At halftime, the situation that Guti had to face in the second half was still in his imagination. He might be able to learn a little from previous games to get a feel of it in advance, but those teams were not Nottingham Forest, and the managers of those teams were not Tony Twain.
After the second half began, he quickly understood how he would spend the second half.
George Wood was still here to mark him, but the people who violated him were van der Vaart and the others.
Guti had made up his mind at halftime that he would not be angry no matter how Wood provoked him. On the contrary, he would find a way to get Wood off the field. The current situation was completely different from what he had imagined. The Forest team let these people take turns to provoke him, or foul him directly, or act crudely, somewhere between a foul and a non-foul, or make some small moves that the referee could not see, which tormented Guti.
There were several times when he almost could not stand it anymore. He wanted to retaliate fiercely and then swagger away — he knew that his revenge would be a red card.
But he just thought about it and did not put it into practice.
He had indeed made great progress in controlling his temper.
※ ※ ※
The game continued, and Real Madrid's offense was still mainly organized by Guti. When Guti was repeatedly violated by the Nottingham Forest players, the other Real Madrid players consciously took over Guti's work. Diarra was very active in the offense. Although his offensive level might be the weakest of Real Madrid's four midfielders, he was the most active one because he was the defensive midfielder and had more opportunities to take the ball.
It was a little incredible. Diarra should be mainly defensive, but he rushed to the front of the Forest team's penalty area many times and did not go back. Sometimes he could be seen on the right flank. In short, everything he did was related to the offense. And when the Forest team counterattacked, Diarra was still running slowly in front — his speed really could not be considered fast, coupled with his somewhat special running posture, he looked weak all over and could not run fast, which really made people anxious to see him.
Sneijder was a very comprehensive midfielder, but in Twain's eyes, it was not feasible to let him bear the heavy responsibility of organizing the offense.
For some reason, Twain always worried about Sneijder when he watched him play. What was there to worry about? He was worried that he would take the initiative to make mistakes. He always seemed to be unable to control the football. The range of his movements was very large and it looked very rash. He was on the left flank of Real Madrid's midfield, and his main task was to assist in the offense and defense. In any case, it was to assist … Under Nottingham Forest's pressing attack, he looked a little embarrassed.
On the other side, Robinho's position was more flexible. He moved left and right, and he was someone who gave Tang En a headache. His individual skills were outstanding, and he could sometimes be an important factor in breaking the balance in a deadlock.
Overall, Real Madrid had the advantage on the field, and Nottingham Forest was still focused on defense.
※ ※ ※
Twain observed Gutti from the sidelines. He realized that Gutti was clearly very angry, but he did not vent his anger. This made him very depressed. If Gutti could really control her temper, then he would be the one to suffer in the end …
Because the more fouls, the higher the chances of getting a card. It was not a good thing to get more and more cards.
But Twain could not change his decision. Although it was a provocation and provocation to Guti, Nottingham Forest had to keep a close eye on Guti from a formal tactical point of view. They could not give him too much room to move. Otherwise, his straight pass could tear up the Forest team's defense.
Twelve minutes into the second half, van der Vaart finally got a yellow card. He was given a yellow card warning by the referee for bringing down Gutti from behind. There were bursts of discontent in the Bernabéu stands. It was not that the fans did not think van der Vaart should not have gotten a yellow card, but that the referee had given the yellow card too late. According to their standards, George Wood should have been sent off in the first half, and the Forest team should only have one goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, left after ten minutes in the second half.
Gutti still did not explode. He even had a smile on his face. Was he mocking van der Vaart for the foul or Tony Twain for coming up with such an idea?
Twain sat in the technical area with a frown and a serious expression.
The location of van der Vaart's foul was not very good …
Twenty-five meters away from the goal, to the left of the front of the penalty area.
Sneijder, who had been forced to defend by the Nottingham Forest players for almost sixty minutes, stood in front of the football, wearing the number 23 jersey. The original owner of the jersey was standing in the human wall at that moment, with his hands over his chest, nervously watching the new Real Madrid number 23 in front of him.
