As the other party involved, van Nistelrooy was also harassed a lot. When he was surrounded by many reporters, he constantly made his position clear, "I won't leave Nottingham Forest. I'm very satisfied with everything here. If possible, I even want to play here until I retire. "
The owner refused to sell and the player refused to come. What else was there to talk about?
The Manchester City club later announced that they would no longer be interested in van Nistelrooy.
Twain's ability to have endless fun fighting with Manchester City here actually explained another problem — van der Vaart was fine.
In the first round of the league tournament, van der Vaart left the game ten minutes into the game due to an injury. Twain was very worried when he saw him in pain at the time. After the game, the results of the hospital examination made him breathe a sigh of relief. He did not hurt his muscles or bones. He would be fine after two weeks of rest. Twain originally thought it would take at least four months to get it.
If not, Twain probably would not be in the mood to play such a game with Manchester City. He would have simply refused.
Of course, the English media and spectators could not enjoy such a good show these two days.
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A lot of interesting things happened this week. The English fans found that as long as Tony Twain was there, they never felt that time passed slowly. The loudmouth at the post-match press conference and the head-on conflict with Manchester City and the United Arab Emirates consortium behind it made everyone watch with relish.
Just when the dust had not settled on these stories, the second round of the Premier League had already begun.
In the second round of the league, Nottingham Forest continued their away trip. They headed to Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire, where they would meet a new opponent — Hull City.
The 104-year-old team participated in the competition for the first time in English football's top league. Previously, they were more famous for their rugby. The team's home ground, Kingston Communications Stadium, was both a football stadium and an international rugby league stadium.
Because Twain was banned by the Football Association for one game, he could only watch the game from the stands. The command was handed over to the two assistant managers, who were responsible for on-the-spot scheduling. The Football Association also knew that Tony Twain was not an honest man, so they sent two men in black to follow Twain on both sides and sit next to him while watching the game. It was to prevent him from using any advanced communication tools to contact the technical area below.
When Tang En came out of the locker room after giving the team the specific tactics, he was delighted to see the two men in black waiting at the door. "Long time no see, you two."
These two men were the ones who came to supervise him when he was banned from playing in the English Football League.
Because it was not the first time they had met, they were not strangers. The two of them smiled and said, "We see you often, Mr. Twain."
Although they weren't strangers, they weren't friends who could chat with each other. So, Tang En did not waste any more time. He pointed to the stands and said, "Let's go."
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In the stands, Twain was much more well-behaved than when they first met. He did not have any devious ideas, nor did he propose to change seats, nor did he intend to contact the people below. He was like an ordinary fan, holding a soft plastic cup of beer, sitting in the stands watching the game. If the Forest team had a good performance, he would applaud and cheer like the other Forest fans. If Hull City had the upper hand, he would also scold and boo.
The two black-robed men at the side didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Which manager was like him?
In fact, Tang En's thinking was very simple. Anyway, there was no way he could direct the game from the stands. Since that was the case, he might as well play a new game like a pure fan. This kind of experience was very precious to him.
Hull City was a newly promoted team. They were considered to be one of the favourites to be relegated this season from the start. However, it only took the team five years to go from the lowest level of the English professional league to the top. This time was ranked third in the whole of England. From this point, they could not be underestimated at all.
In the first round of the league tournament, Hull City beat Fulham 2: 1 at home. The whole city was in jubilation. Their morale was also high in this game. If they did not handle it carefully, the European champions and last season's Double would capsize in the gutter.
Hull City's manager was Phil Brown. Tang En might be a little unfamiliar with Hull City, but he was no stranger to Brown. The man had once been Allardyce's assistant manager and stayed at Bolton Wanderers for seven years, so his tactical preferences were obvious.
Back then, Bolton Wanderers relied on a strength-based play to achieve success in the English Premier League. Brown was well aware of it. According to the team's new signing, Boateng, the team began a lot of physical training before the season and would compete with the English Premier League powerhouses in terms of strength. And Boateng happened to be this type of strange fate. Captain Ashby was loved by the fans because of his aggressiveness on the field. In addition, the starting center-back for this game, Turner, was more than 1.9 meters tall. The on-loan Gardner was equally strong.
