Godfather Of Champions

At first, Nottingham Forest’s locker room was raucous, and everyone was busy resting or listening to music to relax. When Twain got up from the corner, the room calmed down again.

“In the first half… I’m not going to talk nonsense. The issue we have to solve now is not how to prevent Barcelona’s offense, but how to score a goal.”

When he said this, he turned to look at George Wood. Some people followed his eyes and turned to the back.

“George, you have to attack and defend as well. Is it too difficult for you?” Twain smiled.

George Wood shook his head. “It’s okay.”

“Okay?” Twain glared at him and asked, “What does it mean ‘it’s okay’? It’s barely okay or easy enough?”

“Um…” George Wood thought about it. “When I return back to defend, I might have missed some chances because I was at the back. As for the other areas, it’s nothing.”

“Use more passes, you idiot.” Twain pointed at him. “You ran back and forth like a shuttle in the first half. I wondered if you had any extra energy and time to look up at the surrounding situation. A midfield playmaker does not rely on endless stamina. You have to observe the situation on the field, watch the positions of your teammates and opponents, and then decide how to manage the offensive. The midfield playmaker does not depend on physical strength. He uses his brains.” The tone of Twain’s criticism was not harsh, but he let everyone know that he was criticizing George Wood and not joking.

Wood nodded. He felt that he was up to his ears from running in the first part of the first half. How was he supposed to organize an attack? The question did not stay in his mind. He waited to get the ball before he looked up to find a passing route. If there was a chance to pass, he would. If there was no chance, he dribbled the ball himself. He rarely deliberated like van der Vaart. Therefore, up until now, most of his passes were sent directly to his teammates, rather than the empty spaces in front of them. It was not easy to make mistakes with that kind of pass, but it also did not create good opportunities. Such penetrating passes made for threatening attacks during an offensive. If the passes always reached fixed spots at the feet, they would force the attacking momentum to a stop. It would be easy for the opponent to stop an attack as long as their rear defensive line stood in a good position.

In the second half, he did not have to run back and forth between the front and back of the field, but he needed to put more energy into the defense because Nottingham Forest was carrying out the defensive counterattack tactic. If they did not defend, how could they counterattack? Wood was at the heart of the midfield defense. He was really not used the kind of play where when the other side attacked, he watched while he waited for his teammates to tackle the ball to pass it to him to organize the attack.

“In addition, while we’re playing defensive counterattack, defense is extremely important, but if it’s just defense without the counterattack, then we will just be clinging to defense to the death.” Twain did not intend to let Wood go yet. He pointedly raised his criticism of Wood’s problems with the defense. “You’ve been a defensive midfielder for too long, George. Actively defending is a good thing but consider your mission first. What’s your purpose here?” He forcefully asked as he looked at Wood.

“To organize the offense,” Wood replied.

“It looks like you’re not confused from all the running. If you always keep defending, defending, and defending, how do you organize the offense? You’re just one player, not a monster that can split up your body at any time.”

“So what should I do?” George Wood asked in return.

Twain looked at the others in the locker room. Some listened attentively to his conversation with George, some shut their eyes to rest, and some listened to music.

He cleared his throat and then said, “it’s very simple. Trust your teammates.”

George Wood turned and looked around. He found a number of his teammates looking back at him.

“All right, guys!” Twain left Wood alone and clapped so hard that everyone looked up at him. “In the second half, we must score. This is not an away game where a draw is acceptable. We can’t relax in our defense and must be bolder in our offense. If we lose the ball, I don’t want to see you turn around and run back. You counter-press, intercept the ball, and attack. If you can’t tackle the ball, interfere with the speed of their advance. You know what to do.

“The first part of the first half was fine, but we put too little pressure on Barcelona in the latter part. That’s not going to work. In the second half, show them all you’ve got!” He slammed his fist in the palm of his hand.

※※※

On the other side, Rijkaard was writing and drawing on the tactical board. He was instructing his players on how to break through Nottingham Forest’s impenetrable defense.

