Chapter 593: Volume 5, Red, Good Start

In the second half, the two sides changed sides to fight again, and Beckham was under the focus of Everton's marking. Moyes could see that Twain wanted to use Beckham to launch a direct, quick and precise attack. Although it was feasible to create an offside, after all, the risk was too high, and double insurance was necessary.

So the defense against Beckham was strengthened.

Fortunately, Twain also made adjustments during the halftime break. Beckham's pass is no longer the only offensive method the Forest team relies on. Since the opponent wants to create an offside, the team should strengthen the defense in front of the opponent's back line. With the direct pass, these are all short passes, and Van der Vaart is enough to complete it. But Tang En was very happy that Moyes put his defensive focus on Beckham.

After van der Vaart and Ribery made a cooperation on the wing, Ribery pushed forward resolutely and lured Everton to focus on him. After Van der Vaart suddenly passed to the middle, Van Nistelrooy was unexpected The anti-offside forward, received the ball from van der Vaart without being offside!

Next, the Dutch striker drove straight into the opponent's penalty area with the ball.

Shocking boos sounded again at Goodison Park. If the goal is scored, Everton will be out of play.

Fortunately, this time Howard's attack resolved the danger. He blocked the angle of Ruud van Nistelrooy's shot. The ball shot by the Dutchman hit his fallen left foot, bounced and changed direction, and flew out of the baseline .

Nottingham Forest's pass was offside nine times and the tenth finally succeeded without scoring. Tang En, who was watching the battle below, was a little annoyed.

Even more annoyed than him was Ruud van Nistelrooy on the field. Such a sure shot, where the shot is not good, he just accidentally shot it on Howard's leg.

There are not many opportunities like this...

Moyes quickly discovered Tang En's attempt, and he began to retract the defensive line, not giving the Forest team's forwards such an easy one-handed opportunity.

The Forest team also played unhurriedly. Anyway, they are leading, and they just need to fight their opponents.

Twain changed to a more comfortable sitting position. Arteta is the biggest threat to the Forest team from Everton. As for Tim Cahill, Andrew Johnson, Yakubu... If there is no Arteta from the back Without the support from the field, it would be much easier for the Forest team to defend.

George Wood was as stable as ever, and the stability made people feel a little hopeless.

Arteta suffered from Wood in the first half, and Moyes asked Arteta to avoid Wood in the second half at half-time.

But is he in charge of this matter? Now that he was being targeted by Wood, it was not easy to run away.

Arteta is not a midfielder who is good at breakthroughs, and his physical fitness is not good enough to confront George Wood head-on. In order to avoid Wood, he could only do his best to dispatch in the backcourt instead of going up in person. Only in this way, Wood will be afraid of the space behind him, and dare not come up and press him personally.

But in this way, Arteta, who is far away from the Forest team's goal, has no other means of organizing offense except for the monotonous long pass, and the Forest team's defense is equally easy.

What is the purpose of defense? Not to stop the ball in one-on-one defense, but to stop the opposing team's offense and make their offense less of a threat. From this perspective, Wood's defense succeeded. As long as the opponent is afraid of confronting him head-on and has to circumvent him, he will complete the task.

"Mikel didn't dare to come up, we won half the battle." Tang En said with a smile to the assistant coaches Chris Lak and Tang beside him, and they nodded in agreement.

Moyes wants to build a new core and pick the wrong opponent. Nottingham Forest is too familiar with Arteta. In this game, Arteta simply can't play to his due level.

Just fifteen minutes into the second half, Arteta, who had failed in normal game performance, was replaced. Although he basically did not make any outstanding contribution to the team's attack in these 60 minutes, his end was applauded by the Everton fans. Why, just because of his merciless foul on George Wood, which was a move to please the fans of the home team. England fans sometimes like a person, and they definitely need how many goals this person scores on the field. In their eyes, there are many ways to express their heartfeltness, and scoring is just one of them.

It was as if the Chinese player Li Tie, when he first joined Everton, took down Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Redknapp viciously within five minutes of his first appearance. It won great praise from Everton fans-of course, Li Tie was unintentional. He didn't want to use this tackle to please the fans of the home team. He just did what a midfielder should do in the game. But Everton fans will never forget that Redknapp was once the captain of their city rivals Liverpool.

