Born to be a coach [soccer]

Chapter 237

At the end of the first half, Sunderland temporarily fell behind 0:2.In addition to Balotelli's exquisite goal, in the 39th minute, Godin accidentally scored an own goal under the joint pressure of Tevez and Silva in front of the goal.

To be honest, Sunderland has not been in such a state of being 0:2 behind in the first half and completely helpless to fight back.

Anton found that his players were really nervous, and this nervousness obviously led to more mistakes: there was no tacit understanding of the pass, the ball was sent out of bounds when it should not be out of bounds, and even occasionally there were technical movements that were deformed, which greatly affected the performance of the first half .

The only two players on the field who didn't seem very nervous were Ibrahimovic and goalkeeper Pickford: Ibrahimovic played very freely in the frontcourt, but lacked the effective support of his teammates.He thought it was too difficult for him to come back and get the ball by himself.It was as if Sunderland had set up a powerful attack point in the frontcourt, but no one had successfully delivered ammunition to the fire point.

Compared with Ibrahimovic, Pickford is not nervous, but this kid is so heartless, he forgets everything when he is on the field, and patronizes goalkeeping.

Judging from the first half of this game alone, he has already made great contributions.Although Sunderland had conceded two goals in the first half, he made continuous effective saves to defuse dangerous situations, and even saved Sunderland's goal several times from his teammates' mistakes.It is no exaggeration to say that without Pickford, Sunderland's score may be 0:4 or 0:5 behind.

But after all, the goalkeeper cannot be supported alone in the backcourt.

After the half-time whistle, the Sunderland players came off the field.Usually at this time Anton would stand in front of the player tunnel, high-five all the players one by one, and then send them into the locker room.

But this time, Anton's expression was so serious that the off-field players, especially Godin, who made a big mistake, were so ashamed when they saw Anton that they didn't dare to lift their heads.But Anton stretched out his hand as usual at this time, and after high-fiving Godin, he let him into the locker room.

There are no equipment such as printers in the dressing room at Manchester City's home stadium, the Etihad Stadium.Therefore, several members of Sunderland's coaching staff are holding laptops at the moment, giving feedback to the players one by one on their performance in the first half.

In the eyes of the players, the data will not lie.Their performance has indeed dropped sharply from the previous games.Seeing that Anton's expression became more and more serious, the players couldn't imagine how Anton would teach them a lesson.

Anton has a gentle temper, never gets angry, and is not used to loud voices.But the players always felt that Anton would be more terrifying than the irritable old brother Russell once he spoke with a sullen face.

After the players got the first-half data fed back by the coaching staff, the substitute players beside them had already raised their heads, and everyone looked at the door of the locker room in unison.

Someone called out embarrassingly: "The head coach..."

It can be seen that although Anton's expression is serious, there is no sign of losing his temper, and his mood is still stable. When he walked into the locker room, his voice was still warm: "I want to ask everyone, what do you think of the first half? .”

The one who wanted to find a hole to drill down the most was Godin, who made an own mistake.He still didn't dare to look up, so he could only say in a trembling voice, "Boss, I'm sorry, we didn't play well."

But Anton asked in a gentle manner: "Are you a little nervous? Tell me, why are you so nervous?"

Several players nodded one after another, and someone whispered: "We are really afraid of losing!"

Murphy's Law is always true: if you're worried about something happening, it's more likely to happen.Sunderland's players are too afraid of losing, so the team is more likely to lose.

Anton turned his head slightly, as if he was very curious about the answer. He stared at the group of players who spoke just now: "Then why are you afraid of losing?"

When he asked this, the players in the locker room were a little confused: Why should they be afraid of losing?Don't all professional players play games just to win?Since you want to win, you are naturally afraid of losing.What's more, the opponent Manchester City has such a strong lineup.

Unexpectedly, Anton suddenly raised his voice and asked, "I don't understand, what qualifications do you have, what qualifications do you have to be afraid of losing?"

The voice fell, and the locker room was silent.All the players began to chew on Anton's question: what right do they have to be afraid of losing? ——Their team is just newly promoted last season!

They have all played this part, Sunderland has already earned, earned too much-then why should they be complacent or too nervous because of the little achievements they have accumulated in the past, and carry burdens out of thin air to make it difficult to move forward Woolen cloth?

"Your opponents are indeed very strong. I believe you also saw it in the first half: the freshly-baked European golden boy passed you all in a single Marseille roundabout."

Anton continued to say this, and Hummels, who was passed by Balotelli at that time, also blushed.

