Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 204

Before February 2th, Sunderland Football Club, like all Sunderland fans, was extremely disturbed, not knowing what kind of ruling the FA would make.

After the hearing, about Anton's "accusation" this time, there was a vigorous discussion in the football world.The focus of the discussion was at the beginning: to what extent technical means should enter the green field.

There is an old-school view that since football is a sport played by "people", it should keep the sport as pure as possible.It would be fine if the President of the FA decided that Anton had "not violated the rules" before, but in the future, the restrictions must be set up one by one.

More radical skeptics believe that it is doubtful that a coach of Anton's age can lead Sunderland to achieve the current results.Even if there is nothing wrong with the glasses, there must be something wrong.

They suggested to the FA: It is better to kill by mistake than to put it wrong. In order to prevent English football from becoming the laughing stock of world football, people like Anton should put him in the position of assistant coach for ten years and wait for nothing. It is not too late to officially coach after the hair grows out.

But there are also many young people who object to this: "In recent years, technological innovation has been happening, and people still love this sport. This is enough to prove that football itself has something that technology cannot replace, which makes this sport last forever. Looking at things through such a narrow view can only stop the development of English football."

The younger generation also cited the Portuguese marshal Villas-Boas as an example and compared Anton with him.

Boas, who was caught by the cue, was extremely embarrassed: Anton was the person he regarded as his greatest opponent, but now he had to stand in the same trench as Anton.

In addition, Boas was extremely depressed: he is a talented young marshal who studied under a famous marshal and made his debut in his teens, while Anton is a junior who has become a monk halfway and has only been coaching for a few years.

But in this situation, Boas had to bite the bullet and come out to speak for Anton even though he was unwilling in his heart. Please those "old people" in football don't underestimate the energy of the younger generation.Otherwise, he will also be labeled as the target of being "wrongly killed" by those "skepticism" holders.

At the moment when there are heated discussions all over England, the FA, which should have made a statement, is like a dumb cannon. It has already been lit, but it has no choice but to stay silent.

And the terrible thing is that the FA has never announced the final "ruling" until the start of the game between Sunderland and Tottenham as a guest.

This also means that Anton can not yet return to command Sunderland's game.

Russell is still Sunderland's "acting" head coach. When he stood on the Stadium of Light and faced the old Lei with the words "wild and calculating" written on his face, Russell really felt apprehensive in his heart.He has no confidence at all.

So Russell turned his head and didn't look at Lao Lei, but happened to see a fan in the stands of the Stadium of Light, with a banner welcoming Anton back.

But what made the fans extremely confused was that there was no news from Anton at all. No one knew when he would come back, and no one knew what the outcome of Sunderland would be.

Russell looked sullenly, folded his arms and stared at the players warming up on the field, thinking: It looks like he has to rely on himself today.

But the morale of the team that Sunderland started today is very high.Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who used to be the most uncertain for Russell, almost gritted his teeth and played this day-and he also gritted his teeth and played with the Tottenham star, the Dutchman Van der Vaart.

Ibrahimovic and Van der Vaart were teammates when they played for Ajax in the Eredivisie.

It is said that when the Swede joined Ajax, he stood in the locker room and introduced himself to everyone: "I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who the hell are you?" This was said to Van der Vaart.

But van der Vaart thinks he is the best player in Ajax, and Ibrahimovic treats him like that because he is just jealous of himself.

Later, the two turned against each other because of Van der Vaart's injury in a training session. Van der Vaart once believed that Ibrahimovic deliberately tackled his leg-two people with almost the same self-esteem thus forged an irreconcilable enmity.

Now, by mistake, they actually stood together in the Premier League.

With Sunderland's defeat on the FA Cup front, this league game has become the only chance for Van der Vaart and Ibrahimovic to face each other on the field this season.

So Russell doesn't have to worry about Ibrahimovic's refusal to retreat at all. Ibrahimovic has basically been retreating now, and Sunderland's center forward No. 9 is completely vacant.

As soon as the game started, Ibrahimovic did not spare his physical strength at all, and only stared at Van der Vaart.

Even if Russell yells "bicycle" to Ibrahimovic twenty times now, it won't work.As the saying goes, enemies are extremely jealous when they meet.Once these two men compete in the same field, they will immediately stage a tit-for-tat battle.Not only Ibrahimovic, but Van der Vaart is the same, attacking with all his strength, without reservation.

Russell watched dumbfounded from the sidelines.

Why didn't he think of this when he led the coaching staff to design tactics?Knowing this, he should have let Ibrahimovic play a position similar to a free man.

