Chapter 138 Gifts to Barcelona

When the team returns to Wilford from London's Heathrow Airport and disbands on the spot, they will get a half-day rest time and start training again tomorrow morning. However, Don and the two assistant coaches have no vacation. He pulled the two straight to the training base, which handles the daily maintenance of the training ground.

The person in charge of this department is Thompson Isaxon, an elderly man who has worked in Wilford for life for turf maintenance and now he continues to serve the club with sixteen subordinates. The team of these seventeen people is responsible for the daily maintenance of the training grounds of the North and South Vilford training base, including leveling the ground, turf maintenance, and some special requirements from the coaching staff.

Tang En came to them this time for "special requirements".

"Thompson, what is the worst training ground in the first team training base?" Tang En's straightforward problem made the old man stunned for a moment and didn't react.

South Wilford is the first team training base, with a total of four standard training grounds, each of which is the same size as the area of ​​the city court. Among them, the best conditions are No. 1 and No. 2. Forest first team and reserve team often train on it, as well as team competitions. Such a venue is exactly the same as the city court and is best maintained.

Seeing Thompson's face look embarrassed, Tang En smiled and said, "Don't think too much, old man. I'm not here to provoke a military officer, just tell me that the training ground is in the worst condition."

"Uh...No. 3." Isaxon replied.

“How bad is it?”

"The venue... we haven't had time to level it yet, and the turf growth is not satisfactory. The team never uses that venue, so we didn't do much..." He still thought that Tang En was here to ask the crime, so he quickly explained to his team.

Tang En patted his shoulder: "Take us to see."

So the old man led the way in the front with restlessness, followed by three coaches, which looked like escorting the prisoner...

The No. 3 training ground is surrounded by dense woods in the most remote corner of the training base. The situation inside is basically impossible to see from the outside. This training ground is actually the first training ground used by Nottingham Forest after moving the training base from the city stadium. Later, since the other three training grounds with more complete facilities and more convenient transportation were completed one after another, the place was gradually forgotten. The three training grounds in the first team were basically enough, and the fourth one was idle here and no one cared about.

Tang En knew about this situation, but today he wanted to come and confirm it with his own eyes.

The No. 3 training ground hidden deep in the dense forest revealed a desolate and dilapidated atmosphere. Tang En could even ask about the smell of the 1980s from that.

"I was already in the club when it was initially opened..." Isaxon couldn't help but sigh when he saw this training ground. "It was very lively at that time. Later, it was gradually eliminated. In addition, the club's financial situation was not good at the end of the last century and there was no extra money to maintain so many training grounds at the same time, so it was completely abandoned..."

The group came out and walked around in person. Tang En found that it was similar to what Isaxon said. Since it was maintenance and management, this training ground was no different from the wasteland. Although it was not overgrown with weeds and hares, it was still very different from the other three training grounds with green grass.

"The ground is uneven... Oh. Be careful!" Chris Lakk grabbed Don next to him, and his body tilted as he walked.

Tang took a breath, and seemed to sprain his ankle. "It's nothing..."

"The grass is not good, it's too hard, and it's easy to scratch when training here." Isaxon added. At the same time, he looked at Tang with some apology. As a site maintenance worker, every site is their responsibility for the area, so if someone gets injured, they will feel guilty about it.

After walking carefully, Tang En stood on the sidelines and looked around, then snapped his fingers: "Very good."

"Very good?" Isaxon didn't understand what the head coach said meant.

"Smooth the court a little bit.   Note, Thompson, I'm talking about a little bit bit, slightly.  Do you know?"

Isaxon looked at Don En and shook his head in confusion. He couldn't understand this.

"Well...that means that while maintaining the original style, the training ground will not sprain its ankle when walking."

"Keep the original appearance? What does that mean?" David Chris Lack also found it strange, and he asked for Isaxon next to him.

"I need to keep this stadium in such a bit of ups and downs, with rough grass. The football falls on it with uneven force." Tang En explained.

"Why?" Isaxon and Chris Lack asked almost at the same time. Only Don suddenly showed a thoughtful look next to him, making Chris Lack want to pinch him after seeing it-"Tell me what you know! Don!"

Tang shook his head: "I just think Tony might have some bad idea..."

