Chapter 524: Contrary to Expectations

The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge had been ignited. The red and blue colors formed into two distinctive squares in the stands. Though they were not equal in numbers, they seemed to be on a par in terms of their momentum. The smaller number of Forest fans showed no weakness in the face of the dominant Blues fans. They frenziedly hit back at the opponent’s various provocations. They did everything except jump straight into fights and throw beer glasses.

Twain liked these kind of fans. He had something in common with Roy Keane on this point — they both disliked the so-called fans who sat in luxury boxes, impeccably attired and refined in manner. If fans came to the stadium and did not throw themselves into the crazy atmosphere, it was better to simply stay at home and watch the televised broadcast.

It was because of the support of such a group of fans that he had the confidence to lead Nottingham Forest to head south and annihilate their opponents.

Before he entered the stadium today and saw those Forest fans feverishly cheer his name and clash with the Chelsea fans, the sense of accomplishment in Twain’s heart could no longer be expressed in words.

Besides winning this game and taking the Champions League title, was there anything else he could do to repay these lovely fans?

Therefore, he told his players not to stop until they had reached their goal.

How could they stop when they had been hurtling on the right highway?

“Both teams have had little association with each other for the past one hundred years and were on different paths. The arrival of Tony Twain and José Mourinho changed all that. The two men with their unique temperaments and extreme conceit are unwilling to lose to each other. The two teams had co-existed in peace over the past one hundred years, but it does not mean that they will be able to interact amicably from now on. The classic English clash between red and blue has another pair of enemies… And we all like to watch games like this because it’s thrilling. I didn’t say brilliant because this game may be played a little conservatively due to the importance of the outcome. But there will be a lot of intense footage from this game, even if you want it to be less so.”

The television commentator conjectured on the tactics of both sides based his experience. Because it was a Champions League semi-final, the result was more important than anything else, so the odds of wanting to watch a brilliant and wonderful contest were low, not to mention Mourinho and Tony Twain were both famously conservative managers.

What the spectators could only expect the highest intensity to be red and yellow cards, fouls, loud collisions, flying spittle, glares, and both managers’ passionate performances on the sidelines.

Twain stood on the sidelines and waited for the game to begin. Mourinho was also standing on the edge of the technical area. The two managers could not sit still in the ten or so seconds before the start of the game.

Van Nistelrooy and Eastwood stood in the center circle, waiting for the kickoff.

The referee checked on the time with the fourth official through his headset. The Stamford Bridge stadium, which had been rumbling noisily, gradually calmed down.

The referee looked down at his watch and then gave a thumbs up to the fourth official on the sidelines. Everything was okay so they could kick off.

He blew the whistle.

※※※

The commentator presented what a conservative manager Tony Twain was in his impression and how his style of football was so boring that the spectators simply could not cheer and clap. No one else could support him save for the Nottingham Forest fans. This man had offended a number of people in English football circle. And after he found England to be too small, he became a scourge in continental Europe. Look at what he had done to the poor Frank Rijkaard… If he ended up taking the Champions League title, the entire UEFA would lose its mind.

As he chattered, the Forest team kicked the football out. After a simple return pass, the football came to Wood’s feet.

Instead of continuing to return the pass, Wood kicked the football to van der Vaart, the Dutch midfielder in front of himself to the side. He would hand the ball over to Van der Vaart to specifically organize the attacks.

Van der Vaart also did not dribble the ball. He just passed the football as per Twain’s instruction. Chelsea’s midfield defensive ability was world class. It would be easy for one player to dribble too much and get enmeshed with Essien and Makelele and Ballack’s defense.

Twain wanted to get the team through the midfield quickly without giving the opponent too much time to dentangle them. In a situation like this, passing the ball was clearly a more effective way than dribbling the ball.

He always told his players that no matter how fast a person could run, even if it were the world’s best hundred-meter sprinter, it was impossible to run at the speed of a flying football. Hence, if they wanted a quick attack, passing was their best option.

Van der Vaart passed the football to Ribéry, who immediately moved the football with a long shot to Ashley Young on the right flank after he attracted Chelsea’s defensive attention on the left flank.

The Forest team’s offensive passing was quick and decisive. The overall positional play and assists were deft, fully demonstrating their rapport.

“As if it had been calculated, the Forest team shifted the football from left to right with a few deliveries of kicks.”

“Watch out for his pass!” the Chelsea goalkeeper Čech roared loudly. As an opponent in the English Premier League, he knew Ashley Young’s techniques well. The assist king of last season’s Premier League had a remarkable talent and passing ability.

The Forest Team’s center forward was van Nistelrooy, known as the “king of the penalty box,” so Ashley Young’s passing came in handy.

Čech did not dare to be careless and cautioned everyone be vigilant.

Ashley Young did pass the ball, but he did not pass it on to van Nistelrooy and Eastwood in the middle. He kicked the football back and passed it to Chimbonda, who came up to assist.

