Chapter 433: The Core

Kerslake sat in his seat and looked up at Twain, who had walked back. “What did you say to Baines? I can see something isn’t quite right from his expression.”

Twain sat down and turned his head to smile at him. “Take a guess.”

“How can I guess?” Kerslake opened his hands.

“You’ll find out soon, David.”

Back on the field, Leighton Baines did not have a chance to locate his target. He did not dare to leave his position when there was no dead ball. What if the opponent counterattacked?

Therefore, Kerslake did not see what Twain’s so-called adjustment was. He could only patiently wait.

Finally, when George Wood made Fàbregas fall to the ground, the referee whistled for a foul. Arsenal was awarded a free kick in the center circle. Boos rang out against the offender, but the boos were not as loud as the ones Wood had heard at the Meazza stadium. Arsenal was different from Inter Milan in that they had been entangled with Nottingham Forest for nearly two seasons. The Arsenal fans were familiar with George Wood. They had long known what kind of player he was.

Wood looked at Fàbregas on the ground and did not go to pull him up to show good will. Instead, he turned and ran back.

That was when Leighton Baines came running up.

“George, George.”

Wood stopped his tracks. “What’s up?”

“The boss asked me to pass a message to you.”

Wood turned his head and looked at Twain sitting in the technical area.

“He asked you to shift your position to the front a little.”

Wood turned his head again to look at Twain.

“He said you need to be more active in offense and take the initiative to raise your hand for the ball, and then do as you see fit.”

Wood turned his head back and stared at Baines.

Baines was a little unnerved by Wood’s glare. He nodded hurriedly. “Yes, yes. That’s what he said. I haven’t changed a word. He asked me to tell you his exact words so that you wouldn’t doubt anything. He also said… the credit is yours if you succeed, and the responsibility is his if you fail.”

“Okay, got it.” Wood believed Baines’s words, as he had no reason to lie to him.

Leighton Baines breathed a sigh of relief and was going to run back. He had just turned around when he remembered something. He turned back again to ask, “George? You’ve been practicing offense these days, haven’t you?”

Wood nodded.

Baines smiled. “Then I’m sure you can do it. Press ahead! Show Arsenal what you’ve got!”

When he saw his teammate’s smile and heard such encouragement, Wood still said nothing. He just turned and ran off.

Arsenal took advantage of the free kick to launch another series of attacks with the intention to improve the situation. If they were lucky enough to score another goal, they would completely lock in the win. Now, with nineteen minutes to go until the end of the game and with a two-goal advantage, the Forest team basically had no chance for another equalizer. And at that time, when they had to go to the City Ground stadium for another game, they could also relax a little with their 2:0 advantage.

After he saw Baines gave the message to Wood, Twain got out of his seat again and walked towards the sidelines.

※※※

Because it was a defensive counterattack, Arsenal did not have many forces for the attack. A few players could not pose much of a threat to the Forest team’s goal. Nottingham Forest quickly regained control.

The football was handed over to George Wood. Arsenal’s defensive focus was the players such as Arteta, Ribéry, Ashley Young, Anelka, and Viduka. Wood took the ball in the backfield, but none of the Arsenal players went up to scramble for the ball with him. Henry just appeared to do so and ran back.

Wood had possession of the ball at his feet, and he did not hurry to send it out. Leighton Baines’s words echoed in his mind.

“…He said you need to be more active in the offense and take the initiative to raise your hand for the ball, and then do as you see fit… The credit is yours if you succeed, and the responsibility is his if you fail…”

Easier said than done! Do as I see fit. How do I do as I see fit?

Now Wood could only “do as he saw fit”. He saw that there were no Arsenal players pressing on him ahead. Arteta got the brunt of it with Edu stuck to him.

