Born to be a coach [soccer]

Before Marco Reus came to Wembley Stadium, he carefully groomed his appearance, rearranged his suit jacket in front of the mirror, and combed his hair neatly to show his respect for the game. Value and respect.

However, when he pushed open the door of the VIP box at the stadium, he still felt a little nervous: First, it was the first time in Royce’s life to watch a game in such a stadium and at such a location; It's specially reserved by the club's top management, and the people who sit in it should be BOSS.

Royce pushed open the door, and a boy about his age jumped up from a seat in the box, just facing Royce face to face, and the two looked at each other.This boy has blond hair, from the nose to both cheeks, there are small freckles.

More importantly, the boy was wearing a Sunderland red and white arrow shirt.

Royce suddenly regretted a little: he had supported Sunderland in his heart for a long time. In this game, he really should wear something related to Sunderland, even if there is a scarf.

This person in front of me is... so young, could it be the second generation of "high-level"?

Thinking of his father's warning, Royce stretched out his hand. His English is good, and he introduced himself to the other party: "Hi, my name is Marco Royce, nice to meet you!"

The other party grinned and responded with ease: "I'm Jordan Pickford! Sit down!" The tone of voice was full of strong "northeast" taste.

Royce thought to himself: It really is the second generation of "high-level".

He found a side seat very restrainedly and sat down.Pickford next to him kept turning sideways, staring at Royce for a long time, and suddenly asked with a smile: "Are you that Royce who Martin and Anton went to Germany several times and almost didn't sign? "

Royce:  …

He has become more and more convinced that Pickford is the second generation of "high-level". He has met CEO Martin Bain and head coach Anton, but the freckled boy in front of him calls them by their names so casually.

So Royce asked cautiously: "Excuse me... are you working in the management of the club?"

Pickford was taken aback for a moment, and suddenly realized that Royce had mistook him for someone.The freckled boy laughed loudly: "Me? The club management? Don't be kidding!"

"I am the goalkeeper of this team. I was just promoted to the first team this year, but this season I was loaned out by the head coach to another team to 'level up'. Now that the season is over, Anton invited me here to watch the game gone."

Pickford said it lightly, but Royce raised his ears and thought: So this club will invite players who have been loaned out and players who have not yet fully signed to watch the game together.

"Anton also invited a former goalkeeper Craig to watch the game," Pickford pointed to the bench below, "He injured his hand during the game, and Anton arranged for him to go for treatment and rehabilitation. It's not officially returning from injury, but Craig insists that he is still a part of the team, so he must sit down and watch the game."

Royce: ...It sounds like this club is quite humane.

"I was rented out by the head coach, so I should watch the game here!" Pickford said with a smile, "Anyway, when Anton came to see me play, he also watched it in the box on Sheffield Wednesday."

Royce: It turns out that the head coach will also watch the players on loan play games.

"Besides, the view here is good, and they can see it when we cheer for them here!" Pickford threw a scarf at Royce, "Come, sit here, the location is good!" Pickford He reached out and patted a leather seat beside him heavily.

Pickford, who was familiar with him, couldn't resist his hospitality, so Royce had to sit down.

After the two sat down, the door of the box opened again, and the club owner Short complained from the door: "It's true... Anton hides like this, the whole world is demanding people from us. Not only reporters, but also Fans, those young people all came to ask us to get Anton's autograph..."

A grumbling boss, Ellis Short, walks in with CEO Martin Bain.

"The point is, no one wants the signatures of our two old men, but Anton and those players." Short walked into the box, only to realize that there were already people inside.

Royce had met Martin once before, and at this moment he greeted Martin a little cautiously.Martin naturally introduced Royce to the owner Short: "This is the chairman of the club."

When Short saw Royce, he couldn't help but sighed with emotion for the young man's appearance: "...What should we do? In the future, no one will come to us old men for autographs!"

Royce: This...

Martin hurriedly elbowed Short, and then said to Royce: "Ellis is joking! Please don't mind. For your arrival, the whole club extends a warm welcome. Hope you watch today Have a great time and have a great game.”

It turned out to be a joke!

Royce immediately felt a lot more relaxed, and he was not so restrained in front of these serious "high-level" clubs. It seems that the people here are quite easy-going and easy to get along with.

Martin called Pickford and Royce to sit down, and he and Short sat next to each other, with a slightly inferior view and angle.Martin told Short: "Thanks to Anton's early arrangements for this matter, as soon as the FA Cup final was over, he led the team into hiding without saying a word. Otherwise, look at the posture of the media, they can Let our players take a good rest and prepare for this game..."

