Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 140

After returning to Sunderland from Liverpool, Anton's team immediately prepared for the Europa League group stage flight to Odense on September 9.

Due to the adjustment of the schedule, Sunderland will play the Europa League on the fourth day after the away game against Liverpool, and will play against Manchester United at home the next day after Odense. game, away to West Ham United - this can be regarded as a real devil's schedule.

After playing West Ham United, it is the international match day. Some players who will not be called up by the national team can take a break for a few days.But Sunderland have several players who have positions in their respective national teams who will be called up, and these players will also be very hard.

Therefore, in this game against Odense, Anton made a large-scale rotation of the lineup.The main players are basically only Eriksson, Crouch and Pickford, and the rest are basically substitutes.

Odense Football Club gave a warm welcome to their "child" Eriksson's return, but they were not polite at all on the pitch. The two teams fought each other, but Sunderland didn't get any benefits. 1 to 1 tie.The Black Cats returned to Sunderland with a hard-fought point in the away game.

And they are going to play Manchester United in a blink of an eye.

Before the game, the media in the Sunderland area spoke for their home team—combining all competitions this season, Sunderland has been unbeaten for eight consecutive games, and it is unbeaten. It is the only team in the league that has remained unbeaten for six rounds team.The Red Devils led by Sir Alex Ferguson are nothing, and they will naturally be hit head-on by the "black cat" in Sunderland.

The Newcastle area next door, where the "Magpie" is located, sneered at the arch enemy: I don't believe that even the famous Ferguson Ferguson can't deal with you.

The two fans are used to bickering, and the Sunderland fans didn't show any fear. They directly reminded: "Wake up, don't forget the 'curse' between our two families! Wait for the real chapter in November!"

The curse between Sunderland and Newcastle is called the "catch the magpie" curse, to the effect that: the head coach who took over Sunderland will definitely win the game against Newcastle United for the first time.Going back to the first four or five coaches, everyone is like this.

The fans' explanation for this is: Black cat, the first time the black cat saw the magpie, it must have slapped down and caught the magpie.

But the curse is only limited to the first time Sunderland played Newcastle United after taking office, and the second or third time... the curse will not work.Over the years, the magpie has always won and lost against the black cat, and they love each other and kill each other—otherwise, how can they be called "mortal enemies"?

When it comes to Anton, the situation is slightly different: it will be almost a year after Anton took office before he will play against Newcastle United for the first time-the two teams were not in the same league before.

This is a situation that the previous Sunderland managers have never encountered.Newcastle fans took this to make a big fuss, saying that this "curse" may not really be realized.

As a result, at the press conference before the game against Manchester United, some media asked this question.

"Are we going to play against Newcastle United?" Anton looked terrified, took the folder and was about to leave, "I thought we were going to play against Manchester United? This is terrible, all my tactical preparations are specially designed for Manchester United ...I'm sorry everyone, our press conference is about to end immediately, I have to go back and prepare for the game again!"

Reporter: "...No, no, Mr. Coach, you still have to face Manchester United in the next game..."

The reporter was horrified by Anton's "black humor": "Please stay and answer our questions anyway!"

Anton scratched his head a little, then sat back and said seriously: "Sir, next time I'd like to ask questions directly related to the competition! As I said before, what I consider is always, and only, Next game."

"Then, then... I'll change the question to a question related to Manchester United." The reporter said that he can correct his mistakes, and he will never dare to do it again. "You have no opinion on Sir Alex Ferguson's previous evaluation of your team. What's your comment?"

Prior to this, the visiting team's pre-match press conference had already been held.Manchester United, led by Sir Alex Ferguson, is the fourth BIG6 team that will face Sunderland, so the reporters' questions are all about whether the Red Devils Manchester United can "snipe" the newly promoted team and stop Sunderland's undefeated momentum.

Sir Alex Ferguson naturally said a lot of good things about Sunderland and praised the achievements of this newly promoted team.After laying the groundwork for a long time, Ferguson changed his subject: "I feel very lucky to have met this team at the end of Sunderland's 'devil schedule'. Anton's team has many great Good players, some are very talented, and some have great potential. But in the face of a dense schedule and multi-line battles, I think Manchester United is still a more experienced side."

"Yes, Manchester United will eventually win!" Ferguson said very definitely.

"In addition, I noticed that Sunderland had some surprising signings during the summer window, but this also meant that Anton's original plan was disrupted by these 'surprises'. Some players who could have been the main players now Having to sit on the bench, I don't know what these guys are going to think."

