This summer, Nottingham Forest was very quiet. There was no news that could excite the media. The Chinese media realized that Tony Twain seemed to like doing "closed-door training." Of course, Twain's "closed-door training" was not the China style of "closed-door training." He just did not allow the media to enter the training grounds to film the team's training scenes. In the entire world, only Nottingham Forest's official website could take these photos. Even the Nottingham Evening Post, which previously had the right to enter the training grounds to film, was stripped of this privilege because of Brosnan's article that offended Twain.
No one knew how Nottingham Forest's pre-season training was going. They also did not know how Nottingham Forest's strength was in the new season. Could those little brats really be of any use? Did Tony Twain still have control over this team? Would the club continue to sell or buy players? They had no idea. Twain even rudely canceled the regular press conference every Wednesday afternoon. The reason was — there was nothing to say!
The only way the media could understand the team's latest situation was through the public sale of tickets for the warm-up matches. It was a pity that Twain always messed up the number and order of the players to arrange the formation. He also greatly rotated the substitutes into the field after half time. The results of such matches were of no value to outsiders.
Even though everything Twain did was to reduce the pressure on the young players in the New Forest and give them a relaxed environment, the media did not see it that way. However, the media did not see it that way. They thought that Tang En was going against them out of habit.
If you treat us like this, then don't expect to hear anything good from us!
Even though Twain did not reveal any useful information to the media, it did not stop the media from creating all sorts of useful information. As a result, all sorts of articles criticizing Tony Twain and questioning Nottingham Forest's prospects for the new season spread like wildfire.
The English media had to admit this: they could look down on Tony Twain, but they had to rely on constantly scolding Twain to attract the public's attention.
The doubts about Twain's large number of young players had not stopped since Carl Spicer's declaration. As the new season approached, the voices grew louder and louder.
When some experts predicted the results of the new season, they wrote Nottingham Forest as "middle of the league," which was considered polite. Some people even claimed that it would be a miracle if this Forest team did not avoid relegation.
Tang En letting the team engage in closed-door training did not mean that he would cover his ears and eyes. He knew what the outside world was saying about him and his team. However, he did not want to engage in a war of words with the media. For the first time, he did not make any expectations for the new season in his column — everything was just because he did not want to put any pressure on the Forest team, which was dominated by young players.
The current team was very different from the team from a season ago. Tang En also understood this. He could no longer treat this team with the same attitude he used to treat his previous team. Sometimes, his management methods needed to make some changes and adjustments.
He didn't want to put too much pressure on these people, but it didn't mean that he wouldn't put any pressure on them. He just needed the right time to tell his players what a professional league was. He actually needed to thank the media who were always thinking of making things difficult for him, because they had unknowingly helped Tang En perfect Nottingham Forest's external environment.
To put it bluntly, Tony Twain was a person with a dark heart, a psychopath, and a penchant for going against others. So, the team he led would more or less be tainted with this kind of atmosphere — if the outside world was not optimistic, then Tang En would be happy to grab those people by their collars and swing his arms around to give them a tight slap. The crackling sound was like the sound of nature to his ears.
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In the final period before the start of the season, the team was making final preparations for the new season. Tang En and Dunn had reformulated new tactics and offensive routines for the Forest team. They could no longer rely on defensive counterattacks to "dominate the world with one move." Tang En insisted on the need for a playmaker because he believed that positional warfare was a problem that could never be avoided.
Van der Vaart's departure had an impact on the Forest team's new tactics. Şahin was still unable to immediately replace van der Vaart's position and role. The team had to adapt to the playstyle after changing the playmaker.
In the warm-up matches, Tang En used Şahin and Bostock to take turns to try out this position. Occasionally, he would let George Wood and Tiago do the playmaking work. After a few matches of observation, Tiago was the first to be excluded. Perhaps Tiago used to be a playmaker in the midfield, but after so many years of honing, he had become more or less like George Wood II.
Instead, it was George Wood who showed promising signs.
Bostock was still a little immature. Şahin had shown great potential, but there was still a big gap between the warm-up matches and the official matches. It was not like Tang En had never seen players who did well in the warm-up matches but collapsed once the official matches came.
As for how Şahin would turn out, it would still depend on his performance in the official matches.
