The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge had been ignited. The red and blue teams formed two distinct phalanxes in the stands. Their numbers were not equal, but they seemed to be equally matched in terms of momentum. The Forest fans, who did not have the advantage in numbers, did not show any weakness in the face of a large number of Blues fans in the away game. They frantically fought back against their opponents' various provocations. They did everything except for not directly pouncing forward to start a fight or throwing wine glasses.
Tang En liked this kind of fan. In this regard, he and Roy Keane had something in common — they both hated those so-called fans who sat in the first-class boxes, dressed in suits and ties, and appeared refined and refined. If the fans who came to the stadium did not crazily immerse themselves in the live atmosphere, they might as well stay at home and watch the television broadcast.
It was precisely because of the support of such a group of fans that he had the confidence to lead Nottingham Forest to travel north and south and sweep away their opponents.
Before entering the stadium today, he saw the Forest fans crazily cheering his name and going against the Chelsea fans for him. The sense of accomplishment in Tang En's heart could no longer be expressed in words.
Other than winning the game and winning the Champions League title, what else could he do to repay these lovely fans?
So, he told his players not to stop until they reached their goal.
What a joke. We're speeding down the right highway. How can we stop?
"The two teams have had little to do with each other for the past 100 years. They're like strangers. The arrival of Tony Twain and Mourinho changed everything. The two men with unique and extremely conceited personalities are unwilling to be defeated by the other. The two teams have lived in harmony for the past 100 years, but that doesn't mean they can still communicate amicably in the future. There will be another pair of enemies in England's classic red and blue rivalry. But we all like to see such a game because it's exciting. I'm not saying exciting because this game may be a little conservative because of the importance of the outcome, but there will be a lot of intense scenes on the field. "
The television commentator speculated on the tactics of both sides based on his experience. Because this was a Champions League semi-final, the outcome was more important than anything else. Therefore, the probability of seeing an exciting battle was too small. Moreover, both Mourinho and Tony Twain were notoriously conservative managers.
What the audience could only look forward to was the intensity of the match — red and yellow cards, fouls, banging collisions, spitting, glaring, and passionate performances by both managers on the sidelines …
At that moment, Tang En was standing by the side of the field, waiting for the match to begin. Like him, Mourinho stood at the edge of the manager's command area. The two managers could not sit still for a few dozen seconds before the match began.
Van Nistelrooy and Eastwood stood in the center circle, waiting for the kickoff.
The referee was checking the time with the fourth official through his headset. The Stamford Bridge stadium, which was as noisy as a pot of boiling water, gradually quietened down.
The referee looked down at his watch and gave the fourth official a thumbs up. Everything was OK. The ball could be kicked off.
"Du —"
※ ※ ※
The commentator was still introducing his impression of Tony Twain as a conservative manager. His football was boring and could not make the audience cheer or applaud him at all. Other than the Nottingham Forest fans, there was probably no one else who would support him. This man had offended a lot of people in English football. Then, when he found that England was too small, he went to harm the European continent. Look at what he did to poor Frank Rijkaard … If he was allowed to win the Champions League in the end, I'm afraid the entire UEFA would go crazy …
Just as he was chattering away, the Forest team kicked the football out. After a simple return pass, the football reached Wood's feet.
Wood did not continue to pass the ball back. Instead, he kicked the football to the Dutch midfielder, van der Vaart, who was diagonally in front of him. He left the specific offense to van der Vaart to organize.
Van der Vaart did not dribble the ball. He just passed the football out. This was Tang En's request. Chelsea's midfield defensive ability was world-class. A player who took the ball too much could easily fall into the pincer defense of Essien, Makelele, and Ballack.
Tang En wanted the team to quickly pass through the midfield and not give the opponent time to entangle him. Under such circumstances, passing the ball was clearly a more effective method than dribbling the ball.
He always told his players that no matter how fast a person ran, even the world's 100m sprinter could not outrun the flying speed of a football. Therefore, if they wanted a quick attack, passing the ball was the best option.
Van der Vaart passed the football to Ribéry. After Ribéry attracted the attention of Chelsea's defense on the left flank, he immediately transferred the football with a big foot to Ashley Young on the right flank.
The Forest team's offensive passes were quick and decisive. Their overall positioning and support were very adept, fully demonstrating their rapport.
"As if it had been calculated, the Forest team switched the football from the left to the right with a few passes."
"Pay attention to his passes!" Chelsea's goalkeeper, Čech, roared. As an opponent in the English Premier League, he knew Ashley Young's technical characteristics like the back of his hand. The Premier League's assist king last season had an amazing talent and ability in passing.
Currently, the Forest team's center forward was van Nistelrooy, known as the "King of the Penalty Box." Ashley Young's passes were even more useful.
Čech did not dare to be careless and let everyone be on high alert.
Ashley Young did pass the ball, but he did not pass it to van Nistelrooy and Eastwood, who were outflanking in the middle. He kicked the football back and passed it to Chimbonda, who came up to assist.
