Ferguson felt that everything was under his control, but it was Nottingham Forest who scored first.
After ten minutes of the game, Nottingham Forest's formation slightly retreated. Manchester United thought it was a signal that the Forest team was going to give up the front field to play defensive counterattack, so they began to press up to attack and seize the initiative.
When they had just pressed to the midfield, they encountered resistance beyond imagination. Nottingham Forest did not return to the entire half of the defense in one go, but they did not overwhelm the center line like they did in the previous ten minutes.
Cristiano Ronaldo's dribbling was pincered by Rafinha and Agbonlahor. He had intended to force a breakthrough, but when he looked up and saw George Wood standing not far away, he changed his mind at the last minute.
The football was passed to Carrick in the middle. Ronaldo ran forward and wanted to do a one-two with Carrick. But Carrick's posture was not very good when he received the ball. He had to make more adjustments to pass the ball to Ronaldo. It was this move that got him entangled by Wood.
If he forced a turn to pass the ball, he might be tackled. So Carrick passed the football back.
After Ferdinand received the ball, van Nistelrooy tried hard to snatch it up. He wanted to pass the ball forward but found that there was no suitable target. Almost everyone had a Forest player nearby. He could not hold the ball for a long time. That way, his space would only get smaller and smaller by the Forest players, and eventually the ball would be intercepted. In desperation, he passed the ball to his partner next to him, Vidic.
Vidic also met his opponent — Eastwood.
Nottingham Forest did not directly retreat as Ferguson had thought. Instead, they launched an active snatch in every corner of the field.
It was really unexpected for the Manchester United team.
After a few minutes of careful observation, Ferguson found that Nottingham Forest's overall formation did not actually retreat. It was still in an offensive posture. But the old manager was hesitant. He was not sure if it was Twain's strategy to lure the enemy or something else …
He intended to continue observing.
After another five minutes of observation, Nottingham Forest scored.
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In the twentieth minute, Ferdinand received a return pass from his teammates in the backfield. He wanted to pass it to the teammate closest to him. Hargreaves retreated to provide support. But Nottingham Forest's Şahin also retreated with him …
He could not pass the ball to a player who was being closely followed by the opposing player and had his back to the attacking direction. Therefore, he chose to pass a long ball forward and let Berbatov and the Forest defenders fight for the header.
Berbatov managed to head the ball down before Woodgate could. He had intended to pass the ball directly to Tevez in the air, but the ball was intercepted by George Wood.
Seeing the captain intercept the ball, Agbonlahor and Lennon, who were still helping to defend in the back half of the field, changed their roles in an instant. They switched from defense to offense and instantly plugged into the opponent's half of the field.
Şahin, who had just followed Hargreaves into the opponent's half of the field, retreated to support George Wood. After Wood passed the ball to him, he did not rush up. Instead, he stayed where he was. As they were going to play against Manchester United at Old Trafford, Wood was the only defensive midfielder responsible for the midfield defense, so the defensive requirements were relatively higher. Normally, if there was no special request, he would not participate in the attack.
After Şahin got the ball, he turned around and dribbled two steps forward. He passed the football to Agbonlahor on the right flank.
Agbonlahor relied on his speed to break through Evra, and the two men entangled on the flank.
Tang En stood up from the technical area and shouted Agbonlahor's name, reminding him not to be too attached to the ball.
Maybe he heard Tang En's shout, or maybe he simply found it difficult to break through Evra so simply and crudely. In any case, Agbonlahor passed the ball.
He directly passed the football to the other side of the field, and Lennon received the ball.
The Forest team did not simply and crudely pass the football into the penalty area as Ferguson thought. If there was no suitable opportunity, they would rather pass the ball back and forth outside, looking for gaps.
Gary Neville's defense was impeccable, and Lennon did not force a breakthrough to pass the ball. He passed the football back to Leighton Baines' feet!
Even the full-back Baines, who rarely assisted, came up. How was this the posture of playing defensive counterattack?
Baines came up, but Wood still did not come up.
Baines passed the football to Şahin, who pulled back to receive. Şahin looked at the flank, and Rafinha was also on the side. When Baines and Rafinha both rushed up, Manchester United's defensive attention was naturally attracted to the flank. After all, they all knew that Nottingham Forest's flank attack was world-famous.
