On the other side, the finals of "The Football Guy" in China were in full swing. Tony Twain was not idle either.
In January, he went to participate in the draw for the second knockout stage of the Champions League. The result once again proved his assumption that someone within the UEFA was manipulating the draw — his team was drawn together with AC Milan in the Round of 16.
The Italian media excitedly clamored to make Nottingham Forest pay back tenfold.
But what was there to pay back?
Some media even impatiently imitated Twain's tone when he led the team to defeat Barcelona last season and said, "In May last year, we lost. This time, we're going to win it back from Nottingham Forest!"
Indeed, the previous champion, Nottingham Forest, defeated their opponent in the Champions League final the year before last, and won the previous championship with an unstoppable force all the way to the previous championship. Now, AC Milan was also likely to repeat the scene from last season, defeating their opponent in the final, and then going all the way to the final to pick up the UEFA Champions League.
After the draw, Twain was surrounded by reporters who insisted that he talk about his thoughts on this opponent.
Everyone wanted to see Twain give an arrogant speech and then stir up a war of words between the two sides. This was what the media loved the most. But Twain was naturally an awkward person. He would not let most people get what they wanted.
"There's nothing to talk about. AC Milan is a strong team. It's normal for anyone to win or lose. Of course, I don't want to lose. I believe Mr. Ancelotti thinks the same way. So that's it … Defending champion? This statement is meaningless. Other than making us a target, what benefits can the previous champion get? "Twain shrugged." Look at the result of the draw. Obviously not. "
In the end, he still could not hold back his soaring resentment against the UEFA.
Yes, to encounter such a strong opponent in the Round of 16 would indeed be difficult for the team to play in the future. And this time, they were the host first and then the guest. In the previous two years, they had been the guest first and then the host. The advantage of being the guest first and then the host was that they did not need to play all the cards in their hands at once. They had a backup plan to deal with the opponent when they returned to their home ground in the second round. For a coach like Tang En who liked to defend, this was the most suitable match arrangement. In the first round of the away game, he would rely on defensive counterattacks to achieve the result he wanted. It did not matter even if it was a draw. It would be even better if they could win. Even if they lost, they would not lose by too much. Then, in the second round, he would use his home advantage to decide on a specific strategy based on the results of the first round.
If he was the host and then the guest, it was equivalent to handing the initiative to the other party. If something went wrong in the first round, they might not be able to turn the situation around in the second round …
Tang En did not like the feeling of losing control.
Moreover, AC Milan was indeed a strong team.
Even though Twain was arrogant on the surface, he never underestimated an opponent that he should not underestimate.
His coaching staff had to start seriously studying AC Milan's current strengths and weaknesses and find countermeasures.
Fortunately, Dunn was back.
※ ※ ※
Twain breathed a sigh of relief when Dunn returned on time. The Champions League was about to start, and several teams in the league were also very tight on each other. If something went wrong at this time, more than half a season's hard work might go up in smoke.
People had high hopes for the current Nottingham Forest. Victory and the championship seemed to be a matter of course for them. The burden on Tang En's shoulders was heavy, and the pressure on his head was great.
With Dunn by his side, he could feel that the pressure was shared. In fact, his colleagues in the coaching staff shared this kind of pressure, but Dunn shared it more because he was closest to Tang En.
Everyone knew that Tony liked the young man from China. He did not give any explanation, only letting Dunn work in the youth team. Then, everyone slowly saw the hidden level of the Chinese young man. Following that, no one questioned whether Tang En's trust in a Chinese was too low.
The level that Dunn displayed was not like that of a young man from a country that was backward in football. He was very young, but also very talented — a talent in the field of coaching.
Tang En was always together with Dunn, which made some people outside suspect that the two were gay. After all, they had yet to publicly announce their girlfriend or lover. However, the people in the Forest team knew that Tang En and Dunn were only together for work reasons, and that Tang En was an Englishman who loved Chinese culture, while Dunn happened to be a Chinese.