“Confine their offense on the flank!” The Chelsea players rushed up intending to hem them in and prevent Chimbonda and Ashley Young from coordinating offense together on the flank.

Chelsea’s left back Ashley Cole closely marked Ashley Young, not giving him a chance to slip past him, while Essien came to guard against Chimbonda and not allow him to easily pass the football to Ashley Young.

“The Forest team’s attack quickly came to an impasse. Chelsea’s defense is very solid.”

More players were needed to support Chimbonda, but van der Vaart did not go. He only looked on from afar in the middle. Could it be that this matter had nothing to do with him?

No, it was just that there was a better candidate.

George Wood ran over from his defensive position and Chimbonda spied him through the cracks among the crowd of players. He immediately passed the football to his captain, who came up to receive.

Wood did not adjust or even observe after he received the football. He directly kicked the football to van der Vaart, who was waiting in the middle.

Ballack had initially wanted to come up and force Wood to pass the ball back while he had it stopped. He did not think that Wood would not even observe before he passed it again, and the pass was quite accurate.

After van der Vaart stopped the football, he could not turn around with Makelele stuck to him so closely, so he moved the football to the left flank where Ribéry plugged in once again and passed.

Van Nistelrooy had a head-on confrontation with Terry in front of the goal, and Terry eventually headed the football out of the end line with his disruptions.

“A beautiful attack, but pity there was no goal. Terry’s defense sets your mind at ease!” The commentator praised the Blue captain, John Terry.

Twain and his coaching staff met gazes and smiled. The men saw what they wanted to see.

Where was the key to this attack, or the transit point? It was not van der Vaart but George Wood plugging in to receive and pass before he pulled the football out of the quagmire and then brought it into the open zone.

This was the ability that Twain had always wanted Wood to have: to help with the team’s offense, to accomplish the seemingly unremarkable, but very critical tasks in seemingly unremarkable areas. Apparently, before he ran up in response to Chimbonda, he had already ascertained van der Vaart’s position and knew what he should do. That was why he could send the football to where it was supposed to go after he received Chimbonda’s pass.

The attacking midfielder was positioned far too forward. His field of vision was limited and easily marked by the opponent’s defensive midfielder. The defensive midfielder could also be the same. His position was more unrestricted and there was no inseparable defensive player around. There was ample space and freedom to move.

The position was a waste if it was just limited to defense.

“Even though there was no goal, we had a good start.” Twain shook hands with the coaches to celebrate. Then he walked up to Albertini.

“He did a good job.”

Albertini nodded and looked proud. “Of course, he’s my student.”

Twain chuckled, “I hope he can be the next Metronome.”

When Albertini played, he had the nickname that meant that when he was on the field, he was like a metronome in control of the team’s pace and in control of the momentum of the game. Twain was not satisfied with him being just a defensive midfielder who could participate in the offense. When Wood could become the double core from the spirit to the tactics, he would develop specialized tactics around the kid, and at that time, the Forest team would become an incredibly powerful with a large number of good players surrounding Wood.

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“In that case, he still had a long way to go. He not only requires the training but also the experience.”

“Anyway, he’s still young.” Looking at Wood running on the field, Twain added, “I’m still young, too.”

※※※

After the Forest team’s corner came out, Piqué’s header shot was directly taken down by Čech and Chelsea immediately launched a swift counterattack.

Čech threw the ball, and Ballack passed it to Essien after he received it. Essien then passed it to Lampard.

Similarly, through a fast breakthrough in the midfield, Mourinho also did not want to directly confront Nottingham Forest’s midfielders here. Although the Forest team did not have a world-class lineup like Ballack, Essien and Makelele, one George Wood was enough to give him a headache.

Lampard chose to shoot directly after he took the ball. He swung his leg for a long shot twenty-eight meters away from the goal. He had wanted to catch Edwin van der Sar off guard but did not expect to stray away from the goal.

A brief lament at Stamford Bridge was immediately replaced by an applause.

“Both teams had a beautiful attack each after the start of the game… Maybe this game will present us with a completely different Nottingham Forest and Chelsea?” This was the commentator’s beautiful wish.

His desire was shattered by the ruthless reality that came next next.

The Forest team quickly opted to use defensive tactics, and Chelsea was powerless against the Forest team’s die-hard tactics. The UEFA Champions League semi-final was bogged down five minutes after it started.

“Defense,””errors,” and “interceptions” were the entire range of keywords in the game for more than ten minutes. After each side gave a shot, their attacks were suddenly flummoxed.

Ten minutes later, there was the first yellow card. Makelele shoveled van der Vaart during his defense. Because his action was too big, he was warned by the referee with a yellow card.

Both managers wanted to get the football from their respective sides to break through the midfield quickly, and at the same time did not want to the other side to quickly pass through their midfield quickly as well. Therefore, the midfield became the area with the most intense firestorm and the strategic location where both sides refused to give in an inch.

