champion godfather

Chapter 780 Volume [-] Crimson Transformation

Since the game against Sunderland, Nottingham Forest has once again entered closed training.The English media complained that there had never been a coach who used closed training so frequently to prepare for games like Tony Twain.

Carl Spike then said that this fully proved how terrified Tony Twain was - he didn't dare to let the media and opponents know what he was doing now.This shows that he has no confidence in himself.

Dunn's doing this was naturally a matter of confidentiality, because he wanted to give Juventus a "big surprise".But he doesn't feel that he lacks confidence. Confidence and arrogance are two different things.After all, he was also facing the most powerful opponent in this group. The superficial arrogance and the inner arrogance were two different things.

In fact, what Tang En said to the media before coming to Italy was not entirely intended to create some trouble for Ranieri's brain, he really had to be careful.

He also said this to the team.

When the team arrived in Turin, they trained at the Alpi Stadium to adapt to the venue.The first 15 minutes, the media can enter the filming.This is what the regulations must allow, otherwise Dunn wouldn't even give them a second.But the media couldn't shoot anything meaningful during these 15 minutes.Because the team has been doing simple physical training.After spending these 15 minutes, watching all the media pack up and leave, the team started the real tactical drill-it was just a drill of some set-piece tactics.

Twain knew that there must be people from Juventus staring at him in a certain corner of the stadium, so he wouldn't show the real thing on the enemy's territory.

After training, there will be a pre-match press conference.Dunn saw Ranieri again.Both sides are very low-key.It is normal for Ranieri to keep a low profile, but it is not normal for Twain to keep a low profile.Tang En repeated what he said in England, but he deliberately acted like he was joking, and he didn't say the words seriously.

He just wanted to make it impossible for others to guess what he was going to do.

"Juventus are strong opponents... I said before that the qualifying team is Nottingham Forest and any team? Well, yes. But isn't Juventus among them? You must let me put the specific name Say it? In that case, I said that A has qualified, what do B and C think? I'm not so stupid as to make enemies everywhere..." Tang En completely overturned his previous arrogant image with a smile.

Many media murmured below: "You can turn your face and deny what you just said not long ago, it's too shameless!"

"If he still has face, he won't be Tony Twain..."

Twain seemed to want to show his favor to Juventus, but the Turin media would not give him this opportunity.They repeatedly mentioned the two group matches two seasons ago and asked Tang En what he thought.

"What do you think? It's normal to win or lose on the football field. Besides, is there any point in talking about what happened two seasons ago now? Too much winning or losing is useless for tomorrow's game. I only care about tomorrow, Don't care about the past."

"Have you thought about taking revenge at the Alpi Stadium, Mr. Tang En?"

"I respect Juventus very much. This is a great team. Since its founding in 1897, it has won a total of..." Dunn began to recite the introduction of Juventus, which took about 2 minutes.After reciting it, he said to the reporter who asked the question: "Do you understand what I mean?"

The brain of the Italian reporter has temporarily lost the ability to think.

But it is impossible for the media to let him go so easily.Another reporter came off the bench: "You know Juventus very well, Mr. Twain. But you still didn't say whether tomorrow's game will be Nottingham Forest's battle of revenge."

Tang En stared at the reporter who stood up for a while. His eyes were slowly turning cold. The reporters were all expecting that Tang En would suddenly slap the table and turn his face and yell at him, so that there would be a good show.But that look only appeared for a second, and he suddenly smiled and said, "When is the time for retribution. I'm not interested in revenge, I'm only interested in winning."

This answer disappointed the reporters.

They had no choice but to throw the question to Ranieri, asking him if he was worried about Nottingham Forest's revenge at the Alpi Stadium.Ranieri was not fooled by the media either. His answer was exactly the same as Tang En's: "I'm not interested in this kind of question."

Due to Tang En's sudden abnormality, the press conference that should have had a lot to watch ended in a semi-cold atmosphere.

When leaving the press conference, Tang En stopped Ranieri and offered to shake his hand: "I hope tomorrow will be a wonderful game." He smiled and said in Italian.

Ranieri was a little surprised: "I didn't know you could speak Italian, Mr. Tang En."

"A little bit." Actually not at all.This sentence was a temporary surprise before Tang En came, and he only memorized it by rote.

So Ranieri also smiled: "I hope so too, Mr. Tang En."