“George Wood clearly needs to organize an attack. If I were Tony Twain, I wouldn’t let him continue to focus on defense in the second half. In that case, there will be gaps within Nottingham Forest’s defense for us to penetrate. Their overall defensive formation is kept well and there was no way to rip it apart by passing the ball. Sidwell’s not a threat to you, Messi.” He looked at Messi, who sat on one side.

“Increase the breakthroughs in the second half and charge forward to find opportunities to mess up their defensive formation. What that type of overall defense fears the most is that there is one or several individual breakouts that are excellent.” He indirectly criticized Messi for not being motivated enough in the first half.

With the exception of the one moment where he bypassed three players, Messi’s performance tended to be bland. There might be speculation that he had just returned from his recovery and that his form had not adjusted to his best. But in fact, Messi only lost some interest because of the big contrast between his expectations and the reality.

After all, how could the sense of accomplishment in overcoming George Wood be compared to Sidwell?

Messi knew what the problem was. He had to take it seriously in the second half. Whatever the reason, George Wood was not defending against him, which was a good thing for him.

Recently, the media criticized Barcelona for developing “a dependency on Messi” after having just cast off “the dependency on Ronaldinho.” They were saying that Rijkaard was incompetent and praised Messi for being too strong.

When Barcelona attacked, everyone would try to give the ball to the diminutive man, hoping he could do wonders.

So since Nottingham Forest doesn’t respect me, I’ll make you regret it! He clenched his hands.

※※※

After the second half of the game resumed, Barcelona wanted to score, and Nottingham Forest also wanted to score like the first part of the first half. The two sides attacked each other, and the game changed.

Nottingham Forest obtained three opportunities to breach the goal, and Barcelona had two chances to invade the Forest team’s hinterland. It was a pity that no one grasped them, even though they startled the two managers. No matter which team got a shot at the goal, the two managers would rise from their seats. Rijkaard just got up slightly, while Twain jumped straight out of the technical area.

After fifteen minutes of thrilling attacks, Nottingham Forest and Barcelona realized at the same time that the attacks put their goals at risk, as evidenced by both teams’ five chances to threaten the goals.

Subsequently, both teams chose to play conservatively at the same time.

It was not surprising, since stabilizing the defense was Nottingham Forest’s usual style. However, it was perplexing that Barcelona also steadied their defense to counterattack.

“Barcelona wants to play Nottingham Forest’s defensive counterattack?” the commentator exclaimed.

Twain laughed. He knew why Rijkaard suddenly became conservative. Due to an attack, he had realized Nottingham Forest’s offensive prowess, and being conservative would help with victory. The manager, renown in the football world for his artistic and offensive style of football, had to succumb to reality and choose a more secure game defense when his position was shaky.

What delighted him more was not actually Barcelona’s performance, but George Wood’s transformation.

One of his favorite things about Wood was that he listened most of the time. Wood’s performance had a specific change after he criticized Wood’s performance in the first half during halftime.

He no longer let himself get terribly busy between offense and defense. He had learnt to “stand and kick.” Twain always emphasized running to play football, but there were exceptions. As the conductor for the midfield, he hoped that his playmaker would act as the general and show some steadiness. Moreover, for a defensive midfielder, there was no need to charge and break through enemy lines every time. More often than not, they needed to launch the attack from the backfield. Learning how to judge the situation on the field was something George Wood had to do.

The Forest team attacked and threatened Barcelona’s goal three times. One was directly started by Wood, and the other two were indirectly initiated by him. One of his straight passes from the flank gave Ribéry the chance to break into the penalty area for a shot. Although Valdés fended it off, Wood’s 30-meter straight pass left everyone with a deep impression. He was still in the middle and the Forest team had switched from defense to offense. If he had continued to dribble, Barcelona’s rear defensive line would have been organized soon, and then there would have been no way for him other than a cross pass. He glanced ahead. He found that Barcelona’s rear defensive line was still in retreat and had not had time to organize the defensive formation while Ribéry skimmed along the side. There was enough space in front of him and with his speed…

With a decisive straight pass, he sent the football directly from the center circle to the flank between Barcelona’s center-backs, Milito and Puyol.

