In the January Derby County schedule, there were 6 games in total, including two FA Cups, which didn’t sound like many, and the FA Cup was only equivalent to one game in 5 days. But in fact, the 4 league games and the 2nd FA Cup were squeezed after No. 10. ⊙

Between the 10th and 31th, Derby County has 5 games to play, and the first league match against West Bromwich is the first.

The two teams faced each other in the first half of the match at Pride Stadium, so Derby County needs to go to Hawthorn Stadium to challenge their opponents away.

Soon the game between the two teams was approaching.

Originally, this was a match between the first and third in the league. In the past, there would definitely be a lot of media reports. After all, this is related to the changes in the top three league points and is also the top match in the League One.

But two days before the two teams met, the media did not report much about the game. Most media that reported on the English League One, or pure supporters of the two teams, only mentioned the game, including Derby County's recent news, West Bromwich's news, and who wins and loses, or have any grudges and conflicts, no one mentioned it.

For the media supporting Derby County, they feel that this game is a bit of a 'small fight' for Derby County. Derby County has just won Tottenham Hotspur away. Compared with the latter, what is West Bromwich?

They felt that the game didn't matter at all, not to mention that the last time the two teams fought against Derby County was the winner. In short, they didn't want to hype the game.

Derby County's hostile media really want to see Derby County lose. Derby County has a great chance of losing against West Bromwich away, but they have just suffered a loss from Tottenham Hotspur. Even if they "don't have a memory", they cannot forget it so quickly, so they have become much more cautious and will never say anything like "derby County will lose" before the game. They plan to watch quietly, and when Derby County loses, they will have the opportunity to point fingers.

West Bromwich media reported on the game, but their ideas were similar to those of the media supporting Derby County - Derby County was the first in the league and beat West Bromwich in the first half of the schedule and just defeated Tottenham Hotspur at the White Hart Lane Stadium. They should be more cautious in such opponents anyway.

As a result, this match between the first and third in the league seemed very dull before the game. It seemed like neither team was the top three in the league, but just a match between ordinary mid-range teams in the English League One.

The media's "preview" of the game has always been dull and very dull. The two teams have almost no connection, and the two teams are also preparing for the game in a low-key manner. There are no players or anyone else talking about their opponents before the game.

This dullness remained until an hour before the game.

The FA announced the 18-man roster handed over by the two teams. West Bromwich's one is nothing to say, but Derby County's roster is very eye-catching because there are four missing names of people - Lee Morris, Frank Ribery, Tim Cahill and captain Marcus.

Anyone who is concerned about Derbyshire will know exactly what these four people mean for Derbyshire.

Lee Morris is the core of Derby County's midfield. He is the most important player in offense and offensive and defensive transformation, and is also a player in organizing offense. It can be said that as long as Morris appears, he is the most important and indispensable player on Derby County's eleven players.

Frank Ribery performed well after coming to Derby County. Especially after the last game against Tottenham Hotspur, his fame in England increased greatly. The most famous one in that game was Wansheng, and he led the team to complete a reversal at the White Hart Lane Stadium. Frank Ribery was also reported by the media because he was the best player in the game.

In other words, Frank Ribery is Derby County's most skilled and most famous player so far.

Tim Cahill is the number one scorer in Derby County and the number one scorer in the League One. His league goal index this season has reached as much as 0.96, which means that Cahill can score 0.96 goals in every game, which is almost equivalent to one goal per game. With such excellent goal efficiency, Cahill is also the second-famous player in Derby County.

Marcus is the captain of Derby County, and the captain means spiritual leader. He is also the back pillar of the team. It is completely imaginable what such a player means to a team that often uses offensive tactics.

In short, each of these four players is very important to Derby County.

If one or two are not on the roster, the media can guess that they are injured or are affected by continuous competitions and physically exhausted, they have to take a break, but if the four are not on the roster, this is definitely not the problem.

The media were all quite surprised.

If Derby County plays a weak team and sends a half-substitute lineup to play, it is understandable. After all, Derby County is really strong, and it is not a big deal to use a substitute lineup when it rotates to fight against a weak team in a round.

The key is that the opponent of Derbyshire is West Bromwich!

