After this UEFA European Championship, Tang En once again confirmed one thing — in addition to being suitable for being a manager, there was another job that suited him.
A guest commentator for football matches.
Back when Tang En was just an ordinary football fan in China, every time he watched a match being broadcasted on television, he would listen to the commentary from the commentators and guest commentators from other industries who were completely out of place, without any professional knowledge or professionalism, and who were casually pulled over from other industries. He would feel that what these people said was not as good as what he said. But at that time, he could not change anything other than silently criticizing them in his heart. As long as he watched the match, he still had to endure the inferior commentaries and comments again and again, unless he turned off the TV's sound. But if he could not hear the shouts coming from the stadium, what was the point of watching the match live?
Now it was all right. He no longer had to endure that kind of noise, because … he could make it himself!
During the UEFA European Championship, some audience members called to protest Tony Tang En's commentary style, thinking that his sharp and unkind style of speech was a kind of noise to them.
When Tang En was a football fan, he never thought that after he really became a guest commentator, there would still be people who thought what he said was rubbish.
But now, he did not need to care about the opinions of those audience members. What John Motson had revealed to him was that the BBC's top brass was very happy to see a "famous mouth" like Tang En flaming on the live telecast every match. That was because it attracted enough eyeballs, created enough topics of discussion, and earned enough advertising fees …
Tang En's commentary was always very bitter, so bitter that Motson sometimes could not take it. He could mercilessly criticize those star players and coaches during the live broadcast of the game. His words … were completely vicious and vicious. If the target of his commentary heard him in person, he would not hesitate to pounce on him and beat him to the ground.
There were people who hated it, and there were naturally people who liked it. Some people really, really liked to listen to Tang En's commentary. They even left a message on the BBC's website saying that if the BBC dared to change their commentator, they would call to harass them every day until the BBC changed him back.
In fact, it was not necessarily that Tang En's commentary was more profound and original than other experts. The key was that his talent for language allowed him to make a match exciting and varied. He was also very good at grasping the interesting scenes in the match, always able to let people find a place to entertain. Some people said that Tang En had turned a football match into a live talk show. The comparison was too apt.
BBC seized the opportunity to sign a long-term contract with Tang En during the UEFA European Championship. In the contract, BBC-5 hired Tony Twain to be their special guest commentator. When the England national team had a match, Twain would temporarily put aside his position as Nottingham Forest's manager and switch to become a television commentator. The contract between the two sides would last until the end of the 2010 World Cup, and then be renewed depending on the situation.
Other than endorsing for Armani, this was another source of income for Tang En. It was not comparable to Armani's endorsement fees, but it was still something. Not only could he do a job he liked, but he could also earn money. Such a good thing was hard to come by.
Going back to the UEFA European Championship itself, this tournament made Tang En sigh again and again that football was round, and everything was possible on the football field.
Italy and the Netherlands' strong start brought them an early exit. Russian football had signs of returning to its former glory. It had just defeated the Netherlands, but it was immediately defeated by Spain. The German chariots were as stable as ever, but they lost because of their lack of passion. Poor Ballack became the "Triple Champion" again after 2002 (Chelsea lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup final and finished second). In the end, Spain's title was well-deserved, and there was no surprise at all. Throughout the tournament, the only team that had not made any mistakes and had always played steadily, whether it was defense or offense, was Spain. There would be no justice if such a team did not win the championship. Casillas continued his excellent form at Real Madrid. Although Villa was unhappy at Valencia, he vented all his depression on the UEFA European Championship. After winning all six games, Spain once again dominated Europe after 44 years.
Although Italy was eliminated early, Tang En was happy that Grosso's performance on the national team was much better than his performance on the Forest team. His value, which looked like it was going to fall, was expected to rise again because of this UEFA European Championship. While he was commentating on the UEFA European Championship, French and Italian clubs had already asked Nottingham Forest about whether Grosso could be sold.
Grosso was just a small surprise. The biggest surprise came from Russia's core player, Arshavin. Due to his red card in the last game of the UEFA European Championship qualifiers, he did not play in the first two games of the UEFA European Championship group stage, and Russia's results were not ideal. In particular, in the 0: 4 defeat to Spain, there was nothing worth placing hope on the team. Tang En, who was in charge of commentating on the game, could only shake his head as he watched Akinfeev pick up the ball from the net again and again. The game almost made Nottingham Forest's number two goalkeeper lose face. The responsibility for conceding the goal as soon as possible was not on him, but people would only focus on the unlucky position of the goalkeeper.
