Tang En had never thought that as long as he returned to Nottingham Forest's manager's seat, even if he did nothing, the team's results would immediately improve, and they would win consecutive battles and finally win the league title. Children could imagine such things in their heads, but he could only treat it as nonsense.
Now, reality had proven his wisdom. Although Nottingham Forest had won a few matches, there were still many problems that needed to be solved. For example, restoring the team's dominance was placed before Tang En. It was urgent.
If a team did not have the confidence to win, there was no way to defeat a strong opponent. Some weak teams, when faced with a strong opponent, had a belief that refused to admit defeat. This often allowed them to create miracles, creating classic battles where the weak defeated the strong.
Back then, Nottingham Forest had risen as a newly promoted team in the English football scene, relying on that indomitable spirit.
At that time, Nottingham Forest did not know what "fear" was. Whether it was facing a strong domestic opponent or a European powerhouse, there was only one thought: "Win!"
But now …
"For four whole seasons, you've been complaining about losing the championship title, losing the qualification to participate in the Champions League, and now you're about to lose the qualification to participate in the European League … But if you ask me, these are not important."
Tang En looked at the players who had their heads lowered and were silent.
"If you don't find one thing back, then what you've lost will never be found again. Do you want to know what it is? "
Tang En patted his chest. "Put your hands here and feel your heartbeats. When I talk about defeating Arsenal, is it beating faster? "
Some people really put their hands on it, while others were confused and did not know what to do.
Tang En did not expect his words to suddenly enlighten everyone, but he had to bury the seed. Perhaps it would blossom and bear fruit at the right time.
"The match against Arsenal is a chance to prove that you're not dead yet. This time, it's not for the media outside to see, but for yourselves to see! "
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Arsène Wenger was already 69 years old. His goal was to retire after fulfilling his contract with the club, and there were still three years left in his contract with the club. This meant that he had to work until he was at least 72 years old. What was his biggest regret in his coaching career? It was that he had never lifted the Champions League trophy.
There was once a season where he was very, very close to the trophy, but he was blocked out of the finals by one person.
That person was now right in front of him, looking at him with a smile.
"Long time no see, Professor."
At the pre-match press conference, Tang En and Wenger met. Although one of them had just finished his part, the other was just about to go on stage.
"It's only half a year, Tony." Indeed, ever since Tang En won the World Cup, he had disappeared from everyone's sight.
Twain shook his head. He did not mean that.
"I mean, it's been a long time since we last met under such circumstances."
Twain pointed to the press conference hall behind him, where the reporters were waiting for Wenger to come in.
Wenger immediately understood. As opponents, they had indeed not seen each other for a long time.
"I heard that your team is going to beat my team?" Wenger asked.
Twain smiled. "If you don't even have the heart to win, then it's even more impossible for you to win." He did not directly nod his head and say that. In front of this old friend and rival, it was better not to be so arrogant.
In fact, his thoughts were the same. To be honest, he had no idea if they could win against Arsenal. Although he had done a lot of tactical preparation, this Nottingham Forest team was not the one from four years ago. He did not have 100% control.
The reason why he said that he wanted to win was just as Tang En had said to his men: if you don't even want to win, how can you play in the competition?
Wenger shrugged and did not say much. The reporters were waiting for him. Now was not a good time to chat.
He extended his hand to shake Twain's. He did not expect Twain to directly pat him on the shoulder. "I'll go first, Professor. I'll see you at the competition tomorrow night. "
Wenger watched Twain's back disappear at the end of the aisle before turning to enter the press conference hall.
He had just sat down when a reporter asked, "Mr. Wenger, what do you think of Tony Twain's statement that we will definitely win against Arsenal?"
Wenger smiled. He really was a topic of conversation that could not be shaken off.
"Of course I believe he has that ability." Wenger said "he" and not "they." He played a little trick with his words. He did not know if anyone could see it. "But this is our home ground."
