258 In Trouble Part 1 (1/2)
When Ferguson saw Keane get past George Wood by changing directions and shooting the ball into Forest's gates, he dashed down excitedly from the technical area with his arms raised. This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for; the moment of celebration!
Meanwhile, Tang En plopped back onto his seat and cursed under his breath. ”Dammit…”
He was not cursing at George Wood. He was only expressing his disappointment in losing a ball.
In the five minutes without Wood, the Forest team, now a player down, managed to defend against the tidal wave of attacks coming from Manchester United. As he watched the players' performance, Tang En's confidence filled to the brim. Yet, when Wood returned to the field and evened the player numbers with Manchester United, they actually lost a ball!
Just behind the technical area was Old Trafford's spectators' stand. The cheers from the fans of the Red Devils swept across Tang En, ruffling his hair and his mood.
”Tony, should we do anything?” Assistant manager Kerslake came forward to ask.
Tang En shook his head. ”No. 20 minutes in is too early to make adjustments… In our plans, we didn't say that we would forbid Manchester United from scoring any goals. But it is a pity…”
A pity for the draw that had lasted for 20 minutes.
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Keane was clustered in a hug by his teammates, basking fully in a moment of glory that belonged to him. And what of George Wood?
Alone, Wood stood up from the ground. Surrounding him were the Manchester players who were celebrating the goal. In the sea of red, wearing the yellow jersey of Forest as the away team, he seemed out of his element.
Wood's gaze swept across the faces of the celebrating players from Manchester and landed on Keane.
First was a kick that caused him to suffer a nosebleed. And now, Keane had scored a goal right before his eyes.
Roy Keane… I don't care if I'm supposed to be aiming for you! Right now, you're my enemy! I won't allow you to be so gleeful in front of me!
Keane cared nothing for what the loser thought; in fact, he had not even once turned around to look at Wood's darkened expression.
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”Manchester United takes the lead. After 20 minutes of resistance from Nottingham Forest, they finally take a point. Roy Keane's performance today is fantastic; even better than his previous matches… let's guess, is this because he is excited about his opponents for this match, Nottingham Forest?”
A cool-faced Roy Keane appeared on the screen, making the commentator's remark about his ”excitement” seem wildly inaccurate. However, in reality, Keane was indeed excited about the match.
Ferguson, who was outside the field, could see this clearly. The match had only progressed to its 20th minute, but Keane had already taken two shots at the goal. He seemed very keen on scoring.
The Scot did not bother considering the reason for Keane's excitement. All he knew was that the team was benefiting from it. The match had just become much easier with a goal in the bag, and with them playing on their home ground.
Nottingham Forest was not a weak team. He could tell from the list of strong teams that had gotten in trouble with them: Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle… Manchester United could not be as useless as Arsenal, their arch-rivals.
Ferguson felt pity each time he saw Piqué playing as Nottingham Forest's center back. He could not believe that Twain had stolen such an outstanding young center back. And now he had even become their opponent!
Thinking of this, Ferguson became furious. He glanced at the manager's seat beside theirs. The young manager overseeing Forest was seated in his place with his eyes fixed on the field, appearing to be in some sort of discussion with his assistant manager.
Ferguson suddenly remembered something as he watched them. He turned to ask his assistant, the Portuguese man Queiroz. ”Carlos, do you still remember the newspapers you were reading yesterday?”
Queiroz nodded, ”Of course, Boss.”
”Tell me, do you think the Forest team you see on the field is a team full of conflict, a team that could fall to pieces at a moment's notice?”
Queiroz shook his head. ”No. I don't see any signs of that, Boss.”
Ferguson simply made an indistinct sound in reply.
Although the stories in the newspapers were full of fabrication, Ferguson thought that the reporters could have been onto something. There must have been an issue internally with Nottingham Forest… it could be something huge or tiny.
If that was the case, their streak of losses could help them in uncovering these problems.