Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 152

Back in England, Sunderland's next league opponent is Aston Villa.This team beat Chelsea 0-0 in the last round of the Premier League, which is regarded as helping Sunderland.But as soon as it turned around and came to beat Sunderland, who knows if it will also turn around and help Chelsea?

There is an old acquaintance in Sunderland in the Aston Villa team: striker Darren Vincent, a former Sunderland player, resolutely transferred to the team in the last winter window regardless of the time when the team was employing people Premier League.This time he will return to the Stadium of Light with the team - the first time since the transfer.

When it comes to Vincent, many Sunderland fans are full of emotions: they loved him so much when he was there, and they were so painful when he left without looking back...

But now Vincent really couldn't stir up waves in their hearts.

They have Royce, Vardy, Crouch... They have "Messi", and there are two more!

They already have the appearance of a striker. What is Vincent?

But Vincent expressed his great attachment to Sunderland at this time: "When I think of returning to the Stadium of Light, I feel very excited. I spent a very happy time there. I think... I When I left, I couldn’t take all of my heart with me, and I still have a part of it there..."

Fans: where, where?Let's get out of here quickly.

When Aston Villa's bus arrived at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland fans put up a big slogan "Welcome" Vincent: "Dear Darren, I heard that good horses don't turn their backs—"

Vincent's face froze immediately on the bus.

But he changed his mind and thought: What the fans say doesn't matter, if it is a really good horse, it can eat grass everywhere-Vincent believes that the head coach Anton is very clear about this.

Because of this, as soon as the game started, Darren Vincent played extremely positively against his former owner Sunderland.

There are frequent transfers in the Premier League, and many players have the experience of revisiting their old places and facing their old owners. The treatment of "going home" has its advantages and disadvantages, but most of them depend on whether the "breakup" is happy or not, and whether there is an affair with the "mortal enemy".Some players return to their hometowns and are warmly welcomed by fans; others are booed every minute to doubt their lives.

Correspondingly, some players seem to have psychological shadows facing their old owners, but some players seem to have been beaten up, eager to prove themselves, so that the "predecessor" will feel extremely "regretful" after losing themselves. "—

Vincent is the latter mentality.Sunderland's current forward line is too strong. If he wants to come back, he must show strong strength.

And Vincent is indeed a strong one in the Premier League.He is fast, has delicate footwork, and has a strong ability to seize opportunities at the door. He is definitely a technical talent among English players, and can even be compared with some players in Southern Europe and South America.

Because of this, before leaving Sunderland, Vincent has always been the team's leading star and main striker.He is still the same when he arrives at Aston Villa.

But Vincent still hopes to return to Sunderland: without it, Sunderland can play in Europe.In addition, Messi and Sunderland only have a six-month lease. After the lease expires, Sunderland also needs a striker.

Sure enough, just 3 minutes into the game, Vincent had already completed a shot.He broke into the penalty area almost single-handedly, shook away all the defenders who stepped forward to press, and raised his foot to shoot——

The ball was shot a little right, and was held firmly in the arms of Sunderland goalkeeper Pickford.

Seeing Vincent's "positive" performance, the fans sitting behind the goal booed for a while, and then began to applaud: no need to think about it, the applause was for the little goalkeeper.

When Vincent was the head star in Sunderland, Pickford was still in the youth training team and had not been promoted.At this time, Vincent didn't pay attention to Pickford at all, and spit on the turf, while backing away, he said something to Pickford.

The sidelines were noisy, and only Pickford heard this.The young goalkeeper's face flushed instantly.Holding a football in his arms, he walked quickly towards Vincent, his right hand wearing a goalkeeper glove clenched into a fist.

Godin and Hummels, who were not far from Vincent, saw that the situation was not good, and hurried forward to block Pickford, separating him from Vincent.

Unexpectedly, Vincent didn't hold back at all, but took two steps forward, and said a few more words to Pickford, which made Godin and Hummels change their faces.Pickford immediately replied, and immediately began to take off his gloves, as if he wanted to teach Vincent a lesson.

The atmosphere in front of Sunderland's goal immediately became tense.The fans booed Vincent all over the sky, and some fans who watched the excitement and didn't think it was a big deal shouted Pickford's name loudly. They seemed to think that it was time for Pickford to rejoice—— You've already pushed your nose on your face, what are you still holding back?

At this time, Henderson, the captain of the field, hurried forward, blocked Vincent with his whole body, stretched out his right arm to wrap Vincent's shoulder, and sent him towards Aston Villa's own half. bring.

"Darren, listen to me, you don't want to make such a mess in front of Anton, do you?" Henderson had already figured out Vincent's thoughts, "If you still want to go back to Sunderland, don't Take the initiative to provoke Pickford, he is still a child and does not have such self-control as you."

Henderson and Vincent have been in the Sunderland first team at the same time, and the two are still somewhat friendly.Vincent heard Henderson's thoughts, and finally backed away.