"Trap their offense on the flank!" With that in mind, the Chelsea players rushed up to encircle and prevent Chimbonda and Ashley Young from playing the flank offense.
Chelsea's left-back, Ashley Cole, kept a firm eye on Ashley Young, not giving him a chance to slip away from his side, while Essien came over to defend against Chimbonda, not allowing him to easily pass the football to Ashley Young.
"The Forest team's offense quickly fell into a stalemate. Chelsea's defense is very solid."
Generally speaking, more people were needed to support Chimbonda at this time. Van der Vaart did not go. He just watched from a distance in the middle. Maybe it had nothing to do with him?
No, there was just a better candidate.
George Wood ran over from his defensive position. Chimbonda saw him through the gaps in the crowd and immediately passed the football to his captain, who came up to receive him.
Wood did not adjust after receiving the football. He did not even observe and directly kicked the football back to van der Vaart, who was waiting in the middle.
Ballack also wanted to come up while Wood stopped the ball to force him to turn around and pass the ball back. He did not expect Wood to pass the football out again without even observing. Moreover, the pass was very accurate.
After van der Vaart stopped the football, he could not turn around under Makelele's close marking, so he moved the football to the left flank. Ribéry plugged in again and passed the ball!
Van Nistelrooy had a head-on confrontation with Terry in front of the goal. In the end, Terry headed the football out of the end line under his interference.
"A beautiful attack, but a pity there was no goal. Terry's defense is reassuring! "The commentator gave the praise to the Blues captain, John Terry.
Tang En and his coaching staff looked at each other and smiled. These people saw what they wanted to see.
Where was the key to this attack, or rather, where was the transit point? It was not van der Vaart, but George Wood plugged in and received the pass, pulling the football out of the quagmire and then passing it to an open area.
This was the ability that Tang En had always hoped Wood would have, to help the team's offense and complete a seemingly inconspicuous but actually very crucial task in a seemingly inconspicuous place. Clearly, before running to receive Chimbonda, he had already clearly seen van der Vaart's position and knew what he should do best. That was why he could immediately send the football to where it was supposed to go after receiving Chimbonda's pass.
If the attacking midfielder was too far forward, his field of vision would be limited and he could easily be targeted by the opponent's defensive midfielder. The defensive midfielder was the same. His position was freer, and there was no inseparable defensive player by his side. He had ample space and freedom to make his moves.
It would be a waste if this position was only used for defense.
"Although we did not score, we had a good start." Tang En shook hands with the coaches in celebration. Then he walked up to Albertini.
"He did a good job."
Albertini nodded, his expression proud. "Of course, my student."
Tang En laughed. "I hope he can become the next metronome."
Albertini had this nickname when he played football. It meant that he was like a metronome on the field, controlling the pace of the team and the pace of the game. Tang En would not be satisfied if he was just a defensive midfielder who could participate in the offense. When Wood could become the dual core, from spirit to tactics, he could develop special tactics around the kid. When that time came, the Forest team would be incomparably strong with a large number of excellent players gathered around Wood.
"He still has a long way to go. He not only needs training, but also experience."
"He's still young anyway." Looking at Wood running on the field, Tang En added, "I'm still young too."
※ ※ ※
After the Forest team's corner kick was launched, Piqué's header was directly taken by Čech. Chelsea then launched a quick counterattack.
Čech tossed the ball, and Ballack received it and passed the football to Essien, who in turn passed the football to Lampard.
Mourinho did not want to confront Nottingham Forest's midfielders head-on here. Although the Forest team did not have a world-class lineup like Ballack, Essien, and Makelele, one George Wood was enough to give him a headache.
Lampard chose to shoot directly after he took the ball. He raised his leg to shoot from 28 meters away from the goal. He had wanted to catch Edwin van der Sar off guard, but he did not expect it to go wide of the goal.
After a brief sigh rang out at Stamford Bridge, it was immediately replaced by applause.
"Both sides have a beautiful attack after the start. Maybe this game will present us with a completely different Nottingham Forest and Chelsea?" This was the commentator's beautiful wish.
His wish was shattered by the ruthless reality in the following game.
The Forest team quickly chose to defend and counterattack tactics. Chelsea did not have many ways to defend against the Forest team. The UEFA Champions League semi-final fell into a quagmire five minutes after the start.
Defense, mistakes, steals. These were all the keywords of the game in these ten minutes. After both sides contributed a shot, their offense suddenly went silent.
Ten minutes later, there was the first yellow card. Makelele shoveled van der Vaart in defense and was given a yellow card warning by the referee for his excessive action.
Both managers wanted the football on their side to quickly pass through the midfield, but at the same time, they did not want the other side to quickly pass through their midfield. As a result, the midfield became the fiercest area of the war and a strategic point where neither side gave an inch.
Most of the time, the football wandered around in the midfield, appearing at the feet of the Forest team for a while and then running to Chelsea's side in the blink of an eye.
