Chapter 233: Entanglement Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The confrontation between the two managers on the sidelines became the most talked about topic. The television broadcast repeatedly replayed the situation from different angles and positions to provide the overall view on the entire process, to satisfy the viewers' curiosity.
The game was still going on, but the spotlight had moved from the star players on the field to the two managers, Tony Twain and José Mourinho.
"We could say that the managers have stolen the limelight from the players. Whenever there is a game with Mourinho and Twain, they will be the focus of everyone's attention. What a riveting game. We have just enjoyed a terrific goal, and we can also watch the passionate and hot-blooded duel of the two head coaches!"
Amidst the commentator's laughter, the first ended with Nottingham Forest temporarily tied with Chelsea at 1:1. If the strength of the two teams were taken into consideration, this score could satisfy Nottingham Forest. However, considering the number of players on both sides and the spectacle in the first half of the game, Tang En did not feel any satisfaction at all.
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Losing the ball at the end of the first half was a blow to the Forest players. This was clear from their heavy and hurried breathing as they sat down.
Twain stood in the locker room and watched the players as they changed into their clean jerseys in silence.
"I remember a few days before the game, I was stressing to you what kind of team Chelsea's team is. I said that if we are leading, we have to pay attention to their counterattack. Now my words are confirmed. Chelsea, who is a player short in this game, equalized the score.
"It looks like we conceded the goal because Wood did not defend against Drogba, or because Piqué left the field due to his injury, leaving us with one less player to mark and defend against Drogba. But in reality?" Twain spread out his arms. "We were already playing under pressure from them for twenty-five minutes before we lost the ball! We were completely helpless!
"In those twenty-five minutes, if they had been lucky, they could have scored at any time, and it would definitely not have been a draw now. We're completely controlled by them, aren't we? When we attacked, we couldn't succeed. When we tried to defend, it was difficult."
The players were quiet because obviously they felt the same. Chelsea was truly strong, and they had only realized it after playing against them. No wonder they could keep pressure on Arsenal, the leading team in the league.
"All right!" Twain said, suddenly raising his voice, "Don't lower your heads! Let's look at this problem from another angle. It's not necessarily a bad thing to concede the goal at the end of the first half. At least we have more time to make specific adjustments. And their momentum is interrupted by the halftime interval. It's only an equalizer. Do you think our goal in the first half was just luck? Were we lucky that Ferreira was sent off? Chelsea is not an invincible battleship, they have a lot of weaknesses too. Franck, why did it look like you disappeared in the latter half of the first half?"
"I… Well, I was back on defense." Compared to when he had first come to Nottingham, Ribéry's English had improved rapidly. In both his comprehension and oral skills, he did not have many issues.
"Okay, remember, in the second half: Continue to play like you did in the first part of the first half. Our offense is mainly on the flanks. If you and Ashley Young are missing, how can we fight back? You two, listen; in the second half, we will play like this on the flanks..." Twain turned around and drew on the tactical board. "Your mission is not to pass the ball close to the ground outside the penalty area."
He drew two oblique arrows into the goal area at the two corners of the penalty area. "Push the Chelsea full back into the penalty area, try your best to retain control of the ball, and then try to break through them after entering the penalty area. Take bold actions in the penalty area and be mindful of your opponents."
Ribéry and Ashley Young nodded at the same time.
Twain turned around and looked at George Wood. "George, mind telling me how you felt when you were marking Drogba one-on-one?"
Wood looked at Twain, and then spat out a remark. "He's very strong."
"Of course. Twenty-four million pounds was not just a story." Twain shrugged his shoulders. "In the second half, your mission is the same; two men against Drogba, press on and defend against him with Piqué. Don't give him too many opportunities. If he has the ball with his back towards the goal, don't give him the space to turn around, and be careful of his long shots. If he returns a pass, leave him alone and let him pass, but never let him face the goal area once has the ball. Don't underestimate his crude technique. Understand?"
Wood nodded.
After he had assigned the individual tasks, Twain began to talk about the team tactics. "Guys, you've all seen it. Chelsea has been very aggressive in our backfield, which is key to their continuous attack. So in the second half, I want you to play a little more succinctly. Be fast when you receive the ball, and run quickly. Your passing speed must be swift too. We can't give Chelsea the chance to intercept the ball at our feet. It's very dangerous to keep the football in our backfield. If you can't find a suitable teammate to pass the ball to, just kick the ball far to the front field. Do you see? Crouch is so tall. If he shaves his head again, he'll simply be a beacon for you in the fog to show you the way forward!"
Twain slapped Crouch hard on the shoulder and his teammates laughed.