But Pickford still couldn't hold back, and suddenly threw Godin away, trying to rush towards Vincent, but was finally blocked by Hummels and dragged back by the waist.

Finally, the on-duty referee ran over and asked about the situation. He believed that Vincent and Pickford had a verbal conflict just now, which did not cause much impact, so they each played [-] boards and issued verbal warnings. Yifan: If you commit the crime again, you will be punished.

At this time, the conflict in front of Sunderland also alarmed the coaching staff of both sides.Houllier, Aston Villa's head coach, had a bad heart and didn't dare to yell at the commander too excitedly. At this time, he asked his assistant coach to call Vincent back loudly to calm down Vincent.

Russell, Sunderland's assistant coach, was sitting on the coach's bench, looking at the "situation" on the other side of the goal, couldn't help moving around on the seat, and muttered indignantly: "Why is the little brat so restless?" Vincent is obviously setting up a trap for others, can’t you see it? I said Anton, Anton—you don’t try to persuade me, Pippi always listens to you!”

But on Sunderland's side, Anton stood on the sidelines like a wooden sculpture, motionless.Anton seemed unaware of the conflict between Vincent and Pickford in the distance, Russell's shout behind him, and the reaction of the Villa coaching staff next to him——

Sunderland's young head coach seemed to be "petrochemicalized" in place under a spell.

Throughout the first half, Vincent continued to attack as if he had been injected with chicken blood.Sunderland struggled defensively, and at the same time their own offensive end did not make any achievements.When the halftime whistle blew, the scoreboard was still 0-0.

For a moment, the Sunderland team returned to the locker room, and the players talked about Vincent as they walked.Several players who joined after the winter window finally began to understand their "predecessor".

Then the coaching staff returned to the locker room.Russell bumped Anton with his elbow, and said depressedly: "Anton, talk, talk!"

It was only then that many players noticed that their head coach—Anton was still the same as when he was on the sidelines in the first half, frowning and not saying a word, as if there was some problem that still could not be solved.

Was there something wrong with their performance in the first half?

It was the first time the players had seen their head coach look like this, and they began to panic.

However, Anton was bumped by Russell, he came back to his senses suddenly, stretched out his hand and pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, and said with a smile: "No problem!"

"You played in the first half without any problems. Continue to play like this in the second half and you will win."

Anton dutifully repeated, and all the players let out a long sigh of relief.

"I was thinking about another thing." Anton explained.

Could it be that the head coach is deserting?

The players look at each other.

"Relax!" Anton laughed out loud when he saw their appearance. "You beat Villa in the FA Cup last time. Now this Villa is not your opponent."

After Anton took over the team, he led Sunderland, who was still in the British Championship at the time, to visit Villa Park, where they defeated Aston Villa 2-0.

After that, Villa experienced a turbulent period of coaching change. The previous coach O'Neill resigned suddenly and had to be led by the acting coach for the first two rounds of the league.Then Villa's coaching seal was handed over to the Frenchman Houllier. Houllier is a famous football star with outstanding achievements, but now that the team has just started, he hasn't had much chance to do anything.

Anton turned to Vardy: "Remember the last game against Villa?"

Vardy suddenly blushed when he heard the words.He naturally remembered that before that game, he hadn't "opened up" yet, there were doubts about his ability from all directions, and the head coach and assistant coach had a big fight because of him.But in that game against Villa, he seemed to suddenly understand something and scored a goal to break the deadlock.

The teammates who had never experienced that game looked at Vardy blankly, wondering why he suddenly twitched.

"They couldn't guard you last time and they still can't guard you now." Anton frowned again, "But I kept thinking back to Darren's first goal in the first half. Don't you think, that time against us? Was the first goal conceded at Getafe similar?"

Vincent's footwork and technique are exquisite, and he is indeed a bit of a southern European player.His offense in the game was very similar to the first goal conceded by Sunderland when they were a guest at Getafe earlier. The only difference is that Pickford received the ball; Lotus, just looking at the ball and sighing.

The players all understood: Anton's "desertion" was actually thinking about how to defend against the La Liga team's delicate offense.

Immediately Pickford said righteously: "Coach, don't worry, I will quote Vincent to attack like this a few more times in the second half, let you see enough."

In the next second, Pickford was almost smashed by Russell: "You boy, please let me relax! You know Darren is provoking you and you are still fooled by him... If you dare to do this in the second half, I want you to look good!"

While avoiding Russell, Pickford smiled and said, "I didn't fall for his tricks! I just want Darren to know that we are not that easy to bully... you, you and Anton just wait and see." Bar!"

Sure enough, before the start of the second half, Pickford trotted onto the field with a pair of gloves in his hands, passed by Vincent, and whispered something in Vincent's ear.Vincent was shocked when he heard the words, and almost punched him out.Pickford has long since disappeared.

Vincent was gnashing his teeth there: you wait—

After the opening of the second half, Vincent did not spare any effort to single-handedly try repeatedly to open Sunderland's defense.His personal ability is outstanding. If Villa's midfielder cooperates better with him, Sunderland's goal will be dangerous.

