Chapter 507: A Powerful Enemy

“A lob! Beautiful — and the ball’s in!” Along with the excited voice of the commentator on the television, there was an even greater cheer in Kenny Burns’ Forest bar.

“Nice job, Romani Rooney!”

“Let them see what we’re capable of!”

“Woo hoo—”

“A toast to a beautiful goal!”

The fans clamored together, and golden beer sprinkled toward the ceiling while Kenny Burns smiled and watched this group of excited fans.

After he watched them for a while, he turned his eyes back to the television set and the image of Camp Nou through the television screen.

The Forest players were celebrating by stacking up like a human pyramid. This was one of their favorite ways to celebrate. Twain naturally had a strict ban against pressing the manager at the bottom of the stack to celebrate after a goal.

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At the Camp Nou Stadium, the home team fans erupted in loud boos after a brief silence, which dampened the Forest fans’ cheers.

But the Forest players were not affected by the boos of the home team fans. They were unbridled with joy and acted as if no one else was there as they celebrated at their opponent’s home.

It felt good to lead Barcelona by one goal within ten minutes of the game starting and under such unfavorable circumstances!

Twain stood up and kept pumping his fists after his team’s goal to show off to the Barcelona fans.

Don’t you claim to be “the second Dream Team”? Let me tell you today why this is only “a second dream” instead of “the second Dream Team”!

The referee intervened and finally ended the overly excited celebrations of the Forest players. The Barcelona players had already placed the football in the center of the field and were a little impatient.

The televised footage closely followed Eastwood as the goalscorer. The commentator introduced this player with unique experience to the viewers, “Eastwood’s leg was once broken by George Wood, the Nottingham Forest captain currently on the field and was reduced to the point where he could only play in an amateur league. Tony Twain eventually found him and gave him a chance to play in the professional league again. Although he has been injured repeatedly over the past few years, we can see that as long as he plays, he is able to score goals steadily. In Nottingham, he is called ‘The Romani Rooney.’ It is a pity that he does not represent England, he represents Wales.”

When the players rushed up to celebrate Eastwood’s goal by piling on top of each other just now, only the goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and George Wood did not move from their original positions. The former did not move because it was too far away, while the latter was due to a well-known reason.

As the celebratory crowd dispersed, George Wood already stood in his position in the back half of the field, waiting for the other team to kick off. Eastwood also ran to the back, but instead of standing on the center circle line like Bendtner, he ran straight to George Wood, who was standing in the back and held out his hand.

The two men said nothing and just high-fived each other. Then Eastwood ran away again. Eastwood’s attitude towards George Wood was much better than before, but the two men’s closest interactions were limited to that. They still did not talk to, joke with, or greet each other when they met. They would never high-five each other off the field.

Twain just smiled when he saw this scene. A high five was always better than a scowl.

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The game started again, and Barcelona kicked off. Rijkaard had not expected to concede a goal so soon. Nottingham Forest was more tenacious than he had anticipated.

There was a marked change in the team compared to Nottingham Forest last year. Not only in their mental outlook, but also in their ability — he had to admit that the Nottingham Forest team before his eyes was indeed stronger.

And George Wood’s actions were really unexpected. All the intelligence before this game stated that this player was “a defense genius but offense idiot.” But looking at the goal just now, the “offense idiot” was able to pinpoint such a passing route during a high-speed run and pass the ball to where he wanted to.

When Rijkaard had been a football player, he had also been a defensive midfielder, and the kind who could defend and attack. He saw some of shades of his former self from the goal just now.

Isn’t Barcelona always short of an outstanding defensive midfielder? Why don’t I consider buying this number 13 in front of me? I can cultivate him well, and he may well be the second Rijkaard…

The Dutch manager made up his mind that when the game was over, regardless of the outcome, he was going to submit an application to the club in the hope that the top echelon could buy George Wood at any costs. With him, Barcelona’s real dominance would not be a problem.

Looking at Nottingham Forest now, Ribery, Ashley Young, Bendtner, Eastwood and the others could boldly attack with George Wood around. And without Wood? Everyone had to bear the dual heavy tasks of offense and defense.

If there was such a player on his team, Ronaldinho, Xavi, Iniesta, Eto’o, Messi and the others could devote all their energy to the offense. Barcelona’s offense was already powerful. If they could go all out, he believed there would be not be a team in the world that would be able to resist.

All of the above could now be said to be “beautiful wishes.” He still had to regain his composure and put his heart into this game.

