Chapter 577: Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Both sides entered straight into their game form right from the first second.
There was no warm-up, no trying out and no pretense to feint an attack. From the first second, the two sides completely entered their game form. Every attack was directed at the goal to score.
Gerrard attempted a long shot and nearly breached the goal. Fortunately, Edwin van der Sar was so focused that he struck the football out. In the face of Gerrard’s long shot, he dared not hold the ball in his hands for fear that he would drop it.
This powerful long shot instantly ignited the atmosphere in Stade Louis II.
Twain sat in the technical area and behind him was the Red Army Liverpool fans. Thunderous cheers filled every inch of s.p.a.ce around him, piercing his eardrums. He did not even move his head as he was used to it for a long time. He just considered his own issues.
It appeared Liverpool was eager to beat them. The only question now was if it was that Benítez’s plan, or was the Liverpool players’ own idea.
He turned his head to look at Liverpool’s technical area. Benítez sat in his seat, surrounded by aides. Twain could not see his expression or hear what they said.
The Forest team had never been afraid to encounter a team eager to win. The Forest team liked to run into teams that would launch a fierce attack right from the start, besieging and bombarding the Forest team’s goal, like they could not wait to breach the goal with two or three shots so to get the lead.
In that case, defensive counterattack would come in handy.
Twain decided to wait quietly for a few minutes to observe Liverpool’s true intentions before making a decision.
Five minutes into the start of the game, Liverpool took advantage of their kickoff to launch a siege on the Forest team’s goal. Nottingham Forest correspondingly withdrew its defensive line to let the opponent press up to attack.
Judging from the situation alone, anyone would have come to the conclusion that Nottingham Forest was pa.s.sively coming under attack and was in a sorry mess due to Liverpool’s powerful offense, but the real experts did not see it that way.
For those familiar with the Forest team, that was the most dangerous time for the Forest team’s opponents.
Just like a spring, before it could rebound with force, it had to be compressed by an external force. The strength of its rebound related to the degree to which it was compressed. If a sharp knife was installed at the top of this spring, then when it rebounded…
The Forest team’s three defensive lines contracted so tightly that everyone came back to take part in the defense except Eastwood. No matter how ferocious Liverpool’s offensive was, all three lines remained intact.
It was like a spring that was compressed to the extreme.
“Liverpool’s offense is fierce, but let’s take a look at Manager Tony Twain. He doesn’t seem worried. Of course, the Forest team’s style of play is always to solidify its defense first, and then seek the opportunity to attack. This is not the first time that they are playing under such pressure from opponents.” There was a hint of sarcasm in the commentator’s tone. No one liked a team that took defense more seriously than offense. Twain was right. The Forest team was unpopular.
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Twain no longer required to stand on the sidelines and use hand gestures to alert the players to such a matter like to seek an opportunity to attack while they secured the defense. Most of the Forest players knew what to do. Those who did not know had to be the newcomers who only joined the team this summer. In the Forest team’s starting list today, only Beckham was the only who had just joined the team.
Whether at Manchester United or Real Madrid, Beckham’s every contact with the football was geared toward the offensive and upholding the offense. Other than his final season in Real Madrid, he rarely thought about focusing on the defense in the game.
Since he came to the Forest team, the defensive part of training accounted for a large proportion, which he needed to adapt to in the beginning.
Fortunately, he played as the defensive midfielder in Real Madrid. Even if he played as the right midfielder, he would also actively partic.i.p.ate in the defense. Although his level of defense was average, his att.i.tude was right and that was enough.
Twain let Beckham start. In addition to his high regard for his tireless running and professionalism, he also needed to rely heavily on his place kicks and pa.s.ses from the flank.
Edwin van der Sar pounced on Torres’s near shot and put the football firmly under his body. He did not give the other opposing players the opportunity to make up the shot. Although Akinfeev had returned to the team from Russia, it was thought that Russia’s number one national goalkeeper would need to sit on the bench for some time to adapt to the Premier League.
Edwin van der Sar got up and threw the football back to Beckham who came back to receive. The Forest team’s attacking players also rushed ahead. Ribéry, van Nistelrooy, van der Vaart, and Eastwood were all in the front field. Only Beckham ran back to the front of the box to receive the ball.
This was the Forest team’s new offense tactic: to make use of Beckham’s precise long pa.s.s to help the team shake off of the opponent’s crazy blockade in the midfield and strike behind the opposing defensive line. Other than the risk of possibly putting their forwards in the opponent’s offside trap, everything was fine.
