835 Collapse? (1/2)
Nottingham Forest now looked like they were walking along a narrow path that only one person could go through sideways, with a deep abyss on the left and right sides. Following the movements of the footsteps, small stones would roll down and the echo of crashing sounds could be heard in the abyss, growing gradually fainter. In such an environment, the slightest inattention might cause one to lose his footing and fall. Then even one's bones couldn't be found.
In short, Nottingham Forest now had no room for even a millimeter margin of error. They couldn't lose the Champions League and the league tournament. What could they do when their goal for this season was the continental treble?
Twain didn't care about rotation for the away game against Arsenal. He deployed the strongest lineup possible.
Nottingham Forest faced a series of attacks from Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. Similar to the last Champions League game, Arsenal's offensive was fast paced, leaving the Forest team struggling on the pitch.
Needing to win, Twain didn't choose conservative tactics like in the last Champions League game. Nottingham Forest chose to play defensive counterattack in the last Champions League game because they had a one-goal lead in hand. Now the score was still 0:0, and it was of little value to play conservatively—he didn't need a draw, and he couldn't accept a result other than a win.
So in this game, Twain asked the team to attack aggressively. Even if the Arsenal's swift attack made them confused and disoriented, they couldn't retreat. Instead, they had to actively carry out interceptions in the middle and front field against Arsenal. It was what Wenger wanted to see most. Nottingham Forest would consume a lot of physical energy in such a scramble.
Twain was aware of it, too. Arsenal wanted to drag down the Forest team. He had no other choice but to try to wipe out Arsenal before they themselves were dragged down.
”George! George!” Twain kept shouting Wood's name off the field, signaling for him to tackle more fiercely and to not be afraid to foul.
Gago also gave his very best on the pitch. He had trained his playing style to be like ”a brave man willing to risk his life” at Real Madrid. Now that the Forest team transformed to learn from Redondo, Twain still intended to let Gago keep up with his spirit.
With the opponent using the same tactics, the Forest team played harder than they had in the last game. Apart from choosing to not play conservatively, they couldn't ignore Arsenal's home advantage.
Wenger's team in this game fully played to their fine skills: good rapport and smooth offensive. Their continuous campaign caused the entire Forest team to become exhausted. In the face of Arsenal's attack, the will was there but not the strength.
Twenty-nine minutes into the first half, the Forest team's defense finally revealed a crack, which was keenly seized by Arsenal. Fàbregas did a straight pass. Carlos Vela suddenly plugged in from the side and unexpectedly appeared behind the Forest team's entire line of defense. He was not in an offside position!
”He's not offside! Vela has the ball!”
Pepe was still raising his hand to signal that Vela was in an offside position while Akinfeev had already left the goal to strike. A huge cheer erupted over the Emirates Stadium. Amid the cheers, Vela shot low! The football passed through Akinfeev's underarm and struck the farthest goalpost to bounce into the goal…
”The ball's in! A gorgeous onside shot! And a brilliant assist from Fàbregas!!” Amid the thunderous cries, the live commentator had to raise his voice to shout along with the fans. ”Arsenal leads at home! This is a heavy blow to Tony Twain's Nottingham Forest!”
Akinfeev was a little angry after the goal concede. He walked over to Pepe and shouted, ”Asshole! Why didn't you come back to defend just now?”
Pepe was clearly angry, too. He brusquely pushed his teammate aside. ”It was f**king offside!”
”Whether it was offside or not, you should have f**king come back! You b*stard!” Akinfeev was a little angry that his questions were pushed aside. Just as the two men were about to come to a head, their teammates around them fortunately rushed up to separate the two men.
Twain nearly flew into a rage as he watched the scene from the sidelines. He kept swearing, ”Those b*stards! They're actually showing this shameful behavior on live broadcast!”
Next door, Wenger sat in his seat with a slightly hidden gleeful smile on his face. Internal strife within the Forest team? It was highly unusual. It looked like the Forest team was about to collapse under immense pressure.
Even the commentator was excited. ”Oh, oh! The Nottingham Forest players have a tussel. What's more, it's a conflict between their own players! This is getting interesting! I've done commentary for nearly ten seasons of Premier League games and nearly fifty games with the Forest team playing, and I've never seen such a heated conflict between their own men! Tony Twain always boasts that his team is the most united team in the world, and there is really little negative news in the media about their locker room, but today… all this is happening openly before all of us. It's a once-in-a-century sight! I'm already starting to look forward to how Tony Twain is going to face the influx of reporters after the game…”
Meanwhile, on the pitch, the Forest players were trying their best to calm down the two ”angry bulls.””What are you guys doing?!”
”Calm down!”
”Don't make a fuss. What's wrong with you two?!”
Wood stood between the two men with one hand on each side to push them apart, but the two men tried to struggle free of Wood, unwilling to back down.
The Arsenal fans in the stands booed and jeered after a brief moment of shock. Any team's fans loved to see their opponents make a fool of themselves.
The laughter and booing sounded harsh in Twain's ears. It was even more shrill than when he was on the ground scolding, ”You sons of b*tches!”
He finally stopped muttering alone and rushed to the sidelines to yell toward the field, ”It's live broadcast, you damn id*ots! Live broadcast!!”
His voice was drowned out by the loud boos in the stadium, and he wasn't heard. However, it invited special attention from the cameras. The broadcast gave him a long close-up. In the camera, he clenched his fists and was red in the face. Eyes wide with fury, he looked really angry.
Shania, who saw what happened from the box, also stood up nervously from her seat. Whenever Twain was excited, Shania became worried.
Twain roared in vain on the sidelines until he was out of breath and had to return to the technical area to get some water. He didn't succeed. Kerslake handed him the water and muttered, ”Is there too much pressure?”
Twain took the water bottle but didn't drink from it. Instead, he stared blankly at Kerslake, which scared the latter a little. He suddenly didn't drink the water, nor did he go to the sidelines to continue swearing. Instead, he sat down and stared at the field without saying a word as if he was in a daze.