How many of the many tactics that the Forest team used were actually designed by Dunn? No one knew, and it was not important anyway. They only needed to know Dunn's position in the club — he was Tony Twain's most trusted person.
After letting Tang En finish reading the story about the young man called Chen Jian, Dunn and Tang En dove into their normal work.
The few young players from China selected through the talent draft would only arrive in March. Before that, there was nothing for Tang En to worry about. In fact, even if they came, he would not be busy. At most, he would meet a few lucky ones and say a few nice words of encouragement. He might not see them again for a few months. According to the agreement, the few young players from China would be sent to Nottingham Forest's youth team, assigned to different age groups, and trained with them.
※ ※ ※
Other than Dunn's return, there was another person's return that put Tang En in a good mood.
Pepe received the permission to play from the medical team. He could proudly return to Tang En's side and confidently request to play in the next league match.
Just like last season, after his injury, the matter of when he would return to the field was like a ball being kicked back and forth between the team's manager, Tony Twain, and the team's medical team leader, Fleming.
Tang En insisted that he needed the team's medical team to issue a written certificate before he would consider letting Pepe return to the main roster.
Fleming, on the other hand, told Pepe that it was up to Tang En whether or not he would issue a written certificate.
In the end, Tang En and Fleming studied Pepe's physical examination report together. After conducting various tests on him, they concluded that Pepe's physical condition had returned to the level it had been before. Only then did Fleming issue a written certificate to Pepe.
Looking at Pepe's smiling face, Tang En was actually very happy. For more than three seasons, Pepe had long since become the core of Forest Team's defense. He was the main force in the rear defensive line, and his talents and gifts had been excavated to the maximum under Tang En, a manager who placed great emphasis on defense.
His outstanding physical qualities, speed and explosive power that did not lose to a striker, the ability to predict in advance, the steady confidence he had in one-on-one matches, the decisiveness when he made his kicks, and the various honors that Forest had obtained made him one of the best center backs in the world.
At this moment, Nottingham Forest's defense line also needed Pepe's return. So, when he saw Pepe return triumphantly, Tang En could not hold back the smile that blossomed on his face. The fierceness that he had previously put on a stern face had vanished into thin air.
"It's done." Seeing Pepe run over, he pointed to the training ground.
"Do you see there, Pepe?"
Even though he did not know why Tang En wanted him to look at the training ground, Pepe still obediently turned his head to look. He nodded. "I see it, Boss."
"The weeds there … They're almost as tall as a person."
Hearing Tang En say so, the smile on Pepe's face deepened. He had already gotten the Boss's answer. There was no need to ask again.
After coming to England from Portugal, because he had used the club's once-in-a-season "special genius clause" quota, the media was initially skeptical of this unknown kid. They thought that Tang En had made a mistake and that it was a waste to use the precious "special genius clause" quota on such a kid.
But very soon, Pepe used his performance to conquer the picky English media.
No one criticized him as a fake anymore. The Sun even gave him a nickname — "The Lawnmower."
Tang En had heard of this nickname before he transmigrated, but the meaning of that nickname was not quite the same as this one. In the world before he transmigrated, Pepe received this nickname when he was playing in Portugal. As the team was used to playing with three center backs, he needed to take on more and faster tasks of "cutting the grass."
Now that the place where he became famous had changed to England, The Sun gave him this nickname out of a more vivid metaphor. Pepe's performance on the field was like a tireless lawnmower, cleaning up the Forest team's rear defensive area without any weeds.
So, now that Tang En said this, Pepe knew that he agreed to let him return to the field.
"Aren't you going to say something else, Boss?"
"What else do I have to say?" Tang En was amused. "Go train. Be careful not to hurt your feet because you're excited. Also, I'm very happy that you're back in the team. "
Pepe responded and turned to run to the training ground.
For Tang En, Pepe's return was the best news he had heard recently. Currently, the Forest team really needed Pepe. The reason why Tang En was so insistent on making sure that Pepe was fully recovered before he could return to the field was because Tang En was afraid of Pepe's injuries during the winter of the past two seasons. He did not want the defensive genius he had unearthed to become a complete "glass man" because of frequent injuries. A defender's technique and awareness were the best in the world. But if your body could not keep up and you kept getting injured, all the world-class techniques and awareness would be useless.
