Chapter 148: The Better Interceptor Part 1
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Tang En realized that he had made more than one mistake. The game had already been in progress for more than twenty minutes, and since the Bolton Wanderers had taken the lead, the Forest team had not immediately organized a counterattack. But this was not because they did not want to, but because they could not.
The problem lay in his deployment and formation of his players.
He had let Rebrov play forward, and had originally hoped to use the Ukrainian’s speed against Bolton Wanderers’ sluggish defense. He did not anticipate that the ball could not be passed to Rebrov’s feet at all from their own backfield. And Rebrov was not great at being the first player to intercept long passes.
Even though Bolton Wanderers’ four midfielders were in parallel positions on the list before the match, the formation turned out to be 4-3-1-2 once they started playing. Iván Campo, Kevin Nolan, and Giannakopoulos were the three main defenders behind Okocha. Their presence was the chief reason why the Forest team’s offense could not be organized smoothly.
Rebrov needed the support of the midfielders to give him more passes to the leg instead of header passes if he was playing forward. But now, because of Bolton Wanderers’ three defensive midfielders, the Forest team’s offense could not break through the first line of defense. Obviously, there would be no support for the striker.
The other mistake that Tang En made was having George Wood closely mark Okocha.
Now that he thought of it, Wood’s amazing performance in the previous game may not have been a good thing. It seemed that he had caught the high-level attention of Bolton Wanderers Manager Allardyce. Otherwise, he would have been Tang En’s surprise attack to catch his opponent unawares. Wood’s performance in the previous game had been so dazzling that even if he had not become the most famous young player in the United Kingdom, he could not have escaped Allardyce’s notice.
Originally, Okocha had been a very important piece in Bolton Wanderers’ offense, and his personal skills would often bring unexpected rewards. But looking at this game, Okocha was more of a “relay station.” Whenever the ball was passed to him, he passed it out again after it had attracted Wood’s attention. He rarely dribbled the ball to break through the midfield before passing the ball out, and almost never shot at the goal.
Clearly, Allardyce had specially laid out the plan before the match to reduce the number of Forest defenders in the midfield at the expense of Okocha. Then he had arranged for Kevin Nolan to come up from behind to shoot for the goal. He succeeded, and, thanks to his strategy, the Forest team was currently behind by a point.
Kevin Davies, who had a slight injury to his foot, replaced the player who was originally slated to play. But why start with the tall, strong Henrik Pedersen? It was to give Tang En a false message: I will continue to insist on playing the traditional tactics of high balls and fight high, so that Twain will put the defense focus on high balls in the penalty area, and then Nolan will complete the real killer shot!
Their real aim was to score a goal and obtain three points in this away match so that they would have more leeway when they returned to the midfield. At that time, Davies’ injury would have been better, and the lagging Forest team would have played directly into the Bolton Wanderers’ hands.
After they had had the lead for more than ten minutes in the game, the Bolton Wanderers changed from charging forward and aggressively striking to retreating and defending across the board and then using long passes to harass the Forest defense line.
They wanted to maintain the current score.
No wonder there were three defensive midfielders on the field with excellent physical fitness, running abilities, and interception abilities. Forest’s midfield line was pushed back to within thirty meters of their penalty area. The Forest strikers, Rebrov and Eastwood, were essentially surrounded, with no room to unleash their strengths.
And what about the Forest team’s two wings? Bolton Wanderers’ three defenders in the midfield were basically taking care of the middle, left, and right wings. Every time Ashley Young and McPhail dribbled to break through, they would be faced by at least two Bolton Wanderers players – a wing-back and a defensive midfielder.
So, while Bolton Wanderers’ center of the field might seem a little empty, Allardyce was not afraid, because he knew the Forest team did not have an attacking midfielder player who would be able to intercept the ball in the center of the field, organize an offense, and break through. The two defensive midfielders, Gunnarsson and George Wood, could not intercept the ball to organize an offense.
He had carefully calculated all the arrangements of the Forest team before he made this tactical arrangement.
Tang En looked at Sam Allardyce, who stood on the sidelines, watching the game with his arms across his chest. He truly was a man capable of taking over Newcastle. He could see right into Tang En’s mind.
The Forest team had intended to do a long pass to Rebrov and Eastwood at the front, but the Bolton Wanderers center backs were able to shoot it out with their headers. Bolton Wanderers players were not afraid of high balls. They played like this in the Premier League, so they naturally knew how to stop Tang En’s team.
Tang En looked at his players, who were at their wits’ end on the offensive front. Then he again looked at Allardyce on the sidelines, waving his arms to direct his team’s defense.