Like a hot knife cutting through the butter, he passed the football through Barcelona’s two defenders. It was empty in the penalty area. Just when people thought it was a missed shot, Ribéry appeared behind the entire rear defensive line and received the ball!

He immediately shot at the goal, but he emphasized strength too much, and his angle was too straight, so the shot was blocked out by Valdés.

The City Ground stadium still burst into a round of applause for Ribéry and George Wood.

Even Twain, who was off the field, could not help but stand and clap for George Wood when he saw the scalpel-like penetrating pass.

If George had just sent the ball straight to Ribéry, Barcelona’s Puyol would have been happy to single-handedly face off with Ribéry, and the Forest team’s attack would have been pushed to a dead end. The ball that reached ahead of the attacking player seemed to dig a diversion channel downstream for a pool of dead water, and the entire attack was alive in an instant.

“That’s what Demetrio said about the talent he saw in him!” Twain boastfully said to the people around him.

“Unfortunately, it’s still too little.” Kerslake shook his head.

“It’s okay” Dunn said, “He was occasionally brilliant at first, and now the occasions have become many. Eventually…”

Twain continued, “Eventually, he will be brilliant, always!”

※※※

Wood was slightly annoyed to see that Ribéry had wasted the opportunity, but he was more excited inside. When he saw the football roll from his feet, to accurately penetrate through Barcelona’s two defenders, and Ribéry intuitively plug in to receive, the feeling was completely different from when he shoveled and overturned his opponent as a defensive midfielder. One was destructive, and the other was constructive.

But there was one thing in common — whether it was destructive, or constructive, he was excited once he succeeded.

※※※

Because of Wood’s sudden enlightenment and activity, Rijkaard discovered that although there was no van Nistelrooy, Eastwood, or van der Vaart, Nottingham Forest’s attack was still powerful. He feared that the Forest team would sneak attack against him if he continued to attack. Not conceding a goal was the most important thing. Hence he ran to the sidelines to instruct the team to slow down its pace a little and take it slower.

As he retreated, the Forest team followed because Barcelona rarely counterattacked, but it would be a big mistake if anyone thought they did not have the ability to fight back. Twain did not want to such a folly like bombarding his opponent for eighty-nine minutes and be defeated with a sneak attack in the ninetieth minute” to happen to him.

Messi did well in the first part and got a shot at the goal, but while his shot bypassed Edwin van der Sar, it was fended off by the undaunted Pepe who used his body to block on the goal line. It was one of the best scoring opportunities that Barcelona had in the game so far.

As Barcelona withdrew, the man who was really liberated was George Wood. He did not have to focus on the backfield to defend. He started trying to shift his position forward again. Sometimes he looked more like an attacking midfielder than a defensive midfielder.

The game gradually came to a conclusion in a standoff. If no one could score a goal, then Barcelona and Nottingham Forest would have to play into overtime to determine which team would advance to the finals. If the outcome was still undetermined after the overtime, there was only one last move — the penalty shootout!

No one wanted the game to get to that point. Even overtime would be a huge test for both teams’ stamina.

Consequently, the two teams powered up again and launched attacks in the last ten minutes of the game.

Messi was active again. George Wood received more balls from his teammates, already feeling like a “midfield command tower.”

Messi broke through Sidwell’s side of the penalty area and directly passed to Eto’o, who inserted crosswise into the penalty area, but Eto’o’s shot was thrown out by Edwin van der Sar.

On the other side, George Wood suddenly forced a breakthrough with his speed on the flank and attracted the attention of two people, Abidal and Yaya Touré, but passed the football back to Beckham. When Beckham instantly passed the ball, Bendtner pressed on Barcelona’s tallest defender, Márquez, to do a header shot to the goal but it smashed and rebounded on the crossbar by Valdés, who pounced on it.

