Before the game, Nottingham Forest was seen by the South London media as a tired team, running back and forth and not even returning to Nottingham. Even though they had won the UEFA Europa League, it did not mean anything. Crystal Palace, who did not have to deal with such a tight schedule, could easily take down Nottingham Forest, currently ranked sixth, at home.
By the way, Tony Twain and Nottingham Forest had become the focus of many English Premier League managers because of their recent results and their arrogant and flamboyant character. Especially the teams at the bottom of the rankings, they all hoped to beat Forest to make them feel a little more balanced. A newly promoted team can rank sixth. If we beat them, does that mean we're also close to sixth?
Therefore, even though Crystal Palace had only accumulated five points after nine rounds of the league tournament and was ranked last, it did not stop their fans from fantasizing about beating Forest at home and escaping from the abyss of misery.
But reality was often cruel.
For this game, Twain sent out most of the substitutes and young players. On one hand, he let the main players rest, and on the other, he trained the team. The center back, Piqué, was the starting partner with Wes Morgan. There were no changes to the left back, while the right back, Chimbonda, was rested and replaced by John Thompson. The defensive midfielder, Albertini, was rested. Branya Gunnarsson and George Wood partnered. The left midfielder, Chris Commons, replaced Franck Ribéry as the starting midfielder, and the right midfielder, Aaron Lennon, replaced Ashley Young. The front line was a two center forward combination, Crouch and Bendtner.
Forest's tactics for this game were very simple. They tried to hit high balls, and the side midfielders would cross from the byline instead of cutting inside. It was rare for a manager to send out two tall center forwards at the same time in a game, but Twain did so, and the effect was surprisingly good.
Crystal Palace was completely stunned by Bendtner and Crouch's "Twin Towers" combination, because they did not expect Forest to have such a personnel configuration. Bendtner was well-rounded, had excellent headers, and was physically strong. He could shoot by himself and also pass the ball for his teammates. Although Crouch's headers and physical strength were not as good as Bendtner's, his outstanding height allowed him to fight for more headers on the field than an ordinary person. His long legs often caught the opponent's defenders off guard.
Such a strange combination of forward lines created a total of 11 shots in the game, seven of which hit the goalpost and three goals. Crouch scored twice and Bendtner also scored his second league goal of the season.
Although the result of the match made Tang En very happy, what excited him was the growth of the young players. Not to mention Bendtner, Tang En clearly knew his strength. The same was true for Crouch. His height of more than two meters had already attracted the attention of some clubs.
What made Tang En feel excited and even a little gratified was Aaron Lennon. As England's new star of hope — even though England's star of hope was perhaps the least wicked, the media was always good at hyping up an unknown kid into a young genius overnight. After coming to the Forest team, he could only be Ashley Young's substitute because of his young age. Most of the time, he trained with the First Team and had to go to the reserve team to compete. Sometimes, he would even be borrowed by the youth team.
However, he appeared very down-to-earth and did not make any excessive requests, such as playing as being the main force and ensuring playing time … He just immersed himself in training and worked hard to improve his level.
In the match against Crystal Palace, two of Forest's four goals came from his direct assists, and one was an indirect assist — he passed to Bendtner, and Bendtner passed to Crouch, who scored the ball.
In addition, Chris Commons' performance on the left flank was average. Although he was not as outstanding as Lennon, he was very stable. Tang En liked this kind of player. They often did not have high demands, unlike those star players who hoped to be in the starting lineup, hoping for a raise, and hoping for this and that. They were very clear about their position and worked hard to do their best to play their best role when they were needed. Perhaps their ability was not enough to be the main force, but it was enough to be an excellent substitute.
Any team needed a player who was willing to be a substitute. Kris Commons was such a person. He kept a very low profile in the Forest team. He was someone who usually did not attract much attention. Even Tang En would sometimes overlook him. However, when he was needed, he would not let everyone down.
Similar to Commons was the substitute center back Wes Morgan. He could still play as the main force last season, but this season he could only be a substitute. However, no one had seen him express any dissatisfaction because of this. He was still one of the most optimistic people in the team.
With such a person in the team, Tang En would have a lot less to worry about.
The final score of the match was Nottingham Forest defeating Crystal Palace 4: 2 in the away game, allowing the last place Crystal Palace to further solidify their position as the "vice squad leader." Nottingham Forest's ranking did not change at all. They were still in sixth place with 17 points. Looking at the names of the teams below and below Forest on the scoreboard: Manchester United in fifth place with 17 points, and Liverpool in seventh place with one point less. The Forest fans had enough reason to be proud of their team's performance.
After the match, the people from Crystal Palace were depressed, while Tang En led the Forest team to answer Nottingham with satisfaction.
Five days later, they would travel north to challenge Newcastle. Like Liverpool, a team ranked eighth with 16 points, they were on a completely different level from a vice squad leader like Crystal Palace.
The Forest team could easily defeat Crystal Palace in the away game, but it did not mean that they could also easily defeat Newcastle in the away game.
Moreover, starting from the match against Crystal Palace, it would be a little devil's match schedule for the Forest team.
October 30th, away game against Newcastle.
November 4th, second round of the UEFA Europa League group stage, home game against Lazio.
November 7th, away game against Liverpool.
The Forest team's current state was not stable. It was good at times and bad at others, which was an important reason for Tang En's lack of confidence.
Such an opponent was not like the match against Norwich City, where they could barely maintain a draw if they were not in good form. This was a match where they could lose if they made a mistake …
(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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