(Apology announcement: Due to my mistake, when writing the recent plot, I forgot that George Wood needed to be suspended from the European competition last season. Although the foul was in the UEFA Europa League, this suspension applies to all European club competitions. So even if Wood does not play in the UEFA Europa League this season, this suspension will automatically be added to the Champions League. Logically speaking, Wood is not eligible to play in this qualifier, but due to my negligence, Wood has already played on the field with the captain's armband, and he has also brought down Riquelme. When I saw the reminder from my book friend, this chapter had already been completed and handed over to the editor in charge of updates. It was basically impossible to change it, so I could only say that it was wrong and let Wood continue to play the two qualifiers. Then the three-game suspension will start from the group stage. I hope everyone can understand. If you have doubts when you see Wood play, please understand according to this explanation …
Listening to the Waves.)
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The game was very intense. Nottingham Forest was full of expectations for the new season. How could Villarreal not be?
The two sides went back and forth on the field, and the speed at which they switched between offense and defense was very fast.
The audience was enjoying it.
But in fact, Pellegrini was secretly complaining.
The Spanish teams were very unaccustomed to the current speed at which they switched between offense and defense, not to mention Villarreal with Riquelme. Riquelme's "slowness" was world-famous.
He knew it must have been deliberately arranged by the opposing young manager. The English Premier League was the fastest league in the world, and the English Premier League teams were also very familiar with how to tear apart the opponent's defense under the fast pace of attack and defense.
Nottingham Forest wanted to establish an advantage at home.
Pellegrini paced back and forth on the sidelines, anxiously watching the field. He wanted to tell the team not to follow the opponent's rhythm, but he could not do it on the sidelines. The deafening cheers at the City Ground completely drowned out all the sounds he made.
The Yellow Submarine players had unknowingly been led by the nose by Nottingham Forest.
Riquelme also wanted to regain control of the rhythm and get the game back on track he was familiar with. But he was forced by George Wood to the point where he could not even take care of himself. How could he lead the team?
He had to admit that the kid behind him was much better than half a season ago. He might not be able to easily intercept the ball at his feet, but he could make it difficult for him to comfortably send the ball to where he wanted to go. He could not dribble the ball unimpeded, and he could not make Villarreal CF's attacking route clear.
Wasn't that the purpose of defense?
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Off the field, Tang En looked at Kerslake beside him and smiled. "Looks like the captain's armband has given him a lot of motivation."
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Tang En was right. Wearing the captain's armband did indeed make Wood feel different. As long as he ran and waved his arm, the corner of his eye would always glance at the armband on his left arm, reminding him that he was now the captain of the team. What did being a captain mean?
Just like Demi, he had to work harder than others at any time and in any situation, even harder than his previous self.
The current Wood did not know how to lead a team. He did not know how to lead this team to victory. All he could do was to help the team with his actions. He might have run 15,000 meters in a previous race, but he would run 20,000 meters in this race.
Wood's football was very simple. He used the distance he ran to measure whether he had done his best.
Every time the captain's armband on his left arm appeared in the corner of his eye, it repeatedly reminded him:
Demi had worn it before. You must not embarrass Demi. You must not let Demi down.
During the training before the match, Tang En repeatedly told Wood not to easily make a move against Riquelme. He had to either ensure that he could intercept the ball with one move, or he had to keep pressing against him, constantly interfere with him, harass him, and force him into a corner to be surrounded.
There were only these two ways.
Wood chose the latter. When Riquelme did not have the ball, he was no more than five meters away from the Argentine. Once the ball was passed to Riquelme, he would pounce over. Once the opponent received the ball, he would inevitably be in a close defensive position.
Wood's advantage was that his speed was faster than most of the defenders Riquelme faced, giving Riquelme no chance to escape in advance. After more than two years of competition experience, the current Wood also knew how to maintain a reasonable distance.
Riquelme had the technical advantage, while George Wood had the physical advantage. The two sides were actually evenly matched in the midfield.
The commentator was surprised. Before the match, he did not think that Riquelme would be frozen by George Wood.
"This is unbelievable … The midfield genius of Argentine football is trapped in the defensive quagmire of George Wood. Villarreal's offense is in a stalemate at the same time! "
As if in response to the commentator's question and surprise, a loud song rang out from the stands. It was a song for their new captain, George Wood.
As long as Wood successfully defended against Riquelme, the stands would be filled with cheers, which imperceptibly created a huge psychological pressure on the Villarreal players. In Spain, one could not see such a crazy stadium environment. England's football hooligans were world-famous. England's hardcore fans were also world-famous.
More than a thousand Spanish fans who came with the Yellow Submarine for the match did not dare to make a sound in the huge home stadium. In fact, even if they made a sound, they would not be able to hear it. From the start of the match, the entire City Ground stadium was surrounded by fanatical noise.
The tradition of Spanish football was not the same as that of England. In La Liga, there were very few away team fans following an away game. The number of people who went was not high. They valued their home ground more. But Villarreal's home ground, El Madrigal, could only accommodate 17,000 people, which was 10,000 fewer than the Forest team's City Ground stadium.
When it came to the stadium atmosphere, the Spanish fans could not compare to the English people.
In the face of the English fans' fanatical offensive, these poor Spanish fans could not fight back. Just like the team that they supported now …
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While Wood worked hard to entangle Riquelme, the Forest team's offense was not idle. The situation on the field was changing. Villarreal did not pose a threat to the Forest team's penalty area, so it was the Forest team's turn to create trouble for their opponent.
Franck Ribéry continued his excellent performance from last season and also faithfully implemented Tang En's tactics — frantically assisting on the left flank, plugging in, plugging in, and plugging in again. He single-handedly restrained two Villarreal players.
On the other side, Ashley Young was also unwilling to fall behind. Although he could not restrain two people at the same time like Ribéry, he also made Sorin rather fearful. His plugging in to assist was not as active as before.
Coupled with Arteta's dispatching in the middle, it allowed the Forest team's midfield to operate freely. The four of them had a clear division of labor, each performing their own duties and coordinating with each other. This allowed the Forest team's midfield to form a powerful unit instead of fighting individually. This was what Tang En hoped to see the most.
Unlike a striker like Anelka, Viduka and Bendtner needed the support of the midfield more. They only had a chance to score goals if the midfield could deliver cannonballs.
Now, in the contest in the midfield, Nottingham Forest had won against Villarreal. Then, it was only a matter of time before the strikers exploded.
(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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