130 Merry Christmas, Tony Part 1 (2/2)

Roy Keane had kept that in mind throughout his career, and faithfully executed the old man's tactical instructions given to him. Just like that, he played his way from a new star player in Nottingham Forest to the Republic of Ireland National Football Team, kicked his way into the Red Devils Manchester United, became the captain of Ireland National Team, and also became Manchester United's captain.

Keane's football was so simple, and he succeeded.

Tang En also wanted his players' understanding of the tactics to be simpler, because it was counterproductive to think too much on the field. For example, his instruction to Taylor was to seize possession of the ball first, and then to either shoot or pass, and not think too much about it.

And his instruction to Rebrov was to follow Taylor and pay attention to the second point. Once he received the ball, he could use his own judgment whether to pass, shoot, or break through.

The manager could not take the place of the players on the field, so it was impossible to lay out every step of the players, and therefore, it was even more necessary for the players to comprehend for themselves.

That was why it was said: a first-rate player used his brains to play, a second-rate player used his body to play, and a third-rate player... could not play football.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær was known as a ”super-sub” because he always played the most important role for the team within a limited playing time. Ferguson had praised him as a player who was ”able to read the game on the field and have a very high level of comprehension.” One must know that the substitutes often had more difficult jobs to do than the starting players because they were usually not given much time. It was impossible for them to spend dozens of minutes to get into the rhythm of the game. When they were required to play on the field and must quickly be effective, they were expected to enter the condition of the game at the fastest speed and immediately understand the situation on the field... All these requirements were basically impossible tasks to complete if the player did not use his brain to play. That was the reason why there were so many substitutes, but few and far between were known as ”super-subs.”

In addition to the team's tactical drills and adaptation of the players' new positions, Tang En had another task.

When the League Championship was set to reopen, it would be after Christmas. From then on, he had to start thinking about candidates to replace Dawson and Reid. No one on the Forest team could play left midfield except for Reid. Tang En realized he was really fortunate that Reid did not suffer any injuries during the year, and he took part in every game. In that case, he had to search around for a left midfielder. His value could not be too high and, in addition, his ability must absolutely not be so poor that Tang En could not consider him. He was not going to purchase a player at a high price for their promotion to the Premier League. He had more ambitious goals waiting for him before that.

There was a piece of good news for Tang En. Leeds United's performance continued to decline, the share price had fallen again, and the team was now in a panic. Around the Elland Road stadium (Leeds United's home ground), a rumor was spreading that ”once the team is eventually relegated to League One, the club will declare bankruptcy and all the players will be listed for sale.”

Tang En knew clearly that this was no rumor. His chance had arrived. Therefore, he once again, ”in his personal capacity,” asked the old scout Mr. Ian Storey-Moore to make a trip to Leeds. The focus of this lobbying was for Aaron Lennon on the youth team, who had not yet signed a career contract with Leeds United. He hoped he would transfer to Nottingham Forest. The suggestion that Tang En gave to Moore was he must convince Lennon. If he couldn't be won over, then sway his parents and family. If necessary, bribe with money. In short, don't let him sign with Leeds United. Tell him about Leeds United's current situation and let him seriously consider his career prospects and promise him that the Forest team will advance to the Premier League this season. If the final promise is not fulfilled, the Forest team will voluntarily relinquish the ownership of him, and he can go to any team he wishes to go. This condition can be written into the contract. If the Forest team does not comply, Lennon can bring the club and Twain to court.

Of course, if Lennon's entire family were staunch Leeds fans who were loyal to the club, and the team also greatly valued Lennon and had prepared a generous contract for him, resulting in an unsuccessful purchase, Tang En also had a back-up plan. He just needed to spend a little more money. He believed that in the midst of a financial crisis, there was no player he could not afford to buy from the near-bankrupt Leeds United. The sale of Dawson and Reid earned the club £8,000,000, so Tang En was qualified to seek out players that he had yearned for in the past, those who he previously could only look at and not touch.

In fact, in terms of attacking players, there was a long list of names on Tang En's shortlist. There were far more attacking talents in football now than defensive talents. Even with Reid gone, the impact on the team was not that big. The greatest impact was actually the departure of the team captain, Michael Dawson.

Tang En had always believed the fact that Tottenham Hotspur was willing to pay £8,000,000, it was mainly to buy Dawson, and Reid was just a ”gift with purchase”, or it was half sale half giveaway. Because there were so few good defenders now.

With the departure of Dawson, the current Forest team's center back combination, it might not be a problem for their promotion to the Premier League, but what would happen after the promotion?