Don En chuckled: "This is the idea I came up with on the plane. I can't command the next game on the spot, and UEFA people may not even let me in the locker room. I think it's a loss for us to play a team like Barcelona. I have to make up for this loss from other places. You all looked at the quality of the venue at Camp Nou, right?"

"Of course, it's much better than the one under our feet...well, the training ground is much better. It's a five-star stadium." Chris Lack wanted to say "the rotten vegetable field under our feet", but suddenly Isaxon was by my side. It's too unfair to say this for an old employee.

"Ha. You said it's right. David. Their turf is of good quality. This is also normal. After all, a team that always likes to control football under their feet rather than above their heads. The requirements for the venue are very high. We have to use all means and methods to cause trouble for them. In addition to tactical and psychological aspects, I thought of the venue. A bad venue will greatly limit their performance."

"But, Tony. That will limit our performance." Chris Lark had a question.

"So I'll do this today. From tomorrow until the end of the game with Barcelona, ​​we have to train on this training ground. For example, we should let our players adapt to the feeling of playing football on this field as soon as possible and avoid injuries as much as possible. Then on the day of the game, I will ask the city court to become like this." He pointed at his feet.

Hearing Tang En say this, Chris Lack swallowed. He thought that Tang had sprained his ankle just now when he was just walking slowly on top. If he ran and sprinted on such a field, he would do his best to do the movements...

As Tang said, this is indeed not a "good idea".

After explaining to Chris Lack, Don turned to ask Isaxon who had been stunned: "You only have half a day, can you do it?"

"Ah.   Uh... If it's just 'slight' leveling, I think there's no problem, Mr. Tang En."

"Then please, Thompson. We will not be hurt easily here. If we end up winning Barcelona, ​​I will give you a bottle of good wine!"

On the way out of the No. 3 training ground, Chris Lack objected to Donn's approach, and he really didn't think it was necessary to do so.

"I don't think there is such a big gap between us and Barcelona. We need to borrow abnormal means to ensure victory, Tony."

"In fact. David.   The gap between us and them is indeed so big.   Do you think we can win easily when we return to home? Pepe cannot go, Barnes and Fernandez are suspended for accumulating yellow cards, and I, I can only sit in the stands to wish you good luck.   Who do they lack? No one is missing.    I am so polite to think about us in the first round..." Don Eun touched his chin and smacked his lips.

"Use bad venues and frequent fouls to limit their performance and disrupt their inherent game rhythm. The more messy the game, the better. Finally... In this week, our team was asked to only practice long passes and rush, and I want to change the striker."

When Chris Lack saw Donn's expression, he had guessed who he was going to replace, so he was even more surprised: "Are you serious? Tony? That kid has only played three times in the league substitute and didn't score a single goal. You let him play in such an important game, aren't you afraid of ruining him!"

"He is not as unbearable as you said, David. I have a sense of sensibility in my heart." Tang En shrugged. "The only regret is that he is not strong enough... How great would he be if he had a combination of Zakic and Ibrahimovic..."

"Just dream about you!" Chris Lack threw out a sentence in anger.

The next day, Donn arrived in Wilford early in the morning, rushing ahead of most of the staff, players, and all media reporters. He ran straight to the No. 3 training ground.

The mist in the morning was still shrouded in this small woods, and the No. 3 training ground was looming in the white mist. The scene reminded Tang En of the Journey to the West that he had watched since childhood. The scene of the white mist in the heaven was almost like this.

Because he came too early, there was no one. Tang En walked around and ran around again, then nodded with satisfaction alone, and said, "Beautiful job."

Isaxon is worthy of being an old worker who has worked here for decades, and his skills are insignificant. It is completely in line with Tang En's vulgar requirements.

We must not only ensure that the field is uneven and the quality of the turf is uneven, but also ensure that our people will not be easily injured when training on it. There must be risks. But this is not something that turf workers can control. Those things have their own coaching staff to consider.

Stepping on the still uneven field, Tang En laughed alone.

The players came to Wilford to participate in training as usual, and the reporters gathered outside the field. Waited for fifteen minutes of public shooting. Of course, more reporters came to interview Tony Done, and they also wanted to hear the latest progress of the two teams' verbal battle.

But what they saw disappointed them.

