850 The Stubborn One (1/2)

The starting whistle for all 19 matches of the English Premier League blew at the same time at 3:30 pm on May 11th. The last round of the 13-14 season of the English Premier League started together.

Every Nottingham Forest fan in the stands of the City Ground Stadium brought a radio with them, paying attention to two games at the same time. The first was the match between Forest and Sunderland happening in front of them, and the other was the match between Arsenal and Manchester City all the way in London.

From the radio, Arsenal had all the advantages right from the start of the game, whereas all the players from Manchester City were not on form at all. The Forest fans on the stands started to curse Manchester City and McClaren.

The game between Forest and Sunderland was more like a normal game. Sunderland was going all out in the away game with Forest for survival, and Nottingham Forest was unable to get an initiative on the field despite being in a home game.

Twain sat on the manager's seat with a stern look on his face, staring at the match in silence.

Kerslake was seated at the side, listening to the broadcast of the match on the radio with the headphones, the expressions of his face changing along with the commentary from the radio.

After five minutes, he took off the headphones and told Twain by his side, ”Arsenal has all the advantages… Manchester City does not care about this game at all…”

Twain smiled