In fact, Nottingham Forest's tactics were simple. They used quick passes and ferocious tackles to create a tense atmosphere for Barcelona so that they would become anxious and play abnormally. At the same time, the venue would also help a lot.
As everyone knew, Barcelona was not a team that was good at headers, whether it was in defense or offense. Tony Twain studied aerial tactics to target the opponent's weakness.
When Barcelona lost the opening advantage, Nottingham Forest gradually took the initiative on the field.
Barcelona emphasized the forward's pressing and tackling in the front field. Many of their goals were launched after a counter-tackle in the front field. This was a tried and true method in La Liga. But it did not work against Nottingham Forest now. The Catalan media had previously mocked the coarseness of English football. They would say, "The defenders in the Premier League only know to kick the football to the front field once they are faced with the opponent's pressing and tackling. It's so untechnical!"
Now they all knew how uncomfortable this kind of untechnical thing was for Barcelona …
The premise of the forward's pressing and tackling in the front field was that the opposing defenders would not easily kick the football out. They liked to keep the ball at their feet and send the football out through a series of passes in the back field. This move was often used by the defenders in La Liga. It was a league that emphasized individual skills. Even the players of the lowest-ranked teams in the league were able to use their individual skills to seek a breakthrough in the face of Real Madrid and Barcelona's defense. At this time, relying on the forward's pressing and tackling could cause the opposing defenders to make mistakes, intercept the ball and successfully counterattack on the spot.
Barcelona was able to gain an advantage in the league tournament because of their tactics. But this move was more physically demanding on the team. At this point in the season, the players' stamina had reached a low point. Now on the field, Barcelona was completely clenching their teeth and running. If they could use this move to score early, the game situation would suddenly become clear. The pace of the game would be in the palm of Barcelona's hand, and Nottingham Forest could only be led by the nose by them. With Barcelona's overall strength advantage, it would not be difficult to score again.
But now when Bojan, Messi and the others pressed up, they found that the Nottingham Forest defenders did not give them a chance to close up and tackle. Whenever they saw someone coming, they would kick the football to the front with a long pass. This really made the Barcelona players very helpless — pressing and tackling, you have to press up to be able to tackle, right? But the Nottingham Forest players did not even give them a chance to press up and kick the ball away. They ran for nothing and did nothing. Their stamina was consumed in the process of sprinting back and forth without contributing to the team. In the long run, it was difficult to guarantee that their stamina could last for the whole game. When their stamina declined, their movements would be distorted, and they would not be able to concentrate. It would be as easy as walking.
Nottingham Forest played the long ball with ease. The defenders passed the ball to the front field, where Aaron Mitchell was waiting. The long passes would basically be able to reach the target, and Forest would be Mitchell's standard.
At first, Mitchell had a hard time facing Piqué. Although he was 2.02 meters tall, his body was not strong. He was a bit like Crouch, who had a bamboo-like body.
He was at a disadvantage when he clashed head-on with Piqué a few times. He did not gain any advantage when it came to heading the ball, which he was good at. During this time, the commentator had been praising Piqué and Barcelona. Although Barcelona's offense was not as strong as before, they still said, "… In terms of overall strength, Barcelona is definitely higher than Nottingham Forest. There is no doubt about it … Scoring is also a matter of time. It just depends on whether they can adjust their mentality to face the Forest team …"
He really did not know what kind of mentality Barcelona had to adjust in order to face Nottingham Forest. Was Forest going to abandon "underestimating the enemy"?
Tang En shook his head again as he watched Mitchell's performance from the stands. "Mitchell, you idiot!"
Bill, who was beside him, immediately said, "Should we shout that?"
"No need, Bill …" Tang En replied helplessly. He realized that even though he had a microphone, it was still not as convenient as standing on the sidelines. That's natural … But wait, maybe it's possible! He turned to Bill, and Bill looked at him expectantly.
"You yell that, Bill, John. Just like cheering for a certain player, they would first shout his name a few times, and then shout a few more times: "Technique, awareness, positioning." Can you do it? "
Fat John did not immediately agree. Instead, he and Bill gathered together to rehearse for a while. "Mitchell! Mitchell! Mitchell — Bill! Technique! Awareness! Positioning … No, it doesn't feel right! "
"It feels awkward to shout it …" Bill also frowned.
Fat John pondered for a moment and suddenly snapped his fingers. "Why do we have to shout it? We'll sing it! "
Bill clapped his hands. "That's right! We're good at singing it! "
"Sing?" Tang En was a little surprised. "You'll have to make up the lyrics and music on the spot. Will that work?"