From this lineup, it was clear at a glance what tactics Hull City would adopt for this game.
It was the traditional English football style of holding high and fighting style that focused on physical confrontation.
The natural enemy of a technical team was such a team. Remember the "Mad Gang" Wimbledon, which had a period of glory in the 1980s? Even the European hegemon, Liverpool, had to bow down at their home ground.
But it was a pity that the current Nottingham Forest was not the Liverpool of the past. They had never been proud of their skills. In terms of strength, fighting spirit, and spirit … Nottingham Forest would not lose to this newly promoted team.
Before the game, Tang En's strategy was to go head-to-head with them in the midfield and then rely on sharp attacks from the flanks to directly attack the vital points.
And like most newly promoted teams, Hull City's focus during the summer transfer period was on their offense and not their defense. It was not because their defense was strong enough, but because their offensive strength was worse. So, the players brought in during the transfer period were mostly offensive players. As for defense … it was still the same old partnership from the English Football League Championship.
Generally speaking, in the view of the manager, the offense could be adjusted at will, but the defense must be stable. Unless they had no other choice, they would trust the veteran, who already had a tacit understanding, more than the newcomer, who might be better.
Tang En took advantage of this point and gave up on the defensive counterattack strategy. At the start of the game, Nottingham Forest launched an all-out offensive in the away game. Whether it was the flanks or the middle, they exerted great pressure on Hull City.
He did not believe that an English Football League Championship-level defensive line could withstand a European Championship-level offensive line.
The truth was as he thought. Hull City wanted to compete with Forest on their home ground in terms of physical strength, but they lost after four minutes. Van Nistelrooy, who had become the focal point this week because of the conflict between Manchester City and Forest, successfully scored the opening goal against offside. Kingston's Communications Stadium was silent. These strong defenders were still a little immature in the face of the experienced striker, van Nistelrooy.
Scoring so early completely disrupted Phil Brown's deployment and disturbed the mood of the Hull City players.
They had won against Fulham in the first round and thought they could make a good start in the English Premier League. So, they arrogantly wanted to take down Nottingham Forest at home — Brown's reason was that a strong team, Nottingham Forest, would definitely underestimate a newly promoted team.
But he did not know that the more newly promoted a team was, the more Tang En valued it. On the one hand, it was related to his own experience, and on the other hand, he never let go of a great opportunity to gain points and goal difference against a newly promoted team.
Poor Hull City then hurriedly organized a counterattack, but faced with the two defensive lines led by George Wood, they did not have the advantage in terms of physical strength, technique, and experience. The situation on the field immediately took a turn for the worse.
Eight minutes after the previous goal, Nottingham Forest scored another goal. The scorer this time was Eastwood. A sudden long shot from the top of the arc of the penalty area was very much in line with his style. The football drew an arc and flew directly into the far corner of the goal. 2: 0!
After taking a two-goal lead, the Forest team slowed down a little. The Hull City team also recovered and began to try to fight back.
The two sides tangled on the field. During this period, the Hull City team had two very good opportunities, but one was saved by Edwin van der Sar, and the other was saved by Pepe when he was one-on-one with the opponent's striker.
Nottingham Forest also had a chance to score. Ribéry's shot hit the goalpost and bounced off. Lennon, who followed up, wanted to make up for it, but the opponent's captain, Ashby, beat him to it.
Because van der Vaart could not play in this game due to his injury, Tang En put Beckham in the middle to partner with George Wood. The flanks were the main, and the middle was supplementary. Because Beckham had a certain defensive ability, George Wood was instructed to plug in more and actively participate in the offense, striving to put more pressure on the opponent.
After scoring two goals in the first half, neither side scored again. The score was 2: 0, with the visiting Nottingham Forest in the lead.
When it was halftime, Tang En got up and smiled at the two men in black. "Did the Football Association say that I can't enter the locker room during halftime?"