What if George Wood’s offensive organization this time was not luck, but based on his true strength? How was Barcelona going to respond? Did he have to send someone to keep an eye on him? Barcelona only had three midfielders. Even if the two wingers withdrew and became five midfielders, how many of them could be in charge of defense?

Barcelona’s midfield configuration for this game was Iniesta and Deco, as well as Xavi. The three strikers were Eto’o, Messi and Ronaldinho.

None of these six players specialized in defense.

Rijkaard had intended to crush Nottingham Forest with offense at home. The Forest team’s toughness went far beyond his expectations. Not only they were not crushed, but they rebounded and retaliated.

Now that the team was behind a goal, Rijkaard had to make a choice as the manager. Should he strengthen the defense, or should he keep attacking?

This dilemma played in the Dutchman’s mind for only a few seconds, and the answer was no longer in doubt. The Dutchman esteemed offense and Barcelona was the representative of the art of football; how could he be forced to resort to defense at home because of one player?

This is not my or my team’s style.

Rijkaard got up from his seat, walked to the sidelines and whistled to attract the attention of all his players before he told the Barcelona players on the field with hand gestures — don’t take this conceded goal to heart, keep attacking!

This was also in line with what the Barcelona players thought on the field. They would not know how to play defense even if he wanted them to….with six offensive players, how were they supposed to defend with four defenders plus a goalkeeper?

The best defense was offense. They could overcome their disadvantage with a more powerful offense.

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Barcelona relaunched wave after wave of rapid offensive against Nottingham Forest. After they had taken the lead, Nottingham Forest temporarily opted to withdraw and decided to defend for a period before fighting back after Barcelona’s momentum flagged.

There was a saying in the ancient Chinese book The Commentary of Zuo: “in war and courage, the first beating of the drum can drum up the courage, the second beating can lower it and the third beating will exhaust it.”

Twain was well aware that this argument could also be used in the football field. When the opponent was at its peak, they should not directly face it, but take the initiative to avoid. Once the opponent’s momentum flagged, then they should strike to achieve the desired effect.

Not only during this game, but at other times, too. Twain told his players these thing all the time, even during training or when watching the video after the game. Sometimes they would find themselves overtaken after they had just scored a goal. It was because the other team was eager to equalize the score after a goal had been conceded. The opponent’s fighting spirit did not drop immediately. Instead, there was a temporary boost. If the Forest team could not calm down and deal with it, and still think that their opponent was ashamed, the opponent could take this opportunity to score a goal and step up the pressure, and then it would be dangerous.

When would the morale of the opponent be lowered? When the opponent discovered that their countermeasure did not achieve any results and the other side’s defense was so solid and tenacious that they were somewhat despaired, then their morale would decline.

Because Twain continuously instilled this idea in his team, the Forest team was very unified in its thinking and immediately withdrew to the defense after they took the lead over Barcelona. George Wood, who just made a splash in the offense, became the player in the spotlight for defense once again.

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When confronted by George Wood, Ronaldinho chose to pass the ball. However, when he sent the ball out, he realized that his idea was useless. Nottingham Forest, which had gone head to head with Barcelona, suddenly chose to defend to the death — Indeed, they decided to completely defend to the end. The front of the Forest team’s goal was as if it was tightly wound by an iron hoop. It was crowded with players and was piled with people and legs as far as the eye could see. It was difficult for him to send the football to his teammates’ feet accurately.

Sure enough, the ball that was passed was kicked back out by Piqué.

Barcelona had to reorganize the offense.

Ronaldinho was amazed at how a team could make such a huge tactical change in such a short period of time. He was astounded at why the team could decisively give up the offense to defend itself after they took the lead.

He could not understand this tactical change. Could it be that the Nottingham Forest manager was truly a downright conservative as rumored? Did he think that a one-goal lead would let them laugh to the end and be the winner?

Ronaldinho clenched his fists.

The football once again reached the Brazilian’s feet. Due to his first two experiences, George Wood thought Ronaldinho would pass the ball at the first chance, so he did not rush up right away.

But he was wrong this time.

Ronaldinho knew there were too many players in front of him and it was useless to pass the ball. Breaking impenetrable defense generally required a long shot as this method was the simplest. In fact, there was another way and that was to break through individually. Although it was crowded, as long as he was skillful and bold, he could dribble the ball through the crowd to cut a path out of the stronghold.