Based on the principle of not putting all of his eggs in one basket, Tang En decided to nurture Wood's new role in the offense at the same time.
In the new season, even if George Wood continued to play the defensive midfielder position, he would have to take on more tasks related to the offense. When the time came, almost all of Forest's attacks would be launched from this position. When attacking from the back, the ball had to be handed to him from the backfield, and he would be responsible for passing the ball forward. When being pressured by the opponent's front field, he would need to run and open up a gap to receive the passes from the defenders. Then, he would have to control the ball and wait for support from his teammates. When the offense in the front field was blocked, he would need to go up and share the pressure for the midfielders and take over the task of passing the ball.
The defensive midfielder was the most important position in modern football. It was the core of the team. If Wood could perform a little better in the offense and become Nottingham Forest's Fàbregas or Gerrard, then Tang En would have a much easier time. When that time came, he could even try to play the more offensive 4-3-3.
In addition, Wood had not missed a single day of shooting practice. Now, his shooting skills were much better than before. At the very least, out of ten shots outside the penalty area, only half of them would fly off the mark.
A defensive midfielder who excelled in defense, had great running ability, and could even pass the ball to organize the offense. If all else failed, he could come up and shoot a furious shot through the opponent's goal. Just thinking about it was enough to make one feel terrified.
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After getting married, Shania had no reason to slack off. With the global economic crisis, she also needed to work hard to earn money. Now, she was no longer a single aristocrat who could feed her family. After getting married, she suddenly had to consider many things. Other than earning money, there was also a very important matter — the fruit of her and Uncle Tony's love.
If possible, she would return home to Nottingham as soon as possible after work. Then, she would entangle herself with Uncle Tony in bed and enjoy the sweet world that belonged only to the two of them.
They made love continuously. Sometimes they did it three times, sometimes twice. They would change positions and do it again. Other than the exuberant desire born from their love for each other, it was also because they both hoped to have a child as soon as possible.
Tony Twain was about to turn 41 years old. For a man, it was considered too late to have a child at this time. Moreover, considering the potential danger in Tang En's body, the earlier they had a child, the more secure the couple would feel.
However, more than two months had passed since they got married. Other than the days when Shania went out to work, they made love every day. Shania's body did not react at all.
"Alright … Alright, this matter can't be rushed." After another round of entanglement, Tang En lay on the bed, hugging the naked little Shania in his arms and muttering to himself. It seemed like he was comforting Shania, but also seemed like he was comforting himself.
"And … To be honest, Shania. I don't think getting pregnant early is good for your career … "
Shania lay on Tang En's naked chest and carefully searched for the position of the pacemaker. "Are you worried that my figure will change after giving birth, Uncle Tony?"
"That's not it …"
"To be honest, Uncle Tony. If I really lose my figure because of giving birth to a child and become a fat, ugly woman with a dull face, would you still love me? "Shania suddenly raised her head and looked at Tang En.
Tang En rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling. In his heart, he thought about how a woman like that would look like.
"Ah! You're hesitating. You're wavering! "Shania sat up from the bed and pointed at Tang En.
"Nonsense! I'm seriously considering it! If I give you an answer easily, you should be the one worried about it! "Tang En pulled Shania over and leaned her against his chest. "Listen to the sound here!"
Shania listened carefully for a while. She was worried that Uncle Tony's heart attack was acting up again. "It's very normal …"
"That means I'm not guilty! Don't think that you'll become ugly just because you're fat. Some women only become cuter even when they're fat! " Tang En stared at Shania and said with a serious expression, "Also, I won't allow you to think about such boring things like what would happen to me if something happened to you."
"For example?"
"For example, I've never thought that if I die, you'll … ugh …" Tang En's mouth was blocked by Shania's lips.
After a long kiss, Shania straddled Tang En's waist and glared at him. "If you dare say 'die' again, you'll see how I'll deal with you, Uncle Tony! Ah … "
She suddenly felt something pushing against her hip. She did not turn around to look because she immediately knew what it was.
