Chapter 162: Wall Part 2

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Although McClaren had guessed correctly that Wood was still too inexperienced, he did not expect Tang En to make the entire team focus on defense in order to dispel this unstable factor. However, inside Nottingham Forest's walls, any mistake of letting his opponent get past him, by any player, would not be a fatal one. That was because there would always be someone beside him to fill in for him.

Think back to the match played between France, the host, and Paraguay, the weakest country among the top sixteen teams, during the 1989 World Cup quarterfinals: Paraguay had played their defense almost to perfection, but in the end, it was all for naught.

Tang En felt that this result was because Paraguay's defense had been too passive, and overly reliant on the individual skills of the goalkeeper, Chilavert, and the full backs, which were few in number. In contrast, the current Nottingham Forest was truly relying on the entire team for defense. Tang En would never leave the deciding factor of the team's defense to the goalkeeper, because by the time the opponent's forward made his shot at the goalpost, it often meant that ninety percent of his defense would have already failed.

Nottingham Forest would not give Middlesbrough's players the opportunity to comfortably control and retain possession of the ball. As soon as they entered Nottingham Forest's defensive region, they would immediately feel that the match's pace had been raised by more than hundred percent! If they did not quickly pass the ball, stop the ball, and dribble the ball, it was highly likely that the ball underneath their feet would be snatched away from them.

The once pointed out that, the deciding factors that could break the balance of top matches were possibly: the manager's decision during the match, the performance of the individual star players, a counterattack, a place kick and a crucial mistake. Aside from the factor of "the manager's decision during the match", Tang En hoped that the utilization of the "Wall defense" could reduce the risks of the other four factors to a minimum.

In Tang En's eyes, the only player in Middlesbrough's lineup that could decide the match's outcome with his individual skills was Juninho. However, his current condition was not as great as it once was. Moreover, past experiences had already proven that most Brazilian players were incompatible with English Football, and Juninho was no exception to this. His fluctuating performance during English football matches was also largely caused by this.

During this sort of intense ball-snatching that almost resembled a foul, Juninho was not even able to display thirty percent of his usual performance, much less change the match outcome.

As for the other star player, Mendieta, who used to be extremely famous…. Ever since he decided to leave Spain and venture overseas, he no longer possessed any form of threat. He belonged to the category of players, who could only perform to their full potentials under a specific football environment, with a specific team, and with a specific manager. Italian football did not suit him, and the same could be said for English football.

Perhaps Downing's speed and momentum could bring some changes, but he too, lacked experience. In addition, his passing and shooting skills were far lacking, when compared to his speed.

Against Middlesbrough, this was the best strategy that Tang En could come up with. As for the actual situation during the match, that would have to depend on both team managers' decision-making during the match…and this was something that Tang En was least worried about.

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When Juninho finally dribbled the ball past Nottingham Forest's defensive midfielder Gunnarsson, he was knocked down by George Wood from the side, along with the ball. However, seeing that the referee did not call a foul, the Middlesbrough fans on the stands finally could not take it, and started jeering. From their points of view, almost every single action of Nottingham Forest could be considered a foul, hence, the referee's decision made them extremely displeased.

However, when they were jeering, did this problem ever cross their minds? If the 1.65 meters Juninho and the 1.86 meters George Wood made body contact, Wood would have nothing to gain from fair charging at Juninho? The referee was right beside the two of them, and he was able to see this ball very clearly. Wood did not commit a foul, but had simply kicked out his foot faster than the Brazilian.

When dribbling the ball, Juninho felt the pressure created from Wood charging at him. Hence, he decided to avoid Wood by going to the sides, but Wood was able to quickly kick away the ball under his feet. Afterwards, he could not brake in time, causing him to accidentally knock over the Brazilian guy, who wanted to get a front positioning ball.

The referee's eyes were extremely sharp, causing the furious Juninho to hit the turf angrily. At the same time, Tang En provocatively pointed a thumbs-up to the field.