Beckham turned around after he received the football to prepare for a long pa.s.s. However, he was pushed down by Gerrard.
The referee’s whistle sounded to signal that Liverpool had fouled. Such a foul would neither give Gerrard a yellow card nor a verbal warning, but it would nip the Forest team’s counterattack in the bud.
The Forest team sent a free kick from the backfield and Pepe’s long pa.s.s was headed back by Liverpool’s Danish center back, Daniel Agger. The Forest team had no chance to fight back. At the moment, Liverpool’s thirty-meter zone was full of players. The Forest team had no method to break through Liverpool’s defense other than to pa.s.s the ball back and forth while they looked for opportunities.
Twain frowned. He thought he knew what Benítez had planned.
It looked like the Liverpool players were not carried away by anger yet…
They pressed up when it was time to attack and quickly retreated when it was time to defend. If the Forest team wanted to attack fast, they had to find ways to delay, even if it meant a foul.
Their tactics were clear, and the players were decisive in their execution.
It looked like this was going to be a tough game.
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If the spring was compressed further, the force of the rebound would cause a greater attacking power. That was how defensive counterattack worked in principle.
But what if the force exerted on the spring was suddenly greater than the force the spring could withstand? What if the power exerted was not exerted from above? What would be the consequence?
A “kapow” could be heard.
“Fernando Torres!” the commentator shouted. Liverpool’s number 9 opened his arms wide to accept the congratulations from his teammates.
In the opening eleven minutes, as Twain racked his brains about how to deal with Liverpool’s tactics, the Forest team’s goal was conceded.
It was a beautiful coordination in the front field. Gerrard caught Wood’s attention after he took the ball, and then he managed to lure Wood out of his own defense zone by making to look like he was about to do a long shot. All the Forest players put their focus on him, he pushed the football straight out from under his feet. Torres plugged in from the front of the rear defensive line and did a small loop to be onside. He received the ball behind the Forest defenders, and the next thing was simple. He kicked the ball to the far corner while Edwin van der Sar had not yet blocked the angle of his shot. Then the football rolled easily into the goal.
Liverpool led by 1:0 at the 11th minute. The Reds fans were jubilant, while the Forest fans were temporarily silent.
Twain sat in the technical area and scratched his head. This was his only move after he saw the goal concede. He did not jump out of his seat angrily and hurl his water bottle. The opponent’s tactical cooperation was brilliant. A lapse occurred in their own defense. In that moment, the defensive players only cared about who had the ball. There was really no need for him to be too angry about this goal concede.
Besides, the game had only been going for eleven minutes. The Forest team still had plenty of time. He was not in a hurry.
With that thought in mind, Twain adjusted his sitting posture, and he c.o.c.ked one leg up over the other.
When a spring was pressed too hard, it might be crushed and bent out of shape. But for Twain, it just meant that the spring had shattered.
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The leading Liverpool continued to step up their offensive against the Forest team in the first half. They were not satisfied with one goal, and Benítez was aware that they were not secure with one goal at all.
Nottingham Forest was at a disadvantage in face of a strong Liverpool team, from an outside perspective. Twain did not think that it was a disadvantageous position. He remembered the wuxia novels he had been obsessed with in high school. In Jin Yong’s The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, there was a paragraph that fit the present situation, and was appropriate to sum up the Forest team’s football tactical style:
If he is strong, let him be strong;.The cool breeze brushes away the small hill; If he is fierce, let him be fierce. The bright moon s.h.i.+nes on the great river.
Regardless of how powerful and ferocious the enemy is, to me it is nothing more than a cool breeze brus.h.i.+ng away the hill or a bright moon illuminating a river. Although I can feel the cool breeze and see the bright moon, it will not damage me. But what should I do so that I will not come into any harm?
Let him be fierce, let him be ruthless, a breath of “true qi” is enough for me.
When applied to the world of football, as long as they were truly strong, the opponent would not lead them by the nose. No matter how fierce their attacks were, their defensive formation would remain intact, resolute and unified. The opponent’s attacks would be like a breeze blowing past the mountains and the reflection of the moon in the river. They would pose no threat at all.
That was the temperament and a sign of confidence of a strong team.
Perhaps in the eyes of the outsiders, the besieged Forest team was surrounded by perils and could concede the goal again at any time, but the Forest players themselves knew how secured they were now.
That goal concede was just a fluke, and it would show up just once.