"In addition to this, the team may need to face a relatively large period of adaptation and adjustment during the winter window this year. If Sunderland can't think about these things in advance, then I want to say, even if they rank first in points after six rounds, so what ? A team with a wonderful start and a mediocre ending..."

The meaning of Ferguson's words is very obvious. When he said "the players who could have been the main players are now sitting on the bench", he was referring to Crouch. When "Gao Guy" came to Sunderland, it was because he didn't want to continue to sit on the bench at Tottenham.

And the "winter window adjustment period" that Ferguson said naturally refers to what to do if Messi is gone.Sunderland will inevitably need to change another set of tactics at that time - after getting used to Messi, they will experience "losing" Messi. How Sunderland adjusts to this gap is bound to be a test.

Anton sincerely expressed his gratitude to Ferguson Ferguson from the air: "Thank you Sir, as a newly promoted Premier League head coach, I am really grateful to be able to get guidance from an experienced person like him."

This brain circuit is excellent! ——The reporters all felt that Anton's answer was very appropriate.Sir Alex Ferguson said so much, it seemed like a routine call to the opponent before the game, but if you listen carefully, it is all the earnest instructions from the younger generation.

If Anton himself was just an impetuous person, he might not be able to hear Sir Alex's words.But people will automatically skip those "fire|powder|smell" winning words and listen to what Ferguson really wants to say.

Lord Ferguson should be very happy to hear this answer.

"These are problems that the team needs to solve immediately," Facing Ferguson's reminder, Anton could no longer say that he only cares about the "next" game. "Now the players' psychology is very stable. The rotation arrangement of the team is very recognized.”

This is in response to Crouch's question.

However, Ferguson didn't know that Crouch was now a second-to-none "plum blow" in Sunderland's dressing room.

After Crouch came to Sunderland, just like when he was at Tottenham, he played more as a substitute and less as a starter.But people never complained, because Sunderland came from his favorite Messi.Crouch now happily sits on the bench to watch Messi's games all day long, and there is nothing wrong with being a substitute. If he can fight side by side with Messi, he will be driven crazy with joy.

It's hard to imagine that two people with such a huge difference in height could be so congenial.

In addition, every time Crouch sits on the bench, he has to seriously consider Messi's running position, and study how he and Messi can "cover" this little cutie when they play "shadow striker" tactics together. Teammates often ask Anton and Russell for advice with a tactical board-seeing his happy appearance, Anton thought to himself that the problem Ferguson was worried about might not really exist.

"As for the schedule in January next year, we will make good preparations and adjust according to Ferguson's suggestion." Anton responded seriously: Messi's departure is inevitable. After he returns to La Liga, in addition to facing the second half Cheng's league championship, as well as the knockout stage of the Champions League.Even if Messi wants to stay, Gua Shuai will definitely not be able to pass.

Messi has been very lucky to have joined for six months-in the rest of the time, Anton will naturally face reality and rely on himself.

"Do you have any questions?" Anton asked again after answering.

The reporters below have finished asking all the "must ask before the game" questions, and at this time some people have already started to pack their things and prepare to go back to publish.

Unexpectedly, Anton had a disappointed expression on his face.

"But I thought you were always concerned about 'curse' and 'miracle', at least ask about Sunderland's 'October' spell?"

Anton sat on the stage and folded his arms leisurely.

ah! ——Finally some veteran reporters remembered: "You mean, the October curse?"

Although the names may be different, the content is the same: this "curse" is actually about the Sunderland area: the first weekend in October, the Sunderland area must not have good weather, so there will be no good weather for football matches. No small impact.

This is actually neither a curse nor a curse-Sunderland is located on the northeast coast, and when the cold air from Siberia goes all the way south, it often forms strong winds and waves in the North Sea.The weather here is not very good at the beginning of October every year. The "October Curse" or something is actually another "logical fallacy": it only reflects the daily life of the Sunderland area when the seasons change every year.

The reporters regretted greatly: how could they forget this stubble.

As a "new" head coach, Anton not only has not experienced the curse of "capturing the magpie", but also has not experienced the "curse of October"!

Unexpectedly, Anton took out his mobile phone, opened the weather forecast for the next day easily, and said with a smile, "Just to remind everyone, if you watch the game tomorrow, please prepare windproof clothes."

The weather forecast clearly stated that on October 10, the weather was overcast, and the wind started to blow at 2 o'clock. The northeast wind was 12-4, and the short-term gust was 6.