The FA Cup defeat didn't affect Donn's mood or the overall atmosphere of the team, and everyone knew what they needed to work on this season.

Fast forward to February, and although the Forest team were eliminated from the FA Cup, their progress did not stop there. Manchester United helped Forest leave a heavy burden behind, and Forest played lightly.

On February 1, 2005, Nottingham Forest faced Crystal Palace at home, and after losing the FA Cup, Donn was so lucky that the Forest team could use this weak team to adjust their form and mentality. Amid the shouts of nearly 30,000 fans at the City Stadium, Nottingham Forest easily won 2:0 against the away team Crystal Palace.

Twenty-five league rounds, with 40 points, is still below Liverpool and is in sixth place.

Nottingham Forest want to move up the rankings and Liverpool are the first enemy to be on their heads. The two teams are currently tied on 40 points, and if Liverpool make a small mistake, Forest could replace them.

Liverpool, on the other hand, are almost impossible not to make mistakes, and this season they have to put more energy into the Champions League, and the team has limited energy, focusing on the Champions Cup, and they have to abandon the league. That's when the Forest had their chance.

All Donn has to do now is win every game he can win, and then lie quietly behind Liverpool, waiting for it to fall out of strength when it is about to fall behind, and then push hard.

Even if Liverpool have not made a mistake, it doesn't matter, Nottingham Forest still have a direct game against Liverpool, this time at home, and Don will not allow the team to lose again.

Of course, before the decisive battle with Liverpool, the Forest team itself cannot be left behind in the first place, and Don does not want to see the team work hard for most of the season, and in the end it will slowly fail to keep up with the big team and be left behind.

During the training session, Donn stepped up the team's defensive drills to develop enough chemistry between Van der Sar and the backline as soon as possible - one of the reasons for the FA Cup defeat to Manchester United, goalkeeper Van der Sar and the back line had some problems with the backline.

In addition, Arteta's run-in with the team after joining has been positioned, and it is also something that Don needs to worry about.

When Forest bought Mikel Arteta, there were concerns that Coach Donn would not be able to deploy Forest's midfield. With Wood and Albertini proving successful in the first half of the season, there is no reason for the manager to break up the duo with a new signing.

But in Donn's eyes, that's not a problem at all.

The pace of the Premier League is the fastest among Europe's four top leagues (apart from Ligue 1, one of the previous five leagues), with fast transitions, fast attacking speeds, fast passes, and fast pace of scrambling...... All in all, everything is fast. The pace of the game is physically demanding, and Albertini is already a 33-year-old veteran, and his fitness does not allow him to start the entire season and play the full 90 minutes of each game. He has to have a substitute and Mikel Arteta is the perfect fit.

Unlike Arteta, who was in Everton's memory and the core position, the current Arteta belongs to the kind of player who has not proven himself in Real Sociedad, so he is not qualified to play a big name, he is now neither the core of the midfield of the Forest team, nor the big-name star of the Forest team, which can be seen from his worth of three million euros, which is only about 1.5 million pounds when converted into pounds, which is pitiful.

Arteta is very low-key into Nottingham Forest. From his first day in the squad, Donn was very frank in telling the Spaniards that he could not be a regular for Forest at the moment, but that he would be Albertini's first replacement. Because he is the most organised player in the midfield other than Albertini, as long as he performs well, he has the opportunity to change from a bench player to a starter. Of course, if he doesn't mind playing wide in midfield, he'll have more chances.

Arteta has accepted Donne's advice and is considering trying to play in a number of positions in midfield – and he also wants to prove that he is not as bad as Real Sociedad, and has done everything he can to impress the new manager.

Don hasn't bought those big-name stars until now because of this consideration: can he manage those high-profile players at such a young age? If there are too many big-name stars in the team and they don't obey him as a manager, then the team will have no fighting power at all. Don would rather find some ordinary players who are not well-known but not weak, and never look for stars who have been famous for a long time. The best thing to say is "no one can be above the team as a whole", and the arrogant is "no one can be above him Tony?" Above Donn".

