Chapter 635: The New Playmaker

Barcelona’s corner kick was launched but did not pose any threat to Nottingham Forest’s goal. Up against tall players like George Wood, Pepe, Piqué, and Bendtner, Barcelona, who was not good at headers, could not take advantage of it.

Barcelona knew it as well, so their corner kick was low and fast, but George Wood still bumped it out as he rushed forward to the front.

It was the first time he had appeared on a television close-up. He successfully defended but did not defended against Messi. It was the poor Mexican center-back, Márquez, who was kept behind by him.

Messi was outside the box and did not go in to join in on the action. He knew Barcelona was not good at the header shot in the set-piece. The shot was likely to be hit out by the Forest team, with the worst case being the ball being confiscated by Edwin van der Sar. But if it came out, he could grab the second point of fall and form the second attack to continue the pressure on the Forest goal.

The football did bounce to his side, but a faster man bumped it out with his head.

Franck Ribéry was on a roll. He snatched Messi’s ball and made the City Ground stadium cheer for the first time. Messi’s wonderful performance had caused the Forest fans to feel oppressed. Things had turned for the better now that they also had a player to be proud of!

Ribéry used his head to bump the football and then accelerated to pursue the ball himself. He instantly shook off Messi. By the time Messi reacted and turned to give chase, it was too late.

Ribéry successfully tackled the ball and the Forest team instantly turned from defense to attack. Rijkaard and Messi clearly saw George Wood, who had headed the ball in the box, shoot out like an arrow from the bow to run to the front field!

Ribéry had not dribbled the ball for a few steps before he faced Barcelona’s black defensive midfielder, Yaya Touré’s defensive block. He did not entangle with Touré. Instead, he diverted the football to the side and continued to plug ahead on his own.

The person who received his pass was Arshavin, who came back. Although he received the ball, his back was against the direction of the attack. Under Abidal’s close marking, it was not easy for him to turn around.

He did not want to turn around. Yaya Touré was taken away from the area by Ribéry, who was waiting for a man.

Like Ribéry, after the football was sent out, he turned around and ran forward. As it was a counterattack after the corner kick, the Barcelona players had not had time to run back to form a defensive line, so Abidal did not go after the ball. He followed Arshavin as he retreated. Suddenly, the gap in the midfield was ripped wide open.

So who was the target that Arshavin and the others had passed the ball to?

“Wow, George Wood!” the commentator exclaimed.

He did not expect that George Wood would rush so far forward during the counterattack. His current position was no different from an attacking midfielder. After he received Arshavin’s pass, he did not pause. Instead, he rushed forward and dribbled the ball in a straight line.

“Van der Vaart used to take this job… during which, George Wood was in the back, protecting him, and now…” The commentator suddenly understood. “It turns out that Tony Twain wants George Wood to be the midfield playmaker for this game!”

“This is kind of crazy…” the guest pundit exclaimed.

It was indeed somewhat insane to use a player who was best at defense to attack the powerful Barcelona.

Yaya Touré saw that Ribéry had almost entered the area where the defenders were in charge and abandoned the Frenchman without hesitation. He turned around to face the sprinting George Wood and pounced.

He knew that the man was the defensive midfielder, in charge of defense like himself, and that organizing the offense was not his specialty. As long as he put some pressure on him, he would be flustered…

He had just pounced when George Wood passed the ball. He stabbed his toes and passed the football on to Ribéry in front of him.

When the three people transferred and coordinated, neither the Barcelona players nor the Nottingham Forest players had time to run to their positions. Arshavin stayed at the forefront when the Forest team defended the corner kick, and only Yaya Touré, Abidal, and Gabriel Milito were near Barcelona’s box.

After Ribéry received the ball, he pretended that he wanted to pass the ball and waited for Milito, who was in front of him, to sidestep a little before he immediately lifted his leg to shoot.

The football quickly rolled on the turf toward the goal. Fortunately, Valdés had been wary of Ribéry and was not surprised at his direct shot. He fell to the ground and pressed the ball firmly under his body.

Seeing that the attack did not succeed and that the football had been confiscated by the opposing goalkeeper, George Wood, who had just rushed to the front of the penalty area, turned and rushed back without hesitation. He had to get ready to defend. Though he was not defending against Messi, he had to defend against the rest of Barcelona.

He was not van der Vaart or any other midfielders he had ever partnered with. He could not rest and stay in the front field to wait for another attack opportunity after the previous attack. Sidwell could not have helped him intercept the football before handing it to him to launch the offense. All his energy was to be used to defend against Messi. Hence he had to rely on himself for offense and defense.

Valdés saw George Wood galloping and realized that Nottingham Forest’s key figure for the game had to be him, not Ribéry. Now that Wood had not had time to get back to his defensive position, he threw the ball to launch a quick attack.

Yaya Touré received the ball and next to him, Ribéry did a defensive stance and gave up. He did not want to waste his strength there. Touré passed the football on to Xavi, who had just run back, and his task was considered done. George Wood had run past the center circle.

Xavi also clearly knew Wood was the key. He would not give the other side a chance to return to his area to organize the defense. While Wood was still running back, he quickly sent the football out.

Messi received the ball again, and the few Barcelona fans in the stands cheered. They wanted to see Messi put on another good show, where he consecutively bypassed a few players.

Messi did not satisfy their wish. Such performances could only be achieved under extreme conditions. Most of the time, the offense still relied on the give and go positional play to threaten.

He passed the football to Iniesta. There was an unspoken reason he did not choose to break through on his own — he really could not lift the interest in a breakthrough through Sidwell…

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Iniesta’s straight pass was intercepted by Pepe. George Wood had just run back, and the ball that Pepe blocked out rolled to his feet. He twisted and turned his attention on the offensive.