Ronaldinho had full confidence in his skills. He seized hold of George Wood’s momentary inattention to suddenly accelerate and change direction to rush past one side of Wood.

George Wood rushed forward to defend, but Ronaldinho stealthily jabbed the ball and bypassed him. After he skirted around Wood, the Brazilian football magician was not afraid even if there were more people in front of him.

He swerved his upper body and caused the incoming Arteta to lose his judgment, which caused his balance to be tilted. Ronaldinho immediately drew the football away from Arteta’s side, and then confronted the looming Piqué. Within a very narrow space, he suddenly thrust the ball away and bypassed him.

Piqué completely did not think that Ronaldinho would dare to use the step over move in the crowded penalty area, where it was impossible to sprint. He was rooted to the spot where he had been bypassed and watched helplessly as Ronaldinho sidestepped around his other side.

“Beautiful! Simply fantastic… He’s in the goal area, and Edwin van der Sar strikes! And He shoots—”

Ronaldinho wanted to lob the shot, but Edwin van der Sar was ready. Though his body fell to the ground, his right hand was raised high. Ronaldinho shot the football out and it struck van der Sar in the hand. The ball shot out of the end line off the hand.

“What a pity! He did not score. Edwin van der Sar defused the crisis in front of the Forest goal just in time! Although there was no goal, Ronaldinho presented us with a fine show of a personal breakthrough! Confronted with the Nottingham Forest’s impenetrable defense, what other way can it be cracked besides a long shot? And that would be the Brazilian!”

The live television broadcast showed a shot of Ronaldinho’s back. He had just got up from the ground and looked at the football that had fallen outside the end line.

“One man had crumbled nearly the Forest team’s entire line of defense. And he even dared to attempt the step over in the narrow confines of the penalty box! If it wasn’t him, others would be hard pressed to do it! It’s just a shame Edwin van der Sar’s save was just as wonderful. A beautiful attack and a beautiful defense! For now, just as Tony Twain had said before the game, this is a fantastic game!”

After Edwin van der Sar got up from the ground, he patted his big hands and yelled, “Focus your attention! Don’t let him break through so easily! George!” he yelled Wood’s name.

Wood turned to look at him.

Edwin van der Sar crossed his arms and shouted, “Lock him out!”

Wood nodded. What happened just now was caused by his carelessness. He had nothing to say to that.

After Twain glanced at Albertini, who was off the pitch, he left his seats and walked to the sidelines. He cupped his hands near his mouth and shouted towards the field, “George! Don’t give him more than a meter of space! Stick to him!” He even made a pulling gesture.

Ronaldinho’s sudden spurt of energy made the entire Forest team nervous. They came to their senses. Standing in front of them was the last season’s Champions League champion, the FIFA World Player of the Year and the world’s current number one midfielder. He had the individual ability to change a game. He was not an ordinary football star. He was a real superstar.

Arteta felt it was a little harsh when he saw that everyone seemed to remind Wood to pay attention to his defense, so he ran up to comfort his midfield partner, “Don’t take it to heart, George. That man is not an ordinary player. He is very powerful. It’s nothing to feel bad about if he bypassed you once, as long as we did not concede the goal…”

He realized that Wood did not seem to hear him. He just stared at Ronaldinho, who ran ahead to the corner flag area to prepare for the corner kick.

Just as he thought he had wasted his breath, Wood suddenly turned his head and asked, “Is he very powerful?”

Arteta almost did not respond. He wanted to roll his eyes at Wood, “Are you really a professional player? How can you not even know if Ronaldinho is powerful or not? He’s currently the best player in the world. Even though I’m a little jealous, I have to say that. He’s very powerful; he’s extremely powerful.”

When Wood heard what Arteta said, he nodded. “Then I’m relieved.”

“Huh?”

“It’s meaningless to win if he is not powerful enough.” With that, Wood ran into the penalty area, ready to defend against the corner kick.

Arteta stood on the spot like a fool and looked at Wood’s back until Edwin van der Sar yelled his name in front of the goal. “Are you with us? Mikel! Come back and defend! What are you doing standing out there?”

Running back, Arteta continued to stare at Wood, completely unaware of the situation around him. What Wood said to him just now alarmed him. He wanted his opponent to be stronger, but he was not worried about whether or not he could beat such a powerful enemy. Was he even human?

He saw Wood leap high in the crowd and press down on the Barcelona’s Mexican center back, Márquez, to head the football out. The players around him swarmed out like the tide, and another crisis was eliminated.