The Liverpool players on the field were now deeply experiencing the Nottingham Forest team’s “immoveable” style of football. It appeared as if they had besieged the opponent more than the opponents had to them. However, they could threaten the opposing goal only a handful of times.
Furthermore, as everyone knew, the Forest team was good at playing defensive counterattack, which led the Liverpool players to inadvertently forget the s.p.a.ce behind them when they rushed up to attack — although Benítez did lay out the tactics in response to this point, people’s psychological inertia was terrible. Nottingham Forest had repeatedly staged quick sneak attacks in various compet.i.tions to end their opponents’ play. How could they prevent them from doing it again?
The result in the long run was that the Liverpool players clearly felt tired before they had even finished the first half. Besides the goal earlier, they could no longer crack open the goal. In addition, their opponent could sneak an attack behind them at any time, how could they not be tired?
As everyone knew, Twain was actually Chinese through and through. He had a very strong Chinese background. It was not just reflected in his ability to speak Mandarin and his preference for the Chinese cuisine.
After he became the manager of the Forest team, he slowly contemplated how to integrate the Eastern wisdom with modern football.
The Forest team’s tactics were incorporated with the wisdom from The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
Due to the influence of j.a.panese anime and video games, many people thought that “Fūrinkazan” originated from j.a.pan. In reality, it was developed in China.
On the bookshelf in Twain’s house, a number of books related to China were placed on it in order to fool Yang Yan. Twain seldom pulled “XX journey” out to read, so they were placed high on the shelf. However, The Art of War was the one book that Twain often took out to study.
In The Art of War: Military Maneuvers chapter, there was a saying: be as swift as the wind, as gentle as the forest, as fierce as the fire, as unshakable as the mountain; be as elusive as the shadow and move like lightning.
The phrase summarized the Forest team’s tactics:
Be swift like the wind when you attack. Quietly lie in wait for an opportunity like a disciplined forest. Be ruthless and rapid like a raging inferno during the attack. Be steady and calm like a mountain during defense. This is so that the enemy cannot decipher your intention.You will be unstoppable and roll like thunder once you strike. Keep firm during defense and only make a move during offense. Stability is the basis for movement and movement serves stability.
Offense was built on the foundation of defense. During a game, both teams confronted each other with defense most of the time. The problem-solving attack was often a momentary thing. It was as if the Forest team clung fast to defense for eighty-nine minutes and resolved the battle with a lightning-quick sneak attack unexpected by the opponent.
Twain did not instruct his players to study The Art of War. Although there was a translated copy by the British Museum, he did not have to worry that his translation was not good. He just felt that it would be a testament of a low-level leaders.h.i.+p if he were to relay those words in its original translation to his men, because they did not comprehend it on their own and could only imitate from books. He incorporated the wisdom from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War into his daily training and command of the games.
The learnings from Chinese ancestors had been tested for more than two thousand years and were not abolished. Furthermore, they were still being developed and promoted, which proved that they were indeed irreplaceable and worthy of acclaim by modern people. Although the level of Chinese football was extremely low, Twain never thought that everything in China was low. At least he felt that with the ancient wisdom of the East, he could also command the team to achieve victory.
I love Chinese culture. It’s not just to a lame excuse for me to speak Mandarin in the future. I truly love the culture of that country because they are not out of fas.h.i.+on. In fact, it surpa.s.ses this era.
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As immovable as a mountain and calm as a forest, the Nottingham Forest team finally found a golden opportunity in the final minutes of the first half. Three Forest players completed three pa.s.ses at the front of the Liverpool box, and the football flew into Liverpool’s goal.
After George Wood cut off Liverpool’s counterattack, he counter-pressed against the attack. He pa.s.sed the ball to Ribéry, who pa.s.sed it to van Nistelrooy. In turn, van Nistelrooy rushed to shoot.
Reyna’s view was blocked by his own teammates and reacted half a beat late. He could only watch the ball go into the net.
It was a sneak attack, swift like the wind and fierce like fire.
Benítez knew that Nottingham Forest had been so tight with defense because they wanted to fight back. But he did not know when the Forest team would counterattack. It would not be called a sneak attack if he knew.
He did not expect that Nottingham Forest would choose to fight back in the final moments of the first half after forty-five minutes of intense compet.i.tion when the Liverpool players were exhausted.
It was not the most embarra.s.sing thing to be besieged during a game, and it was not the easiest to besiege the opponent.
Be as swift as the wind, as gentle as the forest, as fierce as the fire, as unshakable as the mountain; be as elusive as the shadow and move like lightning.
The ancestors truly did not deceive me.