342 The French Forward (1/2)
The cheers in City Ground did not rest until the end of the first half. Forest's supporters were still exhilarated over the goal they had scored.
All sorts of voices rang out, singing for a whole 15 minutes. From the end of the first half, it lasted all the way through to the kick-off of the second half.
Compared to the first, there appeared to be slight changes in the second half; Riquelme was more active now than he had been; perhaps he had communicated with Sorin during the half-time break.
George Wood's pressure mounted, and Riquelme began showing signs of recovery.
Tang En could tell at once. He could not let it happen.
Once Riquelme began livening up again, Nottingham Forest's one-goal advantage would be threatened.
Taking the opportunity of a dead ball, Tang En walked to the sidelines and hollered into the field, ”George! Be more vicious! Did you not eat!?”
Since Riquelme was afraid of getting injured and fouling, George could play for real.
George Wood was indeed an obedient player. Just as Tang En turned to return to the manager's seat, he suddenly heard a whistle from the field.
In his struggle with Riquelme, Wood had pressed down on the Argentine's neck, pushing him to the ground.
Tang En lowered his head to look at his watch. It had been 10 minutes since the second half started. Depending on such a method could temporarily stem Villarreal CF's offense, but it was not a long-term solution. Although he placed great importance on defense, he did not think it was a miracle pill that could cure any problems.
In their situation, the best method to strike at the opponent's confidence was to score another goal, and even more.
He turned around to look at the substitutes' bench.
Then he pointed at Anelka, who was sitting at the corner. He waved his hand and said, ”Go warm-up, Anelka!”
With a look at Tang En, Anelka stood and removed his jacket before running out.
Kerslake, who saw Tang En do that, asked, ”This early?”
”What's the use of buying him if I'm not going to use him? Disregarding his temper, his abilities are excellent. Plus, his specialty would be very useful in this match… We're lacking a speed-type forward. If Pellegrini boxes out our wings, we won't be able to launch any fast breaks. Putting in another forward will make Villarreal CF's defense more difficult.”
Kerslake nodded and asked no further.
In truth, Tang En also felt rather uncertain. He did not know what kind of performance the eccentric Frenchman would show on the field later; would such a sharp dagger end up in the hearts of the enemy, or in the backs of their own people?
※※※
While Anelka was warming-up, he continued observing the field. He took note of everything occurring on it. As he had guessed, the manager asked him to warm-up because he was clearly displeased with the current situation of the team and hoped for a change. After getting a one-goal lead, were they going to fortify their defenses or enhance their offense? The personality of a manager could be seen from such a decision.
Someone who was more reserved would choose to fortify their defenses, while those who were more willing to take risks would choose to enhance their attacks.
Getting Anelka to warm-up must mean he was planning to ramp up the offense.
This was Anelka's first match since joining the team. Due to his late arrival, he had not even been able to join the team's warm-up matches prior, only managing to train with the team in their usual training for a week. It was a very short period, so much so that he hardly had any rapport with his teammates.
Not being put in the starting line-up of the first match made Anelka somewhat unhappy. In his opinion, he should certainly be part of the main force; he had no doubt in his abilities at all. He did not care about a lack of cooperation or rapport; he believed that he would be able to decide the outcome of the match on his own.
The good thing was that the manager was giving him an opportunity in the second half. He did not have to wait in vain on the substitutes' bench for 90 minutes.
Anelka shuttled back and forth in a sprint on the sidelines to warm up. He could feel the strength pumping through his legs and muscles. He told himself that his condition was the same as before; he had not become useless after the half year he had spent in Turkey.
He had never believed he should end his career at such a terrible place in Turkey. He absolutely had the ability to establish himself in one of the richer and more powerful clubs. So, he came back. Starting from Nottingham Forest, he was going to push forward step-by-step, towards the goals he hoped for.
His two big brothers had helped him out a lot; he had to be grateful. Now, it was up to him.
※※※
It was no longer realistic to let George Wood defend against the onslaught of Villarreal CF alone. Arteta was forced to frequently retreat to defend, and Ashley Young on his side was also being suppressed by Sorin. Only Ribéry continued to hold out; after all, his abilities were superior to Ashley Young's.
