Football: The Journey of a Coach

63. Beginning of the Match

Getting closer and closer to the start of the game, the locker room door was wide open, and the sound outside suddenly became louder.

It turned out that the Tottenham Hotspur players had arrived on the pitch, the White Hart Lane stadium was rumbling loudly.

Sitting on the bench in the dressing room calmed himself down, Daniel's heart skipped a beat again unknowingly, he told himself to forget his previous defeat, but he was still very much on his mind about it.

After carefully thinking through the team's tactical system plan with the coaching staff before the game, Daniel felt there was nothing wrong with it. Guarding, limiting the opponent's shots, how to set up the attack, what to do when left behind.

Everything is neatly arranged, and the plan is all considered complete, the coaching staff is familiar with him, the players have also been training the last week with him. And also having missed three goals, Daniel told his players to play more loose.

After waiting for a while, Lawrance and the others came in with the players who had finished warming up, Daniel observed the atmosphere of the team was still a little wrong, everyone was not talking much, he said, their expressions are more serious.

“It seems everyone is a little nervous!” Joey Collins gave her a low voice while rubbing her hands.

The players change their equipment and adjust their circumstances, some listen to music, while others rest with their eyes closed.

Daniel raised his wrist and looked at his watch, it was almost match time. So he stood up and walked towards the middle of the dressing room, then clapped his hands for the attention of the players.

"Hey, guys!"

Jamie Vardy, who was wearing headphones, was woken up by Sean Derry beside him. Everyone looked at Daniel who was standing in the middle solemnly.

“Tell me, what are you afraid of?. We are already three goals behind, many already believe Palace were eliminated before the game started!. ”

The players listened carefully, they were aware that there would be expectations of people outside.

" What else are you guys afraid of?, just playing like what we usually do. " Daniel spoke while looking at his players.

" We have no burden at all at this time!. Play free without any hindrance or strange thoughts, prove to our fans that Crsytal Palace are not a mentally weak team. Make them not regret spending their money and time for you, whatever the result will not need to be thought about again!. "

When Daniel gives motivation to his players, the time to start the game arrives.

"Now that's all I'm telling you, whether we'll be eliminated today, I've been honored to advance here with you!."

"Then wait a minute, get out there and tell everyone who comes to White Hart Lane that you are Crsytal Palace!!!. "

***

Daniel led his players out of the dressing room towards the pitch, when he reached the end of the hall, he saw Harry Redknapp was already standing waiting in front of the hallway.

After the two coaches shook hands with each other, Harry Redknapp also patted Daniel on the back with his hands, smiling calmly at him.

"Daniel, we meet again!. How about after the game we go have a drink together?." Harry Redknapp said after releasing their handshake.

"What's?. Is the mood of Mr Redknapp being good after defeating the next-door neighbor!. " Daniel smiled, replied in a joking manner.

Harry Redknapp laughed at Daniel. "Hahahaha, it's just one game!. Tottenham are lucky that many Arsenal players are in the treatment room with injuries!."

When the two coaches talk to each other, the players warm up on the field. Sean Derry, who saw Daniel talking harmoniously with Harry Redknapp, nudged Julian Speroni who happened to be warming up next to him, and said in a low voice to Crsytal Palace's goalkeeper.

" When has our coach been familiar with Harry Redknapp?. "

"I don't know?." Speroni, who also saw Daniel talking to Harry Redknapp, responded to his captain's words.

As the two veteran Crsytal Palace players gossiped about their coach, the two coaches broke away and walked into each of their spots.

He also plays as an amateur football player. Although Daniel always played for low-level teams, and did not have much time to play.

When he felt he did not have much talent in football, he finally quit his time until university and never became a professional player. Both of his parents told him to concentrate on his studies, and this path opened the beginning of his career as a football coach.

Daniel used to be an ordinary office worker, but his original reborn body was a serious scholar at the leading University of London.

But Daniel talks nonsense about universities and academics. Not that college graduates are called successful academics. It's just that compared to players who also train, of course their connections are different.

Like Daniel at the moment, he is arguably from the way of academia, many coaches without connections have only spent their careers in low-level leagues, and some of them have not even had a career at all. If it wasn't for Crsytal Palace's special circumstances and Neil Warnock's guarantee, Daniel is confident he wouldn't have been able to stand up to what he is today.

There are also other avenues in football as a coach, namely Coaches who have a background as football players. As the name suggests, they are coaches with a background of players, many examples now, like Roy Keane or Pep Guardiola.

Tottenham Hotspur is the nominal home game today, and Crystal Palace is the nominal away game. Crystal Palace's home jersey is red and blue, and Tottenham Hotspur is white and black.

“If I hadn't noticed, I think I was actually at Selhurst Park today!” Joey Collins is very relaxed, and joking with others.

"Are your little eyes really hard to use? There is still a clear difference!" lawrance said straightforwardly, their good relationship made him not hesitate to speak directly.

The conversation between the two of them brought Daniel to his senses, and he looked around White Hart Lane.

Daniel didn't know if he hadn't seen it before, but he was surprised to see many fans in Crsytal's signature blue red shirt have.

Normally, the capacity of Selhurst Stadium is quite adequate, but today everyone could see the potential of Crystal Palace fans, and they were allocated to the Crystal Palace side. The seats are almost full of fans, looks half the season has ignited the spirit and hope for this group of fans.

Referee Webber and his refereeing team led players from both sides to the pitch. Immediately the pre-match welcoming ceremony ended and the official match began.

Tottenham Hotspur formed a 4-2-2 formation, still with the same players during the semi-final round of the first leg of the league cup.

Goalkeeper: Cudicini.

Defender: B. Scots, L. King(A), Y. Korkor, K. Naughton's.

mother: A. Lennon, I. Monsieur, T. Rudelstone, D. Bentleys.

attacker: P. Crouch, J-Cong. Defoeing.

Both teams are equally protected from injury, so the ones playing at the moment are the main players.

Crystal Palace came up with a new formation to face this match 3-2-2-2-1.

Goalkeeper: J. Speronies, speronies,

Defender: R. Shawcross, C. Rikety, M. Salgado.

Defending midfielder: Sean Derry (C), N'golo Kante.

Midfielder: Deco, Joe Allen.

Winger: W. Bonnie, D. Ambrose.

Single tuner: J. Vardy.

This is a new formation that has been researched by Daniel, hoping this tactic will be enough to make a breakthrough for the Tottenham Hotspur camp.