In the home team's locker room, Tang En gave Ribéry a strong hug.
"Oh, Franck, if you were a beauty, I'd kiss you," Tang En said affectionately, making everyone laugh.
When everyone finished laughing, he held out his hands with four fingers on his left hand and five on his right.
"Forty-five seconds. I'm glad we dealt a blow to Chelsea's arrogance in time. I like this kind of game. When the opponent has just ignited a glimmer of hope, we will act and extinguish it without hesitation! "He made a pinching gesture. "Let them go from heaven to hell and know the difficulties of the world, the fickleness of human nature, and the harshness of society!"
Everyone laughed again.
"All right, let's talk about the second half." Tang En clapped his hands, and the players gradually quieted down. "The situation is in our favor now. That's the biggest advantage. Mourinho's team wanted to use a full-court press to disrupt our rhythm of the game, to destroy our offense and defense. They almost succeeded. Fortunately, Ribéry equalized the score in the next forty-five seconds. I can predict that Chelsea will do the same in the second half and continue their full-court press tactics. For there is no other way for him to go. "He spread out his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
"This kind of press is very physically draining. This is our chance. Don't change anything. Just do as we did in the second half of the first half. Deal with them in the midfield, stabilize the defense, and don't give them a chance to directly threaten our goal. "
The players nodded. What the boss said made sense.
"After the halftime break, they will recover some energy. So, the first ten minutes of the second half is the key. We must hold on and not let them score. As long as we maintain this score until after seventy minutes, the scales of victory will tilt in our favor. If the score is still 1: 1, Chelsea will get impatient and press forward. Coupled with their lack of stamina … That will be our chance! " Tang En raised his right index finger. "One goal. Just one more goal, and Chelsea will completely collapse!"
"Remember, it must be us who go to Athens!"
"That's right! It's us —!! "
※ ※ ※
Fifteen minutes later, the second half of the game resumed. The two teams switched sides and fought again.
Mourinho stood on the sidelines from the first minute, with his arms crossed and a serious expression on his face as he watched the game.
He told his players that the first ten minutes of the second half was the golden time to score a goal. They had to seize it, no matter what.
He knew, and so did Tang En. That was why he had asked the team to pay attention to their defense during the first ten minutes of the second half.
In those ten minutes, the Forest team completely gave up on attacking. Everyone blocked outside the penalty area to guard against Chelsea's attack.
In those ten minutes, Chelsea created three dangerous situations. Each time, it caused the Forest fans to exclaim. But it was just a cry of surprise — it was a daunting experience, but not a dangerous one. Drogba, Robben and Lampard's shots were all blocked outside the goal line by the entire Forest team.
Edwin van der Sar was not enough. There was also Piqué, Kompany, Chimbonda, Leighton Baines and George Wood.
Except for their arms, which were not allowed by the rules, they used every part of their bodies to block each other's attacks. Did Chelsea press very hard in the front field? The Forest team's current tactical guiding ideology was to push forward with big strides and stall for time.
Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes … The Forest team would have a chance to fight back if it dragged on like this until the entire Chelsea team started to get impatient and showed signs of not being able to run.
Before that, all Nottingham Forest needed was patience to wait for the opportunity to appear and ensure that they did not reveal any fatal flaws.
Just like that, ten minutes passed quickly. Chelsea did not score. It looked like they had lost their best chance to score.
No, Chelsea did not give up. They clearly knew that it was physically draining, but they still persisted in running and pressing all over the field, not letting go of any chance to threaten the Forest team's goal.
Tang En looked at the time on the big screen. Ten minutes were up. But he could not relax. He walked to the sidelines, curled his hands into a "bucket" shape, and shouted inside, "Don't relax. Continue to defend!"
After Tang En finished shouting and went back, Mourinho came up and shouted Shevchenko's name, hoping that the world-class striker could get into form early to break through the Forest team's defense and break the deadlock for the team.
Unfortunately, the striker, whom Abramovich admired very much, was not acclimatized in Chelsea. In the face of the Forest team's defense, which was comparable to Italy's, without space, he could only be a "second passer" or try a few long shots.
Chelsea also tried to pass the ball from the flank and pass the football into the penalty area by way of a high ball, hoping that the well-rounded striker, Shevchenko, could fight for a header. Unfortunately, the height of the Forest team's rear defensive line was too high, and controlling the air was their strength. Even if Shevchenko could head the ball, it was mostly deflected or high.
The most important thing was that the Forest team defended as a whole. The first line of defense was built from the striker all the way to the goalkeeper. Everyone had to participate in the defense. They compressed the three lines into this narrow thirty-meter area. Because the formation was well maintained, it was like a thick wall that was not so easy to penetrate.