That's right, it was Arsenal's home ground. Wenger would not hand over victory easily.
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"Let's talk big, lads."
In the sports news later that day, news of Arsenal's home ground match against Nottingham Forest became the mainstream. Twain and Wenger's pre-match press conference was the most featured. Twain's words, "Yes, I repeat, we will win against the home team at the Emirates Stadium," were also repeatedly mentioned.
In the last tactical lesson of the night, after Twain switched off the television, he said to his players.
"If we don't win, you and I will become the laughing stock of the whole United Kingdom. I don't want to become the laughing stock of the whole country. That's too embarrassing. "
Twain had never said something like "in terms of ability, we should win against Arsenal." So when he said it was "big talk," no one objected. As long as anyone was rational, they would know that winning against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium was a very, very difficult thing to do.
But it was precisely because of this big talk that the Forest team was forced to a dead end.
Because it was just as Twain said — they were all forced into a dead end by this big talk. If they lost this match, then all sorts of ugly words would come flooding in.
No one wanted to become the laughing stock of others and be talked about in a disdainful tone.
What more professional players?
"Arsenal's playing style is as gorgeous and complicated as ever. They will definitely continue to play like this at their home ground. This is our chance. "
Twain began to explain in detail the tactics they would use in tomorrow's match. In fact, the players could generally guess, because it was obvious to everyone what the team had focused on practicing for the past week or so. For the past week or so, the coaching staff had put the most effort into the training of attacking set pieces. From this point, they should be able to see what tactics the team would use when the time came.
Between losing the match with a beautiful and vigorous attack and winning the match with a tenacious and conservative defense, Twain would definitely choose the latter. But the risk of the latter was that even if you played conservatively for 89 minutes, you could still lose the match in the last minute. That would really be a double loss. Not only would you lose the match, but you would also lose face and be mocked by even more people. When faced with such a situation, many people would choose to play beautifully against a strong opponent. Even if they lost the match, they would still be able to account for it.
But this kind of thinking was indeed the worst. Because before the match even started, they had already found a way out for themselves and thought of an excuse after they lost. How could this kind of team defeat a strong opponent? It was no wonder that some of them had always been like that. It was a classic case of fear before the battle.
What did it mean to fight to the death? What did it mean to fight with your back to the river and cut off all means of retreat? If they did not put themselves in a situation where they absolutely could not lose, how could they explode with such powerful energy?
"… On the basis of a solid defense, we have to seize every set piece opportunity to fight for a goal. We don't have to be afraid of less ball control, ugly scenes, and even less worry about the number of shots. As long as we are more patient than them and seize the set pieces to make a fuss, the final victory will definitely be ours! "
"We've practiced our set piece tactics for more than a week. I hope to be able to see them in the match."
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Tang En did indeed see the set piece offensive tactics that his team had painstakingly practiced for more than a week in the match. Because his team was actually in the lead.
Once they came up, Arsenal adopted the stance of a home team, surrounding Forest's penalty area and bombarding them indiscriminately. Their coordination was ingenious, their positioning was flexible, and their passing was accurate. Their overall coordination forced Forest to retreat and defend. Unfortunately, they lacked a center forward with some impact. Although the small lineup was flexible, it was not enough to face Forest's impenetrable defense.
So, although Forest's situation was ugly, they did not concede a goal. It was not until the 37th minute that Forest got a good opportunity to attack. After Chen Jian took the ball in the front field, he was knocked to the ground by an Arsenal player. As a result, Nottingham Forest was awarded a free kick on the right side of the front field.
Bale sent the free kick to the back of the goal with his left foot. Aaron Mitchell headed the ball back from the back, and George Wood, who followed up in the middle, jumped in front of the others and headed the ball in amidst the chaos.
In a situation where Nottingham Forest did not have an advantage in terms of ball possession and number of shots, Nottingham Forest instead took the lead in the away game. Many people were shocked by this.