Arteta walked off the pitch with applause and love from the Everton fans, so dissatisfied with his performance that Moyes stepped forward to pat him on the shoulder and reassure him. Who made him meet George Wood? This man's defensive ability has been proven by the European Champions Cup. Countless powerful midfielders who are stronger than Arteta have all fallen at Wood's feet.

"You've done a good job, Mikel. But it will take some time to integrate into the team."

The lack of tacit cooperation with the team is also an important reason for Arteta's poor performance.

Arteta nodded, returned to the bench and sat down, then turned his head to look at the Forest team's coaching bench. He saw Tang En sitting on the chair on the coach's bench with Erlang's legs crossed, looking very comfortable.

He is no stranger to this action. When the Forest team is playing, if the situation is good, he will use this method to relax himself. In the past, he often saw the boss doing this on the bench of the Forest team. He was still a player of the Forest team at that time. As long as he saw the boss doing this action, he would feel at ease. Because that means the game is a sure thing.

But now as an opponent...it is uncomfortable no matter how you look at it. There seems to be a hint of contempt implied in this action.

In an interview before the game, as a player who transferred from Forest to Everton, he was asked the most about his opinion of the head coach. He said at the time, "I think the boss is a very good person." , it's not a lie. When he was in the forest team, he really thought so, even if he could only be a substitute.

But it is different now. As an opponent, he feels that the boss is a little too arrogant... Everton is not a weak team in the Premier League, so what he shows will give people a feeling of "being underestimated" "How does it feel?

Coach Tony Twain... is really a strange person. When standing with him, he will follow him wholeheartedly. But once you stand on the opposite side of him, you will find that this person is very annoying... I used to think that his extreme, arrogant, and arrogant are cute, but now I think it is an insult to the opponent.

Maybe as an opponent, I will be very unconvinced... But look at the score, the Forest team is leading.

To be fair, this madman also has the qualifications to be mad...

Arteta withdrew his gaze from Twain. He decided not to care about what happened to the Forest team. From now on, he will do his best to cheer for Everton in his heart and advance and retreat with Everton, because he is from Everton. — at least for the next four years.

※ ※ ※

Moyes replaced Arteta with an old acquaintance of Beckham and Ruud van Nistelrooy - Phil Neville, who joined Everton from Manchester United.

This is not a transfer deal that was done this summer. Phil Neville moved from Manchester United to Everton two years ago. At the age of 28, he chose to join Everton, who had a guaranteed appearance, in order to represent England in the World Cup.

He was a versatile player when he was at Manchester United. He could play at the back or in the midfield for the needs of the team. Now at Everton, he is basically fixed in the midfielder position by Moyes, using his experience to help the team move forward.

Seeing Neville play, Beckham was attracted, and his eyes followed his former friends. The fans stood up and applauded his former Manchester United team-mate. At this time, Phil had already won the love of Everton fans. This kind of love is different from the love Arteta received, this one is deeper.

This is the first time that Beckham has returned to the Premier League after leaving Manchester United. Many people in the Manchester United team are now playing for other teams. In this way, the old friends reunited on the battlefield, but the scene of each master is believed to be indispensable in the future.

Seeing Neville playing, Tim Cahill, who was originally wearing the captain's armband, ran forward, took off the armband from his arm, and handed Everton's No. 18.

Neville did not refuse, took the armband and put it on with his head bowed.

Captain of Everton...

Beckham sighed in his heart. How many of the Red Devils who won the Triple Crown in 1999 are still at Old Trafford?

Neville's short pass is better, and he is far more familiar with this team than Arteta. He understands the characteristics of each teammate and knows how to pass the ball to them most effectively.

And most importantly, he is not afraid to confront George Wood head-on. He may lose, but he will never run away.

After he came on the field, Everton's attack became active.

The whole team and Arteta are like two different teams when they are on the field. It is true that they have cooperated for two seasons, and it is different from the team that has cooperated for more than ten days...

