Chapter 255: Going Head-On Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
All the players of Manchester United had their eye on the three Forest players within the penalty area. Even Albertini only had Roy Keane to guard him. Upon stopping the ball, there was no one within five or six meters of Wood; he could see no red jerseys from Manchester United.
No one had thought that Wood would appear at a spot so close to the penalty area – prior to this, he had almost never participated in the offense.
Even the commentator was taken by surprise and shouted, "George Wood! When did he get here?!"
There was nobody to disrupt him where he stood, and he could take his time to adjust his distance to the ball satisfactorily before gracefully swinging his leg to powerfully volley the ball…
Unlike usual, Albertini did not yell from the side, "Shoot!" Instead, he quietly fisted his hands as if trying to conserve some energy for Wood.
Wood looked down at ball beneath his foot. His mind swam with Albertini's words. "If you don't try, how do you know you can't do it?"
Do I still remember my goal shooting training while I was on the Youth Team? What did the coach say? Straighten my arch?
He lifted his right foot with a flourish.
"George Woooooo- Wow…" The commentator had originally intended on dragging out his voice to cheer for Wood's goal, but the actual shot made it hard for him to get excited.
Wood kicked with all his power and the ball shot towards… the second level of the Northward spectators' stands.
Before Wood had taken his shot, Manchester's goalkeeper, the American Tim Howard, was rather nervous. In the end, he saw the ball flying out while he jumped for show. His hands were not even raised – the ball was ten meters away from the post!
"Defensive Midfielder Wood takes a powerful kick to eliminate the threat, kicking the ball towards the spectators' stands." The commentator could only describe the attempted shot this way – in a way much closer to the situation in reality.
Wood was disappointed in his own performance and looked towards the stands behind Manchester's goal in a daze. Then, Albertini came to give him a pat on his shoulder. "Not bad."
Wood did not understand why the captain would say that and looked at him questioningly.
"It's a start. A good start," the amicable Italian said with a grin.
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Wood's terrible shot received thanks from Manchester United's fans by way of their loud jeers. They were truly disagreeable people.
Outside the field, Kerslake noticed Wood's decision not to pass the ball but instead take a rare shot at the goal. He turned towards Tang En. Tang En read the confusion and unspoken question in his eyes all at once, shrugging. "It wasn't me."
What a familiar scene… Tang En recalled. In the match with Arsenal, Albertini had also encouraged Wood to take the initiative to cut forward and take part in the offense.
Seeing Albertini hurriedly run up to Wood to comfort him after he missed the shot, Tang En broke into a wide smile. This old general was indeed the right choice!
Kerslake asked from his side, "Should we remind him, Tony?"
Tang En shook his head. "No, why should we? Don't you think this is good?"
"But we lost such a fantastic opportunity…"
"In exchange for growth, I'm absolutely willing to waste ten more chances. David, you also came from the Youth Training Camp. Do you still remember what the youth players needed most?"
Kerslake scratched his head. "Um... We're in the English Premier League now. It's a little different from the matches with the Youth Team…"
"Of course. This is the English Premier League. But we have many youths so full of potential in our team. Why did they choose to play with us? It's because we can provide them with opportunities, many more than if they had gone anywhere else. As far as such valuable experimentation goes, not only should we hold back our criticisms and restrictions about it, we must encourage them. This aspect, I think, is no different from the Youth Team." As he finished speaking, Tang En rose and walked towards the sidelines, showing a thumbs-up sign to George Wood and Albertini.
After doing so, he walked back and sat down. He continued to say to David Kerslake, "Of course, about George's difficulty with aiming… I think there's a need for us to consider including more shooting drills during his daily training…"
Kerslake laughed. "Tony, I'm suddenly remembering the first time you brought George over to the Youth Team Training Grounds. What is it that makes you look so well upon him; to value him so greatly?"
Naturally, Tang En could not reveal that he was initially just patronizing the silly boy when he had first brought him to the Youth Training Grounds.
"Maybe it's because I saw something in him that I don't see in many others: foolishness."
"Foolishness?" Kerslake said, seemingly perplexed.
"Yes… because he was foolish, he knew that he needed to put in much greater effort in order to stand on the same field as the others. Because of his foolishness, he never dared to give himself any slack. Have you ever seen him loaf around during training?"
Kerslake shook his head. "I've only ever seen him giving himself additional training."
"Exactly. It is because he knows how lacking he is compared with the others. If he doesn't work hard, it will be impossible for him to even passably become a professional footballer. Frankly, I didn't initially see any potential in him to play soccer. With his physique, he could possibly have had a future as a track and field athlete. But later, his performance completely won me over and I decided to give him a chance." Here, Tang En pointed his chin towards the field.
Manchester United was on their offense. George Wood stood at the back of captain Albertini, alertly marking the opposing players. Compared with the George Wood who had first appeared on the sidelines of Forest's training area, loudly demanding to train with the First Team, he was completely and utterly transformed into a person who was beyond merely looking like a professional footballer.
He was now an authentic professional football player. Compared with other players who had more fame or earned more money than him, he was much purer.
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"George Wood of Nottingham Forest has wasted their best chance to score since the beginning of the match. They may quickly begin to regret their reckless handling of things. After all, they're facing Manchester United! Any wasted opportunity will be punished!"
As the commentator was prattling on endlessly, the attack from Manchester United got blocked by George Wood and Albertini's co-defense.
Paul Scholes tried to dribble past Albertini in an attempt to draw Wood out before passing the ball.
But before he could even completely pass Albertini, George Wood had already dashed forward with a ferocious but legal slide tackle from the front. Worried about getting injured, Scholes jumped up and allowed Wood to slide under his legs and tackle the ball away from him.
But Manchester United's attack had not yet ended.
Roy Keane followed behind Scholes and rushed forward.
Wood also got to his feet to pursue the ball.
The Manchester captain took possession of the ball and took a fury-filled shot!
"Roy-"
The commentator's howling had just taken off when the ball viciously rebounded back.
A muffled thump could be heard throughout the stadium. Keane's powerful shot had smacked right into the face of George Wood, who had surged forward to block the goal.
The shot was so strong, the ball rebounded up high and flew directly out of the end lines from the middle of the penalty area. Meanwhile, Wood fell backward and landed heavily like a sandbag on the ground.