Without any time for rest, George Wood ran back and forth between both ends of the field. Such a midfielder playmaker like him was a rare sight.

“The pace between attack and defense from both sides is very fast! This game becomes thrilling to watch!” When the commentator discovered that Tony Twain’s team did not intend to cling fast to defense on home ground, he got really excited.

Judging by the past few minutes of the game, the Champions League semifinal game did appear to be exciting. But as for their expectations of Tony Twain, the commentators should have reserved some cautious optimism.

※※※

After five minutes of Nottingham Forest attacking Barcelona, they withdrew, and Barcelona gained the upper hand in the game. The ball possession time became 67% once again. Nottingham Forest brought out their defensive counterattack magic weapon.

The commentator wanted to slap himself. The game might have looked good for the Barcelona fans, but for the vast number of neutral fans, a one-sided game would not have held much interest for them.

Tony Twain sat in the technical area and stroked his chin as he spoke to his two assistant managers. “George Wood still needs to accumulate more experience as a playmaker in the game… At first, he played pretty well. When the team withdrew to defend as a whole, he did not know what to do. If Demetrio were to watch George’s performance now, that guy would hate me, wouldn’t he?”

Kerslake grinned.

Dunn said, “with van der Vaart and Ribéry around, he did not have more access to this kind of task. I don’t think the cultivation of him can be rushed.”

Twain nodded. “This is just the beginning, not the end.”

※※※

While the three Forest coaches were exploring George Wood’s future, Rijkaard frowned, and knitted his brows tighter still.

Tony Twain’s tactics were no secret. Everyone knew he would defend and use defensive counterattack. Therefore, he let the team do targeted training on how to break the compacted defense before they came to Nottingham.

He did not expect Tony Twain to make special use of George Wood. In terms of defense, he was no different from how he usually played, other than not defending against Messi, which meant that Nottingham Forest’s midfield defense still depended on him. But when it came to the attack, he repeatedly and actively decided to plug in to participate, which gave Rijkaard a headache.

When Barcelona did their defensive exercises, the imaginary opponent was either van der Vaart or Ribéry, and at most, Arshavin. Who would have thought George Wood would be pushed by Twain to be the midfield playmaker in this game?

Wood’s basic skills were very solid after a long period of practice. The results of his training were reflected in the games, which caused great headaches for the opponents because his technique was good. Opponents could not easily intercept his balls. His dribbling and passes were simple but effective in actual combat because he would not waste fleeting opportunities to flaunt fancy skills. As long as he saw an opportunity, he would send the football out of without delay. It was easier said than done; skillful players tended to naturally want to show off their skills.

Originally, George Wood’s set of skills would be average at times. If an opponent were to closely mark him for a change, he could be contained. However, the present situation was very suitable for Wood’s play. Because Nottingham Forest was all about defensive counterattack and their offense only paid attention to one word: fast!

If it had been ingenious midfielders with outstanding skill, they might hesitate when they took the ball to counterattack or show off a beautiful technique to obtain loud cheers from the spectators. As for the opponent? They would have quickly returned to their defensive positions and then a quick attack would turn into a siege of positional play.

George Wood did not give the coaches that kind of worry. When the Forest team counterattacked and he had the ball, his first choice was always a pass. He would always use his fastest speed to pass the ball through the midfield and hit the opponent’s hinterland whenever there was a chance. If there was no way to pass, he would dribble the ball forward on his own while he observed his surroundings to seek a passing point.

Unlike some midfielders, he did not wait in place for his teammates to plug in if he did not have a suitable place to send the football. When his teammates came up, the opponent would also be in position. Moreover, he might also drop the ball because he was robbed by the opponent for holding onto the ball for too long.

His way of dribbling the ball messed up the opponent’s defensive plan. An opportunity would naturally present itself.

That was the reason Twain used George Wood as a playmaker in the game. There was not a more suitable candidate than George Wood for such a defensive tactic, opponent, and game.

How did such a player that was every manager’s dream, who was faithful to the manager’s tactics, had excellent physical fitness, calm psychological quality, and stable play appear in Nottingham Forest?

As soon as Rijkaard thought about it, he clenched his fists. His own locker room was factious in great numbers. The talented players always had problems. Ronaldinho loitered around red-light districts and Deco had a greater demand. Why did he not have a George Wood?

※※※

Barcelona was powerful, and their offense crushed Nottingham Forest, so they could only defend without the power to attack. Nottingham Forest’s overall defense was not fragile, which caused Barcelona’s offensive to be largely ineffective.

Messi was strong, but he was only one person. In the Copa del Rey against Getafe CF, he bypassed five consecutive people to repeat Maradona’s classic goal. But it was also because Getafe’s defensive line took too long to form, which allowed Messi to calmly bypass them one after the other. Nottingham Forest was not stupid enough to widen the front and rear defensive lines to create an opportunity to the point where Messi bypassed several people.

They tried to compress the defensive lines to the greatest extent possible. Sidwell followed Messi around closely, with one or two people around at any time in the flank to protect. If Messi planned to single handedly face Nottingham Forest’s entire line of defense, then let him smash to pieces against the thick “Western Wall.”

If he was smart and did not have the delusion to beat the entire opposing team on his own, Nottingham Forest’s overall defense was not just about Messi alone either.

The first half returned to calm after a fierce bout of attacks from both sides. The game was back on track to what Tony Twain was most familiar with and best at.

Both sides were in a deadlock and the score was 0:0. The referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half.

As soon as the whistle rang, Twain got up to leave the technical area. He had no expression on his face in front of the television cameras, making it hard to discern his thoughts at the moment.

“There was no goal in the first half, and it is 0:0 for the home game. Is Tony Twain satisfied or dissatisfied?”