"… Chelsea is in good form, Nottingham Forest is also in good form … Even though it's still a little early, I still want to say — Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 11th round of the English Premier League, Nottingham Forest's home game against Chelsea! I'm John Motson, and today we'll be commentating on the game, Gary Lineker. Gary, what do you think of today's game? "
"Actually, Mourinho is not a manager who pursues the path of artistic football. He once publicly declared that he was an admirer of Capello, so we can see what kind of manager he is. He values results more than the scene, and values results more than the process, so his Chelsea team has a sharp attacking lineup, but plays very cautiously. I think the '1: 0 doctrine' is the best interpretation of him … But, but I believe that in this game, Mourinho will not adhere to his' 1: 0 doctrine 'in an away game. "
"Because his opponent is Tony Twain?"
"Yes, this is the only manager he did not beat last season. We don't know what the relationship between the two of them is in private — Mourinho once attended the work permit hearing for the Forest player, Pepe, and before the UEFA draw ceremony, Mourinho also took the initiative to talk to Twain … But I think on the football field, the two of them are enemies. Mourinho will not allow himself to lose to Twain, and Twain will not be willing to lose to Mourinho. While the two managers pay attention to the results, they will definitely use the 'most convincing' way to win — offense. So, this game will definitely be very exciting to watch … "
There was still an hour before the start of the game, and the two people on the live broadcast platform were already busy.
In fact, as early as half a day before the start of the game, England's various media outlets had already gathered in Nottingham. Even though there was still the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur today, the game held in Nottingham was the highlight that attracted the attention of the whole country.
Just as the media did their best to advocate, most of the people who paid attention to the game were not Chelsea fans or Forest fans, but many neutral fans … In the post-match statistics, there were quite a number of women among the crowd who paid attention to the game! They might not care which team won. They just wanted to see whether the one who had the last laugh would be Mourinho or Tony Twain.
was right. This was a "war between two people" …
※ ※ ※
With forty-five minutes to go before the start of the match, the stands in the City Ground stadium were basically full, and they were divided into two distinct groups — the red square, which had the absolute advantage, and the blue square, which was concentrated in the away team's stands.
Red and blue were the two traditional colors in English football. Most teams' home uniforms were either red or blue. Although there was no conclusive evidence, Routledge's "Football Handbook", published in 1867, was the first to suggest that teams wear different colored uniforms and separate red and blue for everyone to choose from. "If it can be arranged in advance, one of the parties will wear a certain color sports shirt, such as red, and the other party will wear a different color sports shirt, such as blue. In this way, they could avoid confusion and any unwanted attempts to snatch the ball away. I often see situations like this, and I always hear apologies like, 'Sorry, I thought you were one of them …' "
This should be the earliest reason why most teams in English football nowadays wear red or blue jerseys. Therefore, in English football, there was the so-called "Red and Blue War," where rivals from the same city mostly used red and blue. For example, Liverpool City's two teams, Liverpool (red) and Everton (blue), Manchester City's two teams, Manchester United (red) and Manchester City (blue), as well as Arsenal (red) and Chelsea (blue), who had recently become enemies.
Now, the Forest team and Chelsea were also caught in the vortex of the "Red and Blue War."
Before the teams appeared, the fans of both sides had already started a full-scale war in the stands.
The Forest fans used their songs to mock the current Chelsea team as a ruble army, a group of mercenaries who had long lost the traditional spirit of English football and had become the toys of the Russian owners. The Chelsea fans were singing "We're Fucking Rich" at the top of their lungs. To fight back against the provocation of the Nottingham Forest fans. There were even Chelsea fans who held up signs that said, "Do you want us to help you buy a stadium?" to mock the Nottingham Forest team's pitiful small stadium that could only accommodate a mere 27,000 people.
The Nottingham police were on high alert. Fearing that the fans from both sides would cause conflict and bloodshed before the game, they set up three rows of blank separation strips in the middle of the two teams' stands. In the middle stood two rows of riot police, back to back, fully armed, wearing steel helmets, holding tempered glass shields, and batons. They stared warily at the red-faced fans.