"Well, if we look at the rankings, we're not doing too badly. Chelsea is second place and we're only thirteenth. A difference of eleven spots. If we treat ourselves as an ordinary, newly promoted team, the result could be worse. A lot of teams will have already made up their minds to view not losing as some sort of victory for themselves when they encounter stronger teams. But we can't do that. Why? Because we are different from them. We aren't an ordinary newly promoted team.
"Our objective this season is not just to maintain our spot in the league. We have a bigger quest. We are the home team in this game, so there's no reason for us to feel satisfied with a tie. If we don't win at the end of this game, I guarantee you that we won't have a rest day tomorrow. From this game onwards, I hope you guys can understand that if it's a game that we can win, I will never accept a draw. And if it's a game we can't win, I will never accept defeat!"
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Dunn sat alone in his seat. It was now in the halftime interval. Most fans had gone out for beers and food to replenish their energy. He was not interested in that because he was not like the people around him, screaming, clapping their hands, stomping their feet, exerting their strength to almost nothing, and straining their voices.
Nottingham was a city with many foreign students, so it was not uncommon for black-haired, East Asian fans to be here. No one took another look at the manager of the Forest youth team.
Twain was the team manager. He would be allocated a certain number of tickets before every home game and would always leave a ticket to Dunn, regardless of whether he went or not. Most of the time, Dunn chose to watch at home. At the same time, he would also record the games on video. He could replay the games clearly in slow motion, which would help him to analyze the games.
But today, when it rained, he chose to watch the game at the stadium. At the end of the first half, he saw the exciting confrontation between the two managers. If he were the Forest manager, such things would never happen. He had more than once thought about how he would be if he was the head coach of the team.
He was very different from Tang En. Tang En wanted him to be his assistant manager and run the team with him. However, he considered often whether his personality would work well with such a brash person. They did live together, but as one man was the manager of the First Team and the other was the manager of the youth team, they were completely different in their work styles.
On the contrary, Tang En had always said that they would work well together. Would they work well together just because they always came together at night to study all kinds of videos? Dunn always felt that he did not know Tang En at all, and felt that his actions were sometimes completely inconceivable. For example, during his confrontation with Mourinho, was he not worried that this would provoke Chelsea? One must know that Chelsea was ranked second, and was a powerful team that had not lost a match since the start of the tournament.
It was still raining, and there were more and more people around him. The second half of the match was about to begin.
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Tang En did not know what Mourinho had said to his players at the halftime interval. The Chelsea players seemed to be in high fighting spirits and did not feel that their prospects were bleak just because they were a player short. However, he was not worried; his players were equally motivated, and did not feel frustrated by the ten-man opposing team equalizing the score.
Both teams were in a good state of mind, but what about the two managers?
Naturally, they too were in exuberant fighting spirits.
Both teams had fought each other from the start of the match till now, and unsurprisingly, they were unwilling to lose to each other. Losing three points was considered a small thing, but it was very important not to lose face.
Just because your boss is wealthy, you've won the UEFA Champions League title, and you have lots of strong players, I'm supposed to be afraid of you?
No matter how rich your boss is, no matter how many championships you've won, or how famous your players are, all this means nothing in the game. We'll let the score speak for itself!
In the second half, we'll fight again!
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In the second half, Chelsea did not change much in its tactics compared to the latter part of the first half. They pressed on hard in the front field, then created chaos within the Forest team and took advantage of their mistakes.
Chelsea relied on this method to successfully equalize the score in the first half. Mourinho believed that the inexperienced Forest team would be helpless in the face of waves of oppressive defense, and that many mistakes which would not normally be made would occur. Mourinho was smart, but Twain was no fool either. Since Chelsea had equalized the score by depending on that move in the first half, how could he not defend against it?
The Forest team intended to consciously use long shots in its attacks to pass to Crouch in the front. And if the opponent was not too aggressive, they would transfer the ball to their flanks, to Ribéry or Ashley Young. The players would decide the details of their attacks. And the Forest team's defense? Everyone tried to reduce the time for possession of the ball. The defenders just needed to kick the ball far ahead, regardless of whether Crouch could receive it or not.
The Forest players were very determined to carry out this tactic; ten minutes later, the Chelsea players realized that they had been running around nonstop in their front field to intercept the ball to very little effect. Every time they saw the Forest players receive the ball not far ahead, they would hurriedly rush over and their opponents would kick the ball far behind Chelsea without hesitation.
This was indeed annoying. Chelsea's forceful tactics were curtailed, but at the same time, the Forest team's offense appeared to be too simple and crude, with a low success rate. The game was in a stalemate, and neither side had any good opportunities except continually making mistakes again and again.