Godfather Of Champions

Rafinha (Note: "Rafinha" above, due to translation problems, I used to be called Rafinha, although I also find this name very awkward. Today some book friends pointed out the error, the correct name is Fa is one more word than mine, I am happy to accept this book friend's suggestion! So in the future, "Rafinha" is changed to "Rafinha") The purchase is a very morale transfer Action, although fans seldom pay attention to the Bundesliga, Dunn and football players know that there are many talents in the Bundesliga, and Rafinha is one of them. His arrival has enhanced the team's strength on the right, both offensive and defensive Rafinha can cope.

After coming to Russia to report, Rafinha quickly devoted himself to the team's daily training. Dunn is not worried about how the Brazilians in this team will integrate into the team. Pepe, a fellow Brazilian, shouldn't be a problem.

At this point, the personnel on Dunn's list are basically almost the same, and the forward, midfield and defense have comparable players, whether they are the main force or the substitute. There is only one problem that has always plagued Dunn to be solved-George Wood's substitute problem.

Last season, Dunn used Sun Jihai as Wood's substitute, and his performance was quite satisfactory, but only quite satisfactory. Sun Jihai tried his best, but the difference in strength was too big. His performance against strong teams was not so reassuring. Moreover, with the increase of age, Sun Jihai's economic status and physical function are declining. Sun Jihai was also plagued by injuries last season. It wasn't a major injury, but it was enough to sound the alarm for Dunn.

He didn’t sell Sun Jihai because he recognized Sun Jihai’s sportsmanship and his ability to play multiple positions. He sold a Sun Jihai. He might be at right back, midfielder, left back, right forward and other positions. Everyone needs to introduce a similar substitute.

After all, Sun Jihai was not a transitional midfielder. Dunn decided to introduce a regular midfielder to enhance the team's strength. This midfielder has to meet several requirements at the same time:

1. To be able to accept the fate of the bench, not to get angry with the coaching staff just because of sitting on the bench for a few days.

2. Although it is a substitute, the strength should not be weak. It must be strong enough. If you are a substitute in the forest team, at least if you are the main force in the middle reaches of the Premier League.

3. The salary requirement will not be high, the price will not be high, it will not increase the financial burden of the team, and once Dunn decides to give up, it will not be criticized for losing too much money.

4. It is best to be an Englishman to facilitate the team to register for the Champions League qualification. At the same time, it can also show that he has passed the Premier League level test and adapted to this league.

Dunn is very strict with these four points and refuses to yield. After all, the player's substitute position is the "waist" of the team, the most important part of the team, more important than the striker and goalkeeper. He would rather be short of abuse.

Therefore, the team has not been able to find a suitable candidate.

Until the end of last season.

If anyone remembers when George Wood played for the Nottingham Forest first team and who his opponent was, he would not be unfamiliar with this candidate.

In the 03-04 season, in the second half of the English Football League (later the English Champions League), George Wood was transferred to the first team by Dunn and made his first appearance in the game against Reading when he was wearing No. 33. robe.

Reading is a team that has left a deep impression on Dunn’s coaching career. Let’s not mention that they have played against the Forest team many times in the First Division, nor that their head coach Steve Koper and Dunn’s personal grievances, such as the “football violence scandal” that shocked the world in September last season, caused the two teams to forge a deep hatred. When the two teams met in the Premier League for the second time, the police responsible for court order were on the verge of an enemy, and there were as many as six members of the England Football Referee Committee who were sent to supervise the enforcement of referees. But just send two people to each game...

In this context, Dunn's backup candidate is actually Reading's player.

Steven Sidwell (Steven_Sidwell), the former Arsenal youth training product, has not been reused by Arsenal coach Wenger, and has always been loaned out to lower-level league teams. In January 2003, Wenger officially decided to give up the England U21 international and sold him to Reading at a low price. But no one thought that playing in the First Division would make Sidwell improve so fast that he quickly conquered Reading coach Steve Koper and became the absolute main force of the team's midfield.

Remember Wood's wonderful defense in his debut? It was Stephen Sidwell who was knocked to the ground by his life.

Poor Sidwell, because of the position on the field, as long as the Forest team and the Reading team play, he will face George Wood again and again, and if the situation is better, he will lose the ball, and if the situation is worse, he will be hit. Flip to the ground and help the team get a free kick, the worst is to be knocked to the ground, the referee still ignores this-because Wood did not foul at all!

Of course, we cannot use the one-on-one relationship between two people as the only criterion to judge Sidwell’s ability. In fact, he can secure a main position in the Reading team and make 30 appearances in Reading’s first Premier League season. Five games, all started, scored dead goals, this result is still very impressive.

