146 The Cunning Allardyce Part 1 (2/2)

”In every way.” Motson smiled and waved goodbye to them. ”Alright, the match should be starting soon. I'm going to the stands.”

He turned and left the lounge, heading towards the passageway leading to the stands.

Gray stared at Motson's back and shook his head before asking Taylor, ”Martin, what do you think of that? It's very unlike him. Motson has actually come down to watch a live match of a team he doesn't support, simply because he thinks that Tony Twain is interesting!”

Taylor laughed. ”Exactly what kind of person he is, I suppose we shall see for ourselves. I've done some research on Tony Twain as well, but that's only the homework that I did in order to commentate this match. I believe that seeing him with our own eyes will help deepen our impression of him. Let's go, Andy. Our work is about to start.”

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John Motson was seated in the third row of the stands, and he looked just like the normal fans seated around him. Nobody knew that this person, who wore a dull grey overcoat and had a head full of white hair, was the commentator whose passionate voice they heard every weekend.

Motson was seated very near to the Nottingham Forest's manager's seats, and he could see Tony Twain, who was standing at the side of the field, if he stood up. Twain had just exited the changing room, and his team was already on the field preparing for the match.

This was not the first time that Tony Twain was leading his team to play against an English Premier League team. Motson still remembered the FA Cup match held last year on January 4th, when Nottingham Forest had faced off against West ham United in this exact stadium. Two days prior to that match, he had still been laughing at Twain's clumsy first appearance on the field in a television broadcast. However, on the actual match day, he had been completely fascinated by the second half.

Cup matches seemed to be where Tony Twain was catapulted to fame.

The previous time was the FA Cup, and this time was the EFL Cup. What kind of match would the man bring this time?

The clear sound of the whistle resounded throughout the stadium, but it was quickly buried beneath the sound of cheers. The match had begun!

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What kind of team was Bolton? It was certainly not a team that adhered to the currently popular technique-centric play style, nor was it a team that subscribed to the standard style either. They had a very traditional English play style instead, with the team adopting a sturdy formation. Their midfield and backfield defense was fierce, and they would make use of long passes to assault the enemy's back defense line.

This was clear just from their two frontline shooters on their starting line up. The first, Kevin Davies, was extremely adept at headers, despite the fact that he was only six feet tall,. The other was Henrik Pedersen. Although his techniques were not that refined, he had the build of a classic Northern European player.

When these two were paired together, the strength of their assault should not be underestimated.

To Tang En, the main flaw in Bolton's frontline was Kevin Davies' injury, as well as Bolton only having one method of offense.

Even an idiot knew how Bolton would play—they would send a long-ball through the air to get the ball in front of Nottingham Forest's goalpost, then rely on Davies and Pederson's header abilities. Even if they ended up unable to shoot the ball, they would still be able to cause chaos in the penalty area.

As such, Tang En sent out Wes Morgan and Robert Huth as center-backs. They were not fast, but they were strong and good at headers. They were the only combination that could guard against Bolton's frontline. As for Clint Hill, he was awaiting further instructions on the substitutes' bench. The right back was still John Thompson, but Tang En decided to use the younger Leighton Baines instead of Davy Oyen for the left back. Baines was much better in terms of stamina and speed, and he was also able to do long shots and free kicks.

For the midfield, the starting line up sent out by Bolton was Kevin Nolan and Ivan Campo. The left side was Okocha while the right side was Giannakopoulos. Among them, aside from the Nigerian, the other three were adept at sprinting and intercepting, reducing the opponent's room for offense. It was as though they had set up an iron fence in the midfield hat prevented their opponent's offense from passing through easily.

In response to this, Tang En removed Rebrov from the midfield, and instead sent out players who were very similar to Bolton's. The two defensive midfielders in the middle were Gunnarsson and George Wood. The left side was McPhail, who was still on loan from Leeds United, while the right side was Ashley Young, who had just joined the team.

Tang En hoped to stabilise the backline defense with those two defensive midfielders. At the same time, with a lack of an organizational midfielder, the team's offense would have to rely heavily on the two wings. McPhail and Ashley Young were both individually strong and skilful players with the ability to dribble and break through with the ball before passing to the middle and shooting, all by themselves.

Tang En's tactic for this match was still to counterattack. After all, Bolton was still an English Premier League Team and should not be underestimated.

Tang En felt that there was an irrefutable truth on the football field: victory for a match must be built upon the foundation of a sturdy defense. Without defense, a team might as well forget everything else.

McPhail and Ashley Young had both demonstrated exceptionally strong individual abilities and exceptional conditions during training. During the tactics briefing before the match, Tang En had told the two of them that if they were on the offense during the match, the team might not be able to lend them much support. However, he would not excessively ask them to return to defend either. Rather, they had to rely solely on themselves for offense. Tang En encouraged them to be in less of a hurry to pass the ball out once they got it. Instead, they should be more willing to break through and engage in a one-on-one face-off. If they lost possession of the ball, they should try to regain possession on the spot without panicking. Wood and the others were still behind them. The key was believing that their own techniques would be effective against Bolton's defense line.