After Dunn bid farewell, the smile on Ranieri's face gradually disappeared.He felt that he couldn't understand this man more and more.Since he had to compete with himself, his performance has become more and more abnormal.Faced with all kinds of provocations from reporters, he didn't lose his temper on the spot.Is your temper much better because you have a heart attack?

Does his abnormal performance have anything to do with the game?

Ranieri shook his head, not thinking about such meaningless things.Anyway, Juventus only played their own football, no matter what tricks Tang En played, it was meaningless in front of Juventus.

This is a hopelessly stable team.

※ ※ ※

"No one asked me how to play the game against Juventus. Their attention was scared and diverted to other places." In the hotel room, Tang En was chatting with Tang about the press conference in the afternoon. "We'll surprise them tomorrow!"

Meanwhile, at the Juventus hotel, Ranieri called all the players and coaches together for a final tactical meeting.At this meeting, it is necessary to clarify the tactics used by the team tomorrow and the countermeasures against the tactics that the opponent may use.

This is a meeting that is directly related to the results of the next day's game, and everyone must take it seriously.

"Nottingham Forest focuses on attacking from the side. This is their tradition. No matter what opponent we face, Tony Twain will never give up on this point." Ranieri explained the Forest team's strategy to everyone present in front of the tactical board. tactics.

"Matias Fernandez has been in good form recently, and Twain will definitely pay attention to the sideways in tomorrow's game. But judging from the last two games, Fernandez and other Forest players The cooperation is not tacit enough, and more often he is alone on the wing. This is our opportunity. Cut him off from the rest of the Forest team, and he will be nothing to be afraid of."

"Our defense focuses on the flanks. As long as the Forest team's two flanks are not allowed to fight, their offense will not be a threat. I think that in tomorrow's game, Twain will still be able to play Atletico Madrid with them away. The same starting lineup. The two midfielders in the midfield——George Wood and Thiago, are mainly used to intercept our offense. Their offensive focus is on the left and right sides. But we must also deal with the opponent's two midfielders. Ready to plug in. Sissoko."

Ranieri named the team midfielder Mohamed Sissoko.

"You are in the middle tomorrow, stop them."

Sissoko nodded vigorously, obviously very satisfied with Ranieri's arrangement.Because the head coach did not choose Paulson and Marchisio, who are also defensive midfielders.This shows that in head-to-head games, the head coach trusts himself more than the other two.

In fact, he had long wanted to compete with the opponent's George Wood.As a defensive midfielder with the same excellent physical fitness, he regards Wood as his biggest competitor.In the past few years, Wood relied on the team's reputation and worth as if he was a rocket, soaring all the way.And when I came to Juventus from Liverpool, I was always in a half-black state.

He believes that his strength is not as weak as Wood, and Wood's strength is more likely to be speculated by the English media.Having played in England, he knows the virtues of the media.

When he was still at Liverpool, he played against Nottingham Forest a few times.At that time, Wood was a high-profile rookie player, but in Sissoko's view, he was no different from himself.They are all physically good, rough in technique, and good at defense.That's all, but just because Wood is a local player in England, he was blown up by the media, and he seemed to be quasi-world-class...

At that time, he happened to be marginalized in Liverpool, and he couldn't even play the main force. After Benitez had his own full-time defensive midfield engineer, he also introduced Mascherano, who had an overlapping role with him.He knew his time at Anfield was numbered.

Juventus played Nottingham Forest two seasons ago, and he missed both of those games because he was sent off in the previous game.This time he finally won't miss it again.

Back waist to back waist?He is looking forward to it.

Ranieri left one Sissoko in the middle and let everyone else focus on the flanks.Although at home, he still intends to use defensive counterattacks to deal with Nottingham Forest.Two seasons ago, he used this set of tactics to defeat the mighty defending champion Nottingham Forest at the time, and he believes that he can still do it two seasons later.

"Defend first, then wait for an opportunity to counterattack. Nottingham Forest is used to using counterattacks to deal with others, but they are not good at dealing with other people's defensive counterattacks. We scored goals in the first and last 5 minutes of each half. Good chances, try to take them. If we want to attack, use the center, Nottingham Forest will focus on the wings, and the center will be our opportunity."

After explaining the tactics, Ranieri announced the starting list for tomorrow's game.