At the same time, because of this performance, he has attracted the attention of various clubs in England. Nottingham Forest is one of them.

Although the first game with the Forest team this season caused very bad consequences, Sidwell did not directly participate in the entire conflict, and Dunn was not afraid of being isolated by the locker room after buying Sidwell.

This is not uncommon in professional football to buy players from the enemy formation.

When Luis Figo played in Barcelona, ​​he was the captain of Barcelona and the leader against Real Madrid. He broke Real Madrid's goal several times and is a hero in the hearts of Barcelona fans.

Remember what happened after Barcelona regained the league title under the leadership of Rijkaard a few years later? At the Barcelona championship celebration, striker Eto'o from Real Madrid's youth academy shouted in front of tens of thousands of people: "Real Madrid bastard, coward, come and pay tribute to the champion!"

This angered many Real Madrid people, but in fact, it was Luis Figo who called out the first words...

When Eto'o was just imitating his predecessors, Luis Figo had switched to Barcelona's arch-rival Real Madrid as early as 2001.

Earlier than Figo into the arms of his deadly enemies was former Real Madrid midfielder Luis Enrique, who later became a symbol of Barcelona.

Dunn didn't worry about Sidwell's Redding background, and because he was a Redding player, he tried every means to shoot him.

Why did you grab it?

Because Sidwell’s contract with the Reading team expired after the end of the 06-07 season, his agent did not renew his contract with Reading, just waiting for Sidwell to find a company with more development prospects than the Reading team. What about the team.

Chelsea were the first to express their appreciation for Sidwell. Mourinho's relationship with Abramovich continued to deteriorate. Abramovich did not want to continue to invest in the transfer market and forced the Portuguese coach to look for it. Of those free players, Sidwell is one of them.

When Dunn heard that Chelsea was going to grab Sidwell, he immediately contacted Sidwell's agent and expressed Nottingham Forest's concern for the 25-year-old midfielder.

At that time Arteta had not left, and the Forest team did not go all out to operate the introduction of Sidwell.

Now the situation is different. The departure of Arteta has left the team missing an excellent player who can be a substitute in the midfielder position. Sidwell is very suitable for Dunn’s series of requirements. The Forest team also speeds up with the opposing agent. The pace of contact.

Without the involvement of the Forest team, Chelsea and Sidwell may have signed a personal contract. But the addition of the European champions made Sidwell’s agent qualified to talk to the clubs that pursued his players...

Sidwell himself is a clear-headed professional player, he knows what he is after. At first, when he heard that Chelsea was interested in him, he was very excited to tell his agent that he would go to Stamford Bridge anyway, because that was a giant with the best players on the planet.

However, when he learned that the Forest team, which had just won the Champions League, was also very interesting to him, he immediately changed his mind... Nottingham Forest is also a good choice.

Nottingham Forest, which has just won the Champions League, is not a country team that was looked down upon a few years ago, it is a quasi-rich.

Frank Ribery, Luther Van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, Edwin Van der Sar, George Wood... Which of these people is not one of the best players in their respective positions?

Coupled with the results this team has just achieved, it is really difficult to make people not interested in her.

The agent did not immediately respond to several teams pursuing Sidwell, only that they would give answers after the vacation ended. In fact, the situation is obvious. In front of Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, other competing clubs are not attractive enough. Now it's just a matter of choosing Chelsea or Nottingham Forest.

The Forest team left for Moscow early for training, and someone in the club continued to be responsible for contacting Sidwell’s agent, negotiating with him, and negotiating a contract that was satisfactory to both parties.

Chelsea agreed to do this again, but none of them knows whether the conditions given by the other party can meet Sidwell, and can only wait for Sidwell to say it.

On July 13th, Sidwell’s agent officially announced that his client, former Reading’s main midfielder Stephen Sidwell, had accepted a £60,000 weekly contract from Nottingham Forest. He will be in the new He became a member of Nottingham Forest in the season. He has now flown to Moscow for a medical examination and then trained with the team.

The forest team finally offered Sidwell a weekly salary of 60,000, while Chelsea’s salary was 50,000, which became a decisive factor. Sidwell hopes to earn more money while receiving high-level football training. Nottingham Forest fulfilled his wish, so he chose the Forest team and rejected Chelsea.

