Volume IV The Storm Chapter 64 Almost
At the post-match press conference, Donn was the winner, while the loser, Rijkaard, sat next to him, watching him talk to reporters' questions.
He was familiar with this scene, but it was himself who was answering the reporter's questions at the time, and the person sitting next to him with a cold face and silent was Tony. Dawn.
That was after last season's Champions Cup final.
At that time, Donn had just thrown away the silver medal for second place, and everyone thought that with his character, he would not be present at the final press conference, which was almost the case. After the press conference began, only Rijkaard was there to answer questions from reporters. Donn's seat was empty. Halfway through the press conference, Don suddenly entered the venue, sat in his seat, and looked at Rijkaard answering questions from reporters with a gloomy face.
What made Rijkaard feel that Donn was very ungraceful was because at the end of the press conference. In general, as a loser, shouldn't the winner be congratulated? Even if it is against his will, this kind of behavior can reflect his demeanor and win everyone's favor.
Don had no intention of doing so, saying very directly that the title should go to the best performing team, and the best team was Nottingham Forest. Not only that, but at the end he added: "I regret that Barcelona can only beat Nottingham Forest, who are ten men. ”
This sentence angered Rijkaard, and it haunts him to this day. That's why he's going to be right to Tony. Don has been dissatisfied. Rijkaard was not a controversial person, a very low-key person. If it weren't for Donn's repeated insults to his team, why would he be doing this?
Unexpectedly, in less than a year now, he and Don have switched places. The victor became Donn, and he became the unwilling loser.
This is the case...... He suddenly understood Donn's mood at the beginning - how much he wanted to leave at this moment......
It's a pity that he is not Don yet, and he can't do that kind of "ungraceful" thing.
Since it can't be done, it can only continue to accept this "disguised insult" here.
Of course, Don knows what it's like to be a loser at this moment. While he enjoyed the popularity of the media. At the same time, he snickered in his heart: "This is called Thirty Years of Hedong." Thirty years in Hexi. Mr. Rijkaard. ”
In fact, for Barcelona, losing this game from the current point of view may be a disaster. But in the long run, maybe it's a good thing?
Real Madrid has not won for several years, and they have learned from the pain, and they have invited gold medal coach Capello this season, and Real Madrid's revival is just around the corner. Barcelona are also going through the pain that Real Madrid once had, and the media said that the "Dream II Dynasty" itself was a deformed product. Just won one Champions Cup championship and two league championships, can it be called a "dynasty"?
Donn doesn't see it that way, and if a team really wants to build a dominant dynasty, such an achievement is not enough.
If we lose today's game, it can calm down the Barcelona hierarchy and rethink the road ahead. Then this failure will become a valuable asset in the future. Contrarily...... If the Barcelona don't see this and just focus on winning this game, then there is still a lot of suffering ahead.
It's up to Rijkaard and Laporta to realise that they are following the same path as Real Madrid's "Galactica", and how it will end. Although Don had crossed before that, he could think of it on his knees, and there was no suspense.
Sometimes he also thinks it's quite strange, Real Madrid's experience is in front of him, are the Barcelona executives all fools? I can't see this, and I'm still desperately leaning on that road. Or is it ...... Is the temptation of commercial interest so great? Let them pursue it desperately.
He beat Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. directly led to Florentino's discouraged resignation, and Real Madrid's "galactic era" also came to an end. I wonder if this time, can we end Barcelona's illusory "Dream II Dynasty"?
He's looking forward to it.
Finally, a reporter threw the question at Rijkaard, who had nothing to say about being eliminated from the Champions Cup. The defeat to Nottingham Forest was a fact, and what made him even more uncomfortable was that he was beaten home and away...... He also wants to be like Don now, stubbornly refusing to admit defeat.
But if he really did this, wouldn't he be very ungraceful?
The microphone is all on your lips. Everyone's eyes were on him, even Tony next to him. Don squinted at himself as well. He had to say something.
Rijkaard coughed and slowly approached the microphone.
He was going to be a little more personable, but just as he was about to speak, he heard Don laugh from the side. A sudden anger rose in his heart.
I lost to you, but that doesn't mean I have to accept your insults!
"We lost, there's nothing to say. No one wants to be eliminated. Also, I'm looking forward to next season's Champions League and I'd love to see Barcelona and Nottingham Forest draw again. ”
After saying this, he got up and said goodbye, and for the first time in his life, he left the press conference early.
Donn looked at Rijkaard's stubborn back, shrugged, and whistled.
Before Rijkaard had yet to go out, he said to the media who were still a little surprised: "Look, eleven for eleven, Barcelona can't win against Nottingham Forest, I'm not talking big." ”
Rijkaard, who was just about to go out, suddenly paused, and then hurried out again.