Most of the time, football was rolling around the midfield. It would appear at the foot of the Forest team for a while, and then in a flash, it would go over to Chelsea’s side.

Because everyone was focused on the midfield, the offense’s low efficiency was pathetic. The number of threatening shots added from both teams could be counted with five fingers.

The situation was something Twain was happy to see, so he turned his head and sat back on in his coach’s seat. On the other side, Mourinho came out of the technical area.

In the away game, Twain’s bottom line was a draw and an away goal, so he could still remain calm in his seat while the game was in a deadlock. Whereas Mourinho, playing as the home team, was under more pressure. He had to win.

Clad in a pale blue shirt, Mourinho rolled his sleeves up past his elbows and waved his arms vigorously to direct the team to continue to press forward while he constantly bellowed toward the field.

The team’s offense was in a deadlock. He could not sit still. He paced back and forth between his coach’s seat and the technical area.

Twain looked askance at him and wondered somewhat unkindly if Mourinho was going to take a shower and get dressed too during the halftime interval. His pale blue shirt had already become dark blue from sweat.

※※※

“The game has been going for twenty minutes and the ball possession rate is out. In terms of statistics, Chelsea has the upper hand, with a huge gap of 69% possession against Nottingham Forest’s 31%. But the Chelsea players are not having an easy time. Chelsea’s biggest problem right now is that they have the ball possession, but it does not result in any goals. As for Nottingham Forest… Supposing, I mean, if the Forest team wins in the end, then this is a classic Tony Twain’s game — gaining the victory for the most important game with the ugliest playing. But that would be a disaster for our fans…”

Twain simply cocked a leg up to deliberately provoke someone.

If that busy person did not see it, it did not matter now. Twain believed that the perceptive televised broadcast was bound to capture it on film. The effect would be the same after the game.

Chaos, the messier the better, so chaotic ’till Chelsea cannot find the offensive route, so messy ’till they are unable to check the holes in their defensive line… That will be great!

※※※

Mourinho paced back and forth along the sidelines for a while before he took a seat. After he saw Twain’s relaxed pose, he suddenly lost his anxiety.

“George Wood is not a god, he can’t cover the entire defense on his own…” He muttered to his aides as he sat in the coaches’ area.

The Forest team continued to disrupt Chelsea’s attacking pace with fouls and fierce defense. If Chelsea still followed the tactics developed before the game, it would become more and more chaotic. A quick pass through the midfield was no longer feasible. It would only actively increase their team’s rate of errors.

“Let them do more horizontal passes. Maneuver the Forest team’s defenses and look for holes,” he instructed his aides around him.

Chelsea quickly made adjustments based on these instructions.

George Wood found himself struggling to defend on his own as Chelsea’s offense evaded him. They always executed horizontal passing to wear him down.

Because of their full trust in Wood’s ability, the Forest team only had him as the dedicated defensive player in the midfield.

Chelsea did this with the intention to bypass him to directly attack the weak areas of the Forest’s defensive line. Without the protection of their defensive midfielder, the Forest team’s defensive line lost valuable strategic depth. One penetrating straight pass or cross from the opponent could easily rip apart the defensive line in front of Edwin van der Sar. The Chelsea midfielders absolutely had that ability.

Essien passed the ball to Robben. When George Wood came up to defend, Robben did not get greedy this time. He passed the ball to Lampard in the middle when he saw Wood came up.

When Lampard received the ball, George Wood was still at the flank. Even if he was any better, he could not immediately rush over to help.

“Lampard takes the ball, and he has no Nottingham Forest defenders around him for the time being. This is an opportunity for Chelsea. Is he going to take another long shot?”

The commentator thought so, and Edwin van der Sar thought so too. His stance clearly showed that he was defending against Lampard’s powerful long shot.

Chelsea’s number 8 player liked long shots, for which he was famous. With no one marking him now, he had no reason not to shoot.

Piqué abandoned his defensive area and rushed up to cover George Wood’s position. Just as he started forward, Lampard swung his leg and passed the ball.

The football rolled past Piqué. He had wanted to extend his leg to block, but he swayed and fell. He completely lost his position.

“What a great opportunity!”

The stands of Stamford Bridge suddenly surged in monstrous waves. The sea of blue pressed from all directions against the red magma.

“Drogba received the ball and there’s no one around him… This opportunity is simply sent from heaven!”

Seeing this, Mourinho left his seat, leaned forward, and got ready to spring out to celebrate.

Drogba simply turned around after he received the ball, and Edwin van der Sar thought he was going in, so he got ready to strike and cut the ball off.

However, as Drogba turned around, he also raised his leg to shoot at the same time. At such a close distance, Edwin van der Sar could not react in time. He watched the football fly past his face in slow motion.

“What a GOOOOAL!”

This was contrary to Twain’s expectations.

The voices that the Chelsea fans wanted to hear the most finally rang over Stamford Bridge.