“And the scorer is Raúl González!!”
Dressed in the number 7 white jersey, Spain’s golden boy spread open his arms and ran to the side of the field. His right hand pounded twice on the Real Madrid crest on his chest and then made a “V” sign.
Zidane, who had assisted, ran to him happily.
In the stands behind those superstars, the white-clad crowd surged.
The loser, George Wood, stood on the field in a daze as he watched the celebrating Real Madrid players. He had more reason to be miserable than anyone because he could have stopped the goal at the cost of being sent off.
Albertini ran up from behind and rumpled Wood’s hair without saying anything.
Twain sat in the technical area. When he saw Zidane easily circumvent Wood, he had already expected this; he did not even get up.
Why had he not thought that they were safe with a score of 1:0? Because he knew how hard it was to prevent Real Madrid from getting a goal in Bernabéu. They had to widen their lead. But the advantage was gone before they could.
The television broadcast once again gave him a five-second close-up. Tony Twain remained expressionless.
Kerslake looked upset beside him.
※※※
After Real Madrid equalized the score, the situation continued to be in their favor. Nottingham Forest had no choice but to retreat entirely and completely abandon the attack. By doing that, they were able to resist the last-minute onslaught from Real Madrid in the first half.
When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the first half, the fans at Bernabéu stadium were full of hope for the second half. And the Nottingham Forest fans looked anxiously at the players with their heads bowed.
What kind of impact would the equalizer have on the morale of the team?
※※※
Twain looked at the players when he went back to the locker room. Everyone seized the moment to rest. He closed the door. He then went to the tactical board and wiped it clean.
“As I recall, I said that our defense would be full-on pressing before the game.” Twain re-drew the Real Madrid lineup, “But I didn’t see that. Did anybody see it?”
The players looked at each other. It looked like the chief was angry again.
“More often than not, what I saw was…” Twain drew eleven circles in the Forest team’s half of the field. “This kind of defense!” He slashed across the eleven circles with force.
“Eleven players pulled back into their own half of the field, waiting for the opponent to attack.”
“We only led by a goal and you just withdrew, hoping to hold on! Who told you to do that? Me?”
The group of players lowered their heads.
“What does high pressing mean? Are you guys from the youth team? Do you need me to explain?” After Twain vented his dissatisfaction, his tone slightly softened. “In the second half, we are going to fully press on, starting from the front line. First line, second line, third line, fourth line!” Twain began to draw straight lines from the front field, one by one up to their own backfield.
“I don’t want to see everyone turn and run back after conceding a goal. If the ball gets intercepted in the front field, counterattack on the spot. We’ll send as many players as we can spare. We don’t need a draw. You have to understand, this is not whether we can advance from the qualifier. Even if we lose to Real Madrid, we can still qualify! It’s a game related to our honor! We lost to them on our home ground. Do you want to lose to them again here?”
Twain gnashed his teeth and glared grimly at his players.
※※※
“Tony, just now, you were a little… We haven’t lost yet.” At the beginning of the second half, Kerslake spoke to twain.
“The score wasn’t the real reason I was angry. That was just an excuse.” Twain watched the field as he explained. “What made me unhappy was that the players’ performance went against our pre-match deployment. I allow the players to play according to their styles on the field. But if they play incorrectly, I will criticize them. It’s that simple.”
“In that case, Wood…”
During the halftime interval, Twain did not specifically say anything to Wood, nor did he ask Wood to stay behind in the locker room to talk alone when they headed out to the field. He did not praise or criticize him. He seemed to completely ignore his defensive performance with Zidane, including the concession of the goal.
Kerslake felt that this was not Twain’s style because it was well known that Twain favored Wood.
“There was nothing to say. He showed great effort, but there was a gap in his ability. And some things can’t be offset by putting in effort on the field.”
Kerslake was even more puzzled, “And you don’t even want to console him? He’s been very quiet, even quieter than usual. I think losing that ball was a big blow to him.”
Twain smiled a little. “He’s not a three-year-old kid who needs me to console him all the time. I think this is good. His career has been too smooth-sailing. It’s good to encounter some setbacks every so often.”
But Twain did not state the most important reason: he did not know what to do. Wood already had a yellow card. For a defensive core of the team, it was equivalent to having a bomb that could explode at any time. It was a hidden danger.
However, Twain was still hesitating on whether to replace him.
Replacing him was tantamount to removing the blockade in front of the defensive line which could let Real Madrid’s attack quickly reach dangerous heights.
If he did not replace him, once Wood had a second yellow card the defensive line would lose an important barrier and the Forest team would have one less player on the field, which was a more serious situation.
Based on a simple analysis, Twain should choose substitution because it would minimize the loss. But matters on the football field were not so simple and easily analyzed. Firstly, Wood might not necessarily receive a second yellow card; Secondly, if he were to replace Wood at the start of the second half, would it have an adverse impact on Wood? After all, this was practically the same as negating a player’s performance in front of everyone.
All those were uncertainties. Making judgments based on indeterminate factors and acting on uncertainties could produce uncertain consequences.
This collective of chaotic uncertainties made Twain hesitate.
He stopped talking and stared at the field solemnly.
※※※
Twain’s dressing-down in the locker room during the halftime interval was very effective. There was a massive change in the Forest team’s performance in the second half as compared to the first half. The players strengthened their interceptions in the front field. They did an excellent job of counter robbing the ball on the spot after losing it. Real Madrid suddenly could not adjust.
This was what Twain wanted to see. The Real Madrid players had to put in more effort to deal with the Forest team’s frenzied attacks rather than thinking about how to coordinate beautifully and score.
Real Madrid had always been afraid of that kind of forced interception. They overly emphasized the beautiful possession of the ball and offense, but did not have a player who had the ability to beautifully defend the airspace and against offense. The only Makelele was also abandoned by them. And now Real Madrid paid the price by ending up empty-handed for two consecutive seasons. Without any surprises, they would continue to be empty-handed this season.
The rise of the Nottingham Forest was inseparable from the fact that they had an excellent defensive midfielder, George Wood. When Wood was in stable condition, the rest of the Forest team could set their mind at ease and attack boldly. They did not have to worry about getting caught up in their opponent’s pressing because Wood could intercept better than the opponents. They were not afraid to lose the ball.
Real Madrid currently did not have the ability to do that.
What about Gravesen?
The Dane was not worth a mention in Twain’s eyes. At Everton, Gravesen could still shine. He basically went backward in coming to Real Madrid. In fact, it was a very interesting phenomenon. Many players, who had outstanding performances in the other teams, suddenly became average and did not stand out after arriving at Real Madrid.
For example, Gravesen was the core of the midfield and was able to organize offense at Everton. There was also the Uruguayan defensive midfielder, Pablo Garcia, who had transferred to Real Madrid this summer. When he was at Osasuna, he had the most yellow cards and was the “dirtiest” defensive midfielder in La Liga last season. Known as “The Butcher,” he suddenly lost his direction at Real Madrid. Similarly, Baptista, the core of Sevilla, was one of the most striking players in La Liga. His performance at Real Madrid had simply crashed to the ground.
As a defensive midfielder, whether it was defensive positioning, pre-judgment, running or defensive skills, Makelele far surpassed Gravesen. Twain even believed that Gravesen in Real Madrid was not as good as the Forest team’s George Wood.
He suddenly appeared to change from an all-round midfielder who could organize the offense and pass the ball accurately to a clod who only knew how to tackle the ball and commit fouls.