Chapter 655: Volume 5, Red, New Organizer

Barcelona's corner kick did not pose any threat to Nottingham Forest's goal. In front of George Wood, Pepe, Piqué, and Bendtner and other "superior players", Barcelona, ​​which is not good at headers, can't take advantage of it at all.

Barcelona knew this too, so their corner kick was low and fast, but George Wood rushed to the front point and headed it out.

This is the first time he has appeared in a close-up on TV, a successful defense, but it is not defending Messi. It is the poor Mexican defender Marcos who is blocked behind him.

Messi was outside the penalty area and didn't go in to join in the fun. He knew that Barcelona was not good at headers from set-pieces. This ball was likely to be pushed out by the Forest team. In the worst case, it was directly confiscated by Van der Sar. But if it comes out, he can grab the second point of the gun by staying outside, and then form a second attack, continuing to maintain pressure on the Forest team's goal.

The football did bounce in his direction, but was headed off by the faster guy.

Franck Ribery has been in the limelight this season. He snatched the ball from Messi and the city stadium erupted with cheers for the first time. Messi's wonderful performance before made the Forest fans very breathless, now it's all right, they also have someone to be proud of!

Ribery nodded the football with his head, and then accelerated to chase the ball himself, throwing Messi away in an instant. When Messi reacted and turned around to chase, it was too late.

Franck Ribery succeeded in stealing the ball, and the Forest team turned from defense to offense in an instant. At this time, both Rijkaard and Messi clearly saw George Wood, who was still in the penalty area just now with a header to clear the siege, shot out like an arrow from the string-followed and ran forward!

Franck Ribery faced the frontal defense of Barcelona's black midfielder Yaya Toure without taking a few steps. He didn't get entangled with Toure, and moved the football to the side before continuing to advance.

The person who responded to his pass was the retreating Arshavin. Although he received the ball, his back was facing the attacking direction. With Abidal's close defense, it might not be easy to turn around.

He didn't even think about turning around. Yaya Toure was taken away from this area by Ribery, and he was waiting for someone.

Like Ribery, after passing the football, he also turned and ran forward. Since this was a counterattack after a corner kick, the Barcelona players hadn't had time to run back to organize the defense, so Abidal didn't chase the ball, but retreated with Arshavin, and the space in the midfield was pulled out all of a sudden. .

So who are Arshavin and others and who is the target of the pass?

"Wow, George Wood!" the narrator exclaimed.

He really didn't expect that George Wood would charge so far forward when he counterattacked. His current position is no different from that of a midfielder. After receiving Arshavin's pass, he did not stop, but rushed forward with the ball in a straight line.

"Van der Vaart used to do this job... At that time, George Wood was behind him to protect him, and now..." The narrator suddenly understood. "It turns out that Tony Twain wanted George Wood to be the playmaker for this match!"

"It's kind of crazy..." the commentator sighed.

For him, facing the powerful Barcelona, ​​it is indeed a bit crazy to use the best defensive person to do the offensive work.

Seeing that Ribéry had almost entered the area where the defenders were in charge, Yaya Toure resolutely abandoned the Frenchman, turned around and rushed towards George Wood who was rushing with the ball.

He knew that this person, like himself, was a defensive midfielder, and organizing offense was not their specialty. As long as I put some pressure on him, he will be in a hurry...

He just rushed forward, but George Wood passed the ball. With a poke on his toe, he passed the ball to Ribéry in front of him.

When the three of them passed and coordinated in this way, neither the Barcelona players nor the Nottingham Forest players had time to run to their positions. Arshavin was the player who stayed in the front when the Forest team defended the corner kick. Only Yaya Toure and Abidal, and Gabriel Milito.

After Ribery received the ball, he made a dynamic pass. Milito, who was standing in front of him, got out of the way a little bit, but shot from the spot without hesitation!

The football rolled towards the goal quickly against the turf. Fortunately, Valdés had been on strict guard against Ribery and was not surprised by his direct shot. He fell to the ground and pressed the ball firmly under his body.

