Being drawn with Inter Milan was a good thing for Tang En. The greater joy had nothing to do with football — Shania was finally back.
The bachelor Tang En believed that football was the only thing in his life, and he cared about nothing else. He was crazy about football, no less than the most hardcore fan. So, after he became Nottingham Forest's manager, other than going back to the bar to drink, he was no different from Dunn in other matters. When he was not drinking, he could lock himself up at home for an entire day, drawing the curtains to watch videos of the matches and studying the various notes Dunn had left behind. He was unaware of the passage of time and did not even notice when he was hungry.
But after he got married, his love for football had to be divided into half for his family and his wife. Now, he felt that there was finally one thing in his life that was as important as football.
He was happy that Shania could come back. When he returned home after a day of work, there was no longer only an empty and lifeless concrete building.
Before he got married, Tang En worked hard because he liked football and the job. After he got married, he still worked hard because he had responsibilities on his shoulders — a man had to support his family. Although Shania did not earn any less than Tang En, as an authentic Chinese, Tang En still had some Chinese traditional thinking in his bones. He felt that a man should support his family, and that was the purpose of work.
With parents, children, and a lovely wife by his side, he felt that it was worth it no matter how hard he worked.
Shania would only be leaving in May this time. They had four months to enjoy their time together. Tang En wanted to make up for all the time he had previously owed.
One of the important programs was naturally to make a baby.
Tang En and Shania had been married for almost two years. Both of them had worked hard, but Shania had yet to show any reaction. The revolution had not yet succeeded, and the comrade still had to work hard.
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The first match after returning from the draw ceremony was the FA Cup. Before the match, the media asked about the result of the draw, worried that such a terrible result would affect Forest's performance. Tang En denied that it was a "terrible" result. Then he led the team to a 2: 0 home win over West Bromwich Albion in the fourth round of the FA Cup, proving that the media's baseless speculation was unreliable.
In the league tournament in February, Nottingham Forest remained undefeated with two wins and two draws. They continued to rank third in the league tournament. The difference in points between the top five teams in the league was not big. It seemed that it would not be surprising for any of the five teams to win the championship by the end of the season.
The reason for the two wins and two draws was that Tang En's new tactics still needed time to adjust and adapt, so the team's performance was also fluctuating.
However, Tang En did not particularly care about the Premier League. He even voluntarily gave up on the FA Cup in the fifth round. As the Champions League approached, he began to hold back in the league tournament.
After all, he had already talked big in front of the media. If he lost to Inter Milan, he would lose a lot of face …
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The first of March was the day of the away game against Inter Milan. It was a big day for Tony Twain.
The team departed from Nottingham three days in advance and arrived in Milan by plane. The city was not unfamiliar to Twain, but to many of the players in the Forest team, it could be considered unfamiliar.
When Twain first led the team here to play against Inter Milan, he had tried his best to explain to Shania that there was actually nothing between him and Gloria. Now that he thought about it, could it be that he had cared about Shania from then on?
Among the Forest players, the midfield was the one that changed the most. Tiago, Şahin, Cohen, Bentley, and Fernández had not experienced the big battle against Inter Milan.
The reason why the media was not optimistic about Nottingham Forest's future in the Champions League this season was because Nottingham Forest's strength had declined too much in the midfield.
The Forest team's midfield in the past could definitely be called world-class, with famous star players such as George Wood, van der Vaart, and Ribéry. Today's Forest team's midfield was a lot less star player and more civilian. Looking at the two defensive midfielders and 4-2-3 formation that Tony Twain implemented, even if they increased the number of people in the midfield, they still could not get rid of the "blue-collar midfield."
In contrast, Inter Milan's midfield was much more luxurious. Cambiasso, Vieira, Muntari, Stanković, Montolivo, Mancini Jr., Quaresma, Mario Balotelli, and the others formed a midfield that was much more famous than the Forest team.
The comparison of the forward line was even more pitiful.
Nottingham Forest did not even have a universally recognized world-class striker. Van Nistelrooy was considered world-class, but he was not on the Forest team's Champions League roster and could not be taken out for comparison. Eastwood's fame was limited to the United Kingdom. Even if he had once won the Premier League's Bronze Boot, it did not mean anything.
Ibišević was just a relatively bright shooting star, and Agbonlahor was a typical brute with no technique and could only rely on speed. Eastwood had too many injuries, which affected his progress towards world-class.
Looking at Inter Milan's side — Ibrahimović, Adriano, and Giuseppe Rossi, who was transferred from Villarreal for 15.25 million pounds this season. There was also Cruz, who could score goals when he came on as a substitute.
Even in terms of the defensive lineup that Twain was most proud of, Inter Milan was stronger than them.
Argentina's "The Rock" Samuel, Nicolás Burdisso, Ivan Córdoba, Christian Chivu, Maicon, Maxwell, and Inter Milan's captain, Javier Zanetti, who was already 38 years old but still in good form.
Which of these people was not a well-known figure in the international football scene?
In contrast, Nottingham Forest only had Pepe and Kompany who could be considered worthy. Woodgate and Baines were limited to the well-known players in the country. Rafinha had always been a peripheral figure in the Brazilian national team. He was occasionally selected a few times and was excluded. In the end, Dunga had a better choice in Maicon for the right back position. Not to mention Chimbonda. Joe Mattock and Nkoulou were at best stars of hope at the moment. They still needed to continuously prove their ability in high-level competitions before they could be recognized.
It was no wonder that everyone was not optimistic about Nottingham Forest.
If Nottingham Forest had to be compared to Inter Milan in terms of advantages, perhaps their players were younger.
The foreign media were generally not optimistic about Nottingham Forest, but the local Nottingham media were very confident in Tony Twain's team. Their confidence came from the "history" of just a few seasons ago.
