Arteta's appearance had indeed disrupted Inter Milan's established defensive plan. Cambiasso's close defense against Albertini alone was completely meaningless, because when Albertini was locked down, the Forest players would pass the ball to Arteta. If they split the defensive forces to defend against Arteta, then the pressure Albertini faced would naturally be reduced. In short, the Forest team's two midfielders mobilized all of Inter Milan's defensive strength. Either one of them could be solely responsible for organizing the offense, just like the two cores. It was useless to restrict one alone. The "dual-core" Nottingham Forest began to exert their strength with half the time left in the second half. The Inter Milan players gradually felt that something was wrong.
After taking the lead, Inter Milan was not as strict as before. They retreated slightly according to Mancini's request to attract the Forest team to attack and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack.
Mancini knew that the trailing Forest team faced two choices. One was to naturally attack and strive to equalize the score. The other was to ignore Inter Milan's retreat and continue to defend, hoping to defend until the end of the game. Then, with an away goal and a loss, they would return to their home ground to plan again.
But no matter what the situation was, it was actually beneficial to Inter Milan. If they attacked, there would definitely be a lot of gaps in the defense that could be exploited. Inter Milan could take the opportunity to counterattack and sneak a few more goals. If they did not attack, it was also a good choice to win a home game.
Tang En chose the first answer, which was more in line with Mancini's hopes than the second. But Mancini did not expect Tang En's decision to be so bold. Not only did he remove a defender under such great defensive pressure, but he also placed two playmaking midfielders in the midfield. Was he not afraid of overlapping positions and conflicting roles?
He did not expect the two cores to have no conflict at all. Instead, they complemented each other well.
After letting George Wood focus on defense, even with only three center backs, the Forest team's defensive line was much more stable.
"How could this be …" Mancini stood up again before he could even warm his seat.
Nottingham Forest was very simply divided into two parts, offense and defense. The defense did not care about offense, and the offense did not need to participate in defense. Both sides could focus all their energy on their own jobs. In this way, Inter Milan was somewhat unable to take it.
After Albertini made a feint to pass the ball to Arteta, he deceived Cambiasso and broke through with the ball. When Cambiasso locked the target on him again, he did a one-two with Ribéry on the sideline. After entering Inter Milan's thirty-meter zone, he announced his awakening in the game with a beautiful long shot.
"What a pity, it brushed against the beam and flew out!"
"Damn it … Watch him until he dies …" Mancini bit his lips off the field.
"Oh oh! Mikel Arteta! Break into the penalty area and shoot! Julio César's wonderful performance saved Inter Milan! Who would've thought that Manager Tang En's one substitution would reactivate Nottingham Forest? "
"Anelka! He slid through the door! "
"Mark Viduka! This header is too powerful, but it's a pity that it's too straight … "
The name that the commentator shouted the most during this period was Nottingham Forest's attacking players. Nottingham Forest's offensive began, and the boos over the Giuseppe Meazza also increased.
The two managers stood on the sidelines. Mancini bit his lips, his expression grave. Tang En had his hands in his pockets, his face calm. Everyone had something on their minds …
※ ※ ※
Ten minutes passed, and Mancini did not see what he was hoping for. The team listened to him and retreated. Forest also pressed out as he expected, but Inter Milan's offense was a little lost. The pace of the game showed signs of shifting back to Forest's side. This would not do …
"Attack! You're holding back too much! "Mancini finally could not help but shout from the sidelines. "This won't do …" he muttered. He then turned and walked to the substitutes' bench, pointing to the Argentine forward, Cruz. "Cruz, go warm up and be right back!" Cruz obediently got up and ran out. Mancini then turned to the other person on the substitutes' bench and said, "Recoba, you go too."
Tony Twain, if you want to attack, very well, I'll attack with you!
Three minutes later, Inter Milan made a substitution. Mancini brought on two attacking players in one go. Cruz replaced Veron, who had an average performance, and Recoba replaced Stankovic. Inter Milan became a more offensive-minded 4-3-3.
The powerful Inter Milan finally forced Forest to restrain itself, and the frenzied wave of offense set off by the "two cores" receded. The situation on the field became balanced. Both sides had chances, but neither grasped them. But it was no longer one side suppressing the other.
Looking at the time, there were still ten minutes before the game entered injury stoppage time. Tang En decided to make another substitution. This time, he replaced Mark Viduka with Eastwood. Of course, he did not let the thin and weak Eastwood go up as the center forward to directly face the fierce Italian defenders. Instead, he let Anelka go up and put Eastwood behind him. Neither of them was a typical center forward. They all had extremely strong individual combat abilities. After Tang En made the overall tactical adjustments, he tried to send as many players as possible who could create miracles on their own. No matter what method he used, he did not want to lose here!
Especially with Shania watching from the stands. They had not seen each other for a long time. They could not lose as a greeting gift!
Tang En actually did not know if Shania had come to watch the game. Shania had not contacted him before the game, and he had been too busy to care about it at the time. But he believed. He believed that Shania, who had said, "I have to work tomorrow," would come. Her tone at the time sounded like she was in a fit of pique.
The game was nearing its end, but neither side had given up. Inter Milan's players were unwilling to only win against Nottingham Forest by one goal. Nottingham Forest's players were also unwilling to lose to Inter Milan in an away game. Everyone was in high spirits, so they fought until the last moment.
Albertini could no longer run. Most of the time, he stood in the front field, panting, waiting for his teammates to pass the ball to him. Then, he would symbolically dribble a few steps and pass the ball to the person in front of him when there was a chance. There was no chance to pass it back.
Cambiasso's marking of him had consumed a lot of his energy. Now, he was powerless even though he wanted to.
His teammates' trust in him allowed the ball to be passed to his feet again. Cambiasso still went up to defend at the first instance.
While Albertini was concentrating on dealing with Cambiasso, he did not think that Cambiasso was just a cover. Inter Milan's captain, Javier Zanetti, suddenly abandoned the position he was supposed to be in. He stabbed out diagonally and intercepted Albertini's ball from the other side! (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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