Tony Donn never appeared in front of everyone. Chris Lack was the only coach in the training ground.

The players were also surprised like the reporters. They changed their training uniforms in the locker room and came out to prepare for training, but found that except for assistant coach David Chris Lark, no other coaches were seen.

After treating everyone, Chris Lak said, "Guys, we will change places to train today."

"Ah?" Everyone's reaction was strange.

"Go to the No. 3 training ground." Chris Lack pointed in one direction, and everyone looked along. Only a dense forest could be seen.

"Where is that?" Most players don't know the specific location because they have never trained in that kind of place. Some people even think that South Wilford has only three training grounds: No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4.

"Stop asking, just follow me." Chris Lak turned around and walked towards the jungle.

"But, those reporters..." Some players even looked back at a group of media outside the barbed wire.

"Don't worry about them." Chris Lack didn't look back.

The reporters around the field were surprised to see the team suddenly walked towards the depths of the training ground, just when they didn't know what was going on. The press officer appeared in front of everyone with a smile.

"Mr. Tang En suddenly informed the team that they would close their training. I'm so sorry for everyone."

This is not the first time they have encountered such a situation, but the reporters still complain.

"How can the head coach treat the media like this?"

"Has he been scared by Barcelona? Novici, the league opponent who plays the lowest ranking away, still needs to close training?"

"Actually, I don't think he wants to be surrounded by us and ask questions about that action..."

Pierce Bruce shook his head in the crowd, and he couldn't understand what Tony Don was going to do.

A group of reporters dispersed unwillingly amid complaining.

And at the same time, the players in Nottingham Forest were stunned as they looked at their "new training ground".

Tang En smiled in front of them, as if he was going to tempt them to jump out of the lava hell.

"This is the new training ground you'll be using in the next week. It looks great, doesn't it?"

Eastwood muttered in the crowd: "This is probably the worst training ground I have ever seen..." He has the right to speak, and someone must believe him when he says this, because he is the only one among the players who have played in the amateur league.

“It looks very much like the vegetable field on the farm, but in fact it is the vegetable field.”

Tang En's expression when he said this made people want to beat him very much.

The color of the turf ground in the training ground of the regular football field is different in color, with patches everywhere from east to west, and some places do not even have turf. The color of the soil is directly exposed. It is like a head pushed by a shaved fader, which is terrible.

"You have to be careful, it is not as flat as you look... So today's warm-up will take longer than before. Don't be lazy, otherwise don't complain after spraining your ankle. I didn't remind you in advance." After saying this, he signaled Chris Lack to stand up and continue.

Chris Lark stood up with today's training schedule.

"Guys. Today our training task is..." He felt a little funny when he said this, but he still had to keep pretending, "...I am adapting to this venue!"

Some of the players laughed. Chris Lack immediately kicked his eyes: "This is not a joke! We are in a tight time, you only have one day to adapt to the feeling of playing football on the vegetable field! If someone is injured here the next day, I won't get my sympathy!" He pointed to the other side, the team doctor team was on standby on the sidelines under the leadership of "Big Bearded Mario" Fleming. Everyone looked at them with a serious look on their faces. They were not unfamiliar with that look. Whenever a player was seriously injured in the game, Fleming and his colleagues would look at the injured part with this look, and then turn around to make a substitution gesture to Don En.

Seeing this situation, the laughter in the team gradually became smaller and vanished. They realized that the boss was not joking with them on a whim, but came to the real thing. This was a very serious matter.

Seeing that all the players realized the importance of this matter, Chris Lack raised his voice: "Warm up! Full warm up! Move every part and every joint of your body to me! Even if your ankle twists to 90 degrees, you won't be injured easily! Then use your body to make me firmly remember the feeling of running every step here! Wherever there is deep, shallow, where there is pit, where there is a bag, where the football falls, irregular movements... Don't remember it in my heart or mind, remember them with your body! If someone is injured, it means that your body is not remembered! Finally, I ask you to keep your mouth shut to the outside world for the training content this week!"

His voice was covered in the jungle. No outsiders could hear it. The reporters would never get any content about Nottinghamson's closed special training this week.

Tony Donne spent a week preparing a big meeting for them in order to welcome the distinguished guests from afar.

Hope they like it.
Chapter completed!