Although Tang En did not say it, the media, fans, and even the players themselves knew that this was a match that he had given up. He did not say it because no manager would tell his players before a match, "Guys, I'm giving up on today's match. Do as you see fit." On the contrary, he hoped that the players who were playing today would know that as long as they performed well, they would have the chance to get more opportunities to play. This was a match that they fought for their own interests.
Therefore, the players who usually did not have much playing time, and the players who had just joined the team welcomed their own performance time.
The starting goalkeeper was the 21-year-old Irish youngster, Barry Roche, who rarely played. The center backs were a new combination — Clint Hill and Robert Huth. They had just transferred or been on loan and had been training with the team for less than a week. The fact that Tang En had sent out such a center back duo spoke volumes.
Other than using a new combination for the center backs, Tang En also made some adjustments to the two full backs. Chris Doig, who had played as a center back in the previous match, moved to the left back position. He let John Thompson rest as a right back and replaced him with Matthew Louis Jean.
In the midfield, there were still two defensive midfielders. Branya Gunnarsson was still in the starting lineup, and Eugen Bopp was replaced by George Wood. Tang En's arrangement was actually to prepare for the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals. The two players who would appear in the middle of the midfield would be Gunnarsson and Wood. Eugen Bopp could not participate due to his suspension.
Tang En chose to let Chris Commons play on the left side and let Stephen McPhail play on the right side. His instructions to Commons was to pass more to the center, while his instructions to McPhail were to cut inside and shoot more. As for Ashley Young's side, Moore had only just come into contact with him. There were no results yet, so he could only make do with it. Brian Cash had been completely given up by Tang En. If a team offered him a suitable price, he could let him leave immediately.
Up front, Tang En sent out a combination of David Johnson and Freddy Eastwood. Johnson could not play in the match at the moment, but he could still be a qualified substitute. As for Eastwood, Tang En hoped to use the match to help him improve his condition in the EFL Cup.
The players on the bench were goalkeeper Darren Ward, defenders Wes Morgan and John Thompson, midfielder Sergei Rebrov, and striker Gareth Taylor.
Looking at such a lineup, it was no wonder that even the Forest fans thought it was normal to lose this game, because there was a more important EFL Cup semi-final later.
Reading F.C.'s manager, Steve Coppell, was an old acquaintance of Tony Twain. Last season, his management at Brighton had failed, and Twain had defeated him at Brighton's home ground. At the end of that season, Brighton were relegated, but their coach, the "good man" Mr. Coppell, found a better job — to be the manager of Reading.
Currently, Reading FC was ranked fourth in the league and looked to be in a good position. Mr. Coppell's path as a manager seemed to be on the right track.
Coppell could be considered to have a deep impression of Tang En. After that match last season, he had spent two days to finally understand why Tang En would call him a "good person" in the post-match press conference. The conclusion he came to made him very angry because he had been fooled by this young manager whose qualifications were not even as good as his.
When the two teams had faced each other in the first half of the season, his team had defeated Forest by a score of 3: 0 at their home ground. His only regret was that the Forest team was not the one managed by Tony Twain. This made him feel that victory had become dull and tasteless.
In this visit to the City Ground stadium, he hoped to use a victory to complete his revenge against Tony Twain. Of course, he also believed that with Reading FC's strength, it should not be a problem to take down a Forest team that was almost entirely made up of substitutes and rookies.
But he was wrong.
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It was true that these Nottingham Forest players had not trained together for more than a week. So, more than 20 minutes had passed in the game, and Forest was still unable to pose any threat to Reading's goal. But Reading FC also discovered that they could not easily break through Forest's goal.
He had originally thought that the two center-backs, who had never partnered together before, would create many holes in Forest's rear defensive line. Although the reality was similar to what he had expected, Coppell did not expect Tang En to play a defensive tactic on their own home ground!
Of the 11 players, except for Eastwood, everyone else had to return to the penalty area to participate in the defense. So, it was common to see scenes of David Johnson staying in his own penalty area for long periods of time.
Tang En did not care about the thrilling and thrilling scene of the team being suppressed by the visiting team at home. Although winning this game was not in the plan, the famous Argentine football coach, Bianchi, had once said, "In a football match, even if you can't win, don't lose." Tang En did not expect the team to beat Reading, but that did not mean he would allow them to lose at home. In order not to pull too far away from their competitors, they must not lose this game.
Because it was the first time the two center-backs had partnered together, it was inevitable that there would be various omissions. So, the task of the defensive midfielders was very heavy. Not only did they have to organize the first line of defense outside the penalty area, but they also had to retreat into the penalty area in time to act as the center-backs and even the cleaners. Tang En did not have to worry about Gunnarsson. His experience and ability were completely up to the task. As for Wood …
Tang En unconsciously glanced at the upper level of the grandstand behind him.