Şahin turned his body to the right flank and looked like he was going to pass the football to Rafinha. Ronaldo also had to follow up and prepare to defend. Several other Manchester United players, including Evra, turned their bodies in that direction, like sunflowers following the sun …
But Şahin's body had only turned halfway when he suddenly passed the football straight to Eastwood in front of him!
Hargreaves pounced on Eastwood. He felt that the situation was still under his control. Because Eastwood received the ball with his back to the offensive direction. As long as he was not allowed to turn around, he could only pass the football back again.
Hargreaves pounced, intending to stick to Eastwood from behind. He did not expect Eastwood to have no intention of stopping the ball. He turned sideways and held Hargreaves with one hand. Then, with a shake of his left ankle, he passed the football directly to van Nistelrooy behind him!
Hargreaves's attention was attracted by the pass. He did not realize that after he passed the ball, Eastwood turned inside.
Van Nistelrooy was the center forward at the front. Although he was old and had suffered a serious injury, he was still a dangerous figure in the eyes of his opponents. Because he was a center forward who could still control the football under his feet in a heavy siege. With such a fulcrum in the front field, the Forest team's offense had infinite possibilities. He could shoot himself, attract the opponent's defensive attention, and create opportunities for his teammates. For example, this time …
Before he had received the ball, Vidic and Rio Ferdinand had already pounced on him at the same time, one on the left and one on the right, intending to clamp him.
But van Nistelrooy did not want to take the ball himself and then shoot to score. He made the same choice as Eastwood — with a shake of his ankle, he passed the football directly out.
Eastwood rode his horse and charged over!
He swung his left leg, which he was not very good at, and did not stop the ball to directly volley!
The ball was kicked a little off-target, but it deceived Ben Foster just right. The football scraped the inside of the goalpost, made a strange crisp sound, and then flew into the goal!
Ben Foster did not react to the powerful shot that was so close at hand. He just turned his head and watched the ball go into the goal …
"What a beautiful cooperation! Nottingham Forest leads Manchester United by 1: 0 in the away game! Eastwood is in good form! "
Old Trafford, which had been noisy just a moment ago, suddenly quieted down, followed by loud boos.
Amid the boos, Eastwood slid to his knees and rushed to the corner flag. His passionate celebration also ignited the enthusiasm of the Nottingham Forest fans, who sang a song written for Eastwood, "You have Rooney, we have too! He's a Romani! He lives in a car with a shed and rides to warm up. If you look down on him, he'll teach you a lesson! With goals! With goals! Our Romani Rooney! Oh la la, oh la la! "
On one side, the Manchester United fans booed wildly, and on the other side, the Nottingham Forest fans sang loudly. Old Trafford really became a "theater."
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Seeing Eastwood vigorously volley the football into the goal, Tang En jumped excitedly on the sidelines as if the person who shot was himself. He waved his fists hard and demonstrated to the Manchester United fans in the stands. Naturally, the response to him was another wave of more violent boos …
"Ha, it looks like Tony Twain doesn't want to please the Manchester United fans. He really doesn't want to go to Manchester United to manage at all. "
Ferguson was a little annoyed by the goal concede. He kept muttering, but he was not chewing gum, he was cursing fiercely.
"Our defense in the middle is practically useless! Are they all wooden blocks? They just watch the opponent play a two-versus-one in the middle of our penalty area! And they f * * king scored! Why didn't Hargreaves foul? What was he thinking? "
In fact, what annoyed Ferguson more than the goal concede itself was that he found the situation was not in his control, but in the hands of the young man next door …
He had a sense of frustration.
Although he had a good personal relationship with Twain and hoped that Twain would manage Manchester United, he was a stubborn old man who did not want to lose to anyone. But when it came to a game, he was a stubborn old man who did not want to lose to anyone. He hoped that he was still the master of the whole world, the best manager in the sport, smarter than anyone else, always a step ahead, and firmly grasping everything in his hands. No one could beat him, unless he did not want to do it himself.
