Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 126

From the first half with no points in the upper hand, to the equalizer in the second half, more blossoms—what Anton did was to change the goalkeeper.

"Mr. Coach, may I ask why you made such substitutions during the intermission?" In the mixed interview area, Anton was constantly questioned by reporters.

Of course, Anton would not tell the media that his own players were "wandering in mentality". He only said lightly that the team's goalkeeper readjusted his state.

But in all fairness, Pickford's daily performance is indeed better than Gordon.In addition to his excellent goal line skills, his long ball accuracy is very high, which means that the freckled teenager can cooperate well with the team's midfielder, and can even launch an attack directly on the opponent from the small penalty area.In this regard, Pickford is even better than Jardosson, who played here last season.

But this kid is too easy to drift, and being unable to maintain a stable state is a taboo for goalkeepers.If you can't sharpen your personality and mature as soon as possible, Pickford will not be able to become an excellent goalkeeper.

But what happened today, Anton is not sure whether this kid can understand his painstaking efforts——Pickford is so heartless, he was crying in the locker room, and he was already on the bench for his teammates They cheered.So Anton had no idea at all, wondering if this "setback" could make Pickford more mature.If not, he can only keep this kid on the bench for a while.

But this cannot be hidden from Anton's colleagues.

In the post-match press conference, after praising the performance of Messi and others, Varner Muller said with regret: "We missed a very good opportunity."

Others only said that Muller said that they were overtaken after the first goal, but what Muller meant was that the "young people" encountered the most unstable mentality of the Sunderland players, but they did not seize the opportunity and failed to win. Take this victory.

Coincidentally, Arsenal's head coach, Professor Arsene Wenger, before the team set off to the Stadium of Light, also felt a pity in the pre-match briefing: "It would be great if Arsenal could play this game a few days earlier."

The man has seen it all too clearly, after four relatively "easy" league victories, Sunderland desperately need someone to ring the alarm for them.It's a pity that Arsenal didn't catch up with such a good thing. Instead, they taught the Swiss who came from afar to catch up.

On the other hand, Anton felt very lucky: If Sunderland met Arsenal when they were "floating", the wily professor Arsene Wenger would definitely not allow his team a chance to adjust, and would definitely chase after them and let them Sunderland will not stop until he has learned the lesson of defeat.

It may be because Anton didn't buy Bendtner, Arsenal's operations in the summer window this year were tight, and they hung the fans on the trees for a long time——

The team's only "heavy" signing was 850 million pounds, signing the French defender Koscielny.Comparing the first four rounds of the league, Koscielny's performance makes people have to sigh, it is easy to use and not expensive, and the professor's vision is really top-notch.

Although there are no big signings in the midfield, Arsenal's midfield is still strong. Van Persie, Cesc Fabregas, Nasri, Walcott, Arshavin... the attack line composed of these names is still star-studded Yiyi.Although there is still some gap between this lineup and the lineup when they were unbeaten for 49 games, they are also much more famous than most of the players in Sunderland.

Considering that the previous Community Shield was a friendly match after all, Arsenal is the first real "strong team" that Sunderland has encountered in the league this season.From this point of view, saying that Sunderland has "six consecutive victories" since the beginning of this season is actually quite watery.

"Only this game against Arsenal can reflect the true level of Sunderland this season." This is the comment of Andy Gray, the most eventful talker on Sky Sports, before the game.Most of the fans also think this way: the result against the Premier League BIG6 can explain the problem. Whether Sunderland has transformed into a "real" black panther this season, or a little black cat who will be cowardly when encountering a strong one, will not be known until it is head-on.

And Sunderland's feeling is that the "Gunner" came as soon as the "young man" left, and there was only two days between the two games.The players basically don't have a chance to rest. In the past two days, except for the fixed physical training sessions, they are basically trying to eat and understand the tactics arranged by the coaching staff.

As for the lineup, Messi only played a little more than half of the game in the middle of the week. He is physically fit and can start.Anton has made a certain degree of rotation in other positions.Only the veteran Finn Hyypia on the back line has maintained full attendance since the beginning of the season.Anton considered his rotation, but was rejected by the Finn.

After the starting lineup was determined, Anton notified everyone.But only the starting goalkeeper has been undecided, and Anton neither informed Gordon nor Pickford.

For this reason, Gordon found Anton alone, and confessed to Anton: I am in good condition, but after watching Pickford's recent training and games, Gordon thinks that Pickford is in better condition than him.

