Of course, although Twain said he wanted to win, a football game could not be won just by saying it. Without meticulous preparation and meticulous arrangements, coupled with the right tactics, winning was just an empty promise.
Sunderland was not strong, and their performance as a newly promoted team was also very much like a newly promoted team — the team's results fluctuated. In the first round of the league tournament, they faced Tottenham Hotspur at home. The game was very dull for both sides, but Sunderland continued their performance in the English Football League Championship last season. On the basis of tenacious defense, they actively launched a counterattack and finally knocked on the Tottenham Hotspur's goal in the last minute to get off to a good start.
Keane's debut in the new season also looked very successful and amazing.
Some experts could not wait to announce that this season's Sunderland was likely to become the Wigan Athletic of the previous two seasons.
But Keane really did not give the expert any face. In the second round of the league tournament, Sunderland drew 2: 2 with Birmingham City in an away game and lost 0: 3 to Middlesbrough in the third round. In the fourth round, they lost 0: 2 to Liverpool at home.
Then, on September 2, Keane returned to Old Trafford. He said goodbye to his former Manchester United teammate, "the legend" Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before the game — Solskjaer, who had been plagued by injuries, announced his official retirement. Although the atmosphere on both sides was good before the game, the Manchester United fans also gave Roy Keane, who led the team back to Old Trafford, a warm applause. Keane also hugged Ferguson in front of a large number of media. There was no smell of gunpowder in the air.
But after the game started, these warm scenes could not be seen. The final score was 1: 0. Sunderland played tenaciously, but the goal was pierced by a world-class long shot by Nani, the new Portuguese player who joined Manchester United this season. On the surface, Sunderland's luck was bad, and Manchester United scored in the worst way to score. In fact, Manchester United had a lot of chances in a normal game, but after Rooney was injured and sidelined, Manchester United's forward line suddenly could not find a direction to attack.
After Carlos Tevez came on, he did not have enough chemistry with his teammates to form an effective offensive cooperation.
As for Cristiano Ronaldo, he sat in the audience with Rooney to recuperate.
Dong Fangzhuo, who China fans were very concerned about, was on the squad list and sat on the bench. But no matter how Manchester United's attack was blocked, he just did not get a chance to play. He sat on the substitutes' bench for 90 minutes, which made the Chinese fans look forward to 90 minutes.
In the end, Manchester United relied on Nani's goal to defeat Sunderland, led by Keane.
Sunderland's three consecutive defeats shut the mouths of the experts who had been optimistic about them. Although Wigan Athletic lost to Nottingham Forest in the first game of the new season, they performed quite well later on. Otherwise, they would not have been regarded as a dark horse. Sunderland's performance was a far cry from the image of a "black horse". Just like their nickname, "Black Cat" was a cat, not a horse.
In the sixth round of the league tournament, Sunderland finally ushered in their second league victory of the season. They defeated Fulham 2: 1 on their home ground.
The Sunderland fans thought that the previous three consecutive defeats were just a small accident. The team always lost because they were not as lucky as their opponents, and the team was slowly adapting to the pace of the Premier League. It could be seen from the changes in the score of their losses. In the beginning, they lost to Middlesbrough by three goals. Then, they lost to Liverpool by two goals. Then, they only lost to Manchester United by one goal. Now, Sunderland won the game against Fulham! What did this mean? It meant that the team's condition was getting better from game to game. We won against Fulham by one goal this round, and we will win against Nottingham Forest in the next round … by two goals?
It sounded a little funny. With the gap in strength between Sunderland and the Forest team, it was almost impossible. But who was the manager of Sunderland? It was the fearless Roy Keane. With him around, there would be miracles. Thinking about our miserable situation in the English Championship last season, who could believe that we could be promoted in the end? We couldn't believe it ourselves. Roy Keane is here. He said at the inaugural press conference, "I'm not here to lead the team to avoid relegation." In the end, he did what he said.
It was not impossible to win against Nottingham Forest in an away game. There was no team in the world that was unbeatable.
But unfortunately, Twain did not intend to let the Sunderland fans get what they wanted.
In the face of the newly promoted team, Sunderland, Twain sent out the strongest lineup he could. The goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, the center backs, Ayala and Pepe, the left back, Gareth Bale, and the right back, Rafinha. The center midfielders, George Wood and van der Vaart, the left midfielder, Ribery, the right midfielder, Beckham, and the strikers, Van Nistelrooy and Arshavin.