Following that, Russia barely defeated Greece 1: 0 in the second round of the group stage. They finally kept the hope of advancing from the group stage and left the seeds for Arshavin's comeback.
Arshavin made his comeback in the third game of the group stage and led Russia to a clean 2: 0 slaughter of the Nordic powerhouse Sweden. Russia's performance in this game could be said to be a complete turnaround from when they suffered a crushing defeat to Spain in the first game. The lineup was almost the same, but because of the addition of Arshavin, Russia's offense was more threatening, and their ability to move forward was stronger.
After entering the knockout stage, the 3: 1 elimination of the Netherlands was almost a one-man performance by Arshavin. The insufferably arrogant Dutch team, who dominated the group stage, was at a loss when faced with the small Arshavin. The defenders simply could not defend against Arshavin's attacks on the two flanks. His speed and skills made it so that unless the Dutch committed a foul, they could only let him pass.
This game made Tang En feel proud and elated. Such a performance by his players showed his foresight when he strongly advocated for Arshavin to be brought in a year ago.
This game was dubbed the "Nottingham Forest Derby" by the local media in Nottingham. Two players from Russia and three from the Netherlands appeared in the starting lineup. Other than Arshavin and Akinfeev, who performed well, van Nistelrooy also received van der Vaart's assist to score a last-minute equalizer in the game, dragging the suspense of the game into overtime. Only the poor Edwin van der Sar became a victim. He picked up the ball from the goal three times, especially the two goals he conceded in overtime, completely crushing the Dutch's fighting spirit.
No matter who the final victor was, this match made Tang En very happy, because it proved to the world that Nottingham Forest's players were the best. This season's Double Crown was definitely not obtained through dogsh * t luck.
Our players have this ability!
※ ※ ※
While Tang En was giving pointers on BBC-5, Dunn and Kerslake's work also came to a conclusion. Dunn and the scouting team he led finally compiled a list of up to 30 players. Not only were there names, but there was also the most detailed information on each player. There were even video recordings of their matches in this UEFA European Championship.
Tang En did not need to do any other work. He only needed to look at this report to understand all the players' information in all aspects, as well as their performances in the UEFA European Championship.
Among them, Benzema was perhaps the most famous player recently. Dunn was also very optimistic about the French center forward's ability, but he was the first to be excluded from Tang En's selection list. It was not that Tang En did not think highly of his ability. There was a very simple reason: he was a player from Lyon. Lyon's boss was famous for being a miser in the European football scene. He was best at selling his players at a high price. Currently, all the powerhouse clubs in Europe were observing Benzema. Just based on this point, Aulas would not accept negotiations with an offer of less than 50 million euros. And what Nottingham Forest currently lacked the most was money.
Huntelaar shared the same reasoning. Tang En would not consider it either. In addition, Tang En felt that the team's current configuration of four strikers was very reasonable. He could not think of any need to add new strikers. Even if they really wanted to bring in new strikers, it would only be to bring in very young strikers and put them in the youth team to train or loan them out for training. The First Team currently did not need to bring in any strikers.
In fact, the position of new players brought in by Nottingham Forest in the new season was mainly in the back half. If a suitable candidate could stand in the position of the defensive midfielder, Tang En would not not consider it. Sidwell's agent had already called Tang En during the UEFA European Championship, hoping the club would agree to Sidwell finding another new owner. After Tang En pretended to retain him, he agreed in principle to Sidwell's change of ownership, but the price must be satisfactory.
If Sidwell left, the problem of finding a substitute for George Wood would be put back on the agenda.
Sun Jihai was indeed a jack of all trades, but he was too old and his form was declining very quickly. He might barely be able to play as a full back, but Tang En did not feel at ease handing over such an important position as the defensive midfielder to him.
Due to some well-known reasons, it was very difficult to find a substitute for George Wood. However, Tang En was already thinking of a solution. The team's goal for next season was still to compete in multiple tournaments. This time, Tang En intended to try to touch the FA Cup, which he had never won. That meant that starting from January next year, Nottingham Forest would face the grim situation of competing in three tournaments. That kind of rotation system was even more indispensable. This time, Tang En intended to put Wood in the rotation system. After all, it was dangerous to put such an important position as the defensive midfielder on Wood's shoulders alone. What if Wood was suspended? If he could have an outstanding defensive midfielder to share the burden, Tang En would be able to handle the situation much more easily when facing multiple battles.
