Chapter 089: The Decisive Battle of Cardiff (Part I)
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One could argue that George led Manchester United to the Premier League title last season as acting manager, breaking the 96-year cycle of no England manager leading the team to win the trophy in England's major football competitions. Pen | fun | pavilion www. biquge。 But don't forget, George was just the acting manager of Manchester United at the time, and the Red Devils manager still belonged to Alex Ferguson.
Therefore, in the eyes of English fans, George's achievements at Manchester United are certainly worthy of their joy and praise, but his identity still makes England fans not put him in this range.
As we all know, if it weren't for Ferguson's love of talent at that time, he voluntarily gave George the honor of lifting the league championship trophy on behalf of Manchester United, otherwise George would not have had this opportunity at all. Not to mention, the acting manager, especially the acting manager of George's nature, is not a head coach in the eyes of many people, because the existence of Ferguson has indeed helped George block too much trouble.
You know, England fans are very keen to see the head coach from England lead the team to lift the trophy. Especially after the successes of non-English managers such as Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, the urgency of English fans has become stronger - obviously the Premier League is one of the four major leagues in Europe, and the English national team is also the world's first-class team, why can't we come up with a top manager from England?
So this time, when George is the official manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Allardyce Allardyce are in the League Cup final, it will attract so many fans to watch the game. If George were still the acting manager of Manchester United, although the Red Devils' fame could attract many fans, it would definitely not be like now, just a League Cup final between Tottenham and Bolton could make the Cardiff Millennium Stadium almost full!
Don't underestimate the pride of the British, even now when the sun never sets on the glory of the empire is long gone, this element of pride still flows quietly in their blood. This is a valuable experience that George has learned after living in England for nearly two decades.
It is for this reason that from Alan Shearer to Robbie Fowler, from David Beckham to Michael Owen, from Francis Jeffers to Jermaine Pennant, no matter what the ultimate achievements of these English players, when they first debuted and made a name for themselves in English football, they were indeed seen by English fans as the new hope of the Three Lions and were highly sought after. Homegrown managers like George and Sam Allardyce enjoy similar treatment when they lead their teams to exceed expectations.
This is also why, in the previous life, Bale and Walcourt were obviously similar in strength, but when transferring to Tottenham and Arsenal, they were very different in value - the former joined White Hart Lane in the summer of 07 for 5 million pounds, and the "Little Tiger" who left Southampton a year earlier than Bale went to play under Wenger with 12 million pounds to break the transfer value of England's under-18 players!
Of course, despite the fact that George and Sam Allardyce both have a background as English managers, it was clear that the crowd was still in favour of Tottenham's victory. After all, until now, Bolton is still paying off the debt of his own fans for their provocative actions against Manchester United after the Munich air disaster. So in general, unless there are special circumstances or die-hard Bolton fans, the average English fan will not choose to support Bolton.
Now let's take a look at the starting line-ups of both teams for this match. For Bolton, Sam Allardyce, who is eager to make himself one of the Premier League's first-class managers with a trophy, has rightfully fielded the strongest squad in his hands: Finnish goalkeeper Jaskelainen sits in front of goal, Nicky Hunt, Bruno Ngotti, Tom and Simon Charlton are lined up at the back, Ivan Campo is in the premise, and Kevin Nolan, Per Frandsen and Okocha form a midfield, and the French veteran Djokaeff and Kevin Davies are in the attack!
Looking at Tottenham's side, George still chose to keep his promise and sent a starting lineup dominated by substitutes in this game. Goalkeeper Casey Keller, right-back Phil Neville, centre-back Vermaelen and Dawson, left-back Matthew Taylor, Kompany and Poyet in the midfield, Basturk in the center as the core of the playmaker, Ribery and Darren Anderton on the left and right wings, Luca Toney single-handedly forward.
"Hey, Michael (Dawson), Thomas (Vermaelen). After George finished the pre-game set-up, Phil Neville stopped Dawson and Vermaelen, who were about to leave with the big team, and told him earnestly, "Later in the game, you must pay attention to the Bolton striker named Kevin Davis." This rude and sinister guy is a foul king and loves hand-to-hand combat with his opponents, so you have to watch out for his fouls and small gestures and don't let him hurt you. ”
"Don't worry, Captain!" Since Ridley King and Stephen Carr were not in the starting line-up, George had to let Phil Neville wear the captain's armband, which is why Dawson called the latter, "What is a mere Kevin Davis, you see how I cleaned him up today!"
"Hey, Michael, don't do anything superfluous, and don't fight with that Davis guy on the field. Seeing Dawson's confident look, Phil Neville couldn't help but remind worriedly. He was really worried that this young and vigorous little guy would not be able to resist Kevin Davis's provocation and cause trouble in the game.