Toward the end, when George Wood found that Barcelona was especially guarding against his passes, he decisively made a long shot from thirty meters. Although it flew straight toward the grandstand, Twain and the others could tell what was in George Wood’s heart — he did not reject being an offensive player.

As time passed, the score was still 0:0.

Rijkaard had long been standing on the sidelines to direct the game, and Twain could not sit still and got up from his seat.

He turned to look at the big screen. The time was 84 minutes and 58 seconds; the score was nil-nil for Nottingham Forest and Barcelona.

Beckham was a little tired, so he decided to bring him off. Lennon’s force of impact might work wonders at the last minute…

Sidwell could also be replaced to bring van der Vaart on for a final sprint, but then George Wood would have to go back to the position of a defensive midfielder. Moreover, he did not know what van der Vaart’s form would be like. There was not much time left for them, unless they were going to play overtime.

He was very satisfied with George’s performance. He had not yet been able to bring a victory to the team, and it was not his fault. He still had a long way to go as a midfield playmaker.

He summoned van der Vaart and Lennon from the warm-up area and got ready to instruct them on how to attack.

※※※

George Wood glanced at the two teammates who were listening to Twain on the sidelines. One was the team’s original playmaker: van der Vaart. It took him only a second to understand what Tony Twain thought.

He did not want to play overtime. He wanted to resolve the battle in the last few minutes, and his own offensive performance obviously did not satisfy him. Otherwise he would not have brought on van der Vaart to replace his task.

What did that mean?

It meant that he did not complete his mission.

※※※

Messi faced Sidwell again, intending to break through after he lured Pepe to assist with the defense, and passed the football behind Pepe to let Eto’o insert.

When he easily bypassed Sidwell and looked up to find someone, the ball under his feet was shoveled away by George Wood.

For nearly ninety minutes, George Wood had not dealt with Messi once, no matter how Messi stirred up havoc near the Forest team’s penalty area. Messi almost forgot who he once considered the most dangerous opponent.

As a result, after he bypassed Sidwell, he only thought of Pepe and did not notice that the danger was around him.

George Wood saw at the precise moment when he looked up and neglected to guard his feet. He suddenly charged out from the side and shoveled the ball from under Messi’s feet!

Nottingham Forest did not give Barcelona time to react. Pepe, who had initially come up to prevent Messi, received the ball that Wood had shoveled just in time. He intended to pass it to the others, but as soon as he saw Wood, who had just gotten up, he beckoned to him. His action was hidden, but he saw him motion for him to pass it over.

Pepe faced Messi and faked a stance to dribble the ball forward to break through. He deceived Messi to sway his center of gravity, and immediately followed by passing the football to George Wood, who ran in front.

“He’s the playmaker, stop him!” Puyol yelled in the backfield. Wood basically organized the offense for the entire game. Any fool would know who the most dangerous character was and the one who should be prioritized the most during the Forest team’s counterattack.

Without waiting for Yaya Touré, Xavi instantly pounced. He intended to wait for George Wood to pass him and intercept the ball or force Wood to slow down and turn so that the Forest team’s quick attack would fail.

George Wood did not plan to bypass Xavi and did not intend to turn around either. He watched Xavi but passed the football to Beckham on the right.

Then he bypassed Xavi and continued to run forward.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest began their quick counterattack. Gareth Bale, who was brought on at the 25th minute of the second half, plugged forward from the left flank with Ribéry.

Xavi turned his head to look at George Wood’s back, and, at the same time, glanced at the other Forest players who ran forward. Then he looked at Beckham and decided to tangle with the Englishman, who had average ball possession skills, and left George Wood to his teammates.

Beckham saw Xavi rush up and knew his intention: to intercept his ball or trap him in place so that the football could not be passed out.

He did not give Xavi a chance. He immediately passed the football. The man who received his pass was George, who had just passed him the ball!

He had already moved from the middle to the flank. Wood had not dribbled a few steps before Yaya Touré rushed over. All the Barcelona defensive players had the same idea: intercept the ball and break the offense or thwart the offense.