The Forest team first used this defensive tactic in the 03-04 EFL Cup final. At that time, this overall defense left McClaren's Middlesbrough helpless. It also helped Tang En win the first championship trophy in his coaching career.
At the time, the game was criticized by the media as a dull and boring battle that would not leave any trace in the 42-year history of the EFL Cup. Other than bringing a championship trophy to Tony Tang En, it was meaningless.
Later, as the Forest team's strength increased, Tang En rarely used this extremely lowly tactic. Although he rarely used it, it did not mean he did not know how to practice it. Defense was always at the tip of Tang En's tongue. He would not change his style of doing things because of what outsiders thought. He asked the team to practice all kinds of defensive tactics, even if they did not use this "wall defense." As he once said to Des Walker:
I train them. When I ask them to do something, they can do it.
This was his goal, and now he had achieved it.
※ ※ ※
What was the professional football game fought for? Even if it wasn't the ball under his feet, it wasn't something illusory like victory or glory. In the eyes of the coaches, there were only two simple words in a football game that was covered with countless hats — time and space.
When attacking, time and space were needed to deal with the ball. When defending, time and space were needed to prevent the opponent from controlling the ball.
To put it bluntly, a football game was actually a fight for time and space on the field.
Nottingham Forest's wall defense was an extreme case of compressing time and space.
Tang En could allow his opponents to pass the ball back and forth in the three midfield zones (near the center circle) because it was far enough away from the goal, unless everyone was like Beckham and Xabi Alonso, who could kick the ball into the goal from the back. The focus of the defense was in the three defensive zones, which was commonly known as the 30-meter zone. This was an area that any team had to heavily defend.
Why was the "wall defense" extreme? Because most other teams only put a complete rear defensive line here. At most, they did not allow the two full backs to assist and required the defensive midfielder in the midfield to assist in defense.
Tang En, on the other hand, moved almost all three lines into the 30-meter area.
Other than the center forward near the center circle, ready to counterattack, everyone else retreated to defend. When necessary, the two full backs could even retreat into the penalty area to act as the center backs, while the side midfielders retreated to temporarily perform the duties of the full backs.
There was no need to mention the two players in the middle of the midfield. George Wood was known as "a man born for defense." His other partner, whether it was Albertini, Arteta, or van der Vaart, had to return to defend when the coach needed them. It was just that van der Vaart's situation was special. He did not have to go too deep when he returned to defend, because at the same time, he had to shoulder the task of allowing the team to turn to counterattack at any time.
With such a lineup under the guidance of Tang En's tactical concept of "defense is the foundation of victory," one could imagine the power of the defensive tactics they had painstakingly practiced.
This was the second time Tang En had let the team use the wall defense, and it was used against Chelsea. It could be seen how determined he was to go to Athens.
In the face of such a game, the commentator wanted to yawn. "We originally thought that the Forest team would have the confidence to have a hearty confrontation with Chelsea when they return to their home ground and are in the lead. Unfortunately, Tony Twain is really worthy of being the 'most conservative manager.' No matter when it is, he can't forget defense, defense, defense. Even if he can make it to the final, this kind of performance can't win them any place in the hearts of the fans."
If Tang En could hear the commentator's words, he would definitely scoff at the commentator's words. He did not need to be responsible for the majority of the neutral fans. He only needed to be responsible for these Nottingham Forest fans. If you asked them which they would choose between good-looking football or championship football, nine out of ten people would tell you — championship football.
Why? Because these people had been away from championship football for too long. They had been away from the glorious years of the past for too long. The glory of the past was constantly churning in their minds, reminding them of how great Nottingham Forest used to be. The times when their red clothes fluttered in the wind and swept across Europe were so exciting that they could not extricate themselves from it.
※ ※ ※
There was a sudden burst of loud shouts in the corner of the stands.
Chelsea once again snatched the Forest team's ball through their relentless forward pressing and tackling and switched to the offense. They made use of the individual skills of several star players to play an amazing cooperation.
First, Makelele passed the football to Essien, and then Essien poked the football out when George Wood closed in for a tackle.
Chelsea was closing in on the Forest team, and was the Forest team not doing the same thing to Chelsea?
The ball rolled in front of Shevchenko. At the same time, Leighton Baines had already taken aim at the striker, whom the English media called a "substandard product."
Just as he was about to circle around to the front to defend and sneak attack the opponent, Shevchenko had long noticed the movement behind him. He cleverly took advantage of Li Yongle and Baines's point to protect the football and turn around in the opposite direction!
As soon as he turned around, Shevchenko saw Piqué in front of him. At such a close distance, it was not impossible for him to break through, but … He glanced at Drogba in the middle, and Kompany was looking at him.