Albertini had once told him that if he did not know who to pass the ball to, he could pass it to the teammate nearest to him. Arteta was currently the nearest player to him. But could he pass the ball to Arteta? It was evident that he could not pass it to him. Under that level of defense, it was easy to lose the ball. Although this had more to do with the receiver, how could he still send the football out irresponsibly, knowing that the ball would be intercepted?

What he was sending out was not just passing a ball; it was also a form of responsibility. That was something Albertini had repeatedly told him during training, and he had kept it in mind. It was irresponsible to simply send the ball out to pass the football to a teammate whose position was not good. This type of behavior might result in a big mistake. George was the defensive midfielder and he knew what that kind of big mistake would entail. He would not allow this type of situation to happen. If his teammates were to lose the football easily, he would be very angry. So, how could he behave that way?

Since it was not possible to pass it to Arteta, who could he pass to?

Wood looked around. Ashley Young was trying his best to plug in ahead and Ashley Cole was not that close to him. This might be an opportunity. The only problem was that he was too far away. Wood was not confident in being able to deliver the football to his teammate’s feet accurately at a distance of more than thirty meters. His level of passing could only guarantee that he was able to accurately pass the football to his teammates within ten meters. As for the long pass of more than thirty meters, it was not part of his job before.

Ribéry was not tightly bound to the flank but drew closer to the middle. Unfortunately, he had the same problem as Arteta. He had hit the big-time last season, and this season, he had continued to rise higher, so he became a closely marked target in this game.

George Wood did not have much time left to consider the situation clearly before he could send the ball out again. He had to do something. There was no suitable target to pass the ball to, so in that case…

Wood chose the simplest way: He dribbled the ball forward himself.

“It’s unbelievable. George Wood, who normally pass the ball as soon as he gets it, is actually dribbling the ball and plugging ahead! Did Albertini wear the wrong jersey?” The commentator mocked Wood, who was somewhat overly cautious with his dribble.

George’s dribble was a little clumsy. It was not that he could not dribble, but that he rarely dribbled the ball ahead in a game.

Henry hesitated for a moment. Just as he thought about whether to go up and defend, George Wood had already run past him. The distance between the football and his feet was so fitting that Henry could not find the right moment for his foot to intercept the ball.

Wood’s basic skills were very good. Even if George Wood was now the stalwart First Team main force, Twain still asked him to persist with practicing the fundamentals. Because Wood started out late, he could ignore the fundamentals and had to continue to practice in order to accomplish greater achievements in the future.

Wood dribbled the ball past Henry. The French striker hesitated for a moment and immediately turned to give chase. He already realized that Wood had become the offense’s real initiator.

“George! Behind you!” Arteta loudly warned him in the front.

Fàbregas turned to look around and charged up towards him too. With one ahead of him and one at his back, it looked like the converging attack was going to stop the ball.

When Wood saw that there were people in front and at the back, his mind suddenly went blank and he did not know what he should do. When Henry extended his foot from behind to poke at the football, Wood was caught off guard. He watched the football roll out and was received by Fàbregas who came up. Arsenal had turned the defense into an offense.

When he saw the football fall at Fàbregas’ foot, the blank space in his mind suddenly cleared and his mind returned to normal. He understood what he should do and did not hesitate. He quickly jabbed Fàbregas’ ball out.

Fàbregas had not expected that Wood, who was just in a daze and seemed at a loss, to move so quickly, as if he had become another person in an instant. He froze in place for about a second, and in that second, George Wood skimmed past him and regained possession of the ball.

Henry, who was behind Wood, could not see the situation between these two players. He knew he had poked the football and that Fàbregas was over there, so he should have received the ball. Therefore, he was about to turn around and run ahead to counterattack. When Wood ran off, he then realized that the football was back at this kid’s foot!

Twain, who saw this scene on the field, rubbed his temples and muttered to himself, “This bastard… Does he only know what to do when he’s at his defensive position?”

Upon hearing this, Kerslake turned his head and stared at Twain. “Tony, did you push him up?”