Pierce Brosnan, a reporter for the Nottingham Evening Post, sighed when he saw the scene in the press box. "It's hard to believe that these two teams have no hatred for each other in the past hundred years …"
The combination of the developed media and the two managers with the same unruly personalities created the rapid opposition between the two teams. It was impossible for Brosnan not to know this, but he did not want to admit that he was part of the driving force. Sometimes he thought he was not the same kind of person as the paparazzi who fabricated the news at will and sensationalized the crowd. His original idealism still remained in his heart.
※ ※ ※
With thirty minutes to go before the start of the game, the players from both sides appeared on the field for warm-ups. The fans in the stands finally stopped attacking each other, and everyone's attention shifted to cheering on the players who supported their teams.
From the players who came out to warm up, it could be seen that both sides sent out their elites and had no intention of conserving their strength. Even though Chelsea would be away to challenge Real Betis three days later, and the Forest team would be in Portugal to challenge Benfica four days later …
"It's really in line with their personalities — neither wants to admit defeat in front of their arch-rival." Motson counted the players who were warming up on the field and then compared them with the lineup list he had just obtained. Sure enough, none of the main players were missing.
Chelsea sent out all the main players they could send, and so did the Forest team.
Lineker laughed next to him. "Isn't this interesting? Their personalities are exactly what we're looking forward to. Before, we would still be worried about what the Premier League has to look forward to after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. Now we don't have to worry … We still have Mourinho and Tony Twain! "
With fifteen minutes to go before the start of the game, the warm-ups on the field ended. The players from both sides filed into the tunnel and returned to their respective locker rooms. No one knew what would happen there, but they were all interested.
At the same time, in the gradually deserted square outside the City Ground stadium, a dark red Audi A6 arrived.
"Are you late?" A somewhat shrill voice came from the car.
"No, Mr. Doughty requested to come at this time. If there are too many people, we're also worried that you'll be squeezed and hurt. "Another voice said.
The car door opened, and a man in a black suit came out first. He walked around and opened the back door. The first to come out was a woman — Freddy Eastwood's wife. She was holding a baby in her arms. A little boy jumped out of the car after her.
The man waited for them to get out of the car before he leaned in and helped the Romani Eastwood out.
"Okay, thank you, but …" Freddy saw that the man seemed to want to help him all the way to the grandstand box, so he hurriedly waved his hand to stop him. "I can walk, but it'll be a little slow."
Beside him, Samim gently patted his baby who was sleeping soundly in his arms and said to the man, "Let him walk by himself."
The man was a little troubled. "But your leg, and Mr. Doughty specifically told us …"
"Chairman Doughty also wants to see a healthy Eastwood, right?" The Romani forward said. "I'll walk up, no problem." After saying that, he walked towards the dedicated tunnel that led to the main grandstand.
The man hesitated for a moment, but he quickly walked up and followed beside him.
"Let's go, baby." Samim waved his hand at the little boy who was looking around.
※ ※ ※
While Eastwood was slowly but diligently climbing the dozen or so steps, Twain was in the locker room giving his players a final pep talk.
The tactics board was already messed up, but it did not matter. No one looked at it. The real tactics had long been imprinted in their minds.
"Guys." Twain looked at the players who had changed their jerseys and were sitting in their respective positions. "Last season, the English Premier League champions are our opponents in this game. This season, so far, they have not lost a single game and are currently at the top of the table. No matter what I personally think of this team and Mourinho, I have to admit that this is a very, very strong and very combative team. "
Having said that, he stopped and looked at the players who were a little confused.
"Look at the expressions on each other's faces … Are you guys wondering why I'm praising our opponents so much before the game? Will anyone think that I'm joking to liven up the atmosphere? "Twain shook his finger." No, no, I'm not joking. I'm speaking from the bottom of my heart. Chelsea is indeed strong, very strong. They almost won the title with an undefeated record last season, and they almost equalled the undefeated record set by Arsenal in the 03-04 season. But! "He suddenly changed the topic, and everyone's spirits rose. "Why did I say 'almost'? Because they still lost a game in the league tournament! Who can tell me, who did they lose to!? "
This was the moment they were waiting for. Everyone in the locker room roared in unison, "Us!!"
"Almost all the teams in England have to bow down to Mourinho's Chelsea, but only one team is not afraid of them! Tell me, who is it!? "
"Us!!" Almost everyone stood up from their seats, raised their necks and roared like wolves in the Forest team.
(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author, support the original reading!)
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