Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 153

The 9th round of the game ended like this. Sunderland beat Aston Villa 1-0 without bloodshed at home.But this one goal is enough for Sunderland to maintain the first position in the standings.Chelsea also defeated their opponents and took all three points, but they still had to be honestly behind Sunderland.

After the game, the team couldn't care less about breathing a sigh of relief. In order to continue to move forward in the Europa League, the team temporarily set up a "chain defense" study class:

"Chain defense" is a defensive tactic invented by the Swiss and carried forward by the Italians.After Anton threw out the concept of "chain defense", the entire Sunderland team was thinking-this head coach really deserves to have Italian blood.After all, as long as you mention "chain defense", everyone will think of Italy.Ancelotti's Milan dynasty once used this tactic like a textbook.

For example, the chain defense is like setting up two chains in the midfield and the backcourt. The first chain directly faces the opponent's offensive player and is the first line of defense, while the second chain follows the changes of the previous chain. And change, to do protection in the back, is the second line of defense.Even if the opponent crosses the first line of defense, the team also has a second chain to defend while the first chain is defending.

This defensive tactic looks like "swinging the bus", but it is much more complicated than "swinging the bus".Because this is a deep and layered defense aimed at space, it will not give up the fight for the ball as easily as a bus-it is not just passively beaten.Once coordinated tacitly, the chain defense will wear the entire team into a solid whole.

Because of his rich experience, Hypia was decisively elected as the class representative and study committee member; Captain Garner was still the "squad leader"; Anton was naturally the "teacher" of the professional class, and Russell became the "dean of students".Others had no specific role in the class, but it didn't take long for the players to start earning their "titles"—

The title of "Student Master" was given to Royce and Eriksson. These two young people have a very thorough understanding of the space on the court. As long as Anton says a lot of content, they can understand it immediately and immediately translate it into the training ground. Physical performance - In addition to good comprehension, the two little guys are also very hardworking and spare no effort to run during training, so they immediately became the "darlings" of the coaching staff.

There are still many students in the class who are not as smart as the top students, but work very hard, such as Vardy, Henderson, Godin...all belong to this category.In particular, Henderson, because he trained too hard, caused tension in his thigh muscles, and was stopped by the team doctor urgently-in the end, Henderson, as a representative of them, was awarded the title of "student idiot".

The rest should be scumbags: Pickford ranks first among the scumbags. After all, he is the goalkeeper, and chain defense does not require him to participate in maintaining the formation.Apart from being trained by the goalkeeper coach every day, this kid didn't know what "chain defense" had to do with him until the "Dean of Training" came to the assessment and found that the kid had 0 points in theoretical knowledge, and the practical assessment was based on his laurels——

"This is terrible!" Pickford liked to mention the "Don't leave after school" gift package. After a good "re-education" of carrots and sticks, he finally understood the meaning of "chain defense" for goalkeepers.

"Learning makes me happy!" Pickford said that after being educated by the dean of students Russell once.

As for Messi, he has a unique "God's perspective" on the court and was expected to become a "God of Learning", but Anton always makes the team defend him as an imaginary enemy.Within two days, Messi was reduced to the same level as Pickford, with the title of "student" on his head, swaggering in the Guangming Academy.

In the restaurant, Qiao's mother saw the whole study class, and smiled kindly: "Come on, Xueba adds chicken legs, Xuezhi adds eggs, Xueyan... How about adding a nutritious meal?"

Messi and Pickford: "..."

Indeed, as Anton said, the "chain defense" can string the entire Sunderland team into a complete system-after the "study class" has been practiced a few times, it already looks like it, but I don't know if it will Will get out of the "chain".

And then they will usher in the first "big test" of the new season-an away game against the "Magpies" Newcastle United.

"Listen! In the next game, we will face Newcastle United, and it will be at their home court." Before the match against "Magpies", Anton mobilized the whole team before the game, "This game It's called the 'North East Derby', or the 'Tyne Derby', what do you mean by 'Derby'?"

He named Hypia.Hyypia replied in a deep voice: "Merseyside Derby!" Liverpool vs. Everton, the "mortal enemy" in the same city, a derby that has been entangled in grievances for a hundred years.

Anton then ordered Crouch, who also replied loudly: "North London derby!" This is Arsenal vs. Tottenham Hotspur.

Hummels is very calm: "Derby in the Ruhr area!" This is the match between Dortmund and Schalke 04, two strong teams in the Bundesliga. Although Hummels said calmly, the derby scene is not "calm" at all .

Finally Anton looked at Messi, who puffed up his chest and said: "Catalan Derby!" Team confrontation, generally speaking, the suspense is not too big, right?

But Messi's expression remained unchanged. He probably thought that, in terms of intensity and sense of honor, this city derby was even worse than Spain's "National Derby".