Tang En hoped to let the team try to operate on the transfer of the Spanish youngster, de la Red, if possible. He was optimistic about de la Red's ability to control the rhythm of the offense, which could be a beneficial complement to George Wood. In this UEFA European Championship, de la Red cleverly seized the opportunity that belonged to him. He scored a key goal in his first appearance for the Spanish national team. His performance was remarkable. Of course, de la Red was only one option. If he wanted to lean more on defense, there was another defensive midfielder who came from the same school as him — Javi Garcia.
One of the two abandoned players from Real Madrid might transfer to Nottingham Forest in the summer — note that it was only a possibility. Tang En had no idea whether Real Madrid and Getafe would be willing to let them go. The Real Madrid people were not blind. The outstanding performance of these two young players last season was well known.
There was also a defensive midfielder who performed well in the UEFA European Championship that could be considered. That was Inler, the 24-year-old Swiss national footballer who played for Udinese. He had a strong view of the overall situation, delicate techniques, and defense was his forte. No matter how one looked at it, he was an excellent defensive midfielder who could replace George Wood's position in some games. And he did not suddenly become famous in one UEFA European Championship. Tang En did not have to worry that he was just a shooting star. Because Italy's authoritative media, La Gazzetta dello Sport, had once voted Inler as "the most cost-effective signing in the Serie A summer."
Chiellini's tackle on Cannavaro became an opportunity to stand out. His performance in the UEFA European Championship was the biggest discovery of the Italian national team in this tournament. However, with Grosso as a precedent, Tang En no longer approved of Italian players. He would not consider bringing in Chiellini, although the Italian youngster could play as a center back or left back.
The right back, Chimbonda, would definitely leave. Even if he did not want to go, Tang En would make it clear that the Frenchman was not in his plan. Then, relying on Rafinha and Sun Jihai, whose form had declined sharply, was obviously not enough to meet the team's requirements for the right back position in the multi-front competition. The search for an outstanding right back was imminent.
Tang En already had a target — the Portuguese national team, as well as Porto's main right back, Bosingwa. Of course, in the battle for Bosingwa, Nottingham Forest would face strong rivals Chelsea and Manchester United. For this reason, Tang En did not even hesitate to use the entire transfer budget for the summer to get Bosingwa. If the right back was not replenished, Nottingham Forest's right flank in the new season would be buried with an indefinite time bomb that would explode at any time.
In terms of the left back, thanks to Grosso's poor performance, Tang En had a new understanding of Leighton Baines. He believed that he was still very useful in a purely defensive task. There was no need to purge him from the team so quickly. Therefore, the club intended to offer Baines a new contract, extending it until 2011.
In terms of the center back, Nottingham Forest could be said to be full of talents and basically did not need to make any signings.
Pepe's performance in the Portuguese national team was very stable. His goal after a long run in the first game was amazing. Tang En would certainly not let him go.
Piqué was selected for the Spanish national team, but he did not get a chance to play. However, he had witnessed a big competition and won a championship title, which would only be good for his growth. The only trouble was … it was said that after two seasons of pain, Barcelona planned to focus on reforming their rear defensive line and learn from their arch-rival, Real Madrid. And their target was Gerard Piqué, who had Barcelona blood — and a very pure one at that. Tang En would not agree to Piqué's departure, but … Tang En was a little worried about Piqué's own thoughts. After all, he came from La Masia. It was hard to say if he still felt that playing for Barcelona was the only goal of his career …
Kompany was a substitute for Pepe or Piqué in the Forest team, but he had improved significantly and had the talent to play as a defensive midfielder. Tang En also valued the young man. If … if Piqué insisted on responding to Barcelona's call, Tang En did not have to worry too much because he still had Kompany.
As for Ayala, his experience was still what the team needed the most. Of course, if a team was interested in him and wanted to buy him, Tang En would not force him to stay. After all, there were not many opportunities for Ayala to contribute to the Forest team.
As for a player like Wes Morgan, he did not need to give him too many chances to play. Occasionally showing his face was enough. His main task was not to help the team achieve victory on the field, but to maintain the balance in the locker room, to ensure the purity of Nottingham Forest's blood, and … to help the team successfully register for the Champions League before every season.
Basically, this was Tang En's outline for signings this summer. Generally speaking, all kinds of transfer activities would be carried out with this plan as a reference. To maintain the main framework of the team, some small details would be fixed and adjusted, ensuring the team's degree of tacit cooperation and adding new blood to strengthen their strength.
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