In the end, Tang En did not look for Lisa Aria to ask them to retract the article and publicly apologize. It was not that he had forgotten, but he did not know what he should be considered. Regardless of whether he agreed or not, Shania could indeed be considered as his rumored girlfriend because she had confessed to him. In that case, the article could not be considered fabricated.
In addition, he did not want to look for the tabloid again because he did not want to give the media the opportunity to hype up the matter. He was still unsure of his feelings, and he did not want to cause trouble. He was not afraid of trouble in football, but he hoped that there would be as little trouble as possible when it came to relationships and women. It would be best if there were none.
The actual situation was similar to what Tang En had hoped for. The influence of the newspaper that Lisa Aria worked for was limited. In addition, there had been several news about Tang En's rumored girlfriends in the past few years. At first, when Clarice Gloria appeared, everyone was excited. Later on, when the Turkish beauty appeared, no one responded at all. The two "rumored girlfriends" even had photos as proof. As for the scandal between Tony Twain and Shania, the newspaper could not even produce a photo. How could it be "shocking"? Could it be that just because they knew the two of them were friends, they casually fabricated such shocking news? They were even "willing to use their reputations to vouch for their authenticity". Who didn't know that these entertainment gossip reporters' reputations were for sale these days? Not many people would believe that Shania was Tang En's secret girlfriend.
At this time, if Tang En's secret boyfriend was not China Dunn, but David Kerslake or David Beckham, it might be more sensational …
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Ever since that incident, other than writing an email, Tang En had not contacted Shania again. Now, he really did not know how he should face his little fairy. He felt a little awkward and simply did not think about it.
Fortunately, he still had work to distract him.
The grouping and competition schedule for the new season's Champions League group stage had all been arranged. As the team that successfully defended their Champions League title, Nottingham Forest received unprecedented attention. As a seeded team, Forest Team was also favored by the experts. There were even voices like this: "No matter which group Nottingham Forest is placed in, and no matter who the other three teams in that group are, Tony Twain's team is bound to advance, and there is an eight to nine out of ten chance that they will be first in the group. The only option for the other three teams is to fight for second place in the group. "
The final result was that Nottingham Forest was placed in the last group.
In Group H, other than the seeded team Nottingham Forest, there was also the veteran powerhouse Juventus, who had just returned to Serie A last season and made it into the Champions League this season. Ukraine's traditional powerhouse Dynamo Kyiv and the Belarusian team Borisov.
Only FC Kyiv Dynamo still had a certain ability to disrupt the situation. FC Borisov had been identified as the weakling of the other three teams. If there were no surprises, the two teams in the group to advance would be Nottingham Forest and Juventus.
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The national team's competition had temporarily come to an end, and the players gradually returned to the team. George Wood had his happiest two weeks in the national team since he became a member of the England national team. In the two games on the 6th and 10th, he was in the starting lineup and used practical actions to repay Capello's trust in him. England defeated Andorra by two goals in the away game and swept their arch-rival Croatia by 4: 1 in the away game. They avenged their elimination from the UEFA European Championship finals. George Wood's defense in the midfield played a crucial role.
Capello, who rarely took the initiative to praise an individual player, said to the media after the game against Croatia, "With Wood, our offensive efficiency is higher."
Why is it higher? Because they do not always have to worry about needing to quickly return to the defensive position after conceding the ball.
George Wood used his tireless running and ferocious defense to stop Croatia's every attack. In the middle of the midfield, Croatia could not penetrate at all and could only find a way to go to the side. Croatia's rising midfield star, Modrić, who played for Tottenham Hotspur, was successfully frozen by Wood and only played for sixty-five minutes before he was substituted.
Twain was happy with Wood's performance. He greatly complimented Capello in his column. He said that Capello was a gold medal manager with real talent and that England would be able to go further under his leadership …
Of course, he did not forget to praise Wood's performance. After all, his proud disciple did not embarrass him. "… I've long said that George is England's best defensive midfielder. It's a pity that he was always not put in an important position in the past because of one reason or another. Now I'm happy that he has met a manager who really understands his talent. I can even say that it will not be long before the England team ushers in the 'George Wood Era'! "
Twain was not at all afraid that praising George Wood to the skies would "kill" him. Because he knew very well that George Wood was not the kind of person who would get carried away by glory. His life experience made him more stable than most people and able to withstand the waves of glory and disgrace.
George Wood's excellent performance was one of the few good news that Twain received on the national team's match day. Other than that, there was the injury report.
Ribéry was injured in the 77th minute of France's 2: 1 victory over Serbia and needed to recuperate for a week.
Martin Petrov was injured in Bulgaria's 2: 2 away draw with Montenegro and needed to be sidelined for fifteen days.
Eastwood was physically exhausted after representing Wales in the game against Russia. The fitness coach suggested that it was best for him not to participate in the league tournament three days later.
There was also van Nistelrooy, who was still on the injured list, and van der Vaart, who had just returned from his injury, whose condition could not be guaranteed. There was also no guarantee that he would be injured again. There were pitifully few people that Twain could use now.
Although it was a home game and the opponent was Sunderland, Twain did not feel relaxed.
The aftereffects of spending the summer in the air frequently appeared. It would be strange if he could still feel relaxed.
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"As we still have to play in the Champions League next week, we will use rotation. Eastwood does not recommend to let him play. Bale should also be rotated. Beckham needs rest. Fleming suggests not to let van der Vaart play in the game against Sunderland because he's worried that the rough Sunderland team will injure Rafael again …" Kerslake was reading the report.
