Chapter 30: Crazy Gang Wimbledon Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"The crazy gang of Wimbledon is a very dangerous team, but this will be a nice test for the past week of new training." Tang En was trying to get in a few last words in the changing room after the players had done their warm-up. "A few things to take note of. Be fast, simple, direct, and be productive! This is all I want to see from you! Go ahead guys!"
Tang En had replaced Walker as the main manager in the locker room. After making his new tactics clear and more well known to the Forest team, Tang En could finally stop hiding behind the scenes.
After a two-match suspension, Tang En was finally back in his manager role, and he was looking forward to the future. He enjoyed the feeling of manding from the side during matches.
When the Forest players ran out of the tunnel, there was loud cheering from the fans in the home stadium. Tang En turned to Walker. "If we could go forward with a record of winning, the cheering would last forever and get even louder!"
"Always winning is not that easy, Tony." Walker shook his head.
"Wrong. It is super difficult. But why don't we give it a try?" Tang En applauded with the fans.
That's right, if we can win this match, then we must always win. If we can win every match, then let us just win all the way!
Ian Macdonald turned on the radio just in time at the main gate of Wilford training ground and listened to the 30th league match. Each morning of a home ground match day, Tang En would e to the training ground and talk to Macdonald at the gate. They talked about everything under the sun, from weather to international relations. What came up the most in their conversation was still football, and especially their favorite team.
Tang En promised to bring a victory to the supporters at the last home ground match. Sadly, it was a draw at the end. Tang En promised it again, and he asked Macdonald to wait for the good news beside the radio.
Hope everything goes well this time.
The match had already been going about 20 minutes, and Team Forest was doing what Tang En had asked them to do, executing what they had practiced in training during the match. They were now so different from what they used to be when they were focused on possession and coordination. The fans who were watching them and even the mentator, John Motson, noticed the difference.
"Today, our Forest team is a bit strange. If you asked me to use one word to describe them…I would say 'unfamiliar'. Same players, yet the way they're playing is unrecognizable."
Since the generation of Brian Howard Clough, Nottingham Forest was one of the representatives for the technique football in England, much earlier than Arsenal. Clough had a saying at that time to show his disdain against England's long ball. "If God wants us to play football in the clouds, then he should make them out of grass."
The current Forest, though not playing long ball, was so different from the traditional Forest that stressed on possession. After 25 minutes of the match, the screen of the TV showed the possession rate of the two teams. Wimbledon had exceeded Forest with a percentage of 54 percent versus 46 percent for Nottingham Forest.
"This is so weird. From my perspective, Forest has always had a high possession rate even when they lose. For instance, at the last match, they had a 64 percent possession rate, though they did not win." Motson had mentated football matches for 31 years, and he had witnessed Forest go from a League Two team to the champion of the UEFA, and thus he was very familiar with their tactics.
Tang En had taught Forest to pass through the midfield fast, but this caused them to lose the ball more easily. Most of the time, only after a few passes, there would be a problem when the midfielder was about to pass the ball to the strikers. The coordination between the striker and midfielder was not smooth. After that, they would lose the football to their opponents and had to defend. Luckily, Michael Dawson did a good job of always solving the crisis. He had just bee the captain of the team, and his performance had proven his capability to the others, as he seemed to have matured overnight.
The score did not change for the entire 25 minutes. However, Tang En observed many things, and just as he was about to discuss them with Walker, there was a loud voice from the back.
"Tony Twain! What are you doing? Is this your promised victory to us?"
Tang En turned back and saw Michael's angry face and his middle finger pointing toward him.
"What did you change here? It's still draw."
"Look at the f*cking football your team is playing right now? This is not what Forest should be playing! Forest's strength and tradition is possession! Possession!"
Tradition again… Tang En was annoyed. Since he had e here, many had talked to him about "tradition
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