After learning that Sidwell had become his man, Dunn was very happy. This signing can be described as three birds with one stone. Not only did it expand the strength of the team without spending a penny, it increased the thickness of the midfielder's bench, and it also poached Koper’s most valued players from the Reading team. Hit Koper's arrogance. Finally, this time Dunn defeated his old opponent Mourinho's Chelsea in the transfer market.

There is no better result than this.

※※※

Sidwell also came to the training base of the Forest team outside Moscow with some trembling, because the whole world knows the grievances between the two teams last season. He doesn't know how his new teammates will think of him coming out of the Redding team. people.

Since George Wood is always promoted by the media as a simple-minded, well-developed, and grumpy "bad guy" who will only frequently foul and be sent off, Sidwell does not know if he will be captained in the locker room. Wood leads people to isolation.

As a result, on the training ground, after Dunn introduced Sidwell to the team routinely, Wood took over and introduced Sidwell to his new teammates in a tone that he always tried to appear calm but indifferent.

No one talked about the grievances between the two teams last season. People like Ribery and Eastwood joked with Sidwell as soon as they met, and Sidwell was relieved. For the team that won the European championship, Sidwell still has some admiration, and he does not want to isolate him here because of some things in his former club.

Beckham, the team's biggest star, is also very approachable, with no pretensions in front of Sidwell, and seeing him and others talk, they get along very well. Sidwell was completely relieved.

The only person with a bad complexion is Pepe. He was injured twice in the game against Reading, and the second injury almost prevented him from playing in the Champions League final. How could he have such a "painful experience" Forget it? He just shook hands with Sidwell and nothing else.

Sidwell also doesn't care. It's impossible to have a good relationship with everyone in a team. There will always be particularly good teammates. He is prepared for this.

※※※

Sidwell's signing did not cost the team a penny, but the Forest team, with a large amount of money left, decided not to continue looking for new players. Because Dunn told Evan and Allen that the current lineup of the Forest team is enough, not to mention that they have cooperated with each other tacitly, and there is no need for major adjustments. In Dunn's words-"This is a championship-level team."

Then Dunn began to renew the contract with the players in the team. After winning the Champions League, the Forest team was able to raise the wages of the players. Sidwell, who plays on the bench for the Forest team, has a weekly salary of 60,000 pounds. It is impossible for the main players of the Forest team to live on the previous salary standard?

Frank Ribery, Eastwood, Pepe, Pique, Bell, Barnes, Zimbunda... and others all got a new contract. The salary above made everyone satisfied, so Signed one after another.

The Forest team that won the Champions League is not the poor boy before. Dunn also knows that these players must be offered a new contract that satisfies them, otherwise the loyal players may be poached by their opponents with high salaries.

The large-scale contract extension is actually Dunn's response to the transfer rumors that are now flying around the sky.

With the success of the Forest team in the Champions League, the players in the team have also become high-profile targets in the transfer market. Dunn didn't want his team to be divided up by the giants who looked forward to it. Externally, his approach to various transfer rumors is very simple and rude-"not for sale."

Just said that there is no "not for sale" in the world, he made his team "not for sale."

There is really no good way to deal with such a rogue. He insisted not to sell, and the club stood behind him. The relationship between the players and the coach is like a newly-married couple. How can it be back? No matter how you look at it, the Forest team is now at its best, and they still have the opportunity to create new achievements that are more brilliant than last season.

This is what Dunn said to his players, and his players believe so.

A Champions League is not enough. After all, we have not won the league and the FA Cup has yet to get involved.

Continue to use honor to stimulate them, this is a method used by Dunn internally, and the other method is naturally the large-scale contract renewal just mentioned.

Honor will become a cloud of smoke in the future, and only a contract is the most effective way.

After confirming all the personnel of the first team in the new season, the forest team's team training officially kicked off. All the new players had a close experience of the legendary "Madman" Brian Clough successor Tony After Dunn's style, he devoted himself to the training of the forest team's overall tactics. Defense is still the top priority. This is a "reservation" of the Forest team, but the team also pays more attention to the team's offensive tactics when encountering positions.

Next season, as the defending champion of the Champions League, whether in the European arena or in the league, the opponents facing the Forest team may choose to counterattack them defensively.

At that time, how to break the dense defense and how to deal with the opponent's quick counterattack after a solid defense are all problems that Dunn and his coaching staff need to solve.

But Dunn will not have a headache. He has confidence in his team and the entire team behind him. Now this team is so powerful that nothing can stop the advance of the forest chariot.

AC Milan can't, nor Real Madrid. (To be continued, if you want to know what's going on, please visit www.qidian.com, there are more chapters, authors are supported, and genuine reading is supported!)

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