629 Real Madrid’s Core (2/2)

It looked like the current Guti was tenacious beyond his imagination and remained unshakeable in the face of those provocations. Twain felt he had to give up the arrangements he had instructed during halftime. Wood could deal with Guti alone. More players on him would only mess up their own pace.

Taking advantage of the time while the opponent was celebrating the goal, Twain called Wood to his side.

”George, go up and tell them that Guti is yours and yours only.” He pointed to Wood as he spoke to him.

Wood nodded.

”If you need to foul, it's best to foul near the center circle. If he's in front of the box, try not to let him turn around as the main defensive strategy. You know what to do.”

Wood continued to nod.

”Don't give them a free kick in that dangerous zone. A place kick is a very important method to break the dense defense. Tell them to put more efforts into the counterattack. We have to score another goal when we get the chance.”

”Okay.” Wood turned around and ran back, but Twain stopped him again.

”Be careful not to get a card, George.”

Wood grunted and then turned around again to run back to the field.

Twain walked back to the technical area and sat down. He shrugged at Dunn with a helpless look.

Dunn reassured him, ”It's nothing. We already have an away goal and it's still just a draw. On the whole, we are the ones who have the upper hand.”

Twain shook his head. ”I wanted to leave Bernabéu with a victory...”

”The game is not over yet.” Dunn could only continue to encourage.

Twain was silent. He turned his head to re-focus on the game.

※※※

Wood returned to the field with Twain's latest order. Guti found that the men who had mobbed him were gone. Only George Wood alone was left in front of him. He turned his head to glance at the Nottingham Forest technical area. He knew it had to have been the manager's intention.

Did he realize it was useless to let so many people deal with me? Guti smiled.

Yes, for a time, he was forced to the point that he could not even make a successful straight pass. Other than being able to do cross and return passes, the rest were just mistakes. But you cannot prevent me from getting a free kick, can you? Don't think that just because Real Madrid used to have Figo, Roberto Carlos, Beckham, Zidane and now there's Sneijder, no one else can do a free kick. It's exactly my intention for you to besiege me. With so many fouls, I will definitely get a suitable free kick even just one time.

But Guti could not laugh. When fewer players mobbed him, his chances did not increase. George Wood no longer set provoking him as the number one goal. Instead, he defended against him.

As a famous defensive genius, Guti suffered unspeakably by Wood's marking. If they were further away from the goal, Wood would intercept the ball as much as he could. When he could not intercept the ball, he would not hesitate to use a covert foul to resolve the battle. When they were close to the penalty area, he mainly used interference and did not make moves lightly. It forced Guti to give the football to his teammates. If Guti had to fight it out alone with Wood, it would be as he wanted, but Guti would not win many times.

When Real Madrid wanted to attack and pass the football to Guti from the backfield, Guti was used to turning his head before he received the ball to observe the positions of his teammates and opponents, so that he could decide what to do when he received the ball. But Wood would take advantage of the opportunity suddenly snatch it away. He managed to intercept the ball that should have belonged to Guti several times using that method.

He caused Guti to only consider protecting the football when he received the ball, and then to think about how to organize the attack. As a result, Real Madrid's offense was greatly diminished.

Robinho was a good player, but he had not yet been able to become the organizer of the team's offense. He fought hard against the Forest team's two full backs on the flank. Unfortunately, he was of little assistance to Real Madrid's offensive. Some people liked to watch him perform fancy skills in the face of the opposing defenders, but in Twain's view, performance was useless. Unless he could break through in a straight line, he was just making crosswise movements outside. No matter how fancy his actions were, they were no different from a circus clown.

Robinho's movements were a lot more practical than when he first went to Real Madrid, but the Brazilian's flashy side remained ingrained in nature. Sometimes, when he clung to his footwork, the team had already lost the opportunity to attack. Besides, his movements were cumbersome, not simple and practical like Messi's. Messi could be characterized by one word: fast. Fast movement and fast pace were the most practical skill in modern football arena.

Twain laughed every time he saw Robinho start to do scissors when up against Bale or other defensive players. If my defenders are deceived by a few moves that they knew were fake, then Nottingham Forest would not call itself ”a European champion through defense.” Instead of putting all your efforts on the step over, wouldn't it be better to dodge, grab, and pass the ball?

When Robinho first started playing, people exclaimed that he was ”Pelé's successor, ”but in Twain's eyes, Robinho's progress over the last few years had been limited, a few light-years away from what people expected of him.

At least Robinho was nothing to be afraid of in the game.

※※※

After Guti scored, he received George Wood's meticulous care, Robinho was stuck in a quagmire of fighting alone, Sneijder's form was flat and he was up to his ears between offense and defense, and Higuaín was at a loss and made frequent mistakes in the face of the Forest team's fierce marking and tackles.

Only Raúl was as diligent as ever, but he could not get the ball because of the lack of effective midfield support. During the defense, his sense of responsibility drove him to even go back to their penalty area. It was doubtful how much energy he could use to participate in the attack. Of course, no one doubted that he did not exert himself but working too hard in defense might affect his play in the offense.

As for Marcelo and Ramos, Schuster was apparently afraid of the Forest team's flank offense, so he did not ask them for frequent assists.

Real Madrid was out of ideas when up against Nottingham Forest entrenched in defense.

And what about Nottingham Forest? There were several chances to counterattack, but they did not manage to seize them. With Real Madrid's frenzied attack, they did not even have a chance to fight back.

By the time the game ended, the score was 1:1.

The score had to have upset Schuster, but he did not show it. He just stood on the sidelines for a while, then turned and shook hands with Twain. He walked into the tunnel with his head lowered.

Having gotten an away goal and a tied game, Twain also did not show a happy side. He felt a little reluctant — he had hoped to win, but unfortunately he only almost won.

With regret, Nottingham Forest left the Spanish capital and flew back to England to prepare for the next leg of the match. Even on their own home ground, Twain was not confident that they would be able to defeat Real Madrid. It looked like they still have work to do on Guti...