John laughed. "You don't have to worry about making up the lyrics. We'll just use pop songs for the music. I've never heard of making up the music on the spot …"
The two of them gathered together and muttered for a while. Then, with themselves as the center, they passed on the lyrics and tune they wanted to sing to the people beside them. That was how they came to an agreement. After brewing their emotions for a while, a clear singing voice rang out from the north stands.
"We have a tall guy. His name is Aaron Mitchell! He's two meters tall. He's good at heading the ball, good at jumping, and good at technique! But he doesn't use any of these. He likes to go head-to-head with people! Lalalala! Aaron, Aaron, is an idiot! Tony, Tony is very angry! Very angry! "
As expected, these people used pop songs that Tang En was familiar with to make the music. They also chose the catchy ones with a particularly simple tune. Many people could sing along after hearing it once. Even Tony Twain could not help but stand up and wave his arms like the people beside him and sing "Tony, Tony is very angry." He laughed loudly after he finished singing. This was too interesting! This was a mood that he could never enjoy when he was in the technical area with a straight face.
The singing voice sounded a little abrupt because the lyrics were too strange …
The attention of the people on the field was attracted. There were also people on the sidelines who raised their heads to look for the source of the singing voice.
Finally, everyone's gaze was focused on the wave of people waving their arms in the north stands.
"… He likes to go head-to-head with people! Lalalala! Aaron, Aaron, is an idiot! Tony, Tony is very angry! "
Dunn, who was frowning in front of the technical area, suddenly broke into a smile. He was the first to understand that this must be Tony Twain's idea. The UEFA did not allow him to communicate with the technical area and the players on the field, so he used this method to "speak." The UEFA stopped him from talking and thought that everything was fine. They did not expect him to have 27,000 mouths at home.
The singing grew louder and louder because more and more fans joined in the chorus.
Mitchell suddenly realized that the fans were singing about him. He froze for a moment and listened carefully to the lyrics. Then his face turned red …
Of course, he knew that the boss was sitting in the north stands, so he also knew what was going on with the song. Of course, the boss was not happy with his performance. In the past, if the boss was unhappy, he would yell and dance on the sidelines. Now that he was sitting in the stands, he could only express his emotions in this way. Mitchell was not an idiot. He knew what to do …
Everyone in Barcelona knew that it was common for the fans to sing in England. They often sang in chorus and could make up lyrics to sing anything. Therefore, most people were not interested in the sudden singing. Only Piqué, who had played in England for many years and could speak and listen to English, noticed that something was wrong.
He stared at Mitchell's back even more vigilantly. He knew that the next time he wanted to use his physical advantage to snatch the ball, he might fail.
※ ※ ※
Nottingham Forest did a long pass from the back again. Mitchell did not jump up to fight for a header with Piqué, nor did he stay in place to block Piqué. Instead, he ran back to face the football. When the ball fell, he jumped slightly and pressed the football down with his chest. Then, he pressed down with his right foot to firmly lock the ball that was about to bounce into the ground. Piqué pushed him from behind, and he ran back with the momentum. It looked like he was far away from the attacking zone, but the football was still at his feet. He did not lose it.
After the football was controlled, Mitchell did not intend to protect it. Piqué continued to come up to snatch the ball, and he continued to retreat. When he almost retreated to the center circle, he suddenly diverted the football, and then turned to plug forward himself!
At this time, Piqué had been brought out of the original defensive zone by Mitchell!
Tiago sent a straight pass over the top — from this point, it could be seen the results of Twain's week of training. No matter what kind of pass, if he could pass it in the air, he would try not to pass it on the ground.
Piqué's position was empty, and Puyol could only come over to fill it. Mitchell did not hold back against Puyol, using his height and heading advantage. He jumped high and sent the ball to Puyol's original position.
The one who received the ball was Lennon, who suddenly cut inside from the flank. Yaya Touré followed closely behind him.
Lennon did not dribble the ball too much. After he received the ball, he moved and passed it to the left back, Joe Mattock, who plugged in from the back!
"Nottingham Forest's counterattack is really fast! In the blink of an eye, even the full backs have gone up to assist. But from another perspective, if Barcelona can intercept the ball, then Nottingham Forest's defense on the left side is completely empty! "
Intercept the ball? Joe Mattock did not give Lahm the chance to do so. He directly passed the ball into the middle!
