Tang En's work proceeded smoothly with the full cooperation of the coaching staff and Dunn. Several of the new team members were personally selected by Tang En and persuaded to join them. Therefore, he had his own plans and arrangements for these people. It was like a jigsaw puzzle. All the parts were in place, except for a few missing pieces. Now that he matched the missing pieces and put them in their place, a complete picture appeared in front of everyone.
The new players already knew the manager they would be working with for four years. Once they were familiar with each other, things would be easier to handle.
The coaching staff's job was to create the team's new tactics and train the team to adapt to them.
The addition of van der Vaart and van Nistelrooy provided new changes to the Forest Team's tactics. In the past, Nottingham Forest focused on quick counterattacks in mobile warfare. However, the arrival of these two Dutch players could strengthen the Forest Team's ability to play positional warfare, which had always been a shortcoming.
Van Nistelrooy was a center forward that fit Tang En's requirements very well. Not only did he have an outstanding ability to score goals, but he was also good at running. He could hold the ball and pass it to his teammates. He could also use his own running to tear apart the opponent's defensive line and create offensive opportunities for those who plugged in from behind. His sense of responsibility even made him willing to retreat to defend. This was what Tang En liked most about him. This professional player put the team's interests above his own.
On the other hand, van der Vaart had a lot of freedom in the front field. Tang En was right. In most cases, he did not need to consider defense at all. This feeling was especially obvious when he partnered with his new teammate, George Wood, in the midfield. Wood's ferocious tackles and outstanding stamina could completely take over the heavy responsibility of the midfield defense. In this way, van der Vaart could attack unscrupulously in the front field.
Having just entered the team, in order to quickly integrate into this new group, van der Vaart took on more of the responsibility of the midfield playmaker in training and warm-up matches. Tang En was happy to see him take the initiative to do such things. The team did indeed need a playmaker who was closer to the opponent's goal. After all, Arteta was still a center midfielder and not an attacking midfielder.
Wood's task remained the same. No matter who he partnered with, his first job would always be to protect his partner and ensure that they had no worries in the back.
Of course, Albertini requested that Wood participate more actively in the offense, whether it was in training or in the game. He could not just be a bystander, intercepting the football in the back field and passing it to his teammates in front. Even if there was no ball, he still had to run up to support.
Albertini asked Wood to learn from his midfield partners at all times. They were his closest "teachers". Wood had partnered with different types of midfielders: Albertini, Arteta … Now it was van der Vaart's turn. Albertini hoped that Wood could learn something useful from his teammates who had different styles. He did not doubt Wood's learning ability at all. Otherwise, he would not have improved so much.
As for Petrov, his position was fixed on the left flank. His speed and impact were very suitable for the English Premier League. Tang En had always felt that whether it was in the Bundesliga or La Liga, he had not fully displayed the true strength of the Bulgarian flank attacker. The English Premier League was a fast-paced league. The offense had to be fast, and the defense had to be fast as well. No matter what they did, "speed" was the first element. Petrov also found it to his liking.
Originally, Franck Ribéry was the only one struggling to hold on on the left flank. God bless him for the past two seasons. He did not have any injuries or fluctuations in his form, but Tang En could not guarantee anything in the future. Petrov's arrival greatly reduced the pressure on Ribéry. At the same time, it made the Forest team's left flank even more terrifying.
With the addition of positional warfare experts such as van Nistelrooy and van der Vaart, the Forest team's greatest characteristic — speed — was not weakened. Instead, it was enhanced. It was believed that this was not good news for the managers of the English Premier League teams.
Perhaps some people were worried that after Anelka was frozen, the Forest team would lose the speed of their counterattack, but Tang En already had a plan.
Without Anelka, although the speed of the front line had dropped overall, Nottingham Forest's counterattack was already known for its speed before Anelka was gone. The forwards did not serve as the arrowhead for the counterattack. The real weapons for the counterattack were the two flanks. So, with or without Anelka, the speed of the team's counterattack would not be affected.
Nottingham Forest's flanks were the type with outstanding individual abilities. They were fast, good at breakthroughs, and could also shoot and score goals. Other than Ashley Young, who had an obsessive-compulsive disorder of assisting, the others could be the arrowhead in the counterattack.
Therefore, during normal training, Tang En paid attention to having the flanks practice shooting and maintain the feeling of shooting. Only when they were needed to shoot and score in the game would they not disappoint the team and fans.
