Chapter 838: Three Battles

Including the bet Twain made with Carl Spicer, Nottingham Forest had won two games in a row in the league. After beating Chelsea, they beat Middlesbrough on away. It was as if they heard the motivating command and greatly stepped up. Perhaps every step was not so steady, there was also some fatigue and pain, but it was still progressive steps nevertheless. They also climbed to being third in the rankings, ranking between them and Arsenal was only Liverpool.

Then, on April 2nd, Nottingham Forest hosted Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals at home. Nottingham Forest would play Arsenal three times in a row in the next week. Them being two rounds in the Champions League, as well as a league game. This week would be a crucial week to decide what Nottingham Forest could achieve this season. The media has hurriedly played out “the final battle” as the hot discussion title.

“Tony Twain says he’s going to win the league this season, that was clearly a direct challenge to Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal. Coincidentally, they would also need to face Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The result can vary a lot, and any outcome would be interesting for us as the audience. Arsenal winning both games against Nottingham Forest, or Nottingham Forest winning both against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest being eliminated by the Champions League or Arsenal only winning the Champions League but allowing Nottingham Forest to win in the Premier League. Of course we cannot rule out Nottingham Forest giving up the league match to eliminate Arsenal from Champions League…

“…Tony Twain and Arsène Wenger have a good personal relationship, but this week they will surely forget about their relationship and fight each other for the league and the trophy. The game might be exciting….”

“…These are two teams who are meeting for the first time in the Champions League since the 05-06 season. Last time Forest eliminated Arsenal by a penalty shootout in the semi-finals. In the end they lost to Barcelona in the final. Will Arsenal be successful in their revenge this time?”

“…Arsenal are in good form now. They’ve won nine games straight in the league and their margin with Nottingham Forest is only six points, but we can’t look down on Nottingham Forest’s potential in the match. I think Tony Twain is a coach who excels in playing such elimination matches. His team has a momentum, and that momentum is perfect for elimination matches, so the ideal outcome would be for Nottingham Forest to abandon the league match and eliminate Arsenal.”

There was a lot of debate about the outcome of the two teams, and it suddenly seemed as if everyone had a point. That was for sure. The supporters of the teams must think their team would get the best outcome.

At the door of Wilford, Twain was blocked by a group of reporters.

“I don’t predict the outcome of the match the day after tomorrow.” Numerous microphones were pointed at him but Twain only waved his hand. “Yes, I have a good personal relationship with Arsène, he is a coach that I respect a lot. But that has nothing to do with the game. Don’t try to set me up, I’m a lot smarter than you all think.”

He was cautious because the team had been particularly physically depleted recently, and three consecutive enduring games in a week may have a negative impact on the team. For instance, a physical breakdown at the last minute. He did not want to be too negative or put too much pressure on the players.

Seeing that he was about to squeeze out the siege, a reporter anxiously shouted, “Will three consecutive games against Arsenal have a negative impact?”

“No, I think it’s a good thing to put all the trouble together to settle. After settling Arsenal in this week, we can concentrate on other opponents.” Twain was stubborn as a duck, he did not want to let others see his true inner thoughts.

Meanwhile at the Kearney training base in north London, Wenger was also surrounded by a similar number of reporters.

“I’m looking forward to playing against Nottingham Forest again. Tony Twain is a very capable coach as you would know from the number of championships he won. Arsenal would be careful in handling this battle…”

Some journalists were tired of such politically correct answers. He asked aloud, “After Alex Ferguson retired, is Tony Twain the only person you would regard as a worthy opponent, Arsène?”

Wenger looked up at the reporter who asked the question and smiled, “All the coaches are my opponents.”

“But will Tony Twain be that “special one?”

“He’s certainly the special one, and he is also a popular icon anywhere he goes.” Wenger dodged the controversial topic with a joke.