The two men looked at each other, and one of them said with some alarm, "You can't enter the home team's locker room."
Tang En smiled even more happily. "I'm not that stupid."
Then, he walked off with his head swaying.
※ ※ ※
During halftime, Tang En requested the team not to be satisfied with a two-goal lead. That was because he realized that the Forest team was a little too relaxed in the second half of the first half. Hull City's threatening shots all appeared during that period. If he were still directing the game on the sidelines, he would have used his loud voice to roar the souls of this group of people back to reality.
"Adjusting the rhythm is something we should do, but you can't be too relaxed to the end. If we were facing Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea or Liverpool, it's hard to say if we would still have a two-goal lead. In the second half, if there's a chance to score, don't let it go. Remember, wasting an opportunity will result in retribution! "
"What's retribution?" someone in the team asked.
"It's punishment." Tang En answered his question with a sinister expression.
※ ※ ※
As expected, the Forest team picked up the pace in the second half. Just like at the beginning of the first half. Hull City had wanted to use this time to counterattack, but now they were all suppressed in their own half of the field. They were so pitiful that they could not even send a long shot out.
In the 62nd and 67th minutes, van Nistelrooy completed his first hat-trick of the season. Nottingham Forest's top striker scored two goals in five minutes, changing the score to 4: 0.
Hull City, nicknamed the "Tigers," also completely lost their fighting spirit.
Facing a Nottingham Forest team that was more powerful than them and treated the game more seriously than them, Phil Brown could only stand helplessly on the sidelines, unable to turn the situation around. He did not expect Tony Twain to be so hungry for victory that he would not even let go of a newly promoted team … No, no one wanted to lose. But the attitude of relentlessly chasing after a two-goal lead and vowing not to give up in the game made Brown feel a little cold watching from the sidelines. Now Nottingham Forest had a four-goal lead, but Brown saw that they still had no intention of giving up and were still tirelessly looking for every chance to score.
Playing against such a team, Brown felt as if there was a huge rock pressing on his heart, making him unable to breathe.
Is this the true face of Nottingham Forest, the miraculous team that swept Europe for the past three seasons …
The perversely persistent pursuit of goals, victory, and championship titles had created this invincible and invincible steel team.
He habitually glanced at the visiting team's technical area, wanting to take a closer look at the manager who had so many rumors about him. But looking at the empty manager's seat, he froze for a moment before reacting — Tony Twain had been suspended again.
What an unfathomable opponent …
※ ※ ※
In the 88th minute, everyone thought the game would end with this score. Just as Hull City was still struggling to score a goal to save face, Nottingham Forest scored again.
This time, it was Beckham's signature free kick. When the football spun into the goal, Hull City's promotion hero and last season's English Football League Championship's best goalkeeper, Boaz Mihill, was still standing in place without moving.
Nottingham Forest swept Hull City 5: 0 and won their second consecutive victory in the new season!
Without leaving any face for the home team, Nottingham Forest won cleanly 5: 0 in the away game.
After the last round of the league tournament, some columnists were still criticizing Nottingham Forest's performance and believed that their start to the league tournament would be very difficult. This round of the league tournament, Twain's team used practical actions to slap them in the face.
After the game, Phil Brown lamented that this was the difference in strength — "We tried our best, but unfortunately, Nottingham Forest also tried their best."
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After two rounds of games, Nottingham Forest, with two wins in two games, was ranked first in the league. They relied on their advantage in goal difference to overwhelm Chelsea and Liverpool, who also had two consecutive wins.
What interested Twain was Chelsea's performance after the arrival of Chelsea's new manager, Scolari. It looked like even though Mourinho was gone, Chelsea would continue to be an excellent opponent for him.
On the second day back at Nottingham Forest, Twain received another offer fax. As last season's Double Winner, it was normal for many of the team's players to be favored by other teams. He did not know how many similar offers he had received this summer.
But this time was different.
This fax came from the Manchester City Football Club.
They were not going to continue to pester van Nistelrooy.
This time, they changed targets.
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