Russell stole a glance at Lao Lei who was not far away.

Because of a knee injury, Lao Lei sat on the sidelines on the coach's bench to direct.He watched the game calmly, without any surprise on his face, and Tottenham put van der Vaart in a midfield position.Obviously, the Tottenham coaching staff has long considered Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart, the pair of "enemies".

Russell thought silently in his heart: Damn, damn, damn...

It wouldn't be possible without Anton, why couldn't he think of such a simple question!

Seeing Ibrahimovic chasing Van der Vaart closely on the field, and even pressing close to him, the other Sunderland players were also a little confused.Garner Henderson and the others looked at Russell from a distance, wanting to see what the "head coach" had to say.

Russell rushed to the disciples on the field and waved their hands, telling them not to worry about Ibrahimovic, Royce and Vardy switched to double forwards, just treat Ibrahimovic as a man-marking defender for Defart...

Garner looked at Henderson, the two stuck out their tongues, and immediately commanded their teammates to change the formation according to Russell's on-site command.

After that, Sunderland really stabilized the situation on the court, and Russell breathed a sigh of relief.

But apart from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart, the other players on the court were playing poorly.

And the fans in the stands watched the game dumbfounded, thinking it was a bit strange-the two teams each had one of the strongest players in the midfield, the competition was fierce and hot, and the others on the field seemed to be in the time of the sages? !

The goal battle that the fans were looking forward to did not appear, and even the first half was almost over, and a goal had not yet appeared; the scene was dull and weird, and it was confusing.

Russell stood on the sidelines and heard many fans shouting behind him: "Coach, this game cannot be tied!"

In today's morning game, Manchester United played the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford and beat up their cousin Manchester City. Rooney scored a hat-trick and won the game 4-1.In the league standings, in terms of real-time points, Sunderland is now on the same score as Manchester United. Manchester United has one more goal difference than Sunderland, so it temporarily ranks first.

If Sunderland fails to win this game and draws with Tottenham, then Sunderland is about to end its "top" career and come second.This will also be the first time since Sunderland's promotion to the Super League, there have been two consecutive draws and two winless situations.

Russell thought: I don't want to keep the peace either!

But the situation on the field made him feel helpless.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the top attacker in the team, used his "Ferrari" as a "Fiat" to use, and sparks flew everywhere when there was a disagreement.While Russell was thinking about the formation, he also had to keep an eye on Ibrahimovic, trying not to let him make a big fuss.

35 minutes into the game, after an interception, Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart collided.The referee blew his whistle in time to stop the game.

Both of them were fine, each jumped up and glared at each other.Seeing that Ibrahimovic clenched his iron fist.

Russell reacted quickly, and immediately yelled into the arena: "Jordan, hug him and separate the two of them!" He pointed at Henderson.

Henderson is the vice-captain of Sunderland. Ibrahimovic is not very convincing in the club, but he can obey the most basic discipline in the team. Therefore, Ibrahimovic basically only listens to the words of three teammates: captain Garner, team Deputy Henderson, roommate Erickson.

At this time, Henderson was reminded by Russell, went up and hugged Ibrahimovic, and dragged the 1-meter big man far away.Garner ran over with other teammates, between Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart, Garner put on a calm attitude, tried to explain to Van der Vaart, and tried to ask the other party to keep calm.

The on-duty referee ran over to take a look: Oh, it's okay, nothing major happened, and the two players did not have physical contact after they collided and got up.The referee immediately warned Ibrahimovic and van der Vaart verbally, and then blew the game to restart.

Russell let out a long breath on the sidelines. In the weather in February, he actually felt the cold sweat on his back: These players on the field are too worried. If Ibrahimovic can't calm down quickly...then he won't Farr calmed down.

The next game was still very dull, the two sides played very similar, but because of the repeated entanglement between the two midfielders, the two teams did not play smoothly enough, neither side had much chance, and the game was drowsy. .

Seeing that the first half was coming to an end, some bored fans in the stands even got up early, preparing to leave the stands to buy a cup of coffee or hot tea.

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion in the stands of the Stadium of Light.

There seemed to be a kind of irrepressible joy, like the fine white water splash rising rapidly when the tide of Rock Beach was high, sweeping the entire stand in a very short time.

Russell and the players on the field had no idea what was going on.Russell raised his head and looked towards the box where the bosses, Short and Martin, used to sit, just in time to see Short standing up and high-fiving Martin.Martin and him didn't have the slightest tacit understanding, and went straight up to give the boss a bear hug.

Russell guessed it must be the FA ruling.

