“Nottingham Forest’s defending their home ground, and the situation on the field does not look good, which is a scene we’re not new to at all. Arsenal wants to score as soon as possible, and the Forest team’s current job is to stop them. As the captain of Nottingham Forest for this game, the young twenty-year-old George Wood is also the defensive core of Nottingham Forest. The talent that he has shown is amazing. He was the Nottingham Forest Football Club’s biggest discovery in its youth training program, after Michael Dawson. At the age of twenty, he performed beautifully on the arena of the Champions League semi-finals, exceeding the maturity and steadiness of his age. This is why Manager Tony Twain thinks so highly of him.”
The commentator introduced Wood with so many flattering words, not because he had nothing else better to do, but because Wood had performed terrifically during the recent period. As the youngest captain in the Champions League semi-finals this season, he had also garnered attention from many more teams.
During last season’s Premier League, when Wood became a rookie for whom Manchester United and Chelsea had competed in their offers, his influence was only confined to within England. The Premier League clubs snooped around while secretly nursing their envy: How did Nottingham Forest produce such a monster?
Now, as the Forest team’s performance in the Champions League took hold in people’s minds following the team’s improved performance as they progressed towards the semi-finals, more eyes from the European continent were on George Wood, the team’s first captain for most of the time.
The UEFA Champions League was a perfect stage where good players achieved success and recognition, and poor players were cruelly eliminated.
“George Wood!”
After he took the ball, Fàbregas had wanted to turn around and launch but was tripped by Wood from behind. The referee was unquestionably unrestrained in ruling Wood’s action as a foul. Although Arsenal was awarded a free kick in the front field, the position could not directly threaten the goal, and the Forest team traded a foul for the safety of the goal, which was considered a bargain.
Therefore, when Fàbregas fell to the ground after being tripped by Wood, he looked helpless while he knelt on the ground with open arms. If Wood had not committed a foul, he could have simply broken through and then looked for loopholes in the Forest team’s defense to send another lethal pass. Now all that could only be said in hindsight.
However, Twain frowned as he watched the field.
He used to be happy to see Wood perform actively, but now he would rather see Wood disappear.
“David, have you told George?” He turned to Kerslake.
Kerslake nodded. “I reminded him to pay attention to fouls. But I don’t think those reminders work for him during the game.”
Twain looked at Wood, who was fully engaged in the game, and muttered, “It’s better to have said it than not at all.”
The thing was, the reason for Twain’s nervousness was that Wood now held two yellow cards. According to the UEFA rules, a player who accumulated three yellow cards in the Champions League would automatically be suspended for one game.
In short, if George Wood received another yellow card for any reason in this game, he would be forced to be absent even if the Forest team could reach the final.
That was not at all what Twain wanted.
The consequences for the Forest team that Wood’s absence would bring had been substantiated during the first two games of this season’s Champions League group stage.
※※※
After Arsenal’s free-kick was coordinated, the shot was completed by Robin van Persie, whose header was thrown out of the crossbar by Edwin van der Sar.
Taking advantage that the players were back to defend and being the team’s most experienced player on the field, Edwin van der Sar got hold of Wood and said, “George, don’t forget what the coach said to you before the game. Be careful.”
Wood nodded. “I remember.”
“That’s good. Sometimes it’s okay to let them go. Don’t worry, I’m here!” Edwin van der Sar patted Wood on the head.
Wood looked up at the tall Dutchman. “It would be remiss of me if they passed under my watch.”
Edwin van der Sar had nothing else to say. “Good luck to you.”
After Arsenal’s header was shot, Pepe gained the upper hand as he competed against Senderos for the header and headed the football out. But the football was not headed too far away. Fàbregas was outside and immediately volleyed the ball.
The shot was precise, and George Wood, who rushed into the crowd, did not reflexively dodge. Instead, he used his chest to block the shot.
A muffled thump was heard, and the football slashed across to fly out of the sideline. Wood did not even crease his brows; he just ran over, ready to defend.
“What a monster. He just took it there, and he’s still fine?” Robin van Persie, next to Fàbregas, could not help sighing and rubbing his chest as if the football had struck him.