Seeing that the attack failed and the football was directly confiscated by the opponent's goalkeeper, George Wood, who had just rushed to the front of the penalty area, turned around and sprinted back without any hesitation - he still had to prepare to defend, although not Messi, But to defend the rest of Barcelona.

He is not van der Vaart or other midfielders who have partnered with him before. After an attack is over, he can stay in the frontcourt and wait for the second attack with confidence. It is impossible for Sidwell to break the football for him and give him to attack. All his energy will be used to defend Messi. So the offense and defense have to rely on himself.

When Valdes saw George Wood running, he knew that the key player in Nottingham Forest must be him, not Ribery. Now that Wood has not had time to return to his defensive position, then... he threw the ball and launched a quick attack.

Yaya Toure received the ball, and Ribery next to him just made a defensive appearance and gave up. He didn't want to waste his energy here. Toure passed the football to Harvey, who had just run back, and his task was considered complete. At this moment, George Wood had just passed the middle circle.

Harvey obviously also knows that Wood is the key, and he will not give the opponent a chance to return to his defense zone to reorganize the defense. While Wood was still returning to defense, he passed the football quickly.

Messi got the ball again, and the few Barcelona fans in the stands of the city stadium cheered. They wanted to see Messi perform a good show of passing several people again.

Messi did not satisfy their desires. Such a performance can only be realized under extreme conditions. Most of the time, the offense is more threatening by passing and cutting.

He passed the football to Iniesta. He didn't choose to break through by himself and there was another reason he couldn't say - facing Sidwell, he really wasn't interested in breaking through...

Iniesta's direct pass was intercepted by Pepe. George Wood just ran back. The ball blocked by Pepe rolled to his feet, turned around, and went into the attack again.

There was no time to rest and breathe. George Wood was running back and forth on both sides of the field tirelessly. It is rare to see a midfield organizer like him...

"The offensive and defensive transitions of both sides are very fast! This is a good game!" When the commentator found out that Tony Twain's team didn't really want to stick to their home court, they became excited.

Judging from the few minutes of the game, this Champions League semi-final does have this sign. But regarding the expectation of Tony Twain, the commentators should remain cautiously optimistic...

※ ※ ※

Five minutes after Nottingham Forest and Barcelona fought each other, they retreated again. The game scene became Barcelona's advantage, and the possession time ratio reached 67% at one point. Nottingham Forest once again offered their magic weapon to defend and counterattack.

At this moment, the commentator really wanted to slap himself. For Barcelona fans, this game may indeed look good, but for the majority of neutral fans, the one-sided game does not arouse their great interest anyway.

Tony Twain sat on the coach's bench, rubbed his chin and said to the two assistant coaches beside him: "George Wood still needs to accumulate more experience as a organizer in games... he performed very well at the beginning, When the team shrinks the defense as a whole, he doesn't know what to do. If that guy Demi sees George's performance now, he must hate me to death, right?"

Chris Lark grinned silently beside him.

Tang said: "With Van der Vaart and Ribery around, he really doesn't have more opportunities to get in touch with this kind of work. I don't think there is any rush to train him."

Tang En nodded: "This is just the beginning, not the end."

※ ※ ※

While the three forest team coaches were discussing the future of George Wood, Rijkaard frowned over there, and the frown became tighter and tighter.

There was nothing secret about Tony Twain's tactics. Everyone knew that he would defend and counterattack. So before he came to Nottingham, he asked the team to do targeted training-how to break through the dense defense.

What he didn't expect was Tony Twain's special use of George Wood. When defending, he is not much different from the usual game except that he does not defend against Messi. That is to say, Nottingham Forest's midfield defense still needs to rely on him. But when attacking, he actively and decisively advanced again and again to participate, which caused Rijkaard and David a headache.