Bentley, who was originally the right midfielder, appeared in the center forward position in front of the goal. He jumped up and did not head the ball, but he attracted Valdés's attention. The player who followed up was Aaron Mitchell!
Due to the previous few battles with Piqué, Mitchell was completely at a disadvantage. So, the Barcelona players who did not know anything about him thought that he could not head the ball even though he was tall. Puyol did not mark him. Only Piqué followed closely behind him. He was not familiar with Mitchell, but he knew that if the boss dared to use him in this game, then he must have his reasons …
Mitchell sprinted and jumped when he was still a distance away from the goal, sliding toward the ball. Piqué did not dare to be negligent and jumped as well, reaching out to interfere with Mitchell.
The general view was that the taller the person, the better he could jump. But Mitchell broke this stereotype. He jumped higher than anyone else in front of the goal! Piqué, who was 1.91m tall, could not keep up with Mitchell's height at all.
At this moment, he was like Mount Everest in the City Ground!
Piqué could only use his body to collide with Mitchell and pray that he would not be interfered with.
He succeeded. When Mitchell headed the ball, he was hit by Piqué and lost his center of gravity. The ball that he headed out smashed onto the crossbar and bounced high, ultimately landing on the top of the net …
Mitchell lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground.
Tang En blurted out, "F * cking penalty!!"
This time, Bill did not ask Tang En if the words needed to be passed, because all the Nottingham Forest fans were roaring in unison, "Penalty! Foul! "
The referee and the assistant referee had the same opinion — it was a goalball.
Bentley opened his arms to protest to the referee, but the referee only shook his finger at him and pointed to his own eyes, indicating that he had seen it clearly and that Piqué had not committed a foul.
Mitchell crawled up from the ground. The ball did not go in, and the referee did not give a penalty. He also angrily kicked the goalpost, then shook his head and ran back.
His son's reaction was not intense, but there was someone in the stands who had a much bigger reaction than him.
"That's my son! That's my son!! " Mitchell's father, who was a worker, pointed at his son and shouted from the stands, "You son of a b * tch referee!! Piqué, that kid, clearly knocked down my son. Why didn't you give a penalty! I hope you don't have a d * ck when you give birth to a child, black-hearted referee!! "
In fact, when he found out that Mitchell was actually in the starting lineup, his mouth gaped so wide that a light bulb could be stuffed inside. Then, he understood why his son had been behaving so strangely these few days. But his joy only lasted for a short while. Immediately after, he began to worry that his son would not perform well and affect the team's performance. If that happened, he would be laughed at by his neighbors when he returned home.
At the start, his son's performance did indeed show signs of developing in the direction that his father was worried about. When that song rang out from the stands, he sang with all his might, especially when it came to the part where "Aaron, Aaron is a fool." He sang with more force than anyone else, practically gritting his teeth. It was as if he was scolding his disappointing son to his face.
He even promised in his heart that if his son performed well in this match, he would buy his son a car the next day. Aaron Mitchell was always complaining that his other teammates drove to training, and he was the only one who took the public bus … He always wanted a car that belonged to him.
When his son's performance improved and he was treated unfairly, he naturally shouted louder than anyone else. Looking at the way he rolled up his sleeves, it was as if he could not wait to rush down from the stands to find the referee and settle scores with him in a man's way.
※ ※ ※
Seeing that the referee did not give a penalty, Tang En took the lead to boo. Then, loud boos rang out from the stands. They did not care whether the referee was reasonable or not. Since they did not get what they wanted, they could only wait to be booed!
Booing was just a way for the fans to vent their dissatisfaction, and it was of no help in changing the situation on the field. The match continued. Although the goal did not go in and no penalty was given, Nottingham Forest saw a good sign — Barcelona's defense was still very weak. Only Piqué was able to hold up in their air defense ability. But everyone had just seen that when Piqué faced Mitchell, he probably could not find the upper hand.
This gave the Nottingham Forest players great confidence. Barcelona was not an unbeatable giant. In the next match, they could attack boldly and continue to put pressure on Barcelona's rear defensive line. They would definitely be able to score!
Barcelona tried hard to control the situation, but because of Nottingham Forest's highly targeted pressing tactics and terrible field, they could not get what they wanted.
Instead, it was Nottingham Forest's long passes, which were looked down upon by the Catalan media, that gradually showed its terrifying side in front of the technical Barcelona. The football hit Barcelona's defensive line again and again, and each time, it produced a deafening roar. The wall seemed to be unable to hold up for much longer.
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