Football: The Journey of a Coach

33. Fight Weight

" The right direction ". The title of Croydon's local tabloid, with a picture of Daniel standing on the sidelines directing the game. The story of the win against Sheffield Wednesday in the league, many fans who followed Daniel and Crystal Palace were very fond of this story .

Curiosity is human nature.

The team's prospects are still unclear, but a win during this period has Crystal Palace fans boiling over, and everyone is full of confidence with the team.

William Carlton also added one or two brushes, "I said Daniel was a suitable candidate, Warnock himself recommended him. When I first met him, I saw his talent. I'm not surprised by the results. "

Some fans even went to the official website to sing praises for Crsytal Palace.

Daniel Ward doesn't pay attention to these off-field issues, because he thinks the excess spotlight can affect his focus on the team.

Of course, he still sees positive changes within the team. For example, the team is getting together. Everybody's not stupid. We all know that Crystal Palace may not die. In the spring, working very positively the team improved quickly.

But some people will leave, Victor Moses, the flagship product of the Crystal Palace Youth Academy, leaving. Everton managed to secure the services of the young player, outperforming many clubs interested in him. With 5 million pounds, Victor Moses will play for Everton in the spring.

Then there was Morgan Schneiderlin, Warnock promised more playing time for him. Morgan himself is still in need by Daniel, but because this is a request of a person who can be told a teacher for him.

For this time Daniel let go, it was also the wish of Schneiderlin himself. He lost to Crsytal Palace to N'golo Kante, so when Hull City offered to borrow him. Schneiderlin accepted.

His uncle Wayne has fought hard to prevent Simon Jordan from making Crystal Palace like a supermarket, except for Victor Moses. Simon Jordan will have a hard time selling players again, without the approval of Daniel himself.

The transfer market has been running for half a month, but Crsytal Palace have not bought a single player. Daniel only promotes two products from youth training camps, which worries some fans.

On January 10, there is another round of the English Championship. Crystal Palace visited Plymouth and drew with the home side 2-2. After three league rounds Crsytal Palace won one game and two draws.

The goal was scored by Derry's penalty and Jamie Vardy's measured kick, in this game Daniel again sent down Joe Allen. Palace played with three midfielders from the start, Derry, Kante and Allen.

Plymouth were also heavily seeded early in the season, commentators generally believe that Plymouth would have made it far in the championship, but the team's results were inversely proportional. Plymouth, now ranked 22nd, third from the bottom.

The League Cup match has ended, and the draw of the next round has also come out. Crystal Palace will travel to Aston Villa to challenge the Premier League side.

When the draw came out, Daniel cursed a little. He wants at least Crsytal Palace to go further in the league cup, having been knocked out in the FA cup by Manchester City. Only the league cup is the only hope this season for Crsytal Palace to get the cup.

The next round of the league cup will be played on the 14th, and after that Crystal Palace will have to play away against Newcastle United three days later on the 17th. This schedule makes Daniel's head dizzy.

Not to mention two away games in a row, and they are all strong opponents, Aston Villa are a Premier League side, and Newcastle are the current leaders of the English championship, there is no team that is easy to play.

Therefore, Daniel felt he had to give up the league Cup game and prepare for the match against Newcastle United. After two consecutive draws, Crystal Palace fell to 6th place in the standings. It was moved by Nottingham Forest, which was previously under it.

But Sean Derry and other Crsytal Palace veterans were strongly opposed to the team's abandonment of the league Cup at weekly meetings.

"Daniel, I know this kind of schedule is very difficult for us, but I don't advocate giving up on the League Cup. Some time ago, our schedule was relatively easy, and the opponents we played against were not very strong. Now we are in a difficult time, and we are giving up blatantly. This is a huge blow to Crsytal Palace's morale ". Sean Derry, team captain.

After Daniel thought about it again, Derry and Speroni were actually not wrong. The team's morale is now being tested because of two draws in the league, indeed Crsytal Palace did not lose the game. But because of the change of coach in the middle of the tournament, the morale of the team became unbalanced.

During this time Daniel was able to hold the stability of the team, but if Crsytal Palace voluntarily lost to the opponent. This will be bad for the morale of the players. But how else, with the depth of the squad at the moment. Daniel is hard to believe Crsytal Palace will be able to run in two tournaments at once.

"Sean, I understand what you're saying. But look at us, can we face two away games in a row and two strong opponents ." Daniel also told the truth, see Crystal Palace are now selling players, the quality of players is getting thinner.

"The harder it is, the more willpower the team needs. Now is the time to test us. If we can get past this level, I am sure we will be able to face another challenge. They are a Premier League team. If Crsytal Palace can beat them. Think about it, are we still going to be so worried "Captain Sean Derry said fieryly.

Indeed there is no doubt if Crsytal Palace can pass such a schedule safely, it will bring unlimited confidence to the team, and everyone will believe that the team can do anything.

For Crsytal Palace players who are used to the bottom of the championship in recent years, this season is like someone who finds gold after mining sand. They were so confident in their respective strengths, these old players seemed to forget that their abilities were only that.

Players like Sean Derry and Julian Speroni have been playing for Crsytal Palace for the last five years, and their results are always at the bottom of the table. palace's best achievement in recent years is to finish in 9th position in the Championship standings.

The difference between the previous years and this year is the tactics developed by Daniel at the beginning of the season, Warnock who at that time trained to trust the system created by Daniel, which was created by Daniel, coupled with the arrival of good players like Kante and Shawcross who immediately fit the system.

So no wonder if this year's results will be so good, Palace's success at the beginning of the season will be difficult to repeat because the teams in the championship have started to learn Daniel's tactics. Evidently with the last two draws, against Ipswich and Plymouth.

Daniel wants to say Palace's success at the moment is not because of you old players, but purely based on new tactics and help. But he knew once these words came out, Daniel would lose the leadership he had worked so hard to muster from his early days as a coach.

" Alright, we will go all out when facing Aston Villa later. "Said Daniel, hiding all his thoughts.

Daniel complies with the wishes of Crsytal Palace veterans for now, because if results don't go well they will shut each other's mouths.

Daniel is willing to take a step back now, because he knows this is important for the layout going forward. After he has secured his place as coach, Daniel will not hesitate to clean up these old players.

After the meeting, Daniel and the coaching staff. Joey and Lawrence had a private meeting with only the three of them.

" Joey, the account wants you to collect data and video game Aston Villa last time." Daniel said after they started the meeting.

Joey's job is getting better. After Daniel shows how he worked before, his information collection becomes very comprehensive and thorough.

Crsytal Palace will face Aston Villa. After researching the information for a long time, they were still somewhat unsure. The main reason is that it is difficult to predict what kind of attitude Villa will respond to this game.

"No problem, just play our style at the beginning like always. Once we know their tactics, the team will adjust to the circumstances. " Daniel finally made the decision and everyone focused on adjusting Crsytal Palace's system, putting forward some defensive points in the initial response.

At a pre-match news conference, reporters were also concerned about how Crystal Palace would face two strong opponents in a week. Of course, Daniel wants the opponent off guard before the game.

"I believe in our defence, we have done a good job recently. I think we have the ability to continue. "

Daniel just wants others to focus on the Crystal Palace defense, maybe Aston Villa will ignore and be off guard when dealing with Crystal Palace later.