There should be a better choice …
A little further away, because there were too many people and his line of sight was blocked, he could not see. But during usual training, he knew who that area belonged to. There was no reason for that person not to be there at this time.
Shevchenko made up his mind and flicked his foot to pass the ball.
The ball was thrown out with great force. If Drogba received it, he would not be able to stop the pass because of the force of the pass, which would instead give the opponent a chance to steal the ball. Drogba was also aware of the situation. Obviously, the ball was not passed to him …
He made to receive the ball to attract Kompany and the other defenders to come up, but when the football came, he separated his legs and let the ball roll directly under his crotch.
This shook the Forest team's entire rear defensive line!
Robben appeared where he was supposed to be.
"Robben! He received Shevchenko's pass! No one is marking him … This is a great opportunity for Chelsea!! "
The commentator roared at the top of his lungs, hoping that Robben could pierce through Edwin van der Sar's goal with one kick. Once the score was 1: 2, it would be useless for Tang En to be conservative. At that time, the situation would force this conservative manager to give up his conservatism and press out to attack. There would be a good show then.
After receiving the football, Robben adjusted a little. Chimbonda had already turned to pounce on him.
As a teammate of the Netherlands national team, Edwin van der Sar knew that it was almost impossible for Robben to pass the ball in this situation. He moved quickly to block the angle of Robben's shot.
Chimbonda and Kompany were both moving towards Robben. As long as they cooperated well, the crisis of this attack could be safely resolved.
Just when everyone thought Robben would pass the ball, just when the Forest team's defensive focus quickly shifted to him, Robben passed the ball!
He swept the football to the middle …
"Drogba shoots!"
Although there was still a person in front of him, the magical beast still did not hesitate to lift his leg and shoot. He knew that once the football stopped, there would really be no chance.
The football did not fly into the goal. Instead, it hit Leighton Baines in the arm …
When Baines turned to block the ball with his back, his arm rose, and the football hit his hand. With its momentum reduced, it was kicked out by George Wood, who dared to come back.
Just as the Forest fans were ready to cheer that their team had escaped a disaster, the referee's shrill whistle sounded.
The Chelsea players in the penalty area all raised their arms and signaled to the referee, who was running over, that the opponent had committed a handball foul!
"Leighton Baines handball! It's too obvious! There's not even a slow-motion replay! "The commentator roared excitedly. Although there was no goal, this situation was not much different from a goal, right? The deadlock was about to be broken, and the balance had tilted!
The referee pointed to the penalty spot without hesitation — there was no doubt that it was a penalty!
The Nottingham Forest players were dumbfounded. Leighton Baines knelt on the ground with his hands over his head. He certainly knew he had committed a handball, but he did not do it on purpose. The problem was that the referee would not believe it if he said it now. Otherwise, any player who committed a handball foul could say it was not intentional … It was useless to go to the referee to defend himself. He knelt on the ground full of remorse — why did I raise my hand!
He did not expect that the ball would fly straight into the goal if he did not raise his hand. Although it was a penalty, there was still a chance to decide whether the ball would go in or not.
The other Forest players surrounded the referee and pleaded with him to show that Baines did not commit a deliberate foul. He did not intend to commit a handball. It was the ball that hit his hand, not a handball …
It was useless.
In the face of these people's explanations, the referee kept shaking his head. How could the decision be changed? Besides, I saw him handball with my own eyes. Now was not the time for self-doubt and criticism.
When he saw the referee award the penalty, Mourinho jumped up from his seat. He could not wait to hug the people around him to celebrate. The tackle in the front field finally gave him a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
It was perfect to use this penalty to end Nottingham Forest's madness this season!
On the other side, Twain stared at the field with wide eyes. He could not believe what he saw …
After painstakingly defending … He looked up at the big screen again. They had defended for sixty-eight minutes. There were still two minutes to go until the seventy minute, but they were awarded a penalty!
This was too much of a prank!
"What is this? What the hell is this? "He muttered, his tone already filled with a strong sense of anger. "What the f * ck is this!"
Dunn lightly patted Twain on the shoulder. "Maybe things aren't as bad as you think."
Twain turned his head and glared at him. "What do I think?"
Dunn did not answer him. He just looked at Edwin van der Sar, who was standing in front of the door, shaking his arms and doing simple warm-up moves.
※ ※ ※
Seeing Twain lose his temper in front of the technical area, a smile appeared on Mourinho's face. His opponent had lost his composure, and he had won half the battle. Psychological warfare was equally important in a football match.
He could almost see the Goddess of Victory waving at him, and this Goddess of Victory was dressed like an Athenian priestess …
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