Arteta is convinced, but he is not discouraged. He knew that Phil Neville was going to be the past at Everton, and he belonged to the future at Everton.

Although Everton is not as strong as the Forest team, it has little chance to compete for the European Champions Cup. But even if he is on the bench, sitting here will make him feel hopeful, and in Nottingham Forest, a team with lofty goals...he will sit on the bench at first, and he may still sit on the bench in the future, because the boss always doesn't know Tired of chasing the big names in the transfer market. This is the characteristic of rich clubs.

Under the leadership of Neville, Everton launched a counterattack to the Forest team. The Forest team also had no time to look for space behind their defense line, and defending at full strength during this period was the top priority.

George Wood's goal became Neville, but he found that the target he wanted to defend was not a person, but a team-when Neville got the ball, the Everton players around him would move, Respond to him and seek cooperation with him.

One-on-one defensive penetration is easy, but it is difficult to prevent the opponent from passing the ball.

Under the leadership of Neville, Everton played short passes and small cooperation. Unlike Arteta's frequent long passes before, Neville was more patient, dealing with the Forest team and looking for opportunities. Gradually, amidst the deafening shouts of the home fans, they also regained control of the game.

"The Forest team was surprised defensively. I think Dunn should consider substituting to strengthen the defense. After all, they are leading by one goal now."

This narrator must not know the real Tang En. When he trained and explained the tactics of the team, he always said to the players of the Forest team: "The most unsafe score in the world is 1:0."

As a former Chinese football fan, I have already suffered from "leading by one goal and then defending to the death". For some people, defense is for defense, but for Tang En, defense is for offense.

He turned and told Chris Lark to call Bell back.

Bell, who was warming up, heard Chris Lark calling his name, and happily ran back with a sprint.

"Boss!" He looked at Tang En with a smile on his face.

Twain liked Bell's childlike personality, and he could only perform at a normal level if he wasn't nervous. The so-called "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers"...

He nodded approvingly: "You know what I asked you to do, so I won't talk nonsense. After playing, go forward actively, don't worry about being behind, George will help you fill the space. Go tell Ribery and let him Move to the center and let the left corridor out. Do you know what to do next?"

Bell nodded vigorously: "I know, boss!"

"Go." Dunn didn't talk nonsense, Bell ran to the fourth official, and after a series of safety checks, he was allowed to appear.

The Forest team got a throw-in, taking advantage of this opportunity, Bell replaced Leighton Barnes.

"Replace with a full-back with better offense... It seems that Tang En is not satisfied with leading by one goal!"

This is nonsense, of course not satisfied. Tang En wanted to make Everton, who had just planned to fight back, completely die of the desire to reverse at home. What better way than to score them another goal?

※ ※ ※

After Bell came on the field, he actively assisted on the left, Ribery shifted to the center, and Van der Vaart stayed behind to organize the attack. The Forest team's formation looked a bit strange. Both Beckham and Chimbonda on the right didn't go forward very much. Not only did Beckham not go up very much, but he also dedicatedly helped Zimbonda defend. Everton's attack here was met with huge resistance. They intend to focus their offense on Forest's left, their right.

As a result, as soon as Tang En made a substitution, the Forest team switched to attacking this side. Bale and Ribery took turns attacking this side. It's too late for Everton to defend the capital, so where is the offense coming from? Suppress it by attacking? Everton's strength on the wing is not comparable to that of Nottingham Forest, which made a fortune on the wing.

Franck Ribery leaned towards the center and gave way to the left corridor. As long as the Forest team has the ball, Bell will rush forward without hesitation.

He doesn't think about losing the ball because he believes in Wood.

Van der Vaart handed the football to Ribery. Ribery broke through diagonally in the middle and saw two opponents blocking the front, so he divided the football to the side. Bell followed up in time and received the ball.

He didn't stop the ball, but moved the football forward! Then accelerate forward. This time, the Everton right back Tony Hibbert (Tony_Hibbert) who came up to block was thrown away. Hibbert's reaction was rather quick, and he immediately turned around and chased after him, without being pulled away by Bell.