Sure enough, the entire coaching staff behind Russell jumped up instantly, some hugged each other, and some shouted at Russell.

"Anton is fine!"

"The Football Association's ruling has been announced, Anton is fine! We are fine!"

The Football Association's ruling ruled that Anton was not "prohibited", and at the same time announced that all Sunderland's past results are valid. This club will no longer be in danger of being deducted points. will not suffer any trouble.

This also means that Anton will be able to return soon.

This is a great happy event, Russell's spirit is lifted, and his spirit is different.The players on the field should also be affected by the surrounding environment. Some players couldn't help but turn their heads to look at the command area on the sidelines...

They all forgot one thing. Although it has entered the injury time of the first half of the game, the referee has not blown the whistle for halftime.

"...Damn it!" Russell only had time to make such a noise.

On the field, it's easy to lose your mind, but it's difficult to chase back or make up defense after you wake up.Taking advantage of the moment when the Sunderland players were affected, the Tottenham players decisively launched a fast break.

Although Van der Vaart's running position is still blocked by Ibrahimovic, there are two generals in the Tottenham formation, Bell and Defoe.Modric sent the ball away with a touch of his toe, while Bell appeared behind Sunderland's entire defense line as if he had transformed from a living person.

Godin stretched out his hand to signal offside, but Hummels fought back.

The linesman did not raise the flag, but shook his head to indicate that he was not offside.

Pickford is on high alert and ready to make a save.Unexpectedly, Defoe was also killed on the other side.Pickford can't beat Defoe if he beats Bell, he can only gamble on one side.

The fans in the stands of the Stadium of Light didn't notice the situation on the field until then, and they all exclaimed.

Pickford chose to pounce on Bell, but unfortunately he was a tenth of a second late-Bell sent the ball before Pickford attacked, and Defoe faced the empty goal and made it overnight.

Russell immediately raised his hands on the sidelines, cursing angrily.

He scolded himself.

——Bao Shen, are you really that bad?

It's hard to hear the good news that Anton is coming back...but because of this reason, the team sits at home and concedes a goal.

He can already imagine that in the real-time standings at this time, Sunderland's points are already behind Manchester United, giving up the top spot.

Why are you so careless, why are you distracted?

The game is obviously not over yet.

He used to yell at players in the locker room for "no brains" because of this, but it was himself who played without brains today.

On the field, Tottenham scored a goal in stoppage time in the first half and took the away lead.The players high-five each other in celebration.

The referee on duty didn't even wait for Sunderland to kick-off, and directly called the intermission.The Tottenham players returned to the dressing room beaming, but the Sunderland players all stood there in a daze, unable to recover for a while...

All the Sunderland players returned to the locker room, but Russell was still wandering around the door of the locker room alone.

The news arrived, but Anton's people did not arrive.

Sunderland is still the only "rookie" in charge of the overall situation.

Russell wanted to hit the wall with his hands: obviously he couldn't preside over the overall situation.

Although the Football Association's ruling has been announced, Anton should still be in London at this time.After receiving the news, rush here. Even if the highway on the east coast is unimpeded, it may take two or three hours.

Russell suddenly wanted to knock on the Mediterranean head of the FA chairman, who was similar to himself, and ask the other party why he was so annoying, why he announced such a simple decision until now, and returned Anton's fairness and innocence. But taught Sunderland to lose the top spot.

It can be said that it is not the FA that makes Sunderland lose the top spot, but Russell Black, his cowardly and incompetent acting coach who also prefers to worry about gains and losses.

Russell just wanted to find a hole in the ground right now.

Suddenly the cell phone in his pocket rang, and Russell's fingers trembled slightly. He took the cell phone out of his pocket, glanced at it, and saw that it was an "unknown number", and Russell picked it up, only to hear some noisy voices on the other end, and then a His very familiar voice sounded:

"Old man, are you afraid to go in outside the locker room right now?"

"Anton..."

Russell didn't know why he felt so sentimental when he heard this voice, his voice was almost choked up, and tears were coming out of his eyes.

"I just called Garner and found out you weren't in the locker room..."

Russell hastily interrupted Anton's words: "Anton, where are you now? Are you still in London? Can you come back to direct the game?"

He suddenly had a glimmer of hope.

Anton was a person who could never be deduced with common sense.The Football Association banned him from coaching the team, but now that the ban has been revoked, it is difficult for Bao Dong to make a plan in advance and appear on the stadium as soon as the ban is lifted.

"I'm still on my way..." Russell's heart sank immediately.

"But you will see me soon..." Russell's heart was suddenly raised again.