George Wood did not give Touré a chance to take advantage of it. He directly sent the ball to Ribéry’s feet in the middle.

Ribéry went from the left to the middle because he wanted to receive Wood’s pass. Barcelona’s defensive line grew nervous when they saw him take the ball. As the Ballon d’Or recipient, he could not be ignored. Whether he sent a threatening pass or took a shot of his own, Ribéry was a good player.

Iniesta, who was not good at defense, came up in the wing to prepare to outflank him, and the man in front of Ribéry was the Argentinian center-back, Milito.

If Ribéry wanted to shoot directly, Milito would block it. If Ribéry wanted to break through, then Iniesta could give him pause.

Ribéry neither shot nor broke through. He passed the ball.

The figure that was familiar to all Barcelona players, George Wood, who received the ball.

George Wood, who was near the sidelines and had moved quickly to the flank, received the ball. Abidal unceremoniously came up to mark him. Now that he was basically in front of Barcelona’s penalty area, how would there be a space that he was not pressed harder?

Abidal rushed up and leant against Wood on one side while he extended his leg to poke Wood’s ball to force Wood to turn around.

Wood turned around but knocked the football with his heel toward the gap behind Abidal.

“David!”

Beckham ran up with all his might and appeared behind Abidal just in time. He was not offside! Because Gareth Bale plugged ahead and suppressed Puyol, Beckham was alone in front of Puyol, even though he appeared behind the other people.

Abidal was so focused on tackling Wood’s ball that he did not noticed, but Márquez saw everything clearly. Beckham had run just before George Wood got the ball. He suddenly sped up when Wood received the ball.

At first, Márquez thought Beckham wanted to receive George Wood’s return pass, but he quickly realized he was wrong. Beckham did not rush toward Wood but went around the two men. He moved forward, trying to put Beckham in an offside position. He did not see the situation at the far end as he felt reassured with Puyol.

Puyol was clearly aware of the point too. He wanted to move forward to create an offside, but he was late.

He was only half a step away when Beckham received the ball while unmarked!

Having just interfered with Márquez up ahead, Bendtner and Arshavin did not care about Márquez, who raised his hands and looked at the assistant referee, and uniformly rushed to the goal!

“Watch out for his pass…” Before Valdés finished, he saw Beckham swing his right leg.

Abidal turned to Beckham in a panic and sprung over, and George Wood stood where he was waiting to watch the show.

Márquez and Milito went back to chase after Bendtner and Arshavin.

Valdés looked at Beckham, but he glimpsed the two strikers from the corner of his eye and focused on them.

Beckham kicked. It was not a curveball pass from the inside of his foot, but a volley on the outer instep!

At the same time, Valdés pounced to the side, ready to stop the pass. He had just flew out when he saw the football fly past his other side. The speed was so fast that he was too late to turn his head around to see what happened behind him. But it was not necessary; he heard the impassioned cheers from the whole stadium.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! The ball’s in!”

Five passes ended the fight.

David Beckham pointed both hands at George Wood and bounded at him with an excited smile on his face.

George Wood’s excellent performance throughout the game, as well as acting as the passing relay point to continuously pass and organize the offense for the attack, made him a key target for marking by the Barcelona rear defensive line. Franck Ribéry was also famous for the fact that whenever he took the ball, Barcelona also had to guard against him. No one took notice of the veteran, Beckham, who could not run and only pass, at best. Our defensive lines are so well organized that even if his passes get through, Bendtner would only have a few chances…

As a result, Beckham came with a plug-in and shot!

“Some people say that Nottingham Forest is a nursing home. After Hierro’s departure, there were old guys like Albertini, van Nistelrooy, and Edwin van der Sar. David Beckham came along once Albertini retired. But who did they rely on for last year’s Champions League title? Albertini, the old bastard! What about this year? The Nottingham Forest fans can look forward to David Beckham!” the commentator cried excitedly. That was equivalent to him announcing that Nottingham Forest had won the entry to the Champions League final.

However, the game still had three minutes before they entered the injury stoppage time.