Just when he was about to push Bell to the sideline, Bell suddenly cut in ahead of him, blocked Hibbert's running route, and forced him to slow down.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Bell knocked the football into the middle, intending to dribble horizontally and disrupt Everton's defense. But he failed, and his breakthrough was terminated by Everton's black central defender Joseph_Yobo...of course, with a foul. He hooked Bell's right foot with his foot from behind, and Bell, who had lost his center of gravity, fell down-a free kick on the left side of the goal, about 30 meters away!

"Look at the referee's gesture...a direct free kick!" the TV commentator said excitedly. Not only him, the Forest fans at the scene, and countless Beckham fans in front of the TV were all excited. Why have you waited for a long time? "Maybe we'll see Beckham's first goal back in the Premier League?"

Bale was pulled up from the ground by Beckham. He saw Beckham holding the football and obviously vowed to take the penalty. When he was in the forest, as long as he was on the court, he was the first person to set the ball. Later, Beckham came, but the boss didn't say who was first and who was second.

Beckham bent over to place a football at the foul spot. Bale did not leave, he stood by, ready to cover for Beckham. His free kicks are also famously accurate in the Premier League. Now with Beckham, one is good at left foot and the other is good at right foot. If the two stand in front of the football, the opponent will be confused.

Although the ball must be kicked by Beckham, standing here can also confuse the opponent - after all, the opponent does not know the arrangement of the Forest team, even though there is actually no arrangement...

After Beckham placed the football, he got up and saw Bell standing next to him, so he walked over.

"Gareth, you kick this ball." He smiled at Bell.

Gareth Bell was a little surprised, his eyes glared, and his cheeks puffed up.

"What? Can't you kick in?"

"Ah... no, that's not the case. It's just..." Bell stammered for a long time, and finally made it clear, "...don't everyone want to watch you play?"

Beckham wanted to laugh when he said this, but it was too eye-catching. He suppressed a smile and said to Bell: "This is an official game, not a commercial event. If there are any audiences who want to see something, let them watch it." What’s the reason? Besides, it’s because the opponents also think that I’ll play, so you can make them lose their defense.”

"But..." Bell wanted to say something, but Beckham interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

"Before I came, who was Forest's number one set-piece player?"

Bell pointed at himself: "Me."

"Then you come."

"But the boss didn't say now..."

"So it's up to you, let me make this free throw, wait for the boss to say it next time." Beckham smiled at him, "I'll be right next to you, covering for you."

Beckham was very determined, and Bell also wanted to show his hand in front of him, so he no longer refused, and continued with this task.

Gareth Bale stood on the right side of the ball to facilitate his left-footed goal, while Beckham stood on the left side of the ball, which is the usual position for right-footed players.

Watching both men stand in front of the football, Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard prepared to swoop right-footed curling ball with little hesitation. With David Beckham around, how could it be the Welsh kid's turn to play this ball? Even if he wanted to, would the head coach of the Forest team agree?

※ ※ ※

Tang En, who saw this scene off the court, turned his head and said to the two assistant coaches next to him, "Bet, please drink a glass of wine if you lose. I bet the little monkey will play this ball."

Chris Lark blurted out almost reflexively: "I bet on David!"

Tang En chuckled: "Is it because he has the same name as you? Tang?"

Tang thought for a while: "Bell."

※ ※ ※

Of course, Bell didn't know that his boss was betting on him and Beckham. At this moment, he stood in his usual position, lowered his head slightly, and stared closely at the front wall and the goal.

David Beckham stood aside, observing his little teammate. Different from the kid who always liked to laugh in front of him before, the little monkey now has a serious expression and sharp eyes, but he is by no means a rookie.

After he just came to the Forest team, he knew that there was such a kid in the team who was extremely good at free kicks. He was so good that many Premier League teams fell under his left foot. If you just treat him as a child on the court, you will definitely suffer a lot.

After he came to the Forest team, he also practiced free kicks together. Beckham knew that Bell was good. So he generously gave up his own opportunity to the opponent without any worry that this might affect the final trend of the game.

Everton's human wall was lined up, and Phil Neville, who was lined up in the human wall, was still reminding his teammates around him to pay attention to Beckham's free kick.