Allardyce was considered, at most, an upper mid-level manager in the Premier League. And if the Forest team reached the Premier League, Tang En would have to play against managers like Ferguson and Wenger, and the tactical master Rafael Benítez. These world-class managers were much more powerful than Sam Allardyce.
If you can’t handle the likes of Sam Allardyce, Tang En told himself, if you can’t even beat Bolton Wanderers, ranked in the middle of the Premier League… Then when you’re at the Premier League, you’re due early for relegation!
Don’t think of this game as the EFL Cup semi-final. To hell with the trophy! Just treat this game as a Premier League match! Check to see if you, as a manager, are qualified to have a foothold in the Premier League. Find out if you’re capable of leading this team to the future you talked about this morning!
The players are watching you, the coaching team is watching you, Mr. Chairman sitting in the box is watching you. The loyal fans in the stands are watching you, and even the little Gavin is watching you from heaven!
Allardyce… Tang En turned his head again and looked at the man. If you want to hold on to these three points, I will let you hold. I want to see how long you can hold on for!
He turned to walk back to the technical area and asked Walker, “Des, how much time is left in the first half?”
Walker looked at his watch. “It’s just past thirty minutes. Tony, our offense is completely closed off…”
Tang En reached out to interrupt Walker’s complaint and then said to Peter Crouch, who was sitting on the substitutes’ bench, “Crouch, you go warm up and go to the locker room at halftime!”
In general, those substitutes who would not be expected to appear in the game for the time being, would be led by the coaching team to do their warm-ups on the field rather than go to the locker room during the halftime interval. There was only one type of substitute player who would be asked to follow the starting lineup to the locker room at the halftime interval, and that was a player who was going to play when the second half started.
Crouch was stunned. He had not expected to get a chance to play so soon.
“Quickly, go!” Walker turned to him and signaled.
Crouch immediately stood up from the bench. There was a “bang” sound, and he covered his head and sat back down. Walker and Tang En turned their heads away; they could not bear to watch. He had bumped into the awning over the substitutes’ bench.
The cameras naturally captured the amusing scene, and Andy Gray laughed in the press box, “Maybe the Forest team should have a special seat for Crouch: a skylight in the awning over the substitutes’ bench!”
“Hey, hey!” exclaimed Tang En, “Are you gonna have to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher before you even play? How are you feeling, Crouch?”
When they heard Twain, the surrounding substitutes could not help laughing. Crouch clutched his head and mumbled, “Don’t bring me off, Boss, I… I can do it…”
Even Tang En burst into laughter.
“You haven’t even played yet, Peter!”
Red-faced, Crouch went to do his warm ups.
As Crouch ran off to the distance, Tang En returned to the sidelines. Walker followed too, and voiced his doubts. “Tony, Crouch is tall, but his header abilities aren’t too great. Can he really play against those defenders?”
“Des, the tallest Bolton Wanderers defender is only six feet, two inches. How does that compare to Crouch? That five-inch gap is not so easy to make up for. Besides, I’m not just trying to get him to intercept with headers.” Tang En glanced at Allardyce. He had noticed Crouch, who was warming up on the sidelines. He was too conspicuous to keep a low profile. “What do you think about a man with a height of six feet, seven inches who can pedal and dribble?”
“It’s a little weird.” Walker knew who Twain was talking about.
“Yes, his ability is beyond our normal comprehension. Even if he’s not good at headers, his height on the field acts as a deterrent to the defenders. His ability to assist his teammates with the ball is outstanding. We can take advantage of that and pass the ball to him. He’s different from Rebrov in that he’s not afraid of the English-style defense. And I think he’s going to make the Bolton Wanderers defenders feel very uncomfortable.”
After listening to these words, Walker did not say anything, because Crouch’s performance during training made it obvious. His long legs indeed made it difficult for Wes Morgan and Robert Huth to defend against him, let alone Clint Hill, who was shorter in stature. They could not keep up with Crouch’s pace.
Just as he was about to turn back to the technical area, Tang En added, “Another thing, Des. After this game, design a specialized practice program for Crouch to strengthen his headers. It’s a waste of his height if he doesn’t have a good header to complement it.”
Crouch did get some headers, but that was because of his height advantage. He still lacked header skills. Tang En wanted to make Crouch a veritable “Air Master,” but that was not something that could be achieved overnight.
Beside the problem of the strikers, the Forest team’s two wings did not soar like Tang En had imagined either. Under the opponents’ fierce pressure, McPhail and Ashley Young finally got a rare opportunity for an individual breakthrough which brought several place kicks for the Forest team.