Many media immediately thought of the reason - Derby County is preparing for the second round of the FA Cup match with Birmingham. In order to ensure that the main players have enough physical fitness to cope with the game, they can only use round rest.

This is understandable.

But it was completely different when many media said that they would not consider Derby County, but would only conduct a one-sided analysis of Derby County's approach, so the normal rotation became 'Derby County despising West Bromwich'.

"That Chinese man did this on purpose, he was humiliating Westbromvich, he was revenge!"

"The last time the two teams met, West Bromwich coach McGerson talked about the game and said that they would beat Derby County, and now the Chinese are fighting back with 'Our substitute lineup can also beat you away'... I have to say that this counterattack is very powerful, but McGerson will definitely be very unhappy..."

"Of course the premise is that Derby County can really win at Hawthorn Stadium, but from a normal perspective, Derby County probably gave up the game..."

"You have to know that their opponent is West Bromwich, the third in the league, the Premier League team last season, and they are still playing away!"

“…”

Regarding Derby County's semi-substitute lineup, the media began to report vigorously again. They seemed to be venting all their previous suffocation and commenting on Derby County and the game in one breath.

But Wan Sheng didn't care, and in fact he didn't even read the report.

There was nothing to read before the game. After submitting the team's roster, he knew what the media would say, but he was deliberately giving the four people a rest.

Not only to prepare for the FA Cup with Birmingham, the key is that the number of players is really too many.

They have to get them to rotate.

The tasks of football training masters can only ensure their physical condition, but constant competitions will also make players mentally exhausted. This is something that the football training master system and Wan Sheng are powerless, so rest is necessary. After all, not every player is a game-crazy, and it is okay to always participate in the game.

Another reason is that the team loses the game!

Currently, the team is leading Norwich by 6 league points. The match with West Bromwich is also the last time Derby County and the two teams are facing each other. Norwich and West Bromwich have not started yet, so Derby County has a very obvious advantage in terms of schedule and league points. Even if you lose this game, the advantage of points is less, which does not affect the team's league ranking. Wan Sheng is confident that he will recover in the subsequent leagues.

But the media won't think so much about Derbyshire.

In the interview before the game, some media mentioned Derby County's 18-man roster to Macgson, and they also said in a flaming manner that "Derby County may think that a half-main lineup is enough to defeat West Bromwich at the Hawthorn Stadium"... Such a provocation is too obvious. The reporter proposed that he did not expect McGons to be angry, but just wanted to see McGonsen's attitude.

But what the reporters didn't expect was that McGerson seemed to be 'irritated'!

Magson's face was shining with shame, as if he really felt insulted, "They thought a substitute could defeat us? Even if they were the first in the league, they shouldn't be despised by their opponents so much! This is the Hawthorn Stadium, we are West Bromwich, I want to see how they defeated us!"

"But I think, ultimately our players will tell them that it comes at a price to look down on us!"

McGerson said this like a roar and left the press conference randomly. It felt like he was really angry. The reporters present were a little confused. McGerson's reaction was indeed what they wanted to see, but this was a bit too much.

They have a feeling--they seem to be being used again...

The same is true in fact.

McGerson was thinking about how to arouse the morale of the players, but the reporters gave such a gift, which was no more arousing the players' fighting spirit than the opponent's contempt. He just needed to tell the players what happened at the press conference, which was more useful than shouting slogans.

On the other hand, in the locker room of the visiting team at Hawthorn Stadium, Wan Sheng was also giving everyone a final advice.

“I’m not emphasizing more…”

Wan Sheng stopped and walked up and swept to everyone, "I have said everything I should say. I did not ask you to defeat your opponent, but what I hope to see is that each of you can try your best when you arrive on the court!"

Wan Sheng said so much, and he did not put any pressure on everyone.

In fact, just as the media said, it is not easy for Derby County to defeat West Bromwich with a half-substitute lineup, and Wan Sheng is also very clear about this, so he did not tell the players about "must win". He worked hard on the court and tried his best to exert his strength. The result was not important.

Derby County lost the game, compared to the result, Wan Sheng hopes to see how the team's semi-substitute lineup can achieve. (To be continued, please search for Piao Tianwen, the novel is better, updated and faster!
Chapter completed!