※ ※ ※
While Nottingham Forest was training in the country, they played two warm-up matches against English Football League Championship teams. In the two matches, the Forest team won one and drew the other. As usual, Tang En did not care about the results of these warm-up matches. What he cared about was the process.
In these two warm-up matches, the team had made a large number of substitutions in the first and second halves, so the results of the matches had no value as a reference.
In the first warm-up match, Tang En focused on inspecting the recovery of the players' stamina and condition after a holiday. The results were mixed. Some people's conditions were as stable and outstanding as ever, such as the monster George Wood. Others were much worse, such as Ashley Young. The result of this match was a draw. The team and Wolverhampton Wanderers were tied at 2: 2.
In the second match, after another week of practice, the players' conditions were found again, and the cooperation between the new players and the team gradually took shape. This time, the Forest team won against Sunderland, who had been relegated back to the English Football League Championship, 3: 1. Tang En was happy to see van Nistelrooy score in the match.
As the core of the team's organization, van der Vaart needed to practice with the entire team, so his performance in these two warm-up matches was average.
Petrov demonstrated an excellent ability to adapt. Just as Tang En thought, his style and the English Premier League's style simply complemented each other. Only here could he perform at his best. His breakthroughs on the flanks were something that even Ribéry had to concede. That was because he was different from Ribéry. Ribéry's dribbling skills were better. Speed was just one method. Petrov, on the other hand, relied on his speed. He was so fast that it was impossible to defend against. Although the unreasonable and violent dash forward was the simplest, it was the most effective against the English Premier League's full-backs who went straight up and down.
In the Bundesliga, the media had once evaluated Petrov in this way: "For defenders, maintaining half a body's distance from Martin Petrov means that they have already been bypassed."
It vividly illustrated the Bulgarian's characteristic — speed.
Tang En did not ask Petrov to follow the others and learn how to sway left and right, Marseille turns, and oxtail. His request for Petrov was simple: Once you get the ball, you must resolutely go from the byline. Is there an interception in front? Rely on speed to force a charge!
※ ※ ※
Time passed quickly. The day of the Amsterdam Tournament was getting closer and closer. The team was also preparing to leave for the training ground in Volendam, a small town in the northeast of the Netherlands.
Anelka's transfer prospects were unclear. His two older brothers were working hard to help him find a club that met his requirements, but the situation was not simple.
There were many teams that wanted Anelka, but either Anelka himself looked down on them, such as Bolton Wanderers, or those clubs could not afford to fork out 25 million pounds. The clubs that could afford it were not willing to fork out so much money for a striker with an eccentric personality.
In this way, Anelka was suspended in mid-air, unable to go up or down.
Once, his two agent brothers thought Tang En's threshold of 25 million pounds was a bluff. They tried to persuade a team to fork out 15 million pounds to purchase Anelka from the Forest Team, but Tang En rejected it without a second thought.
Later, his two brothers began to make Anelka use his behavior of being late or leaving early during training as a passive confrontation. They publicized the conflict between the two through the media. The result? Tang En did not care about these little tricks at all.
If you, Anelka, want to be late and leave early, then leave early. I'll deduct this fine from your salary. He was even less afraid of the media's publicity. He already had a way of dealing with the media, and he could not wait for the media to continue to hype things up. The bigger the hype, the better. That way, more teams would come to inquire about the price. Perhaps there would be a sucker who could afford it. He even wanted to encourage Anelka's two agent brothers to keep up the good work.
The two used to be golden partners, but now they had become enemies who were like strangers.
This made people a little sad, but Tang En was the boss of the team. He was the only boss here. Now, Anelka wanted to openly challenge Tang En's authority. Given Tang En's character, he would not give in. It was not unexpected that the two of them would come to blows.
Despite the conflict, Tang En firmly believed that as long as a person had a shred of value, he should make full use of him. So, in the list of players going to the Netherlands, the media saw Nicolas Anelka's name.
After a month of trouble, Anelka seemed to know that he had hit an iron plate this time. The club, from top to bottom, had a firm attitude of support for Tang En. It was too difficult for him to turn the tables on his own. If the manager did not let him go, then he would not be able to.
The current Anelka was no longer the young and frivolous Anelka from back in Real Madrid. He knew how to restrain himself. In his view, Tang En not excluding him from the list was giving him a way out. The smartest thing to do was to take this opportunity to ease his tense relationship with the manager.
Tony Twain was currently in the limelight. The chances of winning against him were too slim.
