that. The shortcut to success is still victory and results … "
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After the match against Arsenal, Forest Team did not return to Nottingham. Instead, they flew directly from London to France to participate in the second match of the Champions League group stage on September 28th. Forest Team would challenge Lille in an away game.
In France, the fatigued Forest Team finally shook hands with Lille. Both sides tied at 0: 0.
If a draw with Arsenal in the previous league match was something Tang En was happy to see, then a draw in this match was a result that Tang En did not want to see. He had hoped for the team to defeat Lille in an away game and obtain the team's first victory in the Champions League. However, Forest Team was too tired after consecutive battles. They were completely powerless in an away game.
Starting from the first match of the Champions League group stage on September 15th, Forest Team had played five matches in 13 days. The match schedule was indeed too dense. Despite his unwillingness, Tang En could not do anything about it.
The only good news was that Real Madrid had been forced into a draw by Benfica in Portugal. The points of the four teams in Group D had not been pulled apart.
After the two group stage matches, Real Madrid was ranked first in the group with four points, followed by Benfica and Lille with two points each. Nottingham Forest was ranked last with only one point. It looked like it was in line with UEFA's classification of them as the "fourth tier."
Nottingham Forest's performance was in line with most people's expectations. Returning to the Champions League after 24 years, Forest Team did not show convincing strength. It was reasonable for them to be ranked last. On the other hand, the strong team, Real Madrid, did not show strong strength. They did not win against Benfica in an away game. Even when they played against Forest Team, it was a thrilling victory.
The situation for this group to advance was not as simple as people had previously thought.
However, no matter how people analyzed it, there were probably not many people who thought that Tony Twain's Nottingham Forest Team would be able to advance from this group based on their performance in the first two group stage matches. However, when these people made such an analysis, they all overlooked a problem — Forest Team had been competing with their opponents with an incomplete lineup. Albertini was absent due to injury, and George Wood was also suspended. The importance of these two players to the team could not be clearly stated in a few words.
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After returning to England from Lille, the league committee's decision was also out. Stephen Johnson's decision was an error of judgment, and Anelka's red card and two-match suspension were rescinded. At the same time, because of such a serious error of judgment in the refereeing process, Johnson's qualifications to referee Premier League matches were suspended.
This relief could be said to be good news for Nottingham Forest and Anelka, but Twain did not appreciate it.
When he received the final result, he shook the piece of paper in front of the reporters and used a disdainful tone to express his dissatisfaction. "All right, everyone. Now it's proven that we were wronged. But what's the use of this? We lost an important striker in the most crucial game. Who will compensate for this loss? I understand that there's something that requires them to use five days to study. Who knows what they're studying? "
A day later, Tony Twain was fined 15,000 pounds by the English Football Association for expressing an "inappropriate" opinion about the refereeing committee's work.
However, Twain did not care. He was already used to it. To him, spending a little money to express his thoughts freely was a good deal for him.
In the following league match, the Forest team, with Anelka back, swept Manchester City 2: 0 at home. Twain used a rotation system for this game, and most of the main players were replaced. This made Stuart Pearce think it was a good opportunity for Manchester City to score away goals. He did not expect the Forest team's strength to not be affected after the rotation. Instead, it became even more outstanding.
The China player, Sun Jihai, was in the starting lineup for this game against his former team. He played the entire game and performed in a standard manner. Of course, on the Chinese media's side, it became a "dazzling performance."
Gareth Bale also got his first chance to represent the Forest first team in the starting lineup. His debut was quite successful, with an assist. In this game, Twain arranged for him to play as a left back. Bale's performance was a little timid. In the second half, he was pushed to the midfield and switched to the left midfielder. His performance immediately changed.
Even the commentator for this game, Motes, was very optimistic about Bale's future. "To represent the club's first team in the English Premier League at the mere age of 16, this is a happy day for Gareth Bale. For the Forest fans, this is also a happy day, because after George Wood, their team has gained another genius from the youth training camp! Look at his series of performances before he assisted Viduka — calm and courageous! How impressive! "
Other than winning again and gaining Gareth Bale, who performed well, Twain had another piece of good news.
On the second day of the game against Manchester City, Albertini appeared at the side of the training ground in his training uniform. All the players surrounded Albertini, welcoming their captain back to the team after being absent for more than a month due to injury.
Twain smiled extraordinarily radiantly. Standing in front of Albertini, he joked loudly. "Look who this is? Demetrio, your legs must be rusty, right? "
"You're right, Boss. So I have to move around more. "Albertini kicked his legs.
"Welcome back!" Twain gave Albertini a tight hug.
Currently, the team's results in the Champions League were not satisfactory. The return of the veteran Albertini would not only bring them another midfielder, but also more experience. As the saying went, having an old man at home was like having a treasure. Albertini was the team's anchor.
That was why Twain was in an unusually good mood. He believed that with Albertini's return, the team's performance in the Champions League would be greatly improved.
Oh, right. Wood had also returned. He had ended his suspension. The next game, Nottingham Forest's home game against Benfica, was the moment of his return.
It was truly a double blessing.
Those who looked down on us, you'll soon find out how wrong you were!
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Due to something in the afternoon, we'll publish it in the morning. Thank you for your support. (To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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