Twain waved his hand to interrupt him. "Just tell me who can be allowed to play. There's no one on the left flank, and there are only two defensive midfielders in the middle. We can't even find a substitute for the forwards. "
The group was silent. The situation was indeed too tricky.
In the end, Twain's lineup was Akinfeev replacing Edwin van der Sar as the main goalkeeper, Leighton Baines starting as the left back, Woodgate and Ayala as the center backs, and Rafinha as the right back.
The center midfielders were Tiago and George Wood. This time, there was a clear division of labor. Tiago was responsible for defense, while George Wood focused on offense, which was equivalent to pushing George Wood to the position of organizing the offense.
On the left of the side midfielders was Chris Commons, and on the right was Lennon.
There was no choice for the forwards. Twain paired Žigić and Arshavin.
After this arrangement, Twain found that the seven players on the bench could not be arranged according to the positions. They could only be arranged individually.
Edwin van der Sar, Chimbonda, Kompany, van der Vaart, Sun Jihai, Bale, and Beckham.
The rest were either injured or had insufficient stamina and could not play.
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Keane was clearly aware of Nottingham Forest's current predicament. Although he had a good personal relationship with Twain, it was not the time to talk about friendship. Against such a half-crippled Nottingham Forest team, Sunderland mustered up all their energy and brought out their entire main lineup, striving to fight out the result that Keane wanted in the away game.
Dragged down by the national team's game, the Nottingham Forest players were in a slump and had poor stamina. Sunderland's entire team did not relax from the backfield to the front, and they were completely at a disadvantage. Fleming's concerns were not without reason. The Sunderland players' movements were big and almost rough. As long as they could snatch the ball, they did not care about the overwhelming boos from the stands. Fortunately, van der Vaart did not take the risk of playing. Otherwise, no one could say how many months he would have to rest after this game.
Nottingham Forest scored at the start of the second half, but Sunderland relied on their tenacious tackling to grab a chance in the front field and equalized the score five minutes later. The goal dealt a blow to the Forest team's morale. In the face of the fierce Sunderland, the fear of injury also made the players' performance fearful and could not even play at half their usual level.
In the end, Nottingham Forest was forced to a 1: 1 draw by Sunderland at their home ground. The league ranking slipped to fifth place, along with Aston Villa and Hull City, which they had once defeated with five goals.
※ ※ ※
Žigić's first performance was definitely not a success. As the tallest player on the field, he was still a little unaccustomed to the Forest team's tactics. What's more, without van der Vaart and Ribéry, the support that the midfield could give him was pitifully little. He was not the kind of striker who, after getting the ball by himself, could charge forward, overcome the opponent's entire rear defensive line, and then shoot the football into the empty goal. Despite his mediocre performance, Twain still kept him on the field and let him play the full ninety minutes of the game. On the one hand, it was because there was no one else to replace. On the other hand, it was because he wanted Žigić to adapt to the team's tactical play as soon as possible. After all, Twain did not buy him to sit on the bench to learn and observe, but to make him part of the rotation immediately.
After the game, everyone in the locker room was busy bathing and changing before leaving the field. Being forced to a draw by a team like Sunderland at home made everyone unhappy, but it could not be helped. This was football, and no one could guarantee victory in every battle. What's more, the team now had more injuries, and everyone knew that. So, Twain did not criticize the team's performance. He just hoped that the team would perform differently in the Champions League group stage next week.
On the second day of the game, Twain informed Žigić through an interpreter that he wanted to talk to him alone.
The Serbian thought that Twain was going to criticize his performance yesterday. Twain's first words after meeting him were, "Have you experienced the difference between the Spanish league and the English league?"
Žigić nodded. Yesterday's game was indeed completely different from the La Liga he was used to.
"Can you tell me what's the difference?" Twain asked.
"Speed and rhythm," Žigić blurted out. In yesterday's game, the pace of both teams' offense and defense was very fast, and the mistakes greatly accelerated this speed. Sometimes, just as Žigić was about to return to defend, Nottingham Forest had already successfully intercepted the ball in the backfield and was about to launch another counterattack. In such constant running back and forth, Žigić consumed a lot of energy, which was one of the reasons why he did not play well.
Twain nodded approvingly. "That's right. Although there are other differences, speed and rhythm determine everything. The English Premier League's speed and rhythm are faster than other leagues, so the physical requirements are higher, and you have to be smart enough. You wasted a lot of energy yesterday … Did Coach Twain tell you? What does our center forward need to do? "
"Open up space, attract the opponent's defensive attention, make the ball for your teammates, and score goals."
"I think yesterday you … Well, how do I put it, you were a little too modest. You're a center forward, and you should put 'scoring goals' at the forefront. If you give up a chance to score to someone else, under what circumstances should you choose to pass the ball? When you can't turn around because of the opponent's defender, when your position is not very good, and when your teammates have a better chance to score … Passing the ball is the best choice. Yesterday, you passed the ball to your teammates more than you shot. Are you trying to win everyone's favor? "
Žigić was a little embarrassed by Twain's words. He nodded and admitted his original intention.
Twain laughed. "It's useless to do that. I found you to be the center forward, not to play as a side midfielder. I do value your ability to make plays, but you're a center forward. If you want them to accept you, like you, and acknowledge you, it's actually very simple — score goals, and keep scoring goals. That way, everyone will like you. "
Twain planned to focus on nurturing and supporting Žigić. If he could not adapt to the English Premier League, he would work hard to help him adapt. If he could not score goals, he would work hard to give him opportunities to score goals. He wanted to re-establish a tall center forward. He wanted to let those waiting to see him make a fool of himself know that leaving Bendtner was no loss to him, because he had Žigić!
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