"Nottingham Forest's defensive organization is very successful. At the very least, looking at the first twenty-four minutes of the match, it is like this. Middlesbrough, which had sent out their strongest offensive lineup, had only made four shots at the goalpost by the halfway mark of the first half, and all of them were not within the goalpost. Most of the time, they would lose their ball possession under the Nottingham Forest players' forceful snatching. Taylor, I feel that, if manager Twain had switched in a faster forward, the current score should have been 2:0, with Nottingham Forest in the lead!"

Martin Taylor smiled and said, "You're right. But if manager Twain intended to go on the offense, then his team would also be unable to completely devote themselves to defense. This match was not interesting at all, but this is still a very crucial match. I think that neither parties are willing to make any mistakes. After all, this match could very well determine who could go to Europe next season…"

Tang En stood by the side of the field. Till now, he was very satisfied with the team's performance, as they had completely played to their usual training standards. Even though there were still some gaps during the start of the match, they were able to quickly adjust accordingly. From the looks of it, this bunch of young lads did not feel nervous for their first EFL Cup finals match. This really had to be credited to the coaching performance he gave prior to the match.

Although the players performed outstandingly, Tang En did not feel surprised. It was because this was his team, a football team that was created according to his thoughts and wants. Whatever his character was, this team would have the same character as him. He, Tang En, had never been afraid of anyone, so Nottingham Forest would also be fearless.

Tang En allowed his mind to further bolster his positive thinking and game tactics:

Being known as the Premier League's "giant slayers" doesn't mean anything. The title of England's young and successful manager also doesn't mean anything. As long as we are able to advance into the finals, we have the strength to defeat you and claim the championship trophy!

McClaren sat at the technical area as he stared at the field without any expression on his face. It seemed like he almost did not take to heart, the predicament that his team was currently facing. However, deep in his heart, he was trying to assess the match's development situation.

It is obvious that the manager from Nottingham Forest wishes to restrain our team's offense by deploying a concentrated defense. By doing so… should I say that he is smart, or dumb? Will playing defensively definitely yield results? Or does he have some other tricks up his sleeves for the second half? By concentrating his defenses during the first half, he intends to deplete our players' stamina. By provoking my players with rough defensive actions, he wants to make them lose their calm and become more irritable…Afterwards, he will start to make some adjustments to his players in the latter half of the second half, and play a quick counterattack strategy….And what about that Ukrainian?

McClaren turned his head around and looked in the direction of Nottingham Forest's substitution bench, hoping to find Rebrov, the player who had been reborn ever since Tang En took over the players and changed his position on the field. However, McClaren had accidentally discovered that Tony Twain was currently looking at him. When Twain saw that McClaren was looking at Twain, he even smiled at McClaren. Seeing this kind of reaction from the other party, McClaren could only choose to avoid it. He turned his head back, and continued to watch the match.

At a glance, Nottingham Forest's side of the field was almost full of people…Juninho had lost possession of the ball once again. He furiously protested to the referee, saying that Wood's tackle was a foul. However, the referee continued to ignore him.

This Brazilian! Instead of wasting time debating with the referee, the time would have been better off spent trying to snatch the ball back! From the looks of it, Juninho's condition was still very poor. Damn it! His performance had clearly been outstanding during trainings!

There was almost no hope left for that Brazilian guy. He did not even dare to engage in a one-versus-one at the sides… His confidence had been eroded by his illness and injury in Italy. He was no longer the Mendieta the world had seen shine in Valencia.

Only Downing…Looking at Downing, who tirelessly sprinted back and forth on the field and tried to break through, McClaren's heart was somewhat comforted slightly. Juninho and Mendieta were definitely going to leave the team after this season. Moreover, Downing's rise would also squeeze Zenden onto the substitution bench. Downing was the true hope and future of Middlesbrough.

The only thing was that, he was overly excited, and was too quick with his actions. As a result, he also made more mistakes than usual. He was simply too young!

After taking a look at all the players on his team, McClaren had discovered that he currently had no means of dealing with Nottingham Forest's well-rounded defense — when he knew what Tang En named this strategy as, McClaren would definitely agree with it as well.

McClaren covered his forehead with his hands. This time, he had really bumped into a wall!

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