She glanced sideways at Tang En who was lying on the bed and pretended to be surprised. "Wow! Are you really forty years old, Uncle Tony? "
Tang En did not blush. He pointed to his left chest and said, "I have a nuclear-powered heart. The power can last longer and the effect is stronger. One battery is equivalent to five. Even if I fight with you for another 300 rounds, my waist won't be sore and I won't be out of breath! "
"You're lying! Are you an Uncle Android? "Shania puffed her cheeks and pouted to show that she did not believe Uncle Tony's nonsense. However, her waist began to slowly twist involuntarily.
Tang En could feel his thing below being rubbed against Shania's soft and round little butt. It was not very obedient. He looked at Shania's beautiful face. A confused and infatuated expression had already appeared on it. Her bright eyes were covered with a layer of mist. Her moist lips were slightly parted, reflecting the dim yellow light at the head of the bed. It was as if she was a tender red cherry waiting to be tasted.
"Then … Do you want to give it a try?" Tang En smiled evilly as he placed his hands on her slender waist. With the woman on top and the man on bottom, they began a new round of "making a man."
The last moments before the season passed just like that …
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A week before the start of the new season, at the new Wembley Stadium, last season's Premier League champion, Manchester United, and the FA Cup champion, Liverpool, reenacted the final round of the previous season's championship match. However, this time it was a direct confrontation. In the last round of the previous season, Liverpool, who was under too much pressure, could not perform at their usual level against Tottenham, who had to avoid relegation. Instead, Tottenham performed very actively.
In the end, Liverpool was forced to a draw by Tottenham on their home ground. Tottenham narrowly avoided relegation. On the other hand, Liverpool lost the Premier League title. In another stadium, Manchester United defeated Hull City by three goals in an away game and finally snatched back the Premier League trophy. It also continued the glorious legend of the old manager, Ferguson.
With such a background, the Community Shield this season was played with the smell of gunpowder. Liverpool had been suppressing their desire to take revenge on Manchester United. They finally had the chance.
In the 90-minute match, the referee showed a total of six yellow cards and one red card. Not only did Manchester United lose to Liverpool and lose the Community Shield, Cristiano Ronaldo, who had just undergone knee surgery last summer, was once again violated by his opponent. His knee injury relapsed and he had to leave the field. The Liverpool midfielder, Mascherano, who violated him, was directly shown a red card by the referee and sent off the field.
The score of the match was not as exciting as it looked. 1: 0, a small victory for Liverpool.
The picture of Ferguson glaring at Benítez in the press conference after the match was on the front page of many newspapers. He even angrily claimed in an interview that Liverpool, from the manager to the players, were a bunch of bandits. A player like Mascherano, who had no sportsmanship, should be sent to the gallows. His words caused a stir in the English media. He was also fined 100,000 pounds by the English Football Association.
Benítez and the Liverpool Football Club were not easy to deal with either. Benítez felt that Ferguson lacked the most basic respect for others and was sorry for Ronaldo's injury. However, he did not think that Mascherano should be condemned by the Manchester media. Who let his innocent player face such great pressure? The person who claimed that Mascherano should be sent to the gallows should be sent to the gallows.
As a result, Benítez was also fined 50,000 pounds by the English Football Association.
Mascherano was additionally suspended by the Football Association for four matches after the match. In an interview with the media, he said that he had already called Ronaldo and claimed that he did not do it on purpose. It was just an accident caused by an excessive defensive movement. He also said that Ronaldo had accepted his apology.
However, only God knew if Cristiano Ronaldo, who would be out for one to two months of the new season because of the injury, would really accept his apology.
The 2009 to 2010 English Premier League season kicked off in such a chaotic and tumultuous background.
For the first time, Tony Twain and his team were outside of such a clamor.
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Appendix:
2009-2010 Nottingham Forest First Team squad list (26 players):
Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (1), Igor Akinfeev (12), Dale Roberts (25).
Defenders: Leighton Baines (22), Gareth Bale (2), Pascal Chimbonda (3), Sun Jihai (21), Jonathan Woodgate (5), Vincent Kompany (4), Pepe (6), Wes Morgan (30), Rafinha (14), Joe Mattock (33).
Midfielders: George Wood (13), Martin Petrov (8), John Bostock (23), Aaron Lennon (17), Tiago Mendes (31), Nuri Şahin (15), Chris Cohen (20).
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