For more than two decades, he enjoyed the war of words with Wenger, because he had the upper hand most of the time. He also enjoyed the battle with Kevin Keegan, because the poor good old man was almost driven crazy by himself. Mourinho's arrival did not shake his position in the Premier League, because Mourinho's eventual departure proved that he was not qualified to be a "strong man" in the Premier League.
He became the Manchester United manager before the establishment of the Premier League. He had probably experienced as many storms as the other managers combined. He had fought with countless famous managers, but he always had the last laugh. Mark Hughes, George Graham, Kenny Dalglish, Souness, Kevin Keegan, Arsène Wenger, Mourinho, Benítez, Scolari, Eriksson, Rijkaard … But the person who was named the Premier League Manager of the Decade was him, not any of the above.
He also enjoyed the tit-for-tat with Tony Twain. But the manager, who was nearly 30 years younger than him, made him feel really old.
He should have seen through Twain's trick earlier …
Ferguson finished scolding Hargreaves and got up from his seat. He was going to the sidelines to direct the game.
Twain noticed that Ferguson got up from the technical area for the first time in the game. He turned his head to look at the old manager and smiled at him when the old manager also noticed him.
Ferguson's expression did not look good. He ignored Twain and reached out to call Neville over while the Forest players were still celebrating the goal to instruct him face-to-face.
After Twain clapped on the sidelines, he turned and walked back with a smile.
According to past management, after the Forest team took the lead, they would shrink their defensive line and then attack the opponent's counterattack. If Ferguson still thought so in this game, then Manchester United would be out of luck.
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But it was clear that Ferguson was much smarter than Twain had thought.
He discovered Twain's true intentions through this goal concede — Nottingham Forest did not want to play defensive counterattack at Old Trafford at all. Instead, they uncharacteristically played offensive football. It looked like they planned to defeat Manchester United with offense.
Ferguson bravely met them head-on.
Since you want to attack, then attack to your heart's content!
Ferguson adjusted the team's tactics, strengthening the defense and interception in the midfield, striving to control the midfield. In this game, whoever controlled the midfield would have a much higher chance of winning.
When the game resumed, the scene that the fans saw the most was the intense scramble between the two sides in the midfield.
After Twain discovered Ferguson's intentions, he also strengthened the defense in the midfield. Şahin's position retreated and maintained a line with Wood's position, making the Forest team's middle not look so empty. The diamond 4-442 became a parallel 4-442 again. Under Ferguson's pressure, Twain was forced to temporarily give up his plan to continue attacking in the away game.
He was in no hurry with a one-goal lead anyway. He could slowly grind with Manchester United in the midfield.
In the remaining stages of the second half, Manchester United gradually gained the upper hand, but their threatening shots were too few. Berbatov and Tevez were trapped by the Forest team's strong overall defense. After Manchester United pressed up, it objectively caused Nottingham Forest's defensive line to shrink. The space that Berbatov and the others obtained was greatly reduced. Many times, they could only go head-on with the Forest team's strong center backs near the penalty area.
They could not open up the situation in the middle, but the two flanks were very active.
Rooney and Ronaldo frequently broke through on the two flanks, causing a lot of trouble for the Forest team's defense. A large part of the reason why Nottingham Forest was forced to shrink their defense was also due to the two of them.
Rafinha was strong in offense but weak in defense, and Agbonlahor was not a defensive player. Wood had to go over many times to fill in the gaps, which limited Ronaldo's sharp attacks.
Under the circumstances of Manchester United's fierce attack, Nottingham Forest's traditional defense played an important role. No matter who faced such a strong defensive line, they would have a headache. Even if it was Ronaldo and Rooney.
As a result, Manchester United did not score until the end of the first half. The score was still 1: 0, with Nottingham Forest in the lead.
When Ferguson left the technical area, his face was gloomy. The staff around him knew that the players in the locker room during the halftime interval were going to be out of luck. Even though he was already sixty-nine years old, he would never show mercy when it was time to scold someone.
When Tony Twain, who was in the lead, left, his face did not look very good. He was not dissatisfied with the performance of the players on the field, but he was a little worried about the second half. Ferguson would certainly not be willing to accept the score and result, and he had already seen through the cards that the Forest team wanted to play, so he would definitely make adjustments during the halftime interval. How would he respond to the challenge?
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