But what surprised them was still to come. In the last minute before the end of the first half, Nottingham Forest was awarded a free kick in the same position on the other side. It was still a cross from Bale. This time, Arsenal's defenders paid attention to the defense in the middle and did not relax their marking on Mitchell at the same time. But Nottingham Forest changed their tactics.
The ball was still directly sent to the back. Mitchell and the Forest team's center-back, Sakho, were still pressing back, and the opposing two defenders followed them back. Unexpectedly, halfway through, Sakho suddenly braked and turned to run out. Then he ran toward the football and jumped high without anyone marking him!
He headed the ball and the ball hit the ground in front of the Arsenal goalkeeper and bounced up again. The goalkeeper made a mistake in his judgment. The ball went into the net!
"Unbelievable!" The commentator cried out with his head in his hands. "At the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal's home ground, Nottingham Forest actually ended the first half with a two-goal lead! Tony Twain's ferocious pressing, defensive counterattack, and the use of set pieces to score completely restrained Arsenal's technical style of play … "
Wenger clearly realized that if they continued to play like this, they would only lose more and more miserably. He had to make some targeted changes. So, at the beginning of the second half, he brought on a striker who did not have outstanding footwork but had a stronger impact in front of the goal.
And Forest slackened a little after leading by two goals in the first half. In the second half, they allowed Arsenal to pull back a goal.
Following that, Arsenal's morale was greatly boosted. Amidst the cheers of the home fans, they launched wave after wave of attacks. Seeing this, Twain hurriedly adjusted. He did not strengthen his defense, but increased the strength of his counterattack.
Sure enough, this change of tactics was very effective. Fearful of Nottingham Forest's sharp and quick counterattack, Arsenal's offensive suddenly became toned down. The field was once again balanced.
This score was maintained until the end of the game. Even though in the last five or six minutes, Arsenal once again turned out in full force. But Forest's counterattack was also very active, making Arsenal's offense very difficult. They had to face an impregnable defense in front and had to be wary of Forest's quick counterattack at the back. It made him feel like he had power but could not exert it.
In this way, the Forest team achieved a crucial victory.
After this game, some media believed that Tony Twain's Nottingham Forest had once again regained its "Arsenal's Nemesis."
Wenger also admitted in the post-match press conference that Forest's tactics had restrained them. This made him feel very helpless.
As for the victor, Twain, he did not take it for granted. He said that he was only able to defeat Arsenal because he was luckier.
It was impossible to say that the 50-year-old Twain had not changed at all from the Twain of the past. For example, if it were the 40-year-old Twain now, he would definitely unceremoniously announce that their victory was a matter of course.
Standing up and shaking hands with Wenger, Twain left the press conference venue. The team was waiting for him on the bus. Different from the press conference, he had another set of words to say to his subordinates.
"Guys, you've done well! We've obtained three points in the away game and moved up two places in the rankings. But what makes me even happier is that I saw in your performance the desire for victory and the heart of a champion that never gives up! "Twain said to the players on the bus, pressing his hand on his heart.
"I hope that this game can make you remember that a champion's heart that always pursues victory is more important than anything else. Now, I'm more or less starting to believe that we can return to Europe. "Twain pointed to his players and said," Because you all want to win. And I … "
He pointed to himself again. "I like to work with people who want to win. Nottingham Forest's football is a winning football, and so am I. "He looked at everyone and smiled.
In fact, he was still very arrogant. It was just that he threw away the elements of putting on a show, got rid of the sensationalism, and revealed his fangs that gleamed with a cold light. He was actually even scarier like this …
There were people who did not believe him? Arsenal was a lesson to be learned.
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PS: If there are no surprises, the Godfather of Champions will officially end in October. Then I'll take a month off to think about my new book. Thank you everyone for your support over the past two years. Thank you very much! Without you, there wouldn't be me, and there wouldn't be a Godfather of Champions.
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