Tang En was afraid that Pepe would become a second Nesta, so he was so careful.
When Pepe was frequently injured, Tang En would worry about his knees when he saw Pepe suddenly stop in the middle of a run at the side of the training ground. Fortunately, the days of being on tenterhooks were over …
The center-backs with the best physical qualities in FM 2007 were not fictitious by the game developers, the SI team. As partners of the Forest team, they had the advantage of being in a favorable position. In the game, Nottingham Forest's player statistics were the closest to the real level.
In the English Premier League, where physical contact was intense, Pepe was rarely at a disadvantage in many direct confrontations with his opponents.
With an excellent defender like Pepe and a defensive monster like George Wood, the Forest team's ability to achieve such brilliant results in three years was not some castle in the air. Tang En proved to the world that defense was the most important factor in today's football world if you wanted to win the championship. No matter how sharp your offense was or how strong your midfield was, without a solid defense, it was all empty. Defense was the foundation of a team, the foundation of offense and midfield. Without this foundation, even the most beautiful and artistic offense would be a castle in the air.
Just look at Barcelona's situation this season. After the first half of the league season, they were led by the more pragmatic Real Madrid by seven points and even lost the most crucial El Clásico at home. The artistic football that Rijkaard was so proud of and the offensive football had long become yesterday's news.
As a fan, Tang En liked to watch beautiful football. But as a manager, he would never sacrifice the team's results to pursue the illusory "artistic football." He was very clear about the difference between "work" and "personal interest."
※ ※ ※
Dunn and Pepe's first game back was very close. On February 9th, in the 26th round of the league tournament, Nottingham Forest would challenge Sunderland in an away game.
It was the same opponent and the same away game, but it was completely different from the FA Cup in January. Tang En would no longer use the second team to make up the numbers, nor would he deal with Sunderland with the mentality of training his players. Similarly, the Sunderland manager, Roy Keane, would not think that the current Nottingham Forest could give his players "confidence."
He set up a tight defensive formation on his home ground, intending to use defense to the death in exchange for even one point.
If it had been a season earlier, his tactics might have really succeeded.
This time, it would not work.
Nottingham Forest's offense was no longer simply relying on the two sides to quickly break through and hit the opponent's back. With many positional warfare experts, they were not afraid of the opponent and their defense to the death.
Sunderland lost 1: 2 on their home ground.
Nottingham Forest got three points as they wished and used this victory to surpass Manchester United, who had lost this round's "Manchester Derby." At the same time, because the match between Arsenal and Blackburn Rovers would not be played until the 12th, Nottingham Forest was now temporarily at the top with 60 points.
Pepe came on as a substitute in the second half of this game, replacing Ayala. Sunderland's only goal happened after this. Having been out of the game for a long time, his coordination with his teammates was not good enough, allowing the opponent to seize the opportunity to score a goal. This goal gave Sunderland hope for a while. Fortunately, Pepe quickly adapted to the rhythm and guarded the middle together with Wood and Piqué. Coupled with Tang En's timely adjustments, they managed to defend the three points.
Through the final performance of this game, Tang En felt that Pepe's condition was not very stable and needed to be further adjusted through training.
The good news was that they still had plenty of time.
The next round of the league tournament would only start again on February 23rd, and the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 would also be on February 19th. This period of time was the international competition period for the various national teams.
Since Pepe had recovered from his injury, Tang En did not feel that there was anything wrong with playing for the country. Furthermore, what Pepe needed now was not rest, but more games to quickly find the rhythm and feel of the game. Using the national team's games as a "test field" was better than risking Nottingham Forest's results in the league and Champions League …
In the home game against AC Milan, defense was still key, and the returning defensive core, Pepe, was the key of the key. His performance would directly affect the results of the Forest team's game.
Tang En hoped that in the game against AC Milan, he could obtain a sufficiently outstanding "lawn mower."
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