391 Hello Roy Part 2 (1/2)

That was not a novelty. Since he began coaching the team, Twain had been using this rewards-and-penalties training model to train his players to be competitive. Even if it was a training game, no one was willing to lose. That was why his team was able to persist to the end of a tough game and beat their opponents.

The players were excited when they heard that they were going to play in the games. Their behavior attracted Keane's attention. He paused in his training and stood on the sidelines to rest while he observed the other side of the field.

Manchester United also had such competitions, and he believed that Arsenal must have them too. He was not interested in the training itself. He was interested in the players' performances during training.

Twain assigned the players for each team aloud. The grouping was not divided according to the main force or substitutes but distributed randomly among the main force and substitutes.

Because there were only twenty-three players, it was impossible to average eight players per team. One team would only have seven players, so one player needed to play for two teams.

This required a lot more stamina. Naturally, only one player could do it.

”George!” Twain waved the notebook in his hand. ”You're on two teams.”

Wood nodded.

When he saw George Wood, Keane quickly focused on him.

The media had dubbed the kid as ”the second Keane.” It was impossible for him not to notice. After the first match between the two teams, he exchanged jerseys with Wood.

But in his opinion, George Wood was still too young to be the second version of him. He still had a long way to go. At best, George Wood was a good midfield soldier. I, Roy Keane, am not just a foot soldier who can only kick the ball out of bounds with force; not before, and definitely not now.

※※※

When the other team, watching the game on the sidelines, saw that Anelka did not intend to pass the ball to someone else as he faced Wood and instead wanted to rely on his speed to force a breakthrough, they started to hoot.

”Bypass him! Shake him off!”

”Don't let him through, George! Stop him!”

Anelka zigzagged left and right, changing his speed and shifting constantly. George still firmly stuck to him. The French striker could not fully make use of his speed advantage in the small field, which frustrated him. When he wanted to forcibly break through, George Wood tackled his ball.

However, the ball that Wood had tackled did not fall under his foot. Instead, Sun Jihai received the ball as he plugged in from behind. The Chinese fullback passed the ball and Viduka headed the ball into the goal. Wood's team was eliminated, but he had to stay on the field because he was on the next team.

Twain realized someone was next to him. He turned his head and looked. It was Roy Keane.

”What do you think? Do you want to go out there and play for a bit?”

Keane looked at him and then regarded George Wood. He nodded. ”Good idea.”

Twain grinned and immediately waved his hand towards the field. ”George! You're off!”

Kerslake handed Keane a blue vest. Seeing Keane put on the vest, the other people burst into an excited catcall.

Wood came off the field and Twain patted him on the shoulder. ”Stand here and watch.”

Then he turned to Keane and said, ”Are you ready?”

Keane bent his knees for a moment and nodded.

”Go ahead then.”

Clad in the blue vest, Keane ran onto the field and the game started.

Perhaps because of Keane's influence, the blue team mostly passed the ball to Keane, who organized the offense and controlled the pace of the game. Keane also did a great job, just as well as he did at Manchester United.

Whether it was his defense, the counterattack after intercepting the ball, or that he continued to press on after the opponent's attack, Roy Keane performed very well. Even as a newcomer, he automatically took command of the team as soon as he played. Everyone obeyed his every command. No one questioned him.

Kerslake watched the scene from the sidelines and shook his head as he sighed. ”Too bad he refused to come to the Forest team. He may be thirty-four years old, but he can still be the main force in any team.”