The spat between the two coaches did not start, much to the disappointment of the media. When Ferguson was there, whenever Nottingham Forest would play with Manchester United, Twain would not mind having a great trash talking war with Ferguson. But this was always the case with Arsène Wenger. It was so boring.

For Wenger, Tony Twain was still not that “special one”. Alex Ferguson, who had retired, was then the “special one”. It was like when Mourinho left England; Twain felt a little lonely. Who knew, maybe Wenger had also felt that way after Ferguson’s retirement.

Francesc Fàbregas, Arsenal’s current captain, was the flag bearer of the Emirates Stadium. He was now the core of the Spanish national team’s midfield and was already a superstar in the football world. But there was always a shadow in his heart that had not been mentioned before. That shadow was buried deep in his heart before he became famous. It was constantly reminding him that he was not the strongest person in this world.

He remembered meeting George Wood when he thought he was the best youth player in the world. There was no denying that the pitch that day was terrible and not conducive to his play, but on the other side was an unknown ordinary youth player. After the loss to Wood, he came back to collect information about Wood, and he was even more surprised. George Wood was a rookie who had only been receiving professional football training for less than a year! A total rookie!

The blow on him was big. He thought of himself as the best player in the World Youth Football Championship, which came out of Europe’s famous youth camp Ramasia, only to lose to a rookie who had only been training professionally for less than a year. He was even going to start doubting whether he was suitable for football.

This was clearly not what Wenger would like to see, and this time Wenger was good at coaching the strengths of young players. He counselled Fàbregas, telling him his loss to Wood was an accident because the conditions were so bad. You cannot doubt yourself, you can only say that the enemy was too cunning. As for George Wood, Wenger told Fàbregas, “Don’t be fooled because he keeps a low profile, he is actually a genius of the same caliber as Fàbregas himself. The fight between the two geniuses, both having victories and losses would be normal. There was no need to be depressed.”

This consoled Fàbregas, who also reflected again on his thoughts during his early fame, and the defeat when he went against Wood. In that sense, it helped him and became a valuable asset in his career. Maybe he would need to thank Wood? But he would never admit this publicly.

This was a good opportunity because Arsenal would be going against Nottingham Forest for three consecutive matches, he would have a chance during the competition to defeat Wood.

Four years ago at the World Cup in South Africa, then-European champions Spain lost to George Wood alone, where Wood then gained the title of “St. George”. The title was an honor to Wood, but it did not sound so pleasant for Fàbregas. He would always remember being knocked out, the year they had high hopes but instead they were eliminated early….

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Two years later at the European Cup, both men were the main players in their respective national teams, but they had never met. Capello’s team stopped in the top four, Spain, on the other hand, were eliminated in the top eight.

Although in each year during the league season, they would have two chances to meet where both would win some matches, none of them were key games. Unlike this time, there were three games, where each game is important. Fàbregas was eager to destroy George Wood in this league season. He really looked up to Wood, and that would be why he would especially enjoy beating Wood.

George Wood did not know what’s going on in his opponent’s mind, and he would hardly have such worries like Fàbregas. There were too many opponents, but he treated them all the same, he would not treat a few people as a life-long opponent. His brain lacked the capacity for this level of thinking. The only thing in his football world was Nottingham Forest, and other teams and players were just labelled as “opponents” or “enemies”.

Arsenal was coming the day after? Well, let them come. We will see you on the pitch. This was George Wood’s whole mental activity.

If a reporter asked him the question he asked Fàbregas, his answer would be so plain that people would wonder if he was purposely trying to go against the media.

A reporter once conducted a poll in the media circle, “Who do you think is the most difficult person to interview in a Premier League team? Who do you think is the least newsworthy player in the Premier League? Who are the Premier League players you least like to interview?”

The answer that was ranked first in every question was only one person: George Wood.