Twain did not to celebrate the goal with those around him. He pulled over the excited van der Vaart and Lennon to seize the moment to hand over the tactics. He had waited for a dead ball to change players, but now he definitely had to change the tactics.

The trailing Barcelona was like a wounded beast. They could erupt with amazing energy at the last minute. If they lowered their guard, they would be eaten. Barcelona only needed one goal to equalize the score and the team going to Moscow in Russia would go from Nottingham Forest to Barcelona.

※※※

After they celebrated the victory, Twain brought on van der Vaart and Lennon to replace Sidwell and the goalscorer, Beckham. When Beckham came off, the fans stood up and applauded.

Tony Twain hugged Beckham and gave George Wood a thumbs up, which affirmed his contribution to the goal.

He was afraid that Wood would think otherwise, because van der Vaart did indeed take over Wood’s offensive command. He needed to do the job he was best at, defending.

Messi’s finally came face to face with George Wood towards the end of the game, but he was already worn down by the Forest team’s overall defense earlier in the game — he had just returned from his recovery. How could his fitness be good?

In the face of the physically perverse George Wood, his spirit was willing, but his body was weak.

A speedy striker like Eto’o had a limited role to play without more space to play. What about Henry? How much of a threat could he be when he was stuck near the sidelines and could not get in?

Although the injury stoppage time was up to five minutes, there was a flurry of disgruntled boos at the City Ground stadium. Nottingham Forest’s Western Wall showed no sign of collapsing. The physical advantage guaranteed by the rotation was evident.

When the referee blew the whistle at the end of the game, the entire City Ground stadium, and half of Nottingham, was inundated with cheers.

Tony Twain walked to the sidelines, intending to rally and celebrate the victory, but caught unawares and lifted up by the players around him. He was lifted above their heads!

“They broke into the UEFA Champions League final three times in a row! Tony Twain etched his team’s name in the history of the Champions League, to be mentioned on equal terms as Real Madrid, Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Benfica, and the best managers in history! They are the first to achieve this in the new century… This is truly crazy!”

“This is incredible! Truly unbelievable! They really did it!”

Tony Twain was carried above the players’ heads and held out his hands to receive the cheers from the crowd. Although they had yet to win the Champions League title, he had done enough for now to accept the courtesy. To be able to lead a small team that had been unknown for nearly thirty years back to the top was not something the average person could do easily.

“I have to say… even though Tony Twain is not likeable, his results make everyone green with envy. For those who criticize him, don’t they want the team that they support to have such a magical manager? Most of the players he dug up from around the world were all unheard of. And now, they have grown into the pillars of Nottingham Forest. The young saplings have grown into towering trees!”

“Wood! Wood! Grow into a big tree! Forest! Forest! Nottingham Forest!!” None of the Forest fans left the City Ground stadium stands and sang another song they came up with for George Wood.

“Yes, Franck Ribéry, who played in the French lower league in the beginning, became a Ballon d’Or winner. Pepe, who faced the predicament of not being able to play in Portugal, is now at the heart of the Forest team’s rear defense. Gareth Bale, who was nearly turned away by Southampton, is now the youngest national footballer and goalscorer in Welsh history. Eastwood, who played amateur football because of his injury and almost gave up, has become the main player of the Forest team. Of course, we cannot forget George Wood. Who would have thought of him, a layman who only started to come into contact with professional football at the age of seventeen? His performance in this game today deserved nine points!”

“Why not ten points?” his partner asked.

“Ah, he is still young. There’s plenty of room for growth, and we look forward to his future. I don’t want to give him a shocking eleven points when the time comes.”

The players gathered around Tony Twain to celebrate their victory with him. Who cared about the mood of the Barcelona people?

Twain did not even have a chance to shake hands with Rijkaard. He saw Rijkaard walk away alone. He knew that Rijkaard’s position was shaky, but did not feel the slightest sadness on his behalf. He only watched Rijkaard’s back gradually disappear into the crowd and warned himself countless times.

If I had lost the game, I would be him.