But maybe it was because of Pickford's earlier "tick and run", Vincent seemed a little impetuous, he didn't grasp the goal well, and with Pickford in charge, Sunderland had Surprised but safe.

Anton was still meditating on the sidelines.

Pickford occasionally looked at the coach's bench: Doesn't Anton have any ideas yet? ...then come again!The young goalkeeper pulled the corners of his eyes with his gloved hands and made a face at Vincent.Vincent was furious, hindering the referee but being unable to do anything, he had to start all over again: steal, attack, shoot, miss the goal...

Villa coach Houllier almost wanted to cover his face: he could understand why Vincent was active, but he couldn't understand why Vincent wasted opportunities time and time again!

Anton who was standing on the sidelines suddenly let out an "ah" as if he had just woken up from a dream. He was excited, and immediately turned to find Russell: "I thought of it, I thought of it, I thought of it!"

"I think, I have found a solution." Anton moved closer to Russell and said a long string.Russell was very confused at first, and then became more excited as he listened to it, and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's it! Let's try it later!"

On the coaching bench of the visiting team, Houllier and his team looked at the head coach and assistant coach of the home team next door: why are those two so happy.Houllier quietly asked his assistant: "Is there something wrong with our formation? Why is the opponent so happy as if they have solved the puzzle?"

The assistant was also very at a loss, shaking his head: "I don't know!"

Houllier turned his head to look at the field full of doubts, and murmured: "Sunderland's strength is higher than that of Aston Villa. If they want to win, they don't need to rely on the head coach's sudden epiphany!"

A prophecy.

Messi didn't play in this game, and Vardy was the main attacker. He didn't make any contribution in the first half, and most of the time he just cruised in front of Villa's goal, looking for opportunities.Villa's defenders implemented the "offside" tactic in response to Vardy's characteristics. Instead of making a contribution, Vardy was blown offside several times.

In the second half, Vardy became more and more silent at this point.The Villa defenders gradually let down their guard until—

Vardy took a pass from Kaulbeck and got the ball behind Villa's last defender.Just like that time at Villa Park, Vardy once again faced the opponent's goal and formed a single pole.

But he is no longer the young rookie who scored goals with "a flash of inspiration".Vardy stopped the ball, waited until the goalkeeper hit the ball, and then lightly picked it with his toe, and the ball went into the net——

Villa's defenders all raised their hands at this time, indicating that Vardy is definitely offside.

But the linesman shook his head very firmly and did not raise the flag, indicating that Sunderland's "anti-offside" tactic was successful and the goal was valid.On the other side of the backcourt, Pickford was already holding up the goalkeeper's glove, clapping vigorously to celebrate his teammate's goal.

Exactly the same loss, Villa ate twice on Sunderland.

Depressed, Vincent ran back to the middle circle to wait for the kick-off.He didn't expect that the little-known kid from his old club had already scored a goal before he had made any achievements.

He wants to help Villa equalize the score - otherwise the new head coach will not wait to see him.

But at the 75th minute of the game, Vincent's physical fitness began to decline visibly. Not only was it difficult for him to catch the ball from his teammates, but even Pickford made faces at him, and he was gradually unable to fight back. .

In the 81st minute, Villa coach Houllier couldn't bear it anymore and replaced Vincent.

This score has been maintained until the end, Sunderland beat Villa 1-0 and continued to lead in the standings.

At the end of the game, Anton led the players through the mixed interview area.There, Pickford was also stopped by reporters to ask questions. "Jordan, the audience must be very curious to know, what did you whisper in Vincent's ear at the end of the intermission? He seemed to have a big reaction to it."

Pickford had earlier been instructed by assistant coach Russell: Since the team has won, it must show generosity, and it is easy for people to hold grudges when they fall into trouble.

So at this time Pickford laughed and said: "Darren is our old friend! So I said to him, thank him for his love for the team-his offense really benefited us a lot."

Reporter: Young man, you are so young and can talk about scenes?What about sincerity?

But who would have thought that what Pickford said turned out to be true, but it was said in another tone in Vincent's ear, full of irony, enough to make Vincent fly into a rage.

Immediately, the reporter who had a good thing ran to find Vincent for verification.Vincent gritted his teeth and squeezed out a few words: "Yes, I do have deep feelings for Sunderland...but I have already signed with Villa, I am a professional player, I respect the contract with Villa very much."

Villa fans quit: You just respect the contract between Villa and you, but secretly love Sunderland in your heart?No wonder he missed so many opportunities today and acted like a top defender...

Fans on both sides were arguing about Vincent's performance, and no one went into what Pickford meant by "beneficiary a lot".No one knows that Vincent's "performance" at the Stadium of Light is actually of great significance.

In the locker room, Anton happily announced to the team: "Boys, I need you to recommend a study committee member, because we have found a tactic that suits the team-let's open a defensive cram school. .”

The author has something to say: Brazil is about to fight Argentina, why am I inexplicably kind?