"Except for Balotelli, you just find a few opponent players on the field, and their combined value may be more than our entire team. So why do you put a psychological burden on yourself, thinking that losing Disgraceful, is it something worth worrying about?"

The players finally realized what Anton meant: They were already facing a very strong team... But it was not the same before. Aren't they all facing strong opponents?If at this moment, they can properly discard the aura and burden of the top team, lower their body, and try their best to play, then this is still a very ordinary game.

Anton called the roll call at this time.He first ordered Sunderland's captain Garner: "Tell me what kind of person you are, do you think it's terrible to lose here?"

The players in the locker room turned to Garner, wondering what he would say.

Garner stood there thinking for a long time, then suddenly raised his head to look at Anton, and said loudly: "I won't!" He calmed down, with a relieved smile on his face, and said: "I am a person who wanted to go to Arsenal to try out. What should I be afraid of for an Albanian player who didn’t even get an entry visa for training?”

His starting point was very low. He was a refugee from Kosovo. After coming to England several times, he still stumbled on the road of professional football.At the beginning, it was Anton who untied his knots and helped him calm down, which established the prestige of the captain in the Sunderland team.

Then Anton turned to look at Deputy Henderson.

Henderson's face was extremely calm, and he only said lightly: "I am a player who can only run with my back stiff."

This refers to the fact that Sir Alex Ferguson once wanted to sign Henderson, but because of his weird running posture, he temporarily refused.Henderson at the time was a man who was almost sentenced to death by the career Ferguson had given him.

Anton has been tight-lipped about this matter to the whole club.But because Henderson has been carrying out corrective training with the help of a professional assistant coach, the story slowly spread and was learned by his teammates.

Now Henderson is very calm when he says this.But in his composure, there is a powerful energy that seems to be infecting the teammates around him-the young man who was once judged by the famous coach and knocked out of the dust is back on track, and now he can continue to help the team complete the game.What else had he, Henderson, had to fear?Isn't that just losing?

In an instant, it seemed that the air in the entire locker room was relieved.

They are not a giant team that can't afford to lose, they are just an ordinary newly promoted team.The significance of their existence in the Premier League is not so much for the pursuit of victory and honor with full self-esteem, but for the millions of ordinary people in this world—players of low value, relying on hard work rather than Talent, slowly embarking on the road of professional football, but they can also surprise people.

At this time, Vardy scratched his head and reminded everyone: "Don't forget me. If Anton hadn't come to me, I might still be working as a repairman in a prosthetic factory..."

Shaqiri also shouted happily: "I am the same as the captain, and I am also a child of refugees."

As soon as Shaqiri finished speaking, Ibrahimovic beside him said solemnly: "I am almost the same!"

Ibrahimovic's mother is a Croatian refugee who moved to Malmö, Sweden because of the war.Ibrahimovic grew up in a slum and in many ways felt the same way as Garner and Shaqiri when he was young.

But other Sunderland players have never known that this big man who talks about the role of "God" every day has such delicate and low-key emotions in his heart.At this time, both Garner and Shaqiri stood up and fisted Ibrahimovic, saying that they felt the same way as him.

At this moment, Pickford patronized the poor mouth and said: "Ha, you all don't think about me, I was still rented out by the head coach to other teams to practice before the last game!"

This guy always brings laughter to the locker room at the right moment, and this time is no different.

The low, shameful, tense atmosphere in the locker room was gone.The players started firing at themselves one after another.

Reus said: "At this time last season, I was still helping the Bundesliga team to avoid relegation. This season I have improved a lot."

Pickford, who was always able to catch up with him, gave him a blank look: "Your hairstyle is much better!"

There was another burst of laughter in the locker room.

The starting point of these Sunderland players is really far from that of Manchester City's expensive and talented players, but this is not without benefits: now they only need to work hard to take another step forward, and they are counterattacking life.

At this time, Anton spread his hands and said with a smile: "I'm sorry, but you have a head coach who 'couldn't find any coaching experience before'. Cat relegation, have you even forgotten this?"

The Sunderland team in front of us, from the head coach, to the captain, to the big-name players... everyone's experience is enough to write a counterattack script, so their team should also be a team destined to counterattack Team:

It is because the starting point is low that we have to work harder and harder.

It is precisely because he has been underestimated that he has to prove himself all the more.

Their game is actually only about themselves and has nothing to do with others.

Thinking about Sunderland's players all figured it out.

So Anton raised his voice and stood in the locker room again and asked the players loudly: "Are you still afraid?"

He was answered with a burst of laughter: "Boss, what are you afraid of?"