"Alright,
Gentlemen, I don't want to play a one-man show. "Don stood up too," he waved and followed Rijkaard out.
In the days that followed, there was a lot of media coverage of the match.
A few of Donn's words were prominently placed as quotations, and his feud with Rijkaard seemed even more irreconcilable under the push of the media.
I wonder if it will be possible to sit together and have a glass of wine when they all step down from the dugout and say goodbye to football once and for all?
He didn't hate Rijkaard at all, but now they were their own masters. The butt decides the head, where to sit, and what things to think about. When he was a football fan, he never imagined that he would become an enemy of one of the Dutch Three Musketeers.
Mourinho, Benitez, Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Capello...... These people, whom he liked or respected at the beginning, have become rivals and enemies. It's a wonderful world.
So. Rijkaard is not the first enemy of his coaching career. It definitely won't be the last.
With his annoying character, he didn't have an enemy to see the hell.
The only thing that made the Barcelona people happy was that on the night after the game, their arch-rivals Real Madrid were also eliminated. This news made the Barcelonans, who were also eliminated, somewhat balanced.
But what they didn't know was that this was the beginning of Barcelona's nightmare......
Okay, let's put Barcelona aside, or turn the page of Barcelona over the fact that they are a thing of the past.
The fact that Forest have won this big win does not mean they can now breathe a sigh of relief and start celebrating.
On the way forward. Tony. Don and his Nottingham Forest have plenty of opponents to face.
Just finished with Barcelona Champions Cup, Tony. Done is going to lead his team to London, and their opponent is none other than another of Donne's enemies, Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
Mourinho has been a bit depressed this season, wanting to lead the team to defend the league title for three consecutive years, but has been strongly suppressed by the resurgent Manchester United, who have been pressed into second place in the league table. And that's not all. With Nottingham Forest in the back, Mourinho certainly doesn't think that Don will be kind enough to let him breathe a sigh of relief, and if he is not careful, he may be caught up by the other side. Eat no bones left.
Professional football is so cruel, no matter how famous a manager is, if you don't lead the team to satisfactory results, you will soon be forgotten.
As the end of the season approaches, whether it is relegation or championship, it is time to start exerting force. Don knew that this was a bad thing. He was best prepared in Nottingham.
Every time he went to Stamford, he and his team faced a flood of boos. I've just given Rijkaard and his team a taste of it, and it's going to be my turn soon.
Donn's tactics for his team were simple – defend to the death. Defend and defend away from home, and it's OK to hold on to one point. He doesn't ask for three points, because for him, a "guest", one point is actually a victory. With eight league games remaining, Chelsea are six points clear of Manchester United, with only one win over Nottingham Forest. Only then can the pressure be maintained on Manchester United and hope for a last-minute comeback.
If Mourinho can't get the three points. What would it look like?
Fly into a rage?
Leaving with a gloomy face?
Donne is now looking forward to playing against Chelsea, especially his 'old friend' Mourinho.
Stamford Bridge is packed, as has been the case every time Chelsea and Nottingham Forest have been in the game. Due to the "personal vendetta" between the two managers, the clash between the two teams will attract a lot of media and fans.
They want to see two managers on the pitch, on the sidelines, in and out of the game. After Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, the media are very happy that the Premier League has come out with such a couple - they were worried that if Ferguson retires, there will be any gossip and hype, but now there is no need to worry.
Before the game, a reporter had bad intentions to Mourinho about the embarrassing record he had made since he took charge of Chelsea. Don Nottingham Forest also holds a "winless" record.
This made Mourinho so angry that he turned grimacing and tried to refuse to answer the question.
Of course, the media would like to see him unhappy, but if he really doesn't answer this question, the media won't get any valuable information, so they do everything possible to hope that he will answer this question.
In the end, Mourinho was pressed and said, "I never cared about those records...... Arsenal are on a 49-game unbeaten streak, did they finally lift the trophy that season? I don't deny that my team hasn't beaten his team yet, but you can't deny that the league title for the last two seasons was Chelsea, not Nottingham Forest. Of course, you can ask Tony a different question. Donne – you ask him why his side can be unbeaten against Chelsea but not even a single title? ”
This was a very poisonous remark, and he very cleverly changed the focus of the reporter's attention in a different direction.
Which is more important, an unbeaten record or a championship? Fools can see it.
Pierce. Bruce is a Nottingham Forest fan and a journalist from Nottingham. I felt the need to thwart the man's spirit. He stepped forward: "But, Mr. Mourinho. You can't deny it, as a promotion
Former under-regarded team manager, Tony Brown. Donn has been good enough for these two seasons......"
