151 The First Half Part 2 (1/2)
Chapter 151: The First Half Part 2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the changing room, the Nottingham Forest players were in a rather good mood at first, since they had managed to equalize the score by the end of the first half. On their way back to the changing room, they were laughing and talking happily. Upon seeing this, Tang En, who was off to the side, scowled at Walker. Walker knew that the players, despite feeling great about themselves, were in for a tongue-lashing.
As expected, once everyone entered the changing room, Tang En's face turned into a glower as soon as Walker closed the door.
When everyone saw the manager's face, their idle chatting slowly died down until the room became completely silent. With the manager in such a bad mood, who would dare to keep talking?
”Who still remembers the first thing I told all of you before the match?” Tang En glared at the twelve players in the changing room, but nobody dared to make a sound. Perhaps they had already forgotten, or perhaps they remembered; but they dared not say because they did not know what their manager's intentions were.
So, Tang En started to call names. ”Morgan?”
Morgan hesitated for a split second before answering in an unsure tone, ”Well... I think it was about defense, chief.”
”Well... I think it was about defense…”Tang En imitated the tone of his young center back. ”Are you doubting your memory?”
”It was defense! Defense! That's right, it was defense!” Morgan frantically shouted.
Tang En looked at Morgan and grinned, but it managed to make Morgan even more uneasy and frightened. Morgan felt that he had already been made the target for the boss to vent his anger on.
”Very good, Mr. Morgan. You may take a seat now,” Tang En said, waving his hands.
It was only at that moment that Morgan realized that he had stood up from the bench, just like a student who was answering a teacher's question during class.
Tang En turned around and looked at the rest of the players. After that, he unfolded his hands and once again repeated his words from before the match. ”'Defense, lads, I want you all to know the importance of defense!' We spent ten minutes talking about how to guard against the opponent's offenses, and in the end we conceded a goal twelve minutes into the game. Now, I know you guys all want to say that that goal had a certain element of chance involved. But a goal conceded is a goal conceded. I don't want any excuses for it. Honestly, we played poorly in the first half. Very poorly. We should feel lucky to have tied with Bolton. Ashley Young performed outstandingly, Freddy as well.” Tang En looked at the two players who had contributed significantly to the goal and nodded his head to express his recognition of their efforts. ”But this shouldn't conceal the issue. I admit that I'm also partially responsible for our horrible performance in the first half. My tactics failed and gave the opponent a chance to score. But all of you should also reflect on your performance.”
After that, Tang En walked to the tactics board and drew the actual formation of Bolton and Nottingham Forest during the match. It was derived from what Tang En had observed during the match. Bolton's was 4312, while Nottingham Forest's was 4231.
”Rebrov did very well in the midfield, so I want you to continue playing that position.” Tang En drew a circle around the middle of the three midfielders, before drawing another arrow from within the circle, pointing towards the kick-off circle. ”But you have to position yourself slightly farther back in the second half. Maintain a sufficient distance away from Wood, but don't leave his protection range.”
Rebrov nodded his head, showing that he understood.
”And Gunnarsson, very sorry, but you'll have to rest for the second half. I'm going to let Crouch substitute you. You did pretty well for the first half; you provided effective support behind him. However, there are only eleven people on the field, and we need to go on the offensive in the second half.” Tang En stared at Gunnarsson, trying his best to appear to be as sincere as he could. Being substituted out during half-time was not considered a good thing.
Gunnarsson was slightly unwilling, but he still nodded his head. George Wood's performance was indeed much better than his, so there was nothing wrong with leaving Wood on the field.
Seeing Gunnarsson nodding, Tang En wiped away the solid circle he drew on the board. Afterwards, he added a symbol beside Eastwood that was meant to symbolize Peter Crouch.
”Crouch, when you're up on the field, make use of your height and create opportunities for your teammates to score as much as possible. If the opportunity arises, you can try to score yourself. Simply put, you can choose the most appropriate way to deal with the ball according to the situation. Don't be constrained by my instructions. You got it?”