“It’s not as if you don’t know what we’ve been drilling him on during training these few days, David. Don’t look so surprised.”

“I’m just surprised you put it into practice so soon. Surely you know his current standard.”

“What else can we do? Wenger is familiar with what we have. If we want to break the deadlock on the field right now, we have to do something different, something aggressive….Do you know a catalyst is needed in a chemical reaction, David? This play is the catalyst.”

“If you stake your bet on him, I really don’t know what to say about you. Are you crazy or confident?”

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“I’m both.”

“But if we are eliminated because of this, Tony, you know…”

“I take full responsibility.” Twain grinned. Seeing his grin, Kerslake was completely speechless.

“All right, do what you want…”

※※※

Wood regained control of the football. Because he suddenly plugged in, a gap emerged on Arteta’s side. He saw it at a glance. Without hesitation, Wood passed the football.

Arteta used his skills to shake off Edu’s defense and passed the ball to Ashley Young who did not pass. Instead, he cut inside and shot. The football struck Senderos on the leg and was slowed down enough for Lehmann to catch it.

The attack by the Forest team ended just like that.

When he saw Ashley Young’s shot saved by Lehmann, Arteta turned to give George Wood a thumbs up as an encouragement and praise and to tell him how well he had done. But he did not expect to only see Wood’s back. Nottingham Forest number 13 had sprinted back to defend.

Looking at his hasty retreat, Arteta could not help but laugh.

The Arsenal’s attack this time also ended in the hands of the Forest goalkeeper. Edwin van der Sar’s steady save neutralized any threat that Reyes’ shot had posed.

Edwin van der Sar threw the ball to launch another attack. This time he threw the ball straight across to the midfield. Closely marked by Edu, Arteta headed the football directly to George Wood.

This time, Wood did not carry on dribbling the ball. Instead, he passed the football out again after he received it. It targeted Leighton Baines who plugged in from behind.

The Forest team’s offensive firepower on the flank was fully launched. The two fullbacks frequently plugged in to assist.

Naturally, Arsenal had anticipated that. Wenger was well aware that the flanks were the Forest team’s sharpest means of offense, so he had already heavily laid out his forces there. Baines’ breakthrough was contained. In desperation, he could only pass the football back to Wood in search of another way.

Without thinking, everyone treated Wood as a transition point for offense and defense. Arteta was too closely marked by the opponents. Wood was currently the most uninhibited player who could easily receive the ball without disruptions before deciding where it should go.

Wood was forced to become the core of the Forest team in the game’s final moments.

Regardless of whether he was willing to or not, he could not unload his burden until the game was over.

Wood got the ball and Fàbregas pounced on it. The two of them completely swapped their roles. Before, it was Wood defending against Fàbregas. Now it was Fàbregas’ turn to defend against Wood.

When Wood was uncertain what to do in the face of Fàbregas’ defense, he saw Arteta run towards him as he signaled to him to let him pass the football over to him and then run across to the right flank.

Wood did not hesitate to pass the football over. After that, he did as he was told and ran across towards the right flank. Arteta’s back faced Arsenal’s goal. Edu pressed on so fiercely that he could not turn around. But he did not intend to turn around.

After he saw Wood run over, Arteta passed the football back and then turned and ran forward. It appeared that he wanted to combine forces with Wood.

Wood instantly thought the same. He had initially wanted to immediately pass the football to Arteta, only to find that Edu was still pressing on tightly. Wenger knew that Arteta was the Forest team’s offensive core during Albertini’s absence. The Brazilian midfielder thought that the Forest team’s offense would be paralyzed as long as he was able to restrain the Spaniard.

Generally speaking, that was the right idea and arrangement.

However, today’s game was a little different.

George Wood had lifted his leg when he saw that Edu was still stuck on Arteta, so he could not just send the football out because Arteta could not receive it properly.

Wood temporarily changed his mind when Anelka came back. He passed the football to him.