Since the departure of Beckham and Roberto Carlos, Real Madrid's first free kick taker had become the Dutch kid.
The beginning of the season was perfect for Sneijder. Crazy goals, crazy victories, long shots and free kicks had all been successful for Real Madrid, especially after he knocked open Villarreal's goal with a free kick. He was hailed as the "new Beckham."
Of course, Sneijder himself did not like to be called that, because it sounded like he was just a replacement for Beckham. But in fact, he was Sneijder, not anyone's second son.
Sneijder stood in front of the ball and stared intently in front of him. Gutti stood next to him. Everyone knew he was there to cover for Sneijder. Everyone's eyes were on Sneijder.
The human wall was set up under Edwin van der Sar's command to block the near corner, and then Edwin van der Sar retreated to the far corner.
"Sneijder is going to kick this ball …"
The referee's whistle rang. Before the commentator could finish, he saw Gutti run to the football. The Forest team's human wall was unmoved because they knew it was a feint. The Dutchman behind was the real deal.
Gutti did not run directly over the football. He paused in front of the ball and then swung his left leg …
Tang En abruptly stood up from his seat and shouted, "Oh no …"
Sneijder stood behind Gutti and did not even move. He watched the football kicked by Gutti, flew over the stunned human wall, and fell straight into the near corner of the goal!
Edwin van der Sar did not expect Gutti to shoot the free kick. He did not react. He just turned his head and watched the football fly into the goal.
Looking back to see the football enter the goal, Gutti clenched his fists and raised his arms to shout. Next to him, Sneijder wanted to come up and hug him to celebrate, but he was almost elbowed. The resentment accumulated in his chest from the previous repeated violations finally had a chance to vent. At this moment, he was like an erupting volcano, and it was dangerous to get close to him.
Raúl was the first to rush up and hug him tightly, containing the hot magma spewed out by Gutti.
This goal was too important for Real Madrid.
"Gutti! Gutti! Gutti! " Loud cheers erupted in the stands at the Bernabéu. These people shouted the name of their vice-captain and jumped up from their seats.
Like them, Schuster and the others in the Real Madrid technical area also rushed out with their arms raised. With the score equalized, the boulder in his heart finally fell to the ground …
The goal was finally lost, but Twain did not fly into a rage. He stood on the sidelines and just shook his head.
It seemed that Gutti was more tenacious than expected today. He was unmoved in the face of those provocations. Twain felt he had to give up on the tactical arrangements he said at halftime. Wood alone was enough to deal with Gutti. More people would only mess up his rhythm.
While the other side was still celebrating the goal, Twain called Wood to his side.
"George, go up and tell them that Gutti is still yours. Yours alone." He pointed to Wood and said to him.
Wood nodded.
"If you want to foul, it's best to do it near the center circle. If it's in front of the penalty area, try not to let him turn around as the main defensive strategy. You know what to do. "
Wood continued to nod.
"Don't give them a chance for free kicks in such a dangerous place. Breaking a tight defense, a set piece is a very important means. Tell them to put more effort into the counterattack. We have to score another goal if we have a chance. "
"Okay." Wood turned and was about to run back when Twain called him again.
"Be careful not to get a card, George."
Wood grunted in acknowledgment and turned to run back to the field again.
Twain also walked back to the technical area and sat down. He shrugged at Dunn next to him with a helpless look.
Dunn comforted him, "It's nothing. We have an away goal, and it's only a draw. Overall, we have the advantage. "
Twain shook his head and did not accept the consolation. "I wanted to leave the Bernabéu with a victory before the game …"
"The game is not over yet." Dunn could only continue to comfort him.
Twain did not say anything. He turned his head to pay attention to the game on the field again.
※ ※ ※
Wood returned to the field with Twain's latest orders. Then Gutti found that the people besieging him were gone. There was only George Wood left in front of him. He turned his head to look at Nottingham Forest's technical area. He knew it must be the manager's intention.
Did he find it useless to let so many people deal with me alone?
Gutti smiled proudly.