Eastwood had a minor injury, and playing continuously was not good for his recovery. So, after the Champions League group stage match against Porto, he was excluded from the squad list by Twain and told to recuperate at home.
This lineup was not quite the same as the one against Porto four days ago. Twain rotated several positions: Gareth Bale replaced Grosso, Ayala replaced Piqué, and Arshavin replaced Eastwood. Even so, this lineup was still considered superior in England.
Twain did not want others to think that he had deliberately let his good friend Roy Keane off. That would be the biggest insult to his professional ethics.
Roy Keane would not be willing to let the opponent go easy. He sent out the strongest lineup in the away game, hoping to get three points.
Sunderland adopted a strategy of steady defense and counterattack against the Forest team. Twain was familiar with this tactic and was not surprised. Because as the Forest team's reputation grew, more and more teams used defensive counterattack to deal with them.
Sunderland was just one of them.
Nottingham Forest's unbeaten record of five wins and one draw in the first six rounds of the league tournament this season was not achieved by luck. Many of the teams hoped to play a defensive counterattack against the Forest team, but what was the final result? It was still a loss.
Today's Nottingham Forest was not a team that did not know what to do in the face of the opponent's impenetrable formation. Set pieces, long shots, short passes in the middle to penetrate, both wings flying together … They had many ways to break open the opponent's stubborn defense. Van der Vaart's ability to organize the attack in front of the opponent's penalty area was much better than Albertini's and Arteta's. With him, the Forest team's front field organization had a backbone. Coupled with van Nistelrooy and Bendtner, who were not afraid of physical confrontations and were smart, Twain did not have as much of a headache as before even if the opponent laid out a heavy force in front of the goal.
In addition to sticking to defensive counterattack drills, the Forest team also focused on practicing how to break the opponent's impenetrable formation and how to deal with the opponent in positional warfare. They had an advantage in that they were experts in playing defensive counterattack. They knew the weaknesses of defensive counterattack, understood the psychology of defensive counterattack, and had a clear way to deal with it.
During the attack, van Nistelrooy was the first to go up to attract the opponent's defensive attention and push the opponent's defensive line back.
But it was often not the center forward who truly completed the fatal blow, but Eastwood, Arshavin, or even van der Vaart who plugged in from the back.
Now the center forward's role was not to break the goal and score, but to carry out tactical tasks. As long as the center forward went up, the opponent's defensive line had to follow and retreat. They dared not not defend. Because no matter the tactic, the center forward was the opposing player closest to the goal and the most capable of breaking the goal. As for whether there were other offensive players plugging in from the back, it depended on the coordination between the midfield defense and the defenders.
Plugging in from the back to attack was one of the mainstream tactics in the world of football. The reason for its success lay in its diversity and uncertainty. No one knew when the opponent would plug in from the back, who would plug in from the back, or if the opponent would plug in from the back, which gave the attacking side the basis to implement the tactic. Soldiers were crafty. Football tactics were the same. It was deception and anti-deception.
Seeing van Nistelrooy aggressively squeeze into the penalty area, the Sunderland defenders did not dare to let their guard down. They placed their defensive forces in the penalty area and their defense at the front of the penalty area weakened. Van der Vaart took the ball in front of the penalty area. For a moment, the Sunderland defenders did not go up to snatch it. Instead, they were worried that they would leave a gap behind them after they went up, allowing the opponent to seize the opportunity to plug in …
The Dutchman seized the opportunity to make a powerful long shot.
The football hit within the goalpost and was pounced out of the end line by Sunderland's main goalkeeper, Craig Gordon. Gordon was the Scotland's main goalkeeper that Keane had spent nine million pounds to transfer into before the season. In his first game, Sunderland had a clean sheet against Tottenham Hotspur and won by one goal. His performance was unanimously praised. After that, his performance was up and down with Sunderland. He conceded six goals in three consecutive defeats. Only in the last game against Manchester United did he receive praise. The experts' opinion was that "if it weren't for Gordon, Sunderland would have lost by five goals."
Tang En had never been optimistic about Gordon because the goalkeeper lacked the most important element — stability. This person might be able to perform as if he had the help of God in one game, but he would be useless to the team as a whole if he swallowed three goals in more games.
Alright, here's the question. In this match, would Gaden have the help of God? Or would he swallow three goals?