The veteran Del Piero, who will be 36 years old next month, did not start, but he is in the squad.If you can't start the situation, Ranieri may replace him, using his experience and skills, as well as his ability to set the ball to break the deadlock.

The starting strikers are Amauri and Iaquinta. The midfielders are lined up. From left to right are Malouda, who spent 700 million pounds from Chelsea this summer, and Sebastian_Giovinco, a talented teenager trained by his own youth training. ), the powerful defensive midfielder Sissoko from Mali, and the old and solid Camoranesi.The defense line from left to right is Molinaro (Christian_Maolinaro), Chiellini, Lero Tallie, and the Czech Gryguera.The goalkeeper is naturally Buffon.

Also sitting on the bench are veteran captain Del Piero, Christian_Poulsen, Iago Falke Silva, Mellberg, Ke Not weak players such as Domenico_Criscito.

This is the strongest lineup Ranieri can come up with recently.

It can be seen how much he attaches importance to this game.

※ ※ ※

But after the start of the game the next day, after observing for a few minutes, he was immediately dumbfounded after seeing Nottingham Forest's formation in this game. For the first time in history, Tony Twain did not insist on his side attacking characteristics, Instead, station heavy troops in the middle!

4132!

This is Tony Twain's formation in this game.

Goalkeeper Akinfeev, central defenders Pepe and Kompany, left back Leighton Barnes, right back Rafinha.The midfielder George Wood, the three central midfielders from left to right are Mathias Fernandez, Thiago and Shaheen.The forwards are Ibisevic and Eastwood.

"What is this?" Ranieri muttered to himself standing on the sidelines.

None of the information he collected indicated that Nottingham Forest had or tried to use such a formation.Any fool would know that the forest team's success is based on the wing. Judging from the signings every summer, Tony Twain always attaches the most importance to the wing players.Almost every winger who has made it out of Forest's lineup has been world-class.

On the contrary, the ability of players in the middle is slightly inferior.Since being promoted to the Premier League, Van der Vaart may be the best player in midfield and attacking, but he is now sold to Real Madrid.Shaheen is talented, but he has never given people the feeling that he can take on important responsibilities, let alone Thiago.He's not the kind of star player who can change the course of a game.

With this midfield lineup, why should Tang En play the configuration of three central midfielders?
Although Fernandez can also play as a central midfielder, he is most suitable as a winger.Isn't putting him in the middle self-destructing the Great Wall?
Soon Ranieri knew why Tang En made such an arrangement.

Juventus planned to score a goal in the opening five to 10 minutes to drag the game into their familiar rhythm.But their attack was blocked by Nottingham Forest tenaciously in the midfield.This time, even Fernandez was asked to defend aggressively.

There are four people in the middle, three in front and one behind, forming enough depth to protect each other.At the same time, it is also possible to launch an attack directly from here.Once the attack is made, Fernandez and Shaheen on the left and right are like spreading out on the wing. Thiago sorts out the team's offensive order in the middle, and George Wood protects behind him. After completing the position change, Wood stepped forward and Thiago dragged behind.

At the same time, Eastwood retreated frequently to respond, like a shadow forward, and a bit like a free man in the frontcourt, without a fixed position. Ibisevic in front of Juventus withstood the defense, so that they did not dare to act rashly.Such a lineup seems to have given up the wing, but it has greatly strengthened the defensive and offensive capabilities of the center.It gave Shaheen and Fernandez the chance to face the goal directly.

In addition, the Forest team did not really abandon their flanks. Tang En asked Barnes and Rafinha to advance forward whenever they had the opportunity during the game and actively participate in assists.

This combination of side and center stunned Juventus all of a sudden.They were a little at a loss in the first 10 minutes of the game-the pre-match tactical arrangement was to keep an eye on the wing and defend and counterattack.Nottingham Forest took the center as the main direction of attack.And after putting down four people in the middle, they are not afraid of Juventus' possible counterattack.

10 minutes passed, Juventus's offensive was fierce, but it was ineffective.Most of the time, their offense was stopped when they advanced to the midfield. Nottingham Forest's midfield was blocked like a highway in a series of car accidents. No matter how fast the offense was, it had to slow down here, or even stop completely.

Standing on the sidelines, Ranieri listened to the cheers from the fans of the home team in the stands of the Alpi Stadium, and then looked at Tony Twain who was standing on the sidelines directing the game like him. He felt a bit of a headache...

(End of this chapter)