It could not go on this way. Tang En decided to make a substitute.
He asked Kerslake to call Anelka back from his warm-up.
Looking at the man from France, Tang En found it beyond his imagination that such an untameable forward could be standing before him now, waiting to be dispatched to the field.
”Hmm… When you're on the field, I don't need you to set up plays for your teammates, or work with them. I'll arrange for the team to send you passes. Once you get the ball, you only have one mission: to take it to the goal and score.”
Anelka nodded. He liked the arrangement.
”But…” Tang En said, turning his words around swiftly, ”since your mission is that simple—only needing to score goals—you should know that if you don't succeed…”
”Then, it means I've underperformed.”
The Frenchman was brimming with confidence. He wanted to show this youthful team and their young manager his capabilities. He would shut the mouths of those who had either publicly or privately voiced doubts about his abilities.
Tang En looked at the serious Frenchman, his mouth turning up into a smile. ”Very good! I like that!”
※※※
George Wood used a defensive maneuver that was just a nudge away from being a foul and tackled the ball from under Riquelme's feet, kicking it out of the sidelines. He was already starting to pant heavily, and this was barely past the halfway mark of the second half!
At that moment, it was as if he had gone back in time to the previous winter in Spain's El Madrigal. The unhurried Argentine gracefully showcased his footwork, taking him for a spin in that square inch of space. Still, derision and a lack of concern towards Wood were clearly written across that empty face.
George Wood could not withstand having the same thing happen to him again. More than half a season had passed. He should have become stronger than before.
Wood's entire mind was filled with thoughts of how he should not be losing to Riquelme because of his improvements. However, he had not considered one factor: Riquelme was widely acknowledged by the public to be a world-class master of the midfield, a player greatly esteemed by Zidane. And how long had Wood been playing? At this point, Wood's wish to devour Riquelme in a single bite was truly an underestimation of football in general.
Meanwhile, Riquelme, who had tossed out his thought baggage, began performing with greater ease.
The chains that had bound him were snapping apart ring by ring. The Riquelme adored by fans of the Yellow Submarine, the player who terrified his opponents, was gradually returning.
Sorin dashed forward, wanting to quickly launch a ball that had gone out of bounds, but was stopped by the whistle from the main referee. The ball that had been thrown into the field was again kicked out.
The referee signaled for a substitute on the sidelines.
The Fourth Official held a digital number sign with a red ”10” and green ”39”; red indicating the player stepping out, and green the player entering the field.
Anelka was substituting in for Viduka.
Watching the scene, the television commentator got excited again. ”Oh! Anelka is being fielded! How long has it been? We're again seeing this Frenchman on the field of the UEFA Champions League, despite this only being the qualifiers… the French forward has only joined Forest for a short duration of a week. They probably had barely a week to train together. What is Twain thinking, sending him out now? It's perfectly normal to strengthen one's offense when the defense is having some trouble. But, why would he choose to send out a player who hasn't even established any rapport with the team?”
If Tang En could hear the doubts of the commentator, he would certainly remark on his silliness. Why send out Anelka? Why? Because his substitutes' bench only had one forward!
Anelka slapped his palm against Viduka's and ran swiftly into the field, even doing a short sprint. The familiar feeling was back.
Beside the field, Tang En blew once on the whistle. Upon hearing the sound, all of Forest team knew their manager was about to make some adjustments to the whole team.
When everyone looked at him, Tang En pointed to Anelka, who had just entered the field, and made a signal to pass to him.
Perhaps there were some who would be surprised by that decision—to let a forward who had trained for barely a week with the team be the attacking core, shouldering the heavy responsibility of scoring—but they all did as they were told. In Nottingham Forest, no one would doubt the decisions and power of the main manager Tony Twain. Many of them had been personally led by Tang En out from low-level leagues; he had given them glory, money, and fame. Leighton Baines, Ashley Young, Chimbonda, Franck Ribéry, and many others.