When the Millwall fans in the stands saw the Forest players running out hurriedly and looking a little flustered, they burst into laughter. This set the tone for the game. This was definitely not a friendly match, but a real life and death knockout match!
Moreover, since the Gavin incident, the relationship between the Forest fans and the Millwall fans had been tense. So, the Millwall fans were happy to laugh at the almost late Forest team.
Tang En walked out of the tunnel and stopped by the side of the field. He looked around the stands. Large swathes of blue were mixed with white. The red was squeezed in a corner, stubbornly jumping around in the blue and white. That was the waving arms of the Forest fans.
An away game? Laugh? You'll be laughing later … Tang En snorted in his heart and walked to the technical area. On the field, Dawson was guessing with the opposing team's captain in front of the referee.
Millwall's captain was Dennis Wise, who had played for Wimbledon and Chelsea before. He was a small man.
Wise was an English player who left a deep impression on Tang En. A long time ago, about 99 years ago, Tang En had been a Chelsea fan for a few years. At that time, Chelsea had not yet been called the Ruble Army. It had Zola, Vialli, Gullit, Poyet, Wise, De Huye, Flo … and many other star players. They played what Gullit called "sexy football." They represented the blue and red forces in the English Premier League, Arsenal and Manchester United, competing for several seasons.
The first jersey Tang En bought was also Chelsea's blue jersey. He especially liked the lion on the Chelsea team emblem. Later, with the departure of Gullit, Vialli, Flo and the others, and with Zola's age, Tang En gradually turned into a "philanthropic" fan who did not have a favorite team. But that memory of blue remained in Tang En's memory.
Back then, Wise, who was Chelsea's captain, was a player that Tang En liked very much. He liked his fierce style and his courage to go against Keane and Vieira.
When he clenched his fists and cheered for the little man in front of the television, he never thought that one day he would lead the team to become his opponent and enemy.
If his own players were fiercely tackled by him, he would probably curse. He could forget about cheering.
Twain shook his head and shook the memories out of his head. I am Tony Twain, I am the manager of Nottingham Forest, I am the enemy and rival of Millwall! Today, either you die or I die!
Through the EFL Cup championship, they would obtain the qualification to participate in next season's UEFA Europa League. This was the most feasible plan that Tang En had chosen among the countless ways to improve the team's reputation in a short period of time and rebuild the team.
The FA Cup competition schedule was too long, and the possibility of running into a strong team was also the highest. This path was first abandoned by Tang En. The EFL Cup was the least valued among the three major cups by the Premier League teams. Many teams even used the EFL Cup as a place for their youth teams and reserve teams to warm up and find their form. Moreover, the EFL Cup schedule was very short. The two semifinals of this season's EFL Cup were in January and the final was in February. In other words, Tang En could focus on maintaining the team's condition within these three months and strive hard to become champions. Then he would try his best to qualify for the English Premier League.
Tang En had a plan in mind for building the team and a list of players to buy. Since he had transmigrated to this world, he had an advantage that others could not compare to. For example, he knew some players who would become talents in the future but were still unknown now. Another example was that he knew the right time to buy players in the future and when to make a move with the least spending and the most profit.
If Forest continued to hang around in League One, then the possibility of getting those players was minimal. At the very least, his team had to be ranked among the 20 teams in the Premier League or qualify to participate in European competitions.
When he was a fan, Tang En did not attach much importance to the UEFA Europa League. He thought it was just a subsidiary of the Champions League. But now, he deeply understood the role of the UEFA Europa League.
This was the first coordinate for Nottingham Forest to set out again!
Therefore, in this match, no matter how bad the situation was — traffic jams, encountering opposing fans on the subway, playing against a team with a tough style — none of these could stop Tang En's desire to win.
A crisp whistle rang out, followed by an earth-shattering hubbub, startling Tang En out of his reverie.
He looked around the stadium and at the crazy fans in the stands. He knew that the league match against Crystal Palace was just a warm-up. The real match had only just begun!
※ ※ ※
Rebrov had originally wanted to show off his individual skills in front of the Millwall players, but he had just pushed the football away when Wise crashed into him. The referee's whistle rang out, and it immediately caused a wave of dissatisfied boos from the stands.