When Barcelona did defensive tactical drills, the imaginary enemy was Van der Vaart or Ribery, and Arshavin was the last time. Who would have thought that George Wood would be pushed by Twain to the position of midfield organizer in this game?

Wood's basic skills have been very solid after years of practice, and his training results are reflected in the game, which is a very headache for opponents. Because of his good basic skills, you are not easy to break his ball. His dribbling and passing are very simple, but it is the most useful in actual combat-because he will not waste fleeting opportunities because of fancy skills. , As long as he sees an opportunity, he will pass the football, without delaying a second. This is easy to say, but difficult to do-players with excellent skills often want to show off their skills due to inertia.

Originally, George Wood's level was mediocre at other times, and another opponent could stop him by marking him strictly. But the current situation is very suitable for Wood's performance. Because Nottingham Forest is a defensive counterattack, their offense only pays attention to one word-fast!

For those midfielders who are full of aura and excellent skills, they may hesitate when they take the ball to counterattack, or use a set of beautiful skills to win loud applause from the audience outside the field, but what about the opponent? Already quickly back in place. Then a quick attack turned into a positional battle of a siege.

George Wood will not let the coaches have that kind of worry. When the Forest team counterattacks, after he gets the ball, the first choice is always to pass the ball-as long as there is a chance, pass the football and use the fastest speed Through the midfield, hit the opponent's hinterland directly, without delay. If there is no way to pass the ball, he will take the ball forward by himself, and at the same time observe the surrounding situation to find the passing point.

He didn't wait for his teammates to get in if he didn't have a suitable shot point like some midfielders. Although his teammates did get in, the opponents also returned to the defense. Moreover, I may lose the ball because of holding the ball for a long time and being surrounded by the opponent.

When he dribbled the ball, he disrupted the opponent's defensive plan, and the opportunity will come naturally at that time.

This is also the reason why Tang En used George Wood as the organizer of this game. Such a defensive counterattack tactic, such an opponent, and such a game situation, there is no more suitable candidate than George Wood.

Faithful implementation of the head coach's tactics, excellent physical fitness, calm psychological quality, stable performance, any character that the head coach dreams of, why did he appear in Nottingham Forest?

When Rijkaard thought of this, he clenched his fists. There are many factions in my locker room, but talented players always have problems of one kind or another, Ronaldinho hangs around in sensual places, Deco has greater demands...why doesn't he have a George Wood?

※ ※ ※

Barcelona is indeed very strong. Their offense suppressed Nottingham Forest, so that they could only defend and have no energy to attack. Nottingham Forest's overall defense is not paper, and Barcelona's offense is too thunderous and rainy, and it can't break the defense at all.

Messi is really good, no matter how good he is, he is only one person. In the Copa del Rey against Getafe, five people in a row repeated Maradona's classic goal, but it was because Getafe's defense was too deep. Yes, let Messi pass one after another calmly. Nottingham Forest will not be so stupid as to pull the defense back and forth to create opportunities for Messi to pass several people in a row.

Compress the defense line as much as possible, Sidwell followed Messi every step of the way, with one or two people around to protect the flanks at any time, if Messi intends to single out the entire defense line of Nottingham Forest, let him be in this thick "sigh" The wall" was smashed to pieces.

If he is smart and does not have the delusion of defeating the entire opponent's team by himself, then Nottingham Forest's overall defense is not only aimed at Messi alone.

The first half calmed down after a period of fierce confrontation between the two sides, and the game returned to the track Tony Twain was most familiar with and best at.

There's nothing anyone can do, the score is 0:0. The referee blew the whistle to end the first half.

As soon as the whistle blew, Tang En got up and left the coach's bench. In front of the TV cameras, his face was expressionless, making it impossible to guess how he was feeling at the moment.

"In the home game, there was no goal in the first half, and it was still 0:0. Is Tony Twain satisfied or not?"

※ ※ ※

PS, I have something to do tomorrow morning, the VIP update will be delayed until after 12:00 noon, thank you all!