How similar is this to the deceased Clough...... Arteta has no problem adapting to the English style of football, Albertini has been adapting to the Forest team for a while, and Arteta has nothing to worry about because he has played in Scotland and is completely used to the English Isles. Adaptation is not the same as assimilation, he is able to adapt to English football, while retaining his delicate foot skills and outstanding imagination, and he has the advantages of a Spanish player. This is the kind of player that any manager can only dream of, who can bring something new to the team and will make the team unique in the league as a whole.

Don is very optimistic about Arteta and hopes to develop him into the heart of Forest's midfield playmaking in the future. When is George? Wood will protect Arteta in the same way that Albertini and Rebrov were.

Therefore, in training, Don will often put Wood and Arteta in a group, and slowly develop their chemistry from this time on.

※※※ On February 5, in the 26th round of the league, Nottingham Forest continued their away trip, this time against Aston Villa.

At the beginning of the Premier League season, Forest drew with Aston Villa at home with an own goal, which was the first point of the Forest Super League, and since then, Forest have been unbeaten in ten consecutive Super League games!

Even though the people are still those people, the Forest team is a completely different team than it was then.

After half a season of running-in and experience, the Forest team is now more mature and stronger, and can always stay in the top six, which is not something that can be achieved by luck alone.

Despite being away from home, Forest won against Villa.

Who was Freddy who put in a great performance in this tough away game and helped the team to the ultimate victory? Eastwood.

The Gypsy hasn't made the headlines of the sports pages of newspapers for some time, and lately has been promoting his teammate and "enemy" George because of the club's needs? Wood, I don't know what he's going to feel like when he sees those reports. Thankfully, that didn't affect Eastwood's performance. He may not be the brightest star of the Forest team, but aside from his goals on the pitch, he seems to have disappeared off the pitch, occasionally going back to London to visit his father, but more often than not, he is in that caravan to take care of his wife and the child he is carrying.

Eastwood has not yet looked for an agent, and someone once came to the door to want to be his agent, but he refused. So apart from playing football, he didn't have much business activity. Naturally, the chances of being exposed in the newspapers are greatly reduced.

But this time, he's making headlines, and not just the local Nottingham media, he's a hot spot on London's Fleet Street this week.

At Villa Park (villa_park), there may be many people who shine, such as Angel Angel, who scored the first goal for Aston Villa, Ecuadorian veteran De la Cruz (ulises_de_la_cruz), who scored the second goal for the home team and sent fans into a frenzy, Dutch goalkeeper Van der Sar, who remained calm despite conceding two goals, Hierro, a veteran who rebuilt his defense and no longer gave the opponent any chance, Viduka who created opportunities for his teammates to attract the attention of the opponent's defense, Arteta, a substitute for Albertini who made his Premier League debut for Forest...... But there is only one person who shines the brightest, and that is the low-key gypsy Freddie? Eastwood.

Despite the fact that just 20 minutes into the game, the home team scored two goals with a fast break. Villa Park fans must have thought Forest were stunned and could have started celebrating 70 minutes earlier. That's when Eastwood stepped up and told the Villa fans how stupid it was to celebrate so early.

His powerful long-range shot from outside the box bounced high into the legs of the Villa player, turning from a powerful volley into a long-range lob that went right over the head of the Villa goalkeeper and was tricked to the ground by the first shot from Thomas? Sorensen (thomas_sorensen) looked up as the ball flew over the sky before crashing into the empty net...... Eastwood has been more and more active after the goal, with Viduka up front to help him attract energy, he has more freedom, Eastwood is not the kind of center forward who waits in front of the opposition goal, he is a second striker who prefers to move freely behind his team-mates, although Villa's manager David? O'Reilly (david_oleary) stepped up his defence at the edge of the box, but it was still a headache for the erratic striker.

He was sometimes in the middle, hiding behind Viduka in search of a direct shot. When defending and counterattacking, he was at the front and attacked with the ball. When you put the focus on the middle, he went to the wing to cross...... Towards the end of the first half, Eastwood seized a fleeting opportunity in the box and burst out between two tall centre-backs to cut Ashley Ashley? Young's pass goes into the back of the net. 2：2！ Forest equalised!

(To be continued)