"...in the stands!" Anton said on the other end of the phone, and Russell could gradually hear that there was a lot of noise in the background, and Anton was on his way into the Stadium of Light.

"Why..." Russell wanted to ask why he was in the stands.

But Anton said with a smile: "Because you are the head coach of this game now!"

Russell jumped up all of a sudden, and he wanted to yell into the phone again: Dude, I can't make it, and what the hell are you doing!

"Listen, Russel, I know you're frustrated, but I want you to finish this game. If you want to be a real manager one day, you can't just coach the half today... Even if you fail, you have to experience a complete failure! Don't tell me you can't even afford to lose this."

Anton's words had a magical power. Russell took a deep breath, and finally began to feel the strength in his whole body gradually returning, and he could stand still again.

"I'm just afraid..." He was just afraid of being sorry for Anton.The good situation of the team was ruined by his incompetent acting coach.

Anton said: "Don't be afraid to feel sorry for me. This incident was caused by me, and I should bear the consequences. It is I who am sorry to all of you."

He had probably walked into the Stadium of Light, and at this moment Russell could hear someone shouting Anton's name on the other end of the phone.

"Go Russell, you really don't have to think about it. You are the head coach of Sunderland now, and the players will listen to you." Anton continued as he walked, "As long as you don't regret it because of yourself, then, None of us will regret it!"

Russell hesitated for a moment, nodded and said, "Okay! Then I'll try again."

Anton is right, he needs to take this step eventually and learn to face pain and failure alone.Although Anton was young, he was his forerunner.

"Also, Anton, can you call Ibrahimovic now?" Russell asked.

Anton burst out laughing suddenly when he heard the words, and the laughter was joyous, Russell couldn't help but blushed, but he was a little unconvinced: he couldn't handle Ibrahimovic, that's why he asked for off-court support.

"Don't worry, Ibrahimovic will take care of it." Anton agreed without hesitation, and then hung up the phone.

Russell let out a long breath, opened the door and walked into the locker room.He saw all the players in the locker room forming a circle with their arms crossed, and Garner was in the middle, talking loudly.Facing Russell, he quickly greeted him: "Coach, please rest assured, and please tell us what we should do in the second half..."

Russell pointed out a few words, and Nick had already come in to remind: the time is coming, and the players need to get on the field quickly.

Sunderland players filed out.Russell stayed at the end, and only realized when he was about to go out: "It's going to kill me, why hasn't Anton called Ibrahimovic yet?"

At this time, the players had already walked towards the green field through the player tunnel, Russell followed behind, and could hear the fans on the Stadium of Light calling a person's name like a tsunami.

When the Sunderland players stepped onto the turf, they turned around and applauded somewhere in the stands.

Russell was impatient, and took three steps at a time. He came to the side of the court, raised his head to the stands, and looked for Anton, but found that there was no need to look for him. This man was born to be the focus of everyone's attention.

Anton was standing in the stands behind the coaching staff.He was wearing a light gray gray tweed coat with a turned-up collar and an Italian cut that perfectly accentuated his tall, thin frame.The wind from the Stadium of Light was whistling in his ears, but his short black curly hair didn't look messy.

Many fans around rushed forward to shake hands or hug Anton. After Anton said something to them, the fans retreated to both sides very understandingly, leaving the most edge of the stands empty, so that the audience on the field Players can see Anton clearly.

Garner and the others were already too excited to contain themselves, and they waved their hands to Anton together.Goalkeeper Pickford, who had already run near the goal, was so happy that he hung himself on the lintel and did a pull-up.

Lao Lei, who had just returned to the coach's bench, was also a little surprised. He looked back and saw Anton greeting him in a friendly manner.Lao Lei showed a little depression, nodded, and turned back.

Russell was mentally prepared, but when he saw Anton appearing in the stands, his eyes were still sore and he had mixed feelings.

But he still couldn't figure it out: Anton said, Ibrahimovic will handle it.But did you see Anton call Ibrahimovic?

Unexpectedly, Ibrahimovic looked up at the stands at this time, with a gentle face, and even put his right hand against his heart.

Russell was dumbfounded, thinking when Anton would have such magic power?He heard applause and cheers from the stands, and quickly looked towards Anton again.

I saw another "spectator" beside Anton at some point: a black kitten, squatting on Anton's shoulder at the moment, and raised its front paws arrogantly, as if it was coming in all directions Greet the people.

The author has something to say: Well, the grievances between Ibrahimovic and Fan Fa, and even more bloody reasons, can be summed up in four words: "Your circle is really chaotic", so I won't talk about it here.