There was a row of VIP boxes. George Wood's mother, Sophia, was sitting inside, watching her son's game with Evan.
With her around, Wood should not have any problems, right?
A sharp and urgent whistle rang out, pulling Tang En's thoughts back. He saw a Reading F.C. player lying on the ground. It was their top striker, the Bermudian Shaun Goater! Last season, he had been Sun Jihai's teammate at Manchester City. He had played for Manchester City for seven seasons and scored 86 goals. He was one of the Manchester City fans' favorite players.
Now, this veteran striker, who had scored 28 goals in the 2001-02 season to help Manchester City return to the English Premier League, and had scored nine goals in half a season at Reading City, was lying on the ground, hugging his calf in pain, reaching out for a stretcher.
The person standing beside him was the calm-looking George Wood. Even when the referee showed him a yellow card, his expression did not change.
Walker looked at Tang En, who had always thought highly of Wood. Tang En scratched his head. Uh, could it be that the kid was a little too excited?
The stretcher carried Goater off. Then, Tang En saw a mixed-race lad called by Coppell to his side. As he listened to the manager's instructions, he took off his jacket, revealing the number and name inside: number 22, Tyson.
"Nathan Tyson, striker," Walker said from the side. Tang En nodded. He did not expect Wood's yellow card to replace the opponent's main striker. It was worth it. It would not be that difficult to draw this game. Reading City could now rank fourth in the league, and Goater's addition played a big role. Coppell's tactics were almost entirely formulated around this tall Bermudian.
Although he did not know the exact extent of Goater's injury, seeing him lying on the stretcher with his hands covering his face … Tang En knew that the injury this time was probably not light. It was probably not the kind of injury that would cause him to be out for a week or two.
Wood, you kid … You're really a meat grinder in the midfield, an ace killer.
Tang En did not know how Sophia felt when she saw her son get a yellow card, but he himself was very happy. Because Wood had exceeded the task he had given him before the match. For defensive players, fouls were very normal. The number of fouls and the number of cards they received were also important data to judge a defensive midfielder's ability.
Modern football also required defensive players to not only be able to shovel the ball from the opponent's feet, but also be as clean as a gentleman. Not getting a single yellow card in their entire career was practically like a god.
Goater's injury gave Forest's opponents a warning: Boys from Reading City, whoever dares to act rashly in front of George Wood will end up like that old man!
As a result, Reading City's originally frenzied attacks also slowly calmed down. Both sides entered a stalemate in the midfield. Wood and Gunnarsson became the busiest players in Forest, as well as the ones who appeared on camera the most.
Tang En divided the work among the two defensive midfielders like this: Wood had good stamina, was fast, and liked to snatch the ball when defending. Therefore, he was to move slightly forward and snatch the ball first. Gunnarsson, on the other hand, was experienced and calm, so he protected Wood from behind. If the opponent broke through Wood, he would immediately pounce forward and entangle the opponent, giving Wood time to return to his position.
From the nearly 30-minute match, the two of them cooperated quite well. It did not look at all like they had only trained together for half a month. Gunnarsson also liked the feeling of cooperating with Wood. The two of them seemed to have a natural rapport.
"George Wood, a young player at the age of 18. He only entered Nottingham Forest's youth team to receive training at the age of 17. We don't have any information on how he played before. I don't know if it's because he's too unknown and we can't find any relevant information, or … there's no information at all. " Motson looked at the detailed information on the Forest players in his hands. The others all had at least a few hundred words of introduction and explanation, but George Wood's file before 2003 was completely blank. "This is his first match for Forest's first team. From his performance in the last 30 minutes, this kid is very good! He and Gunnarsson were in front of the center backs. They ran without regard for their energy and fiercely tackled, building an impregnable wall. As a player representing the first team for the first time, we can hardly see the slightest nervousness on his face. The standard of Forest's youth training camp is very high. Michael Dawson and Andy Reid left after bringing the team eight million pounds. It looks like we don't have to worry too much about them not having a successor. "
Perhaps Motson himself did not know that he had now unwittingly become a supporter of Forest. This was also the reason why he was the commentator for many of Forest's matches. He liked to see Tony Twain's wild performance and beautiful on-the-spot command on the sidelines. He also liked to watch this team full of passion for victory. He also looked forward to the "accident" that would make him laugh out loud at any time.
Even if the match did not look good on the field, he would quickly find a commendable aspect of Forest. In the past, he would have long shook his head and sighed, criticizing the lack of passion in the game.
Tony Twain did have a mysterious something that attracted the people around him. John Motson, the famous British host, was just one of them.
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(6 more hours. Request for monthly votes. Strive to maintain third place! There will be updates in the evening.) (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log on to WWW. CMFU. com. More chapters. Support the author. Support original reading!)
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