221 Need to Win Part 1 (2/2)

But the Nottingham media made little mention of Arsenal's record. More attention was placed on the Forest team. Almost everyone thought that the Forest team's performance in yesterday's game gave them hope. Even though they did not manage to keep their unbeaten record of forty-two games, they had a more ambitious goal.

”...Let the record breakers break the record. Instead, we gained an exciting new Forest.” That was Pierce Brosnan's commentary piece in the Evening Post. He gave voice to many people's heartfelt wishes.

The team resumed their normal training the following day. The first part of the training was watching the game; Twain showed the video of the match against Arsenal to the players and then, along with David Kerslake, they discussed and analyzed the details of the match with the players. This was not a critique session to point out everyone's problems, but rather a chance for them to improve in training and to pay attention to themselves during the game.

This was a training method that Tang En had developed for the team this season. Through watching a video of the game, they were able to both find the team's problems and discover their strengths. But Tang En had one person to thank for this idea: Dunn. He had seen that Dunn would come home and watch the match videos all day, and Tang En would discuss those match videos with him. Soon after, he thought of the team's situation and an idea struck him: why not gather the players to watch the match video and discuss the successes and failures together?

Many details of the game were known at the time, but they might have been forgotten afterwards. It was better to let everyone review through the video. Moreover, certain sections could be played repeatedly, freeze-framed, and re-evaluated using the remote control for emphasis.

Such teaching methods were common in the coaching association's curriculum, but Tang En had not received any real training before, so he had overlooked it.

Although they had conceded, the atmosphere was relaxed when they watched the video. Unless Twain was especially angry, he would try to use a conversational tone when he was making a criticism so that it would be easier for the players to accept it, and to build a closer relationship among themselves. As a manager, he might not have other advantages, but he could mingle quite well with the players. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he used to be a fan.

When he talked to the players about the game, he omitted any mention of the word ”record,” instead treating it as an ordinary match. David Kerslake was in charge of the main commentary with Twain only pitching in when it was required. Together, the two men spoke about the players' biggest mistake.

”Over here… This is it…” Twain pointed to the television screen with the remote control; it was the frame in which Upson had dropped his position and pounced towards Gilberto Silva. ”Matthew, do you have the hots for that Brazilian guy?”

Upon hearing the manager say that, everyone in the room burst into laughter. Matthew Upson shook his head, laughing. ”No, boss, I'm straight.”

There was another burst of laughter.

”Honestly, when I saw this happen the day before yesterday, I was thinking to myself: ”Oh my god, Matthew must be crazy! What was it about that Brazilian that was so attractive to him? He didn't even care about his own position…”

The laughter continued.

”All right, Matthew, can you explain to me what you were thinking at that time?”

The laughter subsided, and Upson scratched his head. ”Well, I don't know either… I only thought of not letting him shoot a goal, and then…”

Twain nodded, not wanting to get caught up in the reason. ”Well, a center back needs to stay calm. You could learn from Hierro. Watch him at that moment.” Twain pointed to Hierro in the corner of the screen. ”Calm and steady! That is experience!”

Hierro raised his hand, ”Boss, actually, I was just too tired to run at that point.”

Everyone laughed. That time, even Twain laughed. Of course, he knew that Hierro could not run at that time. He had deliberately made a joke to relieve the pressure on the young team. They had not won a single match in three consecutive rounds of the tournament. He believed that everyone was under great pressure.