Anton thanked the honest substitute goalkeeper, went to Pickford himself, and asked straight to the point: "Jordan, do you want to start the game on Sunday?"

Pickford nodded like a chicken pecking rice, making no secret of his desire for the game.So Anton relayed Gordon's words to him, and then asked him what he thought.

Pickford scratched his head: "I am very grateful to Craig for speaking for me, but...then I can't give up the starting position to Craig?"

Anton: ...This kid, why is he always a little bit out of his wits.

So he stared into Pickford's eyes and asked: "I just want to ask you, should I let you start?"

Pickford bowed his head in embarrassment, as if he didn't know how to answer.Anton has almost made his decision - even against Arsenal, he will still put the kid on the bench until Pickford is "ready".

Unexpectedly, the freckled boy suddenly became enlightened at this time, raised his head and said loudly to Anton: "Coach, I understand you, for the coach, no decision is 'easy' to make. So no matter what the reason is, you do I accept all your decisions. What you said...wasting a chance and waiting for the rest of my life, I also understand..."

The boy's voice became softer and softer, and it was almost like a whisper in the end, which was quite different from his usual carefree style.

"... These two days, I feel like I've lived two lifetimes." After a long time of effort, the freckled boy finally choked out a sentence.It seems that although this young man looks heartless on the surface, he still has some ideas in his heart when he encounters major events related to his career.

Anton nodded, expressing his understanding, but he didn't give any accurate words. He planned to let the boy suffer for "half his life" and tell him when the starting lineup was announced before the game.

The time for two days of preparation is fleeting, and the third day is another match day.Before this round of the game, Sunderland and Arsenal ranked second and third in the standings, so this match between the two teams became the focus of this round, and was temporarily adjusted to the best time by the FA , and Sky Sports obtained the exclusive broadcast rights.

Soon before the game, the players of the two teams went to the court to warm up.As the battle was imminent, Anton naturally crossed his arms and paced around the field. He walked a few steps to the visiting team's bench, where he saw a light brown-haired player wearing Arsenal's training uniform. Sitting in the chair - reading a book.

This is the only player on the bench at the moment.

Anton let go of his arms and looked around: the Stadium of Light is a bit noisy, not a good place to study.But the player in front of him has been watching quietly all the time, without any interference from the outside world, and seems to have forgotten himself.

So Anton became curious and asked, "What book is this?"

The Arsenal player didn't expect to be interrupted. When asked about this, he tilted his face and raised his head, glanced at Anton, and then raised the cover of the book in his hand towards Anton.

Anton immediately saw the cover of the book clearly.

"Haruki Murakami?" He suddenly became more curious about this player.

The player buried in a book has a wide forehead, flat forehead, high browbones and deep-set eye sockets, with a distinctive Slavic face.Hearing Anton's accurate report of the author's name, he immediately grinned at Anton, showing his white teeth, and asked, "You like his books too?"

Anton replied: "I have read some." He said and stretched out his hand: "My name is Anton."

Anton wore a windproof jacket with the logo of Sunderland's kit manufacturer Umbro printed on it.Just as Anton knew very well that the opponent was an Arsenal player, the visitors also naturally knew that Anton was a member of Sunderland's coaching staff.

Sure enough, when the other party heard Anton's self-report, he raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Are you the head coach of Sunderland?"

The Slavs then shook hands with Anton and announced their family name: "Hi, my name is Andrey, Andrey Arshavin."

"So you are Arshavin!" Anton looked at him with interest.The fame that the player himself has is far from the current image.

Arshavin, Arsenal's "czar".

He is from Russia. He originally came from the Zenit youth training system in St. Petersburg. He transferred from Russia to Arsenal in the winter window of 2009. He had an astonishing performance in that season, including Arshavin scoring four goals in a row against Liverpool when Arsenal visited Anfield. , Completed the 15th "Big Four" in the history of the Premier League, raised four fingers high and ran wildly to celebrate at Anfield, with unparalleled domineering, even Anfield, the devil's home court, was overwhelmed by the aura of the "tsar".

When Professor Wenger tried to sell Bendtner to Anton, he hid Arshavin well.

However, without seeing him in person, it is hard for Anton to imagine that this mighty tsar who straddles the stadium is such a quiet and low-key "literary" youth who would sit on the sidelines before the game and read slowly with a book "Haruki Murakami".

It seems that Professor Wenger hid the "tsar" on the bench as a "secret weapon".