Coaching legend

"Balak! It's Ballack again! This is a long shot from 25 meters away. This is also Ballack's 13th goal this year. Ballack is the player with the most goals for Burnley this season. This season's Ballack is really unstoppable. We have always said that Ballack is an all-around midfielder, with good defense, powerful long shots, good headers, and accurate passes. He is currently the best midfielder in the English League One."

"Robbie Keane... He dribbled past the goalkeeper, 2-0. The 17-year-old Robbie Keane is already Burnley's main striker, and has scored more than double digits. Burnley beat Nottingham Forest without any resistance!!!"

"Ljungberg, Ljungberg fell In the penalty area... Red card plus penalty, wow, Nottingham Forest is really adding insult to injury. "

"Balak scored the penalty, which was Ballack's second goal in this game and his 14th goal for Burnley this season. "

"This is an extremely tough game in the English League One, between the first and second place in the league. Nottingham Forest was six points behind Burnley before, and if they won this game, their gap would be only three points. Unfortunately, judging from the current situation, their gap is getting bigger and bigger. Burnley's promotion seems to be a foregone conclusion. "

This is the 25th round of the English League One, and the time is January 4, 1998. Burnley has played five games from November to the beginning of January. Burnley only has the league during this period, and has no cup tasks.

Except for being tied by Stockport away, the remaining four games were all won.

Burnley's morale is high, with 17 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses in 24 rounds, and 56 points. At the same time, Nottingham Forest only achieved three wins, one draw and one loss, with 50 points in 24 rounds, which was six points behind Burnley.

In the 25th round, Burnley challenged Nottingham Forest away.

Because there were many games during this period, George had been rotating the lineup. But as Burnley's overall style of play became more and more mature, rotating one or two players was not a problem at all.

In the current Burnley, there is only one person that George is most reluctant to rotate. That is Ballack in the midfield. He has completely become the core of Burnley's midfield, and his offense and defense are under his control.

So once Ballack is gone, Burnley's offense will be very problematic. Although in the English League One, there are two wingers, Ljungberg and Camoranesi, which are enough. But Ballack has good physical strength, so he only rested in one game in the past five games.

This time Burnley challenged Nottingham Forest away, and George left no room at all. All the cards that can be used have been used, because George has always been thinking about how to take revenge on Nottingham Forest.

During George's last suspension, they lost to Nottingham Forest at home, and George has always been upset. And at that time, the local media in Nottingham also ridiculed Burnley, saying that George only talks big.

So George said that sentence after the last game, "Nottingham Forest? It's just a win against a crippled Burnley. We will let them know the strength of Burnley on the road.".

…………

When Burnley defeated Nottingham Forest, Burnley's road to promotion was smooth.

First, they beat Wrexham from the National League 7-0 in the third round of the FA Cup. Kevin Phillips, who had limited playing time, scored four goals in this game, and Burnley entered the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Then Burnley ushered in three league games, and then the first round of the League Cup semi-finals with Middlesbrough. But Burnley, who has entered the state, has completely killed gods and Buddhas.

In the 26th round, Burnley defeated Reading, which they had just defeated in the League Cup, 4-0. Of course, not many people paid attention to this game, which was a game between the top team and the bottom team. Before the game started, everyone knew the result.

But the game in the 27th round left everyone speechless.

In the 27th round, Burnley went to play against Sunderland away. Throughout the game, they beat up Sunderland, the promoted opponent. In the end, Sunderland only had one very outrageous long shot. Although the score was only 2-0, if Burnley hadn't been unlucky and wasted too many opportunities, not to mention two goals, even five, six, and seven goals would have been possible.

After the game, Sunderland players couldn't wait to escape the stadium. Sunderland fans began to leave the stadium not long after the start of the second half. By the end of the game, there were less than 2,000 fans left in the entire stadium.

After this game, all the media shouted that Burnley's strength had completely surpassed the level of English First Division. Sunderland, a team aiming for promotion, was beaten so badly at its home ground.

Between the 27th and 28th rounds of the English League One, Burnley also played a fourth-round match of the FA Cup. Maybe Burnley is really popular this year, and they met a team from the English League Three. Burnley entered the fifth round of the FA Cup away from home with a header from Klose.

In fact, George was ready to give up on the FA Cup, but the opponent was too weak, and even with most of the substitutes on the field, they still won the game.

In the 28th round, Burnley challenged the promoted opponent Charlton again away. In order to prepare for the League Cup in Middlesbrough, George kept many main players in the game. Finally, relying on Camoranesi's personal strength, he created a suspected penalty. In the end, Camoranesi scored the penalty he created.

"I don't know if I should say that George is lucky. With most of the main lineup rotated, relying on Camoranesi's personal performance, he can still get three points from the away game. But from this game, we can see Burnley's ambition. Burnley's goal is very clear. For the League Cup semi-finals, George would rather play such an important game with a substitute lineup."

"But to be honest, this year's Burnley has the best chance to enter the League Cup final. I believe that George, the young coach, is definitely unwilling to give up the opportunity to win the League Cup."

George is very happy now, because after the 28th round of games, Burnley is already 14 points ahead of the second Nottingham Forest. After losing to Burnley by four goals at home, Nottingham Forest's morale dropped sharply. In the next game with Norwich, they lost to Norwich by one goal.

And in the subsequent games, they were tied by Wolves at home.

Fortunately, Nottingham Forest itself is strong. In the third game against Middlesbrough, they regained the momentum of a strong team. In a head-to-head match, they defeated Middlesbrough 2-1. But it was too late. There were only 18 rounds left in the league, and Nottingham Forest was already 14 points behind Burnley. With Burnley's current state, everyone knows that Burnley's promotion is absolutely no problem.

The most injured was Middlesbrough. In order to get a direct promotion spot, they played all the main players in the game against Nottingham Forest. But not only did they lose the game, but three days later it was the League Cup semi-final.

(Thanks to "The Girl Selling Flowers" for the reward, and more today!)