Of course, Phil Neville's biggest concern is that Dawson and Vermaelen will be severely hit by Davis's brutal style of play, causing them a serious psychological shadow, so as to stop improving their own strength!
For these young players who are in the growth stage, a fatal blow is likely to interrupt their good upward momentum and turn them from a promising star to an ordinary player who is not known to everyone. The most famous example of this is Senderos, the Swiss centre-back who had a strong World Cup in Germany and was devastated by Didier Drogba and eventually fell from a widely regarded rising star to the point of not having a ball to play.
"Captain, have you forgotten that before I joined Tottenham, I played for an entire season in League One as Nottingham Forest's main centre-back. Looking at Vermaelen, who had turned a little pale after listening to Phil Neville's advice, Dawson smiled and patted the other man on the back, comforted his partner, and then replied in a nonchalant tone, "You know, there are not many good people in those League One teams, and the physical confrontation is more intense than in the Premier League. If I can deal with those people, then Kevin Davis will be no problem either!"
"Well, I hope so. Seeing Dawson's answer, Phil Neville had no choice but to put this worry back in his stomach, and at the same time secretly prayed in his heart, hoping that the two little guys could get through this game safely, and not let Kevin Davis, the villain, destroy their self-confidence.
Phil Neville's pre-game advice turned into reality, and after the game began, Kevin Davis kept physically and verbally harassing Dawson and Vermaelen on the court. Even in an attack, Kevin Davis directly elbowed Vermaelen during the scramble, directly knocking the latter to the ground, who had successfully stuck in position!
Sure enough, even with the introduction of technical players such as Djokaeau, Campo and Okocha, Bolton's style of play has not changed in any way, and it is still so rough and powerful. George looked at Kevin Davis, who was showing off his skills in front of Dawson and Vermaelen, and was naturally annoyed. After all, in his opinion, Bolton's rough style of play is no longer a reasonable means to use in order to win the game, but has evolved into a habit!
However, George also knew very well in his heart that he must not have any impulsive actions now. If he had rushed to the pitch to finish Kevin Davies in the heat of the moment, Tottenham would have lost the Carabao Cup final without George's command. Such a situation is obviously not what George wants to see.
Therefore, George had no choice but to endure this breath and glared at Kevin Davis fiercely with a pair of eyes that seemed to breathe fire. The latter, after noticing the expression on George's face, smiled triumphantly in George's direction. Clearly, the villain centre-forward is taking great pride in his brilliant performance.
"Hmph, I'm really too young~" Seeing that George was so angry with Davis, the corners of Allardyce's mouth flashed a smug smile. In the eyes of Big Sam, George and his Tottenham side are too young. Although there are advantages to being young, if you are too young, from the manager to the players, then it is easy to lose your mind under the provocation of the opponent, and make some ill-conceived moves, increasing Bolton's chances of beating Tottenham in this final.
Although Sam Allardyce and Kevin Davies had a good game, they apparently forgot the most important point, which was that this was the final of the English League Cup, and countless fans sat in front of the TV or came to watch the final, and the Bolton players did so much on the pitch that it was obviously not conducive to the FA's promotion and promotion of the League Cup. After all, most fans still don't want to see a good football game turn into a wrestling battle.
So, when Kevin Davies repeated his old trick and dragged the ball off the feet of Vermaelen, Howard Webb, who was the referee of the game, immediately blew the whistle for Davies to foul and awarded Tottenham a set-piece at the back, and then showed a yellow card to the bad centre-forward!
Seeing that they were warned by Webb and shown a yellow card, and were repeatedly whistled for fouls in the following time, the Bolton players finally realized that the situation was not good, and quickly reined in their actions, not daring to act as recklessly as before.
Having said that, it is obviously quite unrealistic for Bolton players, who have become accustomed to rough play, to change their style of play in a short period of time. No, in the 28th minute, Ribery forced an inside cut through Nicky Hunt's defence and was brought to the ground by the latter, and Tottenham won the fifth free-kick of the game. Then, Ronaldo shook a false shot into a narrow gap in the human wall, and Matthew Taylor, who was already ready to run, immediately bent his bow and arrow, picked up his right foot and fired a powerful volley, kicking the ball hard towards Bolton's goal!
I didn't expect the human wall discharged by his own players to be so scum, and Jaskelainen, who was caught off guard, could only watch the ball fly into the goal he was guarding due to the problem of positioning!
1-0!With a direct free-kick from Matthew Taylor, Tottenham Hotspur managed to take the lead in this Carabao Cup final!