In fact, during Nottingham Forest's two most glorious seasons, their lineup was basically like this. They did not have an advantage compared to any of the powerhouse teams. But why were they the ones who won the UEFA Champions League in the end, and not AC Milan or Chelsea? On their way to the championship, they had defeated Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Arsenal, and other strong teams. Could it be that the other side deliberately went easy on them?
The Nottingham Forest fans were like fanatical religious believers. They believed that as long as it was Tony, nothing could stump him. In this world, someone who could make him surrender and admit defeat had not been born yet. As long as the person sitting in the Nottingham Forest technical area was him, Tony Twain, then Nottingham Forest would not lose no matter how strong the opponent they faced.
There were still two days before the start of the game. The Nottingham media had already begun to hype the concept of "revenge."
Any Nottingham Forest fan would never forget the game two seasons ago. Tony Twain was forced to leave his coaching position because of a heart attack, and Nottingham Forest was suddenly without a leader. As the acting manager, Dunn had already exhausted all his energy just to stabilize the team's position in the league tournament. He did not have the mood to think about the team's future in the Champions League.
In those two games, Nottingham Forest completely lost to Mourinho's Inter Milan in both the outcome and the situation.
Mourinho was like an infatuated man who had painstakingly waited for his bride to marry. But when he lifted the red veil, he found that the bride sitting by the bed was not the beautiful lady in his heart, but someone else. As a result, the surprise turned into humiliation, and the humiliation turned into anger. He vented his anger on poor Dunn.
Those two games were still not willing to be mentioned by most of the Forest fans because they had lost so miserably and shamefully. Their spirits had been completely destroyed. The players' performance on the field made people believe that they must have been impatiently waiting for the whistle to sound from the first second.
If Twain had been present at that time, he would certainly have lashed out at his team in the locker room. They were like women who did not forget to take the initiative to cater to the pleasure of being raped by a gangster. Then, he might just have another heart attack and die right away …
Fortunately, he was carefully protected by Shania at that time and did not have time to care about the team's mess.
But afterward, in order to test the extent to which his heart had recovered, Twain specially found the recordings of the two games to watch. After watching it, although his body was fine, he was really furious. Mourinho really did not leave any face for Dunn at that time. One game was 2: 0, the other was 3: 0, and the total score was 5: 0, sweeping the defending champion. The biggest score loss that Twain had ever experienced since he started coaching appeared in Mourinho's hands just like that.
How could he act as if such a great humiliation had never happened? A smile when meeting and enmity? That was not Tony Twain's style. His style was: Even if you turn into ashes, I will still recognize you!
Therefore, this time, Twain did not mind the media hyping up the concept of "revenge." He was not afraid that it would bring psychological pressure to the players. He was even more eager for the players to feel pressure. Without pressure, there would be no way to play the game.
At the first press conference held in Milan, Twain clearly agreed with the "revenge theory" of the local Nottingham media. "That's right. We are here for revenge. Please tell Mourinho that Tony Twain, the one he can't win against, is here again! "
His smile was full of confidence, and his attitude was extremely arrogant. He wanted to let the Italians, who had been tormented by Mourinho, know that the masters from England were not easy to serve!
At the press conference, Twain and the reporters engaged in a verbal battle, refuting each and every one of the comments that were not optimistic about him, trying to prove that his team was the best team this week.
If the media still did not believe him, he spread his hands. "After the game is over, you will know if I'm talking big or telling the truth."
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After the "big truth" was released, Twain naturally had to be prepared.
This time, Twain planned to continue using the 4-231, but it was different from before. The "2s" were not two midfielders, but two defensive midfielders. The "3s" were also not standing in a line on the 30-meter line. Other than the "1s" in the middle, who continued to play the role of the attacking midfielder, the attacking midfielders on the two sides retreated to become the side midfielders, giving the formation a more layered feeling. The lines would not be too far apart and cause a separation.
With such an adjustment, although the attacking power was not as good as before, the defense was definitely a lot more stable. In the past, there was a problem with the 4-231 — there was too much space behind George Wood and Tiago. The opponent would always seize the opportunity to directly face the rear defensive line, causing them to concede the goal. The strength of Inter Milan's front field could not be underestimated. The fewer such spaces, the better.
Now, Wood and Tiago returned to the position of the defensive midfielders, closer to their own rear defensive line. Although the distance from the attacking midfielders was far, there were two side midfielders in the middle, so they were actually still one. They could truly advance and retreat to defend.
Since Wood and Tiago would be more focused on defense, the task of organizing the attack fell to the attacking midfielders. This time, Twain did not choose to let Fernández, who had a stronger scoring ability, be the attacking midfielder. Instead, he decided to let Şahin start. Fernández moved to the left side as the side midfielder, but compared to Bentley on the right, he had more freedom, a little similar to Ribéry, who had won the FIFA World Player of the Year at Nottingham Forest. After all, Fernández and Ribéry's characteristics were a little similar. It was a waste to simply fix him on the side. He had performed well in the recent rounds of games, and the British media had already called Fernández "Ribéry the Second."
Unlike Fernández, who could break through, pass, and shoot on the left side, Bentley on the right was more like a pure passer. His task was to retreat to receive, pass forward, and send the football to the opponent's goal.
At the forefront as the arrowhead was Ibišević, who had been in good form recently and had no problems with his body. He was a striker with a wide range of activities. Almost the entire front field could see him. He was most suitable as a single arrowhead because he would not be easily blocked by the opposing defenders.
The team was in good form now, and there were no major injuries. At the same time, the players' morale was high. Although they were facing Inter Milan, who had slaughtered them by a total score of 5: 0, there was nothing to worry about this time with the boss around!
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