Looking at Wise, who was gritting his teeth and looking ferocious, and listening to the endless boos and insults from the stands, Rebrov knew that today's match was far more difficult than he had imagined.
Tang En, who saw this scene from the technical area on the sidelines, muttered to himself, "The tough style of Wise, the tough style of the Millwall team, the tough style of the Millwall fans …" More and more, he felt that it was a terrible thing to be unable to lay out specific tactics for the team just because they had encountered opposing fans on the subway.
If football could be paused like basketball, he would have made the corresponding changes now. Unfortunately, he could only wait until the halftime interval and then hope that the opponent did not score in the first half.
Defensive counterattack … The two defensive midfielders were the key. He hoped that Ogen Bopp and Gunnarsson could hold on.
※ ※ ※
"Fifteen minutes have passed! The match is going at a hundred miles per hour, and the football whizzes over the players' heads. Under the leadership of their captain, 'Roaring Mouse' Dennis Wise, the Millwall players have launched a frenzied attack on the Forest team. Any thoughts of playing footwork have been extinguished by the ferocious pressure of the 'Two Lions Legion'! " Motson's summary of the fifteen-minute match was not wrong at all, and it was very vivid.
In the first half of the season, the Forest team, under the leadership of the new manager, Collymore, had returned to the tradition of paying attention to controlling the situation and playing meticulous coordination. Although the reasons for Collymore's failed coaching career were very, very small, the reasons could not be ignored.
He had asked the players to coordinate on the ground more. Even if they were in front of the penalty area, they had to try their best to pass the football into the goal area before shooting. At that time, the commentator's evaluation of the Forest team's football was: "Collymore hopes that his striker can bypass the opposing goalkeeper, and then shoot at an empty goal."
This kind of play looked good, but it was too complicated and difficult to win the ball.
Millwall's manager, Alan McLeary, had specifically formulated a strategy for the team to close down and snatch the ball at all times to counter this characteristic of the Forest team. So far, he had done it quite successfully.
The imposing manner displayed by the Millwall players at home completely deterred the Nottingham Forest players, who had to take the subway because of the traffic jam, and then had to contend with a group of fierce-looking fans who had to fight a battle of wits and courage with their taut nerves. Then, they had to run hundreds of meters in a hurry to change their equipment, and only appeared on the pitch in a sorry state three minutes before the start of the game. The exhausted Nottingham Forest players were tormented and tormented.
Yes, the current situation of the game was like this, and the Forest team was gradually falling to a disadvantage. It was almost impossible to say that the messy things that happened before the game had no impact on the team. But what could Tang En do? This was luck. He only hoped that the team could hold on for a period of time, and he would have enough time to adjust the team during the halftime interval. He believed that defeating Millwall would not be a problem.
The key was that the Forest team had to hold on against Millwall's current wave after wave of attacks.
The situation was not looking good. Gunnarsson and Eugen Popp were about to go crazy. Michael Dawson and Wes Morgan were also under a lot of pressure.
In Millwall's team, other than Dennis Wise, there was another person that Tang En knew before he transmigrated. He wore the number 4 jersey and appeared in the attacking midfielder's position. The 23-year-old Tim Cahill was the Australian.
Tang En knew him from the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where Australia made a big comeback at the last moment against Japan. Cahill became a hero by scoring two goals alone. It was also from that game that Tang En became an Australian fan during the World Cup. Unfortunately, they lost to Italy in the end.
The current Cahill was not as mature as he was during the World Cup, but the ability he showed in the offense was enough to give Tang En a headache.
Nottingham Forest finally got a chance to fight back. The ball had just passed to the feet of David Johnson in front, but it was intercepted by Millwall's Australian center back, Kevin Muscat, with a fierce tackle.
"Foul!" Tang En, who was sitting in the technical area, jumped up. It was a tackle from behind!
But the referee ignored his cries. David Johnson fell to the ground in pain, and Muscat kicked the ball to the captain, Wise, who had come back to assist. Then, Wise organized the attack.
"Bastard! Shoveling someone from behind is not an exaggeration! "Tang En waved his fist and cursed. But other than the fourth official who paid him a little attention, no one paid attention to his complaints.
(To be continued. If you want to know what happened next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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