The young Spanish player turned his head to look at his teammate and thought that Robin van Persie had made a fuss about nothing. He already knew that Wood was a monster. Perhaps he understood him so well because he had treated him as an opponent. His stamina, body, speed, reaction… His inherent conditions were so good that it made people jealous. If he had received professional football training since he was young, what would he have achieved by now? It was unimaginable.
Fàbregas was startled by that crazy idea of his and hurriedly shook his head to place his attention back on the field.
Robin van Persie went up to receive the Arsenal’s throw-in. Under Chimbonda’s tight defense, he passed the football back to Lauren, who did the throw-in.
The Forest team launched a fierce scramble for the ball near the sideline. Lauren spied Fàbregas, the team’s midfield commander, in the between the cracks among the crowd.
He passed the football over.
George Wood sprang up as if he had received the signal.
Fàbregas did not stop the ball. He spread his legs apart and the football slipped between his legs.
“What a nice slip! George Wood was deceived!”
The player behind Fàbregas was Alexander Hleb, who received the ball and swiftly broke through ahead. When the Belarusian played in the Bundesliga, he had relied on his consummate skill. In VfB Stuttgart, he often staged a show with that kind of individual dribble to bypass many players and put the ball into the opposing goal.
This time, Wood hesitated when he saw him dribble the ball. He deliberated whether he should go up to defend or guard Fàbregas.
It was at this point that Arteta suddenly went up to block Hleb’s way forward and neatly cut off the ball.
“George!” He gave a shout.
Wood saw that he was diagonally behind him and looked ahead again. He no longer hesitated and chose to plug in ahead.
Arteta did not dribble the ball. Instead, he passed it to George Wood, who had already run ahead before the Arsenal players had had time to react.
Wood received the ball and continued to dribble forward. Behind him, Arteta assisted him as Fàbregas gave chase.
“This is Nottingham Forest’s counterattack! After being held down for so long, they finally decided to do something! It’s rare to see George Wood dribbling the ball.”
Without turning back, Wood knew that the troublesome Spanish kid must be following him. When he attacked, he also followed him like a shadow. Now that it was his turn to attack, he became his shadow too.
“To your left, short pass.” Arteta’s voice directed Wood, who listened and passed the football. Sure enough, he immediately saw Arteta dribbling the ball and charged up.
Watching Arteta dribble the ball over, Wood slowed down. He completely switched his role in an instant and became Arteta’s “bodyguard” at that moment.
The two players worked in sync and Arteta was not worried about the Arsenal players swarming around him, eyeing the football covetously. He knew that even if he lost the ball, Wood would try to snatch it back.
He passed the football to Viduka. The Australian striker turned and leaned against the fullback, Touré. Then he turned around and hastened to shoot, and Lehmann easily caught the football.
When he saw the scene from off the field, Twain stamped his foot in anger. “What’s his hurry? Stop the ball, hold, and protect it. Anelka, Arteta, and Ribéry were all running towards him. He had countless ways to deal with this ball! He’s really…”
Unsurprisingly, Twain was angry. Suppressed by Arsenal, the Forest team had very few opportunities to attack, so every opportunity was particularly precious. They would suffer divine retribution for wasting this chance so easily…
※※※
The first half came to the end with Arsenal’s barrage and the Forest team’s pathetic defense, as well as the occasional sneak attack.
The score on the electronic scoreboard was still in red with 0:0. This was the final score that Twain wanted to see, and it could become a reality in forty-five minutes.
“At the end of the first half, Nottingham Forest has held their goal. No matter how hard Arsenal attacked, there was no way to break apart their defense. George Wood, the most active player in the first half, used four fouls and eight tackles to safely protect the front of the goal. This twenty-year-old captain has used his actions to demonstrate that he deserves the captain’s armband on his left arm.”
The commentator still gushed about Wood. But outside the home team’s locker room, Twain got hold of him with a grim expression and said, “George, have you forgotten what the assistant manager said to you?”
“Try to not to foul as much as possible.” Wood shook his head, “No, I didn’t forget.”
“Look at your performance stats in the first half.” Twain stabbed at the paper in his hands, “Four fouls! Eight tackles! If this wasn’t our home ground, you would have been given a damn yellow card! Do you not know how important you are to this team?”
Wood did not speak and just looked at Twain.
“If we make it to the finals and you’re absent, what’s the point? You must know how powerful Barcelona’s offense is!”