"Jordan, let's talk about the 'Northeast Derby'." Anton pointed at Henderson, and unexpectedly the two boys named "Jordan" spoke together.

With a majestic voice, Henderson said decisively: "Yes, Magpies vs. Black Cats, the most intense derby in the world, the game where sparks hit the earth. No matter which venue it is, we Sunderland will win!"

Although Henderson said a bit "I am the world", his words reminded everyone of the most passionate experience and the most passionate game in their lives.The players sitting next to Henderson all looked solemn and straightened their backs.

But on the other side, Pickford was grinning: "I know I know, once a year to go to Newcastle City. I walked there with my brothers once when I was a child, and I met people outside a pub next to St. James' Park. Fighting, running after the fight, no one can catch us, absolutely exciting—”

Compared with Henderson, Pickford talked about the most down-to-earth experience: most of Sunderland fans are blue-collar workers. When they have no money to buy tickets, they take the No. 11 to Newcastle.When you arrive in Newcastle, you may not be able to buy tickets. Most of the time you can only watch the live broadcast outside the bar, which will inevitably conflict with local fans.In order to avoid being caught by the local police, they all ran away after the fight. It was really exciting to think about it.

But the problem is that Pickford now says that this is really counterproductive. At the originally very serious "pre-match mobilization meeting", many players had the urge to laugh.

Anton was also a little dumbfounded.

These words made Anton aware of Pickford's "street" habits.

Recently, Pickford, the little goalkeeper, has been fully established as the main goalkeeper in the team, and the player himself has established a strong self-confidence-although he once "floated" into the sky for a short time, he was immediately pulled back to the ground by Anton.

But it is undeniable that Pickford is still a child and has not yet fully grown into a mature professional player.He inevitably has the characteristics of "grassroots" and "street". After all, most young people of his age still have the opportunity to "happily enmity" on the street at this time.

This also explains why Pickford was not calm at all in the face of Vincent's provocation-it would be strange to be calm.

For Pickford, a young man with a "skin" at home, Anton doesn't know what kind of opportunity can promote Pickford's growth and transformation, so that his skills will not be let down by his personality, and he will truly become a talent The main goalkeeper with both stability.

This is Anton coughing lightly, Su Rong said: "Yes."

"What we are about to play is the most intense derby in the world. The stadium we are going to is one of the famous Devil's stadiums. There are more seats there than the Stadium of Light. You have imagined the seats behind the goal like a curtain wall." , mercilessly booing you there?"

Pickford fell silent for a moment.

The atmosphere in the entire conference room became solemn again, and the players looked at Anton with tense faces, feeling the pressure that was coming.

"But, no... Isn't there a spell?" After a while, Pickford, who was sitting in the corner, suddenly asked in a low voice.

According to the "law" of history, all the head coaches, after taking over the "Black Cat", can score three points in the first Northeast Derby against the "Magpie".

Anton pointed in the direction of Pickford: "That's right!"

This is really a child with both strengths and weaknesses, and nothing can easily scare him off.Pickford is the kind of person who will never back down in the face of pressure and whose brain circuits are always optimistic.No matter how "skinky" he is, Anton can't criticize him for a while.

"I want you all to remember this - we will win!"

Anton continued: "Of course, when I say this, I don't need you to help me verify any 'curse', but I hope you can learn to play under pressure. Behind you are all voices aimed at you, regardless of the reason. When scolding you, I also hope that you will still put all your attention on the game and pursue a pure game and victory."

"This game will be a test for you, and I hope that each of you will stand up like a man." Anton said here, his eyes stayed on everyone's face for a while, and then he clapped his hands easily , Said: "That's all for today, let's adjourn the meeting."

The players left one after another, leaving only one in the conference room.The red-haired boy didn't dare to look into Anton's eyes, lowered his eyes and asked, "Anton... will you let me play this time?"

Colbeck is a Magpie fan - what's it like playing against the home team's bitter rivals?Colback is best qualified to answer that question.

Anton asked back: "Then do you want to play?"

The young man shook his head like a rattle.

"Haven't figured out the relationship between professional players and your favorite team?" Anton asked softly.

Colback nodded.

Football is a competitive sport, the pursuit is victory.There are no father and son brothers on the court, let alone the opponent is your favorite team, even if your own father is on the opposite side, you still have to play when it is time to play.Professional players like Colbeck are even more unable to avoid this kind of problem-the red-haired boy is still too young.

"Listen," Anton said, "you're not in the starting lineup this time, but I need you to be with the team. If the team needs you, I won't hesitate to play you. I will absolutely trust you, But how to repay my trust depends on how much you love football."

