Up until now, the Forest team had rarely targeted African players in the transfer market. Even though Tang En knew that African players were mostly cheap and good, he would rather use the more expensive European players than buy Africans. Why?
It was because of the conflict between national competitions and club competitions. The biennial African Cup of Nations was different from the cup competitions of other continents. Because of its special geographical location, its competition was not held in the northern hemisphere's summer, when most of the national competitions were resting. Instead, it was held in the fiery winter, when the national competitions were in progress! In this way, if a team had too many African players, then in January, the majority of the team's players would be absent. How could they still play? It was not as if Tang En had never had such an experience. When he was playing FM, because there were many African and South American players in the team, they could not even make up the starting eleven players because they returned to their countries to participate in some crucial matches.
Fortunately, that was a game. Tang En did not want to experience it again in reality. That would cost him his life.
Tang En had never thought of being a national team manager, so he naturally considered these issues from the club's standpoint. As the saying went, "one's position determines one's position." It meant that one would speak in a certain position and think in a certain position.
However, because these two national team competitions were not friendly or warm-up matches, each national team attached great importance to these two competitions, so Tang En's wishful thinking did not take off.
In the end, Branyagunalsson, who was a perpetual substitute at the club, only played two games as a substitute for the Iceland national team. He did not even get a minute of playing time. How could he maintain his form?
Ashley Young played a total of 140 minutes in two games for England's U21 national team. Aaron Lennon played a full game for the U18 national team. Edwin van der Sar played a full 180 minutes in two games for the Netherlands national team. Gerard Piqué played a full two games for Spain's U21 national team.
Franck Ribéry played a full game in his debut for the national team. He performed well until the 87th minute when he was substituted off amidst the cheers and applause of the Stade de France. Ribéry was flushed with success, while Tang En gritted his teeth in front of the television. He could tell from some clues that Ribéry's stamina was running low in the final moments of the game. In the next game, Ribéry came on as a substitute, but he also played nearly 20 minutes.
As the main center forward of the Australian national team, Mark Viduka naturally did not have the possibility of coming on as a substitute. He also played a full 180 minutes.
Nicklas Bendtner played two full matches for the Denmark national youth team.
Although most of the players performed very well in the match, Bendtner and Viduka both scored, and Ribéry even had the first assist in his national team career, he became the subject of the French media's scramble to report on after the match.
But Twain only saw the listless looks of these people on the first day of training after returning to the team.
Today's training was mainly focused on recovering his stamina. In the league tournament three days later, Tang En still had to rotate. The players who played on the national team's match day had to rest. His target had shifted from England to the Iberian Peninsula.
Madrid, the capital of Spain.
※ ※ ※
Ribéry, who was representing the national team for the first time, was very excited. A season ago, he could not have imagined that he would have such a day. At that time, he was still on the pier of a small town in Western France. He was at a loss about his future and did not know if sticking to the path of a professional footballer was the right choice.
A phone call from Nottingham Forest Football Club had changed the course of his life.
From the familiar France to the completely unfamiliar England, he had instead made a name for himself. Not only did he play in the top league, but he also quickly became the team's main force. His reputation soared and he was now a member of the French national team. No one mocked his looks or the scar on his face anymore. Everyone focused their attention on his legs.
This was the life he wanted.
So, when he represented the national team in the starting lineup, he still gritted his teeth and persevered even when his stamina ran out. He did not want to be substituted because he could not run anymore. If that happened, he would have regrets in his first match for the national team.
Of course, as a price, after returning to the club, Tang En told him that he could not even make it into the squad list for the upcoming league tournament. He had to stay at home and rest.
Ribéry was not an exception. Piqué, Ashley, and Young also did not make it into the squad list for the competition.
Wesley, Morgan, and Aaron Lennon took their places.
Who their opponent in the league tournament was, how strong they were, how the match would end up, and whether their ranking would drop … Tang En did not care about these questions. The season was still long. Even if they were stopped here, they still had a chance to make a comeback later on.
But Tang En did not want to miss the match against Real Madrid. He wanted to ensure that his team was in good condition and use the strongest lineup to be a "guest" at the Bernabéu.
Other than the factor of "revenge," Tang En also had a small wish in his heart, a small wish as a fan. He wanted to compete with Zidane at the Bernabéu once before Zidane retired.
Because of his arrival, a lot of things in this world had changed. Tang En did not know if Zidane would still be galloping on the field after the season ended because of this, but he knew that there were not many opportunities to compete with Zidane. This time, the draw had coincidentally put his team in the same group as Real Madrid. He had no reason to miss these two matches.
In the first game, the Tattered Forest team lost to Real Madrid on their home ground. This time, coming to an away game, Tang En could deploy the strongest lineup he could. He wanted to challenge and see if he had the ability to defeat Real Madrid.
※ ※ ※
Before dealing with Real Madrid, Forest needed to deal with their opponents in the league.
On November 19th, Nottingham Forest lost to Newcastle 1: 2 at St. James' Park. The league points were stagnant.
For the first time in his real coaching career, Tony Twain saw the power of the FIFA virus.
Even though none of his players were injured in the national team match, even though he let the players who had not fully recovered rest at home in Nottingham. But he could not solve the predicament of Neville Ford's empty training base for a week and a half. His main players were all transferred. He could not even carry out tactical training for the entire team. He could only let the remaining players carry out simple physical training and technical practice.
Then, after the players returned to the team, they headed north to Newcastle three days later and hurriedly assembled to challenge an opponent with a strong home advantage.
Only losing by one goal, Tang En had to thank the players' fighting spirit.
Because Wigan Athletic lost to Arsenal 2: 3 at home, Forest was able to maintain their current second place in the league. But the points gap between them and Chelsea had widened to five points. Chelsea won. They completely defeated Blackburn Rovers 3: 0 at home.
Tang En exposed his lack of experience. After two consecutive rounds without a win, he could only watch as Chelsea widened the gap that had originally been narrowed.
But no matter how regretful he was, he had to smile in front of his players to encourage and comfort them after they lost.
"Well, forget about the past matches." In the away team's locker room at St. James' Park, Tang En smiled and said to his men, "We have a more important match in front of us. Two months ago, we defeated our opponent on our home ground. Now, we're going to go to their home ground and get back what we lost! "
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