※ ※ ※
The Amsterdam Invitational Tournament was a traditional pre-season friendly tournament for European teams. It was held in the Dutch capital of Amsterdam at the beginning of August every year. Three teams from all over the world were invited by Ajax to participate.
Of course, although this competition was a warm-up match, it wasn't something that just anyone could participate in. The teams that Ajax invited were inevitably strong teams with a certain level of influence in the world of football. For example, Manchester United, Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and other powerhouse teams all had records of being invited. From another perspective, a team that could be invited to participate in the Amsterdam Invitational Tournament was in itself a recognition of strength and status.
At the beginning of this season, Nottingham Forest, the most popular team in European football last season, received an invitation from Ajax. They would compete with the Portuguese league champion, Porto, as well as the Italian league champion, Inter Milan, and the host, Ajax, for the final championship.
Tang En did not care much about the championship trophy. What he cared about was the quality of this friendly. Two league champions and two league runners-up. This could be said to be at the level of the Champions League. Moreover, the participating teams would attach great importance to this competition. There would not be a situation where they did not put in the effort. Competing against such opponents, the team and the players could get ample training.
※ ※ ※
"Amsterdam …" Ashley Young muttered as he looked at the city outside the window on the bus. "Heaven …"
Sitting next to him, Eastwood and Ribéry laughed loudly at the same time.
Hearing the laughter, his teammates turned to look at the back seats of the bus. Someone asked curiously, "What's the matter? What's the matter?"
Bendtner, who was sitting in the row in front of Ashley Young, turned his head and said to Ashley Young in all seriousness, "Hey, Young, I think it would have been better if you had trilled your last sentence."
Then, Eastwood stood up and imitated Ashley Young's expression and tone. Coupled with his rich body movements, he said in a trembling voice, "Amsterdam, heaven …"
This time, everyone on the bus burst into laughter.
Ashley Young was a little annoyed by the laughter. He stood up and explained very seriously, "Don't you think so? This is a great city! "
Van der Vaart, who had been in Amsterdam for more than a decade, asked him with a smile, "Do you mean Amsterdam only from the old train station to the Canal District?" This section was where the famous Amsterdam red-light district was located.
The Dutch people who were familiar with the Netherlands and Amsterdam all laughed.
"Ah, so it's there …"
Young's expression of sudden realization made everyone laugh even more happily.
With such a big commotion, it was impossible for the coaching staff sitting in the front row not to hear it.
Hearing the players' conversation, Dunn glanced at Twain. Twain shrugged at him. "If we don't let them have fun, we can't not even let them talk. It's better to have a little fun than to directly do it with real knives and guns …"
Ashley Young's matter had started. The bus, which had been a little dull because of the tiring journey, suddenly burst into a heated discussion. The topic, of course, revolved around the city they were in, the red-light district.
Van der Vaart, who had just left the city, became everyone's guide. He pointed to the streets the bus passed by and introduced them. Perhaps no one on the team was more familiar with Amsterdam than he was.
When the bus passed by the canal, he pointed to a row of two-story buildings on the other side of the river and said, "That's Young's heaven."
Everyone laughed again.
"But there's nothing to see during the day. It only gets lively at night." He explained to everyone in Dutch, which he was not very good at, in English. "It's best to go to that kind of place in a group, not alone."
"Do you have to go in a group to visit a prostitute?" Wes Morgan whistled.
Van der Vaart smiled. "It'll be a little troublesome if you go there alone."
Van Nistelrooy suddenly wanted to joke with his national team teammate. "Hey, Rafael, you sound so familiar. Do you go there often?"
"Ruud, that place is familiar to everyone in Amsterdam. I know it even if I don't go there." Van der Vaart shrugged.
Seeing everyone's discussion getting more and more direct, Twain stood up from his seat.
Seeing their manager suddenly stand up, the players shut their mouths.
"Well, I'm glad to see you guys still so energetic after the trip," he said. "Amsterdam is a good city. It's heaven …"
A burst of laughter erupted in the bus.
Twain smiled and pointed at Ashley Young. "But I still want to remind you: we're not here for a vacation, but for training and competition. So I don't want to see you guys in groups at night in that kind of place. You know what kind of place I'm talking about, don't you? "
Although Twain had a smile on his face as he spoke, no one dared to take his words as a joke.
The bus quieted down again, and Twain sat back in his seat.
The bus turned over a bridge and headed north, leaving the area that would be bustling at night. They drove away from Amsterdam, the "Sex Capital of Europe," and headed to the small town of Volendam, where their training was held. (To be continued, if you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. QIDIAN. COM. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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