When the Frenchman received the football, it set off another round of loud hissing in Highbury. In fact, the booing had already started from the moment Wood took the ball. It only reached the climax after Anelka received the ball.

Once Anelka received the ball, the Arsenal defensive line immediately tensed up. They knew that the man in front of them could threaten the goal guarded by Lehmann. He was different from George Wood, who could not shoot. Touré followed and intended to stop Anelka from shooting.

Arteta turned and came up to support his teammates. The Forest team’s intention to take the middle by storm was now clear.

Anelka tried to force a breakthrough via Touré, but his ball was intercepted by Touré.

That ended the Forest team’s attack.

“What a pity, Anelka is too independent! It would have been better to pass the ball to Arteta.”

“If he did pass the ball, then he would not be Anelka.”

Touré snatched Anelka’s ball and was ready to pass the ball to fight back. The football was passed forward, but it was not received by an Arsenal player. Instead, it was received by George Wood.

When Wood saw Anelka’s dribbled ball being snatched, he was already on the path of Touré’s pass to Fàbregas. Just as Fàbregas understood him, he was also well aware that Fàbregas was Arsenal’s tactical core. That type of defensive counterattack pass would surely be dealt with by him.

George Wood immediately passed the intercepted ball to Anelka, who examined the situation in front of him. This time, he did not choose to force a breakthrough; instead, he made a breakthrough action and then passed the ball to Arteta, who came up to receive. Then he quickly plugged in ahead to do a wall pass with Arteta.

The Arsenal defensive players were well aware of his intentions. Touré was not fooled and followed Anelka back into the penalty area. As long as he closely marked the man, the Forest team’s offense would be put to a halt again. Arteta turned his head to look at Anelka, which reinforced the idea in the minds of Touré and the others: mark Anelka closely so that the Spanish kid with his back facing our goal will be a threat!

Arteta looked at Anelka but did not pass the ball to him. He chose an unexpected route instead. He drove the football straight back to George Wood.

Then just as he kicked the football, he shouted to Wood, “Just shoot! George! Don’t Stop!”

Wood heard Arteta’s shout because they were very close. He had not known what to do, but Arteta’s shout reminded him: just shoot directly into the goal!

No one followed George Wood around. Arsenal’s defensive attention had just been drawn to Anelka and Arteta. Even this time around, Fàbregas just marked Anelka, who cut inside.

From the sidelines, Twain clenched his fists when he saw Arteta pass the football back to Wood. “Just hold your f**king nerve, you bastard!”

Wood swung his right leg on the spot without having to run up. He aligned with the football and gave it a ferocious kick!

At the same time, Arteta bent over, leaving only the astonished Edu who saw the football fire towards him like a cannon and whizz past him in a gust of wind with a few strands of grass blades.

“George WOOO—”

It was powerful and astonishingly fast. The ball flew towards Lehmann in a flash. The only regret was it was the same as his header: it was too straight on!

However, Lehmann was afraid of receiving when faced with this ball directly slamming into his arms. Why? Because he suddenly gave rise to a fear that he would drop the ball.

The only thing the German goalkeeper finally chose to do was to hit the football out. He punched and struck the football. With a boom, he and the football flew out.

Lehmann fell inside the goal and the football flew back into the middle of the penalty area.

It did not go in! Though embarrassed, Lehmann had managed to save the sudden shot.

But was that the end of the Forest team’s attack?

No!

Anelka, who had cut inside the penalty area just now with the intention to pick up Arteta’s pass, appeared in front of the football like a ghost. He did not have any defenders around him. The Arsenal players’ attention was drawn by Wood’s sudden volley.

“Nicolas Anelka—YES!”

Anelka faced the sprawling sea of middle fingers and lips mouthing the “F” word in the north stands, set his position, and then swung his right leg to sweep the football into the air and into the empty goal.

Judas had incarnated as the devil to strike his former master a fatal blow.