The logic of these words was a bit convoluted, and Colbeck was stunned for a moment, biting his lip and lowering his head.Anton couldn't help but think of what Russell said about Colbeck's words that "there's a rebellion in the back of his head".

So Anton didn't say any more, nodded and said, "Go!"

On the last day of October, the Sunderland team arrived at St. James' Park on time.

The 52000-capacity stadium was packed, mostly Newcastle fans in black and white striped jerseys - and there were very few tickets for visiting fans.Sunderland fans holding red scarves were placed far away in a small corner.The police cordoned off the visiting team's fan area to separate the fans of the home and away teams to prevent any troubles between the fans of the two teams.

A large number of Sunderland fans failed to enter the stadium, presumably they were "rubbing" live in bars in Newcastle.

The atmosphere at St. James' Park was just as Anton had described beforehand—grand, warm...horrible.The steeply rising stands behind the goal were filled with Newcastle fans.Before the start of the game, they sang the team song, which could shake the cheers of the Sunderland fans without any splash.

When the captains of both sides chose sides and Pickford ran towards his own goal, the fans behind the goal yelled together——

It's definitely not because of any personal grievances with Pickford, but because the two teams are sworn enemies, and fans can't get used to Sunderland.When Messi came, they also scolded him in the same way.

Pickford was full of energy, walking towards the goal while warming up.I don't know where this annoyed the opponent's fans. Suddenly, all kinds of foul language mixed with greetings to the young player's family were thrown from the stands together.Another person threw a paper cup of beer down, and even the paper cup and beer were thrown on the ground next to the goal-bottles are not allowed in the stadium, otherwise the heavy water bottle will be thrown towards Pickford.

A lot of beer was splashed on Pickford. He stood in the goalkeeper's position and stayed for a while before turning around——

All Sunderland players, including the coaching staff, were surprised to find that Pickford's eye circles were a little red.

——Too wronged.

There is never a shortage of players who were scolded too hard by the fans and cried on the spot, but this time it was Pickford's turn, which was really shocking.Are Newcastle fans scolding so hard, even a half-grown child?

But after the whistle, Pickford immediately calmed down.There was no expression on the young goalkeeper's face, but he was engrossed in the movement of the ball.It seemed that the deafening shouting and cursing beside him were automatically blocked by him.

"Pippi is doing well!" Russell couldn't help but clenched his fists and shouted from the sidelines.

Anton also said in his heart: That's it, get rid of all distracting thoughts, this is a game.

At this time, the red-haired teenager Calbeck was sitting on the bench. Like other players, he was under pressure while listening to the abuse from the Newcastle fans behind him.The red-haired teenager was blushing almost as fast as his hair: Newcastle was his favorite team - and now he was being yelled at by fans like him for sitting here.

The boy couldn't help twisting his hands, still thinking about what the head coach Anton said: It depends on how much he loves football. What does this... mean?

From the start of the game, Sunderland was under tremendous pressure.Every time a player touches the ball, there will be huge boos in the stadium. As long as they advance towards the Newcastle goal, there will be Newcastle players desperately coming up to steal it. The ball just obtained is easy to be taken away.

The players who participated in the first derby were all confused - but the experienced players in the team quickly stabilized the situation.

Hypia yelled at his teammates: "5 people, this is incomparable to 7 people at Old Trafford!" What is this in front of the "Double Red Club"?

Hummels also said: "You have never seen the enthusiasm of Shakhtar fans." The Ruhr Derby was not built either.

Captain Garner and deputy Henderson are both on the field at the moment, and Garner is yelling at his teammates: "Don't listen to that, just think it's white noise!"... so loud white noise?

Heng Shao put on a domineering president's face: "Don't worry, whatever they did to us today, when we go back to the Stadium of Light, Sunderland will make up for it one by one."

But it is undeniable that the atmosphere at St. James' Park has a huge bonus to the intensity of the game. Being in this environment, every player gradually feels the blood pulse, and then devotes himself to this "Mars hits the earth" "-style competition - let the storm come more violently!

As a result, only 20 minutes had passed in the first half, the two teams each received three yellow cards, and the referee was soft on calling fouls.The head coaches of both sides had to remind their players to pay attention to the "scale". Anton reminded: "Be careful! Remember what I taught you before, don't come back to see me if you are injured."

All of his players are treasures, and it would be too much to lose if they get injured for a "derby".

The game was too fierce, but not smooth enough, and there were no goals.At halftime the scoreboard still read 0-0.

The Sunderland players left the field, and Anton stood on the sidelines, welcoming the players one by one.After a stormy game, most of the players were very emotional. Although they were physically exhausted, all of them were very excited-except Pickford.

When Anton greeted Pickford off the field, he felt that this kid was different from others: Pickford was neither excited nor scared, but rolled his eyes, and he was probably thinking about something in his heart at the moment idea.