Yes, he was forced to the point where he could not make a successful direct pass at all. Other than a cross pass and a return pass, it was a mistake. But you can't stop me from taking a free kick, can you? Don't think that just because Real Madrid had Figo, Roberto Carlos, Beckham, Zidane, and now Sneijder, the others can't take a free kick.
You guys besieging me is exactly what I want. With so many fouls, I'll get the most suitable free kick I want one time.
But Gutti soon could not laugh anymore. He found that after the number of people besieging him decreased, his chances did not increase. George Wood no longer made provoking him his first goal. Instead, he seriously defended against him.
As a famous defensive genius, Gutti was miserable under Wood's watch. If he was far away from the goal, Wood would intercept the ball if he could. If he could not intercept the ball, he would not hesitate to use a hidden foul to settle the battle. When he was close to the penalty area, he mainly interfered and did not easily make a move. He forced Gutti to hand the football to his teammates. If Gutti insisted on fighting Wood alone, it would be as he wished. But Gutti did not win many times.
In addition, when Real Madrid wanted to attack and began to pass the football to Gutti from the backfield, Gutti was used to turning his head to observe the position of his teammates and opponents before receiving the ball. Then, he could decide what to do when he received the ball. And Wood would take advantage of this opportunity and rely on his explosive power to suddenly snatch the ball. Several times, he intercepted the ball that should have belonged to Gutti.
Later, when Gutti received the ball, he could only think about how to protect the football first, and then think about how to organize the attack. As a result, Real Madrid's offense was greatly reduced.
Robinho was an excellent player, but he was still unable to become the organizer of the team's offense. He single-handedly battled with the Forest team's two full backs on the flank. Unfortunately, he was of little help to Real Madrid's offense. Some people might like to watch him perform fancy techniques in front of defenders. But in Twain's eyes, such a performance was useless, because unless he could break in a straight line, he only moved horizontally outside. No matter how fancy his movements were, he was no different from a circus clown.
Robinho's movements were a lot more practical than when he first came to Real Madrid. But the "flashy but impractical" side of the Brazilian's nature was still deeply ingrained. Sometimes when he was obsessed with the movements of his feet, the team had already lost the opportunity to attack. And his own movements were too cumbersome, not as simple and practical as Messi's. Messi's characteristics could be summed up in one word — fast. His movements were fast, and his stride frequency was fast. This was the most practical technique on the modern football field.
Twain laughed every time he saw Robinho start to move like a bicycle in front of Bale or other defensive players. If my defender was deceived by a few movements that he knew were feints, Nottingham Forest would not be able to become European champions by relying on defense. If he had the time to bury his head and move like a bicycle, wouldn't it be better to make a feint and directly pass the ball?
When Robinho first debuted, people exclaimed that he was "Pele's successor." But in Twain's eyes, Robinho's progress in the past few years was really limited. He was still light years away from the expectations people had for him.
At least the Robinho in this game was not to be feared.
※ ※ ※
Guti received George Wood's "meticulous" close care after his goal. Robinho was stuck in the quagmire of fighting alone. Sneijder's condition was average and he was exhausted between offense and defense. Higuaín was at a loss under the Forest team's ferocious close tackle and took the initiative to make frequent mistakes.
Only Raúl was as diligent as ever. But he could not get the ball without the effective support of the midfield. Driven by his sense of responsibility during defense, he even had to return to his own penalty area to defend. It was doubtful how much energy he could put into the offense. Of course, it was not that he did not put in effort, but that if he worked too hard in defense, it might affect his performance in offense.
As for Marcelo and Ramos, Schuster was clearly afraid of the Forest team's flank offense and did not ask them to frequently assist.
Real Madrid had no way to deal with Nottingham Forest's entrenched defense.
And Nottingham Forest? They had a few opportunities to counterattack, but they did not take advantage of it. In the end, Real Madrid attacked wildly and they simply did not even have a chance to fight back.
At the end of the game, the score was 1: 1.
The score must have made Schuster very unhappy, but he did not show it. He just stood on the sidelines for a while, then turned to shake hands with Twain, and walked into the tunnel with his head down.
Twain did not show a happy side even though they had obtained an away goal and a draw. He felt a little helpless. He had hoped to win, but it was a pity that he came close.
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