Royce raised his ears curiously, and practiced his "northeast" English listening by the way: indeed, he was also a little puzzled before coming here.The entire Sunderland team, after winning the FA Cup, no one in the team came forward for interviews.And except for Sunderland's official tweets about winning the championship, the other players who have personal Twitter accounts have the same content, which is always the news before the FA Cup match.

As for the head coach Anton, no one seems to know what his Twitter account is now.

"You know, winning this game is more important to the club." Martin appeased the boss Short who had been alone in Sunderland for a week against the media.

As soon as Martin brought out the big truth, Short immediately became dumb, and could only mutter: "Of course I know this, but Anton... at least let me know in advance!"

The club owner was a little awkward, turned his head to look at the seat where Royce was sitting, and immediately pointed to Martin beside him: "Look, Anton always arranges important people in this position."

There was a big circle of confusion on Royce's face.

Martin had no choice but to explain again: "Ellis said that in the last FA Cup final, Anton originally invited a young woman with a very important status, and she should sit in your position. It's just that she didn't Appear."

"A young woman with an important status?" Royce couldn't help being aroused a little curiosity. He also had access to the English media in Germany, and he cared about Sunderland very much. In the past six months, he I know a lot about Sunderland, so I know that Anton, the head coach who suddenly appeared in people's sights, has never had any scandals, and there is not even a little pink in the news about him.

Young people seem to feel the power of England's raging fire of gossip.

"Hi, my mother also said that she is the most important young woman in the family!" Pickford interjected, immediately bursting all the gossip bubbles.Royce nodded: "My mother too..."

Martin and Short looked at each other: These two boys, one hasn't returned to the team yet, the other hasn't officially signed yet, why are they defending their head coach like this?

Without speculative words, the two older "high-level officials" in the box quickly turned their attention to the court: the game is about to start.

Watching the game in the VIP box, they can see the situation on the court through a layer of glass windows.At the same time, there is also a TV screen in the box, which is broadcasting the live broadcast of the game by the broadcast organization.

However, with Pickford in this box, it has nothing to do with the broadcast organization, and all the on-site commentary is contracted by Pickford alone.

"Look, the players who kicked off in the middle circle this time are the tallest and strongest players in our team with the most determined eyes... Anton said earlier that we need to find someone to deal with Blackpool's eyes." Kill'!" Pickford reported the numbers and names of several players near the center circle to Royce in one breath.

Everyone else in the box was lost in thought: What do you mean... Killing eyes?

Only Pickford was triumphant: "Anton has led the whole team to make complete preparations. Blackpool beat us by one goal last time. No one can swallow this breath. This time we will find it at Wembley Stadium. Back to the scene!"

Indeed, Blackpool defeated Sunderland in the Championship match between the two teams on April 4.That was also after Sunderland's victory from Wembley Stadium.

Therefore, some English media took advantage of the pre-match pre-match opportunity to fan the flames, saying that Blackpool would be the nemesis of the "black cat"-because "Blackpool" originally meant "black pond", when a black cat meets a pond, The result, of course, is that the kitten "falls" into the pond.

After Blackpool eliminated the "Blue Fox" Leicester City in the promotion play-offs, they also released harsh words: Sunderland can win the FA Cup and play in the Europa League next season, but they will not be promoted to the Super League.With Blackpool here, they will still be nothing this season.

Hearing what Pickford said, the young Marco Royce couldn't help getting up, stood up from his seat, came to the huge glass curtain wall in the VIP box, and looked towards the stadium with his hand on the railing.It could be seen that he was also nervous for Sunderland, the young man's handsome face was slightly tense, and the red and white scarf was tightly held in his hand.

Behind him, Martin and Short looked at each other, both thinking: It seems that Anton always has a way, and Royce Jr. has not officially signed for Sunderland, and he seems to have given birth to the team. some emotion.

Martin: Well, I always carry my passport with me!

The author has something to say: Blackpool: We just killed the blue fox, now we are going to kill the black cat, we...are "animal killers"!

Sunderland player: ...Hey, wake up...we are all human!

Yesterday, I read the news about Xia Chuang’s transfer, about Grid... I actually wanted Anton to buy Grid back...mainly because the color of Atletico Madrid’s jersey is the same as that of Sunderland, both are red and white arrows , and their names are actually the same...