68 Manager Vs. Manager Part 1 (1/2)

Chapter 68: Manager Vs. Manager Part 1

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

During the English League One playoffs semifinals, the second match between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest had been going on for more than 10 minutes, and there were no changes to the score. Although Nottingham Forest displayed commendable fighting spirit, Sheffield United's manager, Neil Warnock, had obviously made preparations in advance. While Tang En was analyzing his team, he was also analyzing Tang En's.

Marlon Harewood had received the tender 'care' of the defenders from Sheffield United. Manager Warnock had intentionally moved Phil Jagielka, who had originally played defensive center, to the position of center back for this match. There was only one reason for this—to shut down the Silver Shoe striker of League One.

Despite being only 20 years old, Jagielka had already participated in an entire season of League One matches. In addition, he had also become one of the core players of the team's midfield defense. The well-rounded Jagielka was able to play any position on the back defensive line. Although Tang En had rarely paid much attention to the weaker teams' matches when he watched the Premier League, he had, back in China, tried to watch most of the matches of the stronger teams. In the last round of 2006's English Premier League, Arsenal led by Wenger had once lost 0:1 to then English Premier League Team, Sheffield United. In the last 31 minutes of the match, the person who defended the goalpost was none other than Phil Jagielka. That was probably the longest duration that a non-goalkeeper player had substituted in as the goalkeeper. As a result, Tang En also remembered this difficult-to-pronounce name.

Now that Tang En saw him actively running about as a center midfielder, blocking Harewood's offence time and again, what else could he say, besides curse his own luck for meeting such a tough opponent?

Another player that Tang En had a headache over was one of Sheffield United's core players, Michael Tonge. This person who was still a member of the Manchester United youth team three years ago, had already grown to become Sheffield United's core midfielder. All of the offense was centered around him. He passed the ball, slide-tackled, organized offenses, and even personally gave the fatal deciding blow. In this season, he had been 44 times, and scored six goals. However, his specialty was his dribbling.

Jagielka and he were both members of the England Under Twenty-One national team.

Both of them were also the greatest contributors to Sheffield United's ability to enter the playoffs.

Of course, the person who Tang En felt was hardest to deal with was not on the field. Instead, it was the person seated in the manager's seat, Sheffield United's manager, Neil Warnock.

The 54-year-old old man was a local of Sheffield City, with a head full of white hair and had an abundance of experience. Warnock was straightforward and honestly expressed his feelings. His coaching style was somewhat similar to Tang En's. He liked to direct the match from the sidelines and would occasionally return to the manager's seat. Throughout the 90-minute match, the vulgarities he shouted could be heard, despite the singing of the 30,000 football fans on the viewing platform of Bramall Lane Stadium.

Looking at Sheffield United's highly appropriate tactics, Tang En knew that he had met an extremely formidable opponent. It was no accident that the team had lost to Sheffield United three times alone in that season. Tang En had even lost to him twice.

A big part of the reason for Nottingham Forest's exceptional performance in the second half of the season was their core striker, Marlon Harewood. Tang En saw that Harewood's condition was quite good, and therefore decided to arrange it so that he was the core of the offense. Harewood's techniques were exquisite, and his stature was exceptional as well. With him at the core, enemy defenders would usually have a tough time and be unable to stop him from repeatedly scoring. After being paired with the extremely fast David Johnson, this duo had become the sharpest and most successful striker combination. They had scored a total of 46 goals, and it had to be noted that Nottingham Forest had only scored 83 goals for the entire season. Portsmouth was the season's sharpest offensive team, with a total of 97 goals, while Nottingham Forest came in second.

However, faced against Sheffield United's defenders, this extremely lethal striker combination had lost their direction, completely lost their power.

Although the enemy was impressive, Tang En, who had been battle-trained for half a season, was also no pushover. He had always thought of himself as a ”natural manager.” If he had done any other job, he would have made a terrible mess out of it. However, as a manager, he was very talented. Who said that only players needed to be talented?

As mentioned before, Sheffield United's entire team revolved around their core, the midfielder, Michael Tonge. He initiated almost 60 percent of the team's offenses. In this match, Tang En did not send out the veteran player combination, Eoin Jess and Gareth Williams, which had been used as the starting lineup for most of the matches this season. Instead, he chose to utilize the younger midfielder combination.

The four midfielders were positioned in a line. From left to right, were Andy Reid, Riccardo Scimeca, Eugen Bopp, and Brian Cash. Tang En did not have any offensive midfielder in the middle. Instead, he positioned two defensive midfielders to defend the middle region of the field. His intentions could not have been any clearer—to make use of Eugen Bopp and Riccardo Scimeca's defensive abilities to restrict Sheffield's activities in the midfield, especially to block their midfielder core, Michael Tonge, and not give him any openings.

The tactics arranged by the two managers were well directed. As a result, even after 15 minutes into the match, neither side was able to get into a good scoring position, and they spent most of the time snatching for possession of the ball in the midfield. Bopp and Scimeca's defense completely shut down any effective offensive advances attempted by Tonge and Michael Brown.

Motson commented, ”I admit that Manager Twain's decision to arrange two rarely fielded young men during the season to be part of today's starting lineup was extremely unexpected, and extremely effective as well. However, the price to pay is Nottingham Forest's offense, as the two strikers have been completely shut down by the opponent's five defenders. In addition, there is no one in the center who can organize offenses. If it carries on like this... Truth to be told, I don't understand.”