Mourinho interrupted him and nodded: "That's right, almost the league title, almost the Champions Cup...... Unfortunately, in my football credo, 'almost' is the same as failure. ”
These words put Pierce. Bruce was speechless. Champions are the only measure of success in professional football. Mourinho insisted on the "champion", and for the Forest team, which did not win the title, it must be admitted that they are one level lower than Chelsea.
Bruce wasn't a man of words and debates, and he was a bit of a fool of the losers.
Before the matter was played, Mourinho left the interview area after saying that, and a few minutes later, the media waited for Donn, who had just gotten out of the car.
Mourinho's words were relayed to Donne. Hope to see Donn's reaction.
Don listened carefully to the reporter's relay, but nodded and laughed: "Mourinho is very interesting, almost won the league championship, almost won the Champions Cup. It's a good phrase for losers to cover up their failures. I'm delighted to be playing against Chelsea at this time because we had the privilege of giving Mr Mourinho a 'almost' taste of winning the league title at the end of the season. ”
With that, he smiled and waved goodbye to the other reporters and quickly slipped into the visiting team's locker room.
Bruce looked at Donne's back and sighed in his heart: It turns out that there is no need to take action by himself for such a thing. There's an even more powerful character here.
By the time the players returned from warming up on the pitch, Donn had been waiting in the dressing room for a long time.
"Defense." After the crowd quieted down, he clapped his hands and said, "If we want to fight Chelsea here with an attacking battle, trust me, guys, it will have to be our 'fight to the death'." I'll give you a brief breakdown of the situation, Chelsea are in desperate need of a win and three points to catch up with Manchester United. With eight rounds left in the league. Theoretically, they'd better win every game, otherwise six points isn't a big difference. We just need to draw against Chelsea in this game. It must have been a big blow for Mourinho. At the same time, defending on the road is an insurance strategy. But don't let go of your chances to score. Donn shook his fingers, "One ball could turn everything upside down." But I want you to remember that in any situation, the defense comes first, make sure we don't concede a goal and then think about how to score them! ”
As Donn said in the dressing room, Mourinho had to win this game, and for that he fielded the strongest attacking line-up at home, Drogba, Shepchenko, Ballack, Frank Lampard...... All the attacking players who could be sent were on the line.
In response to this situation, Don responded with a defensive counterattack lineup of 451.
The use of five midfielders is to deal with Chelsea's 'world-class' midfielder.
It worked out well, and for most of the game, both sides were engaged in a tug-of-war in midfield. Forest's tight defence and completely shameless rogue play have made Chelsea miserable. Errors were mounting on both sides, often with Forest conceding a mistake and Chelsea getting on the ball with another pass error to get the ball back.
Forest are not afraid of mistakes, but Chelsea can't afford to make mistakes, and they are squandering their attacking opportunities.
The game was a mess and there was no quality attack from either side. Forest didn't intend to have any quality attacking at all, using beautiful combinations to get the ball into the Chelsea goal. Chelsea were keen to play quality attacks, but were always stopped by Forest's devastating style of play at crucial moments.
The game time was consumed.
Of course, it wasn't entirely out of chance, with Chelsea creating three of the most dangerous chances of the game, notably the one before the end of the game, when Chelsea managed to tear through the Forest defence after a series of stunning combinations, but Drogba's final kick went over the crossbar for too much power. That time made Mourinho so angry that he almost dropped his suit on the ground. And after seeing the football fly out, Don let out a sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair and not wanting to get up. If you let the opponent score in the last minute, your team's 90 minutes of hard work will be in vain.
Ninety minutes later, looking at 00 on the scoreboard, Mourinho's face was as cold as Antarctica.
Donn, who was a bit like "the aftermath of the catastrophe", smiled like a spring breeze, and he took the initiative to reach out to Moulinho: "My friend, you almost won us. He deliberately highlighted the word "almost." "It's a shame, just almost."
Mourinho didn't want Donn to be too proud, and he knew that if he was frustrated or angry now, it was what that bastard wanted to see the most, so he definitely couldn't let him get his wish.
So he forced a smile: "There are still seven rounds of the league, Mr. Donne." But one thing is certain, do you want to hear it? ”
Don made a deaf voice.
"My team still has a chance to compete for the title, and your team doesn't even have a chance to 'almost win the league.'"
Donne's face changed when he said this, but he quickly returned to normal and smiled at Mourinho: "Then good luck to your team and try to 'almost win the league title' as soon as possible."
Next, the two people with unscrupulous faces let go of each other's hands at the same time and turned away from the court.
Bruce saw this scene next to him and shook his head slightly. The two of them...