“How do you know that Barcelona will reach the finals?” Wood suddenly asked, which made Twain break out in a cold sweat. His mind immediately calmed down. He had just let slip something about the future …
“Uh… that’s just my prediction. They look very much like they’re fully capable of getting into the finals. Well, even if it’s not Barcelona, how can AC Milan’s attacking prowess be underestimated? If we don’t have you, that means we don’t have a barrier in front of the center back. At that point, whether it’s Ronaldinho or Kaka, they can easily penetrate our defense and do whatever they want!” Twain slammed his fist into the palm of his hand. “You’d better behave in the second half.”
Wood nodded. “I know.”
“Go on, then.” Twain waved his hand and Wood ran back to the locker room.
Looking around, Twain swore under his breath and turned around to walk to the locker room.
※※※
George Wood’s yellow card problem was raised by the coaching unit after the first leg of the game. Twain had not given it much consideration before. It was not until someone in the coaching unit reminded him that Wood was in a precarious situation now and that he would automatically be suspended if he received another yellow card, that he realized the gravity of the problem.
The Forest team had always relied on Wood’s aggressive interception and tireless running in the middle to contain the other side’s attacks, which naturally included using fouls.
Since his debut, Wood had not been the type of player who defended civilly and moved efficiently and with ease. His fierce defensive style had made a lot of opponents suffer, but also caused him to be “favored” by a lot of referees. It was unrealistic for Wood not to have a single foul in a game. All Twain could do was to repeatedly remind him to pay attention to his actions, to foul as little as possible, and try not to get a yellow card needlessly.
However, the decisive factor ultimately laid with the player himself. At the very least, George Wood did not look like someone who could keep those words in mind.
What made Twain feel a little relieved was the forty-five minutes in the first half had already passed by safely. As long as he held his nerve for another forty-five minutes, George Wood would safely return to base.
※※※
In the visitors’ locker room, Wenger used the short period of time to lay out a new tactic for the team. This time, it was no longer just a few words that popped out of his mouth.
“Manager Twain is worried about Wood because he now has two yellow cards on him and will automatically be suspended for one game if he gets another. He would surely warn his favorite player to pay attention to his actions in the second half. Wood will be constrained when he defends.”
The eyes of the Arsenal players lit up.
“This is our chance to force an attack in the middle during the second half; the target is George Wood!”
※※※
“Listen to me, guys. In the first half, you did…” Twain stood at the door, with his arms wide open as if to praise his players, and the players expected that. “…terribly!” No one had expected that.
“We have precious few opportunities, so we have to treat every offense well.” When he said that, Twain glanced at Viduka. “We should not be contented with a score of 0:0 for this game. Arsenal is a strong opponent who knows us well. A total score of 1:1 is very dangerous, and I think you all know that. The only way to make sure we can advance is for us to score goals. In the second half, don’t be contented to just hold onto the tie. Guys, we have to win! Strive to score early and snuff out Arsenal’s hope.” He made a pinching gesture.
※※※
The two managers’ arrangements during the halftime interval were brief, based on their mutual understanding.
After the first leg of the competition, Wenger certainly knew that George Wood could be used as an offensive midfielder at a critical moment. He would inevitably make special arrangements to deal with that, so there was no need for Twain to repeatedly exhort Wood to attack during the halftime interval. The Forest team’s offensive routine for this game was not that. Wood was still a defensive midfielder.
The fifteen minutes went by in the blink of an eye. The players had to step foot on their journey again.
Watching the players walk out one by one, Twain once again stopped Wood at the end.
When he saw that he was able to speak, Wood spoke first. “Try not to foul, right?”
Twain nodded.
“Do you want us to advance to the finals at the end of this game?” asked Wood again.
Twain continued to nod.
“I’m important to the team, aren’t I?”
Another nod.
“In that case, if I’m constrained in my playing, the team will definitely be affected. What if we lose this game because of this?”
Twain was dumbfounded by his remark. He had no idea that Wood would say such a thing. “George … are you, are you possessed by an alien?”
Wood ignored Twain’s words. “You got something wrong, chief. The team’s victory should be placed before me not getting a third yellow card.” With that, he turned and ran out of the locker room.
Twain looked at his back and could not say a word for a long while. He even forgot that he had to return to the technical area.