A reporter complained about him being like his name, exactly like a piece of wood. He answered with no interest and added no hype. In this aspect, he was the exact opposite as Tony Twain. If both of them were asked “What’s one plus one?” Wood would simply answer, “Two.” Tony Twain’s reaction would be much more interesting, and he would instead rebut, “You don’t even know the solution to this simple question?” or “Maybe it’s 3?”

So on the Nottingham Forest side, journalists were more willing to interview Pepe, Bale, or other football players, George Wood was the only person they all did not want to contact.

It was like this since his debut. There were only a few interviews about him in the media. Any journalist would feel terrible when he confronted Wood. They did not get a warm response regardless of what they ask. The celebrity interview was actually like two people playing tennis. Someone would serve and the other would receive the ball, then this would repeat throughout. This way both the interviewee and the interviewer would feel comfortable. But the interview with Wood would be a one-man tennis game, the interviewer would effortfully serve the ball, but Wood would not receive or pick up the ball. So the interviewer needed to work as a player and the caddie, running back and forth between playing the ball and picking up the ball, so tired that he would be half-dead. Then he would look up to see George Wood’s stoic face. It was a really frustrating interview.

The media did not ask Wood much about the three-match stakes against Arsenal, only Nottingham Evening Post, which had the best relationship with Nottingham Forest, got an interview with him.

When Pierce Brosnan asked about the outlook for the game, Wood was not as cautious as Twain. He said bluntly, “We will win. ”

“Three games? Or the one on the day after tomorrow?” Bruce asked.

“All three. ”

Bruce laughed, “But your boss, Tony Twain, didn’t say the same thing.”

Wood shook his head, “Why else would we play if not to win?”

The answer sounded philosophical. Pierce Brosnan was speechless.

He then used the phrase in the title to inspire the team Nottingham Forest and their fans.

“The purpose of the game is to win,” Wenger could not help but laugh when he saw the article. “It was fitting of Tony Twain’s football philosophy.”

He was sitting on the bus towards Nottingham from Northern London. He did not need to continue analyzing their opponents at this time. Wenger was already far too familiar with Tony Twain and his team. Nottingham Forest’s home game against Chelsea in the first two weeks might have given him some references. His side also excels in ball techniques and Twain was sure to use that crude tactic at home to undermine Arsenal’s attack.

In this regard, Arsenal made specific arrangements.

At the City Stadium, Arsenal would speed up the delivery of the ball while minimizing the amount of time the ball spent at the feet of the players. If Nottingham Forest were to snatch the ball, let them be led by our noses, then at the end spend the last ounce of strength.

He knew that in the recent end-of-season sprint phase, Nottingham Forest’s fitness had a big drain. This was something he could take advantage of.

In Wenger’s mind, he did not look at this game alone, he was considering all three games and thanks to the schedule, he had a very good overall plan.

First of all, at home against Nottingham Forest, Wenger did not even mind losing to Nottingham Forest on away, as long as the difference was not too big. The main aim was to continue to consume Nottingham Forest’s fitness and let them do their best to win a game. And in the next league match and Champions League match, it would be home ground of Arsenal.

Wenger would then continue to press Nottingham Forest in that game in the league, forcing them to follow their own fast pace and further drain Nottingham Forest’s fitness. A draw would be the best result, because if they won Nottingham Forest on home ground, it might motivate Twain to put all of his season’s focus into the Champions League, so that if he has lost to Nottingham Forest in the first leg, the second leg would not be safe if it was the home side. If they lost to Nottingham Forest in the league, Wenger had also seriously considered this situation, which he believed was not entirely unacceptable. After all, his team and Nottingham Forest had a six-point gap, and between his team and Liverpool there was also a five-point gap, so he was not worried about losing a match in leading to losing the whole situation.

Finally, returning to Champions League match in the middle of the week, Arsenal would be at home with full firepower to face a tired Nottingham Forest that had been drained out by two high-intensity games in a row.

By that time, Nottingham Forest would be drained out, and they would be eliminated in the Champions League. Arsenal would then have one less formidable opponent to deal with.