Because everyone focused on the midfield, the efficiency of the offense was pitifully low. The number of threatening shots on both sides added up did not exceed five fingers.
This was a situation that Tang En was happy to see, so he turned his head and sat back in the technical area. On the other side, Mourinho walked out of the technical area.
In the away game, Tang En's bottom line was a draw and an away goal, so he could still sit on the sidelines after the game reached a stalemate. Mourinho, on the other hand, was under a lot more pressure as the home team. He had to win.
Mourinho, dressed in a light blue shirt, rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and waved his arms vigorously to get the team to continue pressing forward while roaring into the field.
The team's offense was in a stalemate, and he could not sit still, pacing back and forth between the command area and the seats in the technical area.
Tang En glanced at him, wondering maliciously if Mourinho was going to shower and change his clothes during the halftime interval. His light blue shirt had gradually turned dark blue from the sweat that had seeped out.
※ ※ ※
"The game has been going on for 20 minutes, and the ball possession rate is out. Based on the statistics, Chelsea has the upper hand. Their 69% ball possession rate against Nottingham Forest's 31% is a huge gap. But the Chelsea players are not playing easily at all. Chelsea's biggest problem is that they can't score goals despite having the ball possession rate. On Nottingham Forest's side, if, and I mean if, the Forest team wins in the end, then this is really a classic 'Tony Twain's' game — using the ugliest scenario to win the most important game. But that would be a disaster for us fans. "
Tang En, who was sitting in the technical area, simply crossed his legs. He was deliberately angering a certain someone.
It did not matter if that busy person could not see it now. Tang En believed that the sensitive television broadcast would definitely capture it, and the effect would be the same after the game.
Chaos, the more chaos, the better. Chaos to the point that Chelsea could not find an offensive route, chaos to the point that they could not care about looking at the loopholes in their rear defensive line. That would be the best!
※ ※ ※
Mourinho paced back and forth on the sidelines for a while before sitting back down. After seeing Tang En's carefree posture, he was suddenly no longer anxious.
"George Wood is not a god. He alone can't take over the work of the entire defensive line," he muttered to his assistant beside him as he sat in the technical area.
The Forest team constantly used fouls and fierce defense to disrupt Chelsea's offensive rhythm. If Chelsea still followed the tactics set before the game, then it would only become more and more chaotic. The method of quickly passing through the midfield was no longer possible. That would only increase their team's active error rate.
"Get them to make more lateral shifts. Mobilize the Forest team's defensive line and look for loopholes, "he instructed the assistant beside him.
Chelsea quickly made adjustments according to the instructions.
George Wood found it more and more difficult to defend alone because Chelsea's offense was avoiding him. They always made lateral shifts and tired themselves out.
Because of their full trust in Wood's ability, he was the only dedicated defensive player in the Forest team's midfield.
By doing so, Chelsea intended to bypass him and directly break through the weak areas of the Forest team's defensive line. Without the protection from the rear, the Forest team's defensive line lost its valuable strategic depth. A penetrating straight pass or diagonal pass from the opponent could easily tear open the defensive line in front of Edwin van der Sar, and Chelsea's midfielders definitely had that ability.
Essien passed the ball to Robben, and George Wood came over to assist in the defense. Robben was not greedy this time. He watched as Wood came up and passed the ball to Lampard in the middle.
When Lampard received the ball, George Wood was still on the flank. No matter how good he was, he could not run over to help in the first instance.
"Lampard has the ball, and there are no Nottingham Forest players around him to defend for the time being. This is Chelsea's chance. Will he do another long shot?"
The commentator thought so, and so did Edwin van der Sar. His position was clearly to defend against Lampard's powerful long shot.
The Chelsea number 8 player liked long shots and was famous for being good at them.
Now that there was no one to mark him, he had no reason not to shoot.
Piqué could not care less about his own defensive area and pounced out to fill George Wood's position. Just as he stepped forward, Lampard lifted his leg and passed the ball!
The football rolled past Piqué. He wanted to stretch out his foot to stop it, but he tumbled and completely lost his position.
"A great opportunity!"
A huge wave suddenly rose in the stands of Stamford Bridge, and the blue sea pressed down on the red magma from all directions.
"Drogba received the ball, and there's no one around him. This opportunity is a free gift!"
Mourinho, who saw the scene, left his seat and leaned forward, ready to bounce out to celebrate.
Drogba turned around after he received the ball. Edwin van der Sar thought he was still going to break inside, so he was ready to attack to intercept the ball.
Unexpectedly, Drogba also lifted his leg to shoot at the same time he turned around. At such a close distance, Edwin van der Sar could not react at all. He watched the football fly past his face. The rising wind felt very clear on his face, as if it was in slow motion. It was very clear.
“What_a_GOOOOAL！”
It was the opposite of what Tang En had expected.
The voice that the Chelsea fans most wanted to hear finally rang out over Stamford Bridge.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