The eyes of all the Everton players... no, all the eyes in the stands, all the eyes of all the eyes watching the opening game on TV were on David Beckham. The commentators all held their breaths, brewing emotions, and prepared to cheer for Beckham's first goal back in the Premier League.

A young Gareth Bale stands next to David Beckham like a background prop that can be ignored.

The referee's whistle sounded, Beckham did not move, he watched Bell run up.

The little monkey stood up its left foot, tapped the ground twice with its toes, and then stepped towards the football.

Everton's human wall didn't move either. They knew that Bell must be covering for Beckham, and they all waited for Beckham to kick before jumping. It's just...the cover is so realistic...Damn it!

it is true!

Bell kicked the ball unceremoniously, the arc of the football is very low, and it can bypass Everton's human wall! If the wall jumped at this time, the football would definitely be blocked by them... But no one jumped, everyone was waiting for Beckham!

The person they were waiting for now had his hands on his hips, with his signature smile on his face, and his head tilted as if he was watching a play.

Howard couldn't react in time. Bell's ball was low in height, small in arc, and fast in speed. It flew over the wall, and then quickly drilled into the upper left corner of the goal!

At this time, Howard has no other choice but to turn his head and watch the football enter the goal! His feet hadn't even left the ground yet!

"David Bei..." The commentator was about to call Beckham's name when he saw Bell start running. Unexpectedly, the ball was played by Bell. When he saw the football flying into the goal, he changed his words to: "...Bell——!!"

"Bell! Bell! Gareth Bell!" In order to cover up his previous mistakes, he called Bell's name several times, which made people feel that this commentator was really passionate...

"It's not Beckham, it's the young Bale! Beautiful direct free kick! The Everton people only thought of Beckham, but ignored Bale! They suffered a big loss!"

※ ※ ※

Bell scored a goal, and Twain rushed out of the coach's bench with his arms raised high, even though he was surrounded by such people. He just stretched out his left hand to Chris Lark who was sitting next to him: "Bring me two glasses of wine tonight, and I'll drink Don's share."

Chris Rack was not annoyed either, he patted Tang En's hand vigorously, "As long as we win, let alone two cups, I'll buy twenty cups!"

※ ※ ※

After the goal, Bale screamed and turned around and threw himself into Beckham's arms. He really needs to thank Beckham. Without David interfering with the judgment of the opponent's wall, how could his low-altitude ball score so smoothly?

Teammates swarmed over, surrounded the two of them, and patted Bell's head with enthusiastic hands. Foreign players like to express their love for each other in this way.

"Nice job! Little Monkey!"

"Whoah! You surprised them!"

"Hey let me pat..."

Bale is enjoying this moment, this is his first goal of the season, his dad is watching the live broadcast in front of the TV at home, he must have seen it, and he will definitely be proud of his son.

Breaking away from the arms of his enthusiastic teammates, Bell habitually wanted to fix his hair. As soon as his hands touched those hairs, he realized that the mohawk he had spent an hour making had turned into a mess of weeds...

Wood saw Bell with a sad face beside him, and said in his usual indifferent voice: "Although it has been more than thirty seconds, it is finally messed up."

"You!" Bell wanted to kill those villains.

"Wow haha!" A group of people laughed and ran away.

"Remember to put on more hairspray next time, little monkey!" Ribery even made faces at him.

David Beckham saw all this beside him, and couldn't help laughing out loud. This team is very interesting, much more interesting than the team that managed to score a goal, but his teammates were eating melon seeds on the bench. He knows why this team has risen from the second tier to lift the European Cup in just four years.

Why? It's simple, this is a team...

※ ※ ※

The final score of the opening game was 2:0. Nottingham Forest defeated the well-prepared Everton at Goodison Park and scored the first three points of the new season.

After the game, at the press conference, when Twain was asked if he was satisfied with Beckham's performance, he smiled and said: "I am very satisfied with the performance of everyone in the team, yes, everyone , including myself."

David Beckham was not the star of the game because he was already part of the team, one of 'everyone'. There is only one protagonist in this game-the winning Nottingham Forest.