The Forest team's Bale went to take the corner kick. He was a left-footed player and took the corner kick on the right. The ball would definitely spin towards the front of the goal. Suddenly, the defenders and attackers were all concentrated in front of the goal, ready to fight for the header. At this moment, Beckham, who had been at the far end, suddenly ran over. Was he going to kick?
No. Bale had pushed the football out. Beckham did not stop the ball and directly swung his leg to pass the ball!
The football that was originally spinning inwards became a curving ball that spun outwards. Sunderland's previous defensive arrangements all fell through. Pepe and van Nistelrooy were also proven to be just a cover. Their role was to attract the opponent's defensive attention and then create opportunities for their teammates who plugged in from behind.
Ayala, who had been wandering on the outside, suddenly rushed out. He snatched the ball in front of everyone and swung his header …
"The ball's in! No one expected it! Ayala is the target of this header … Look at Beckham's corner kick. It's simply aimed at the Argentine defender! 1: 0! Nottingham Forest has taken the lead at home! "
A set piece was the best way to break the opponent's tight defense.
Seeing the goal concede, Keane rushed from the technical area to the sidelines with some dissatisfaction, expressing his anger at the defender's missed defense.
Tang En, on the other hand, sat in the technical area with his annoying legs crossed leisurely.
After having Bale and Beckham, the two great set piece masters, the Forest team usually placed the various tactical drills of set pieces in a very important position. This sudden change from a long corner kick to a short corner kick was just one of them.
※ ※ ※
Following that, the Forest team changed its stance as a strong team after taking the lead. They gave up the method of besieging the opponent in positional warfare. Instead, they retreated with a plan and contended with Sunderland in the midfield. Tang En knew Keane's character. Trailing by a goal, he would definitely ask the team to press for a goal and reverse the disadvantage. The Forest team did not retreat to the back field and waited for Sunderland to come up in the midfield. In terms of the strength of the midfield, Sunderland could not compare to Nottingham Forest.
George Wood was now the hottest defensive midfielder in the English Premier League and even in European football. How would Keane feel when he saw the kid he had given pointers back then now full of vigor on the field to stop his players …
Sunderland's offense appeared too monotonous when facing the Forest team, and they were completely at a disadvantage in terms of individual skills. It could be said that the current Sunderland was a very typical English style of football — not in terms of "long passes" tactics, but in terms of their emphasis on the body and will, but their lack of skills. Under the transformation of Tang En and the Foreign Legion, the Forest team's technical level was already considered relatively outstanding in the English Premier League. At the very least, they rarely stopped the ball for more than five meters. This was not a joke. The Sunderland players frequently stopped the ball at such a low level under the Forest team's pressing. If they could not even stop the ball well, how could they talk about organizing an attack?
Tang En was not worried about Sunderland's counterattack at all because he had already carefully studied Keane's team. Keane had only been in charge of the team for a short time. No matter how many grand plans he had in mind, there was no time for him to put them into practice one by one. The current Sunderland team still retained the style of playing in the English Football League Championship. Body and will were first, technique second. This method was very popular in the English Football League Championship, but it would not work well in the higher level English Premier League. If they wanted to have a big development, it was essential to take the technical route. Whether it was the artistic style of Arsenal, the integrated style of Manchester United, or the "pseudo-technical style" of other English Premier League teams, technique must be valued.
The accumulation of the gap in individual skills became a huge gap between the two teams. This gap led to the Forest team controlling the pace of the game on the field in the beginning. Sunderland's desire to equalize the score was only a thought, and it felt somewhat powerless.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides to fight again. Keane unwillingly made adjustments to his offense, wanting to forcefully tear apart the Forest team's overall defense by strengthening the offense. Unfortunately, it was because the accumulation of the individual gap had become the gap between the team as a whole, and he was powerless to reverse the situation.
After the Forest team firmly controlled the pace of the game, they leisurely dealt with Sunderland, looking for an opportunity … and then dealt a fatal blow.
In the 17th and 39th minutes of the second half, the Forest team scored two more goals.
In the end, the score of the game was 3: 0, with Nottingham Forest winning. Poor Clegg Gordon once again swallowed three clean goals. The goalkeeper that Keane had high hopes for was a little dejected after the game ended.
After the final whistle, Tang En took the initiative to go up to Roy Keane to shake hands. "I have to say it's a real pity, Roy."
Keane pursed his lips. "Come on, Tony. Put away that hypocritical smile of yours. We lost, and you guys won. There's nothing more to say. "
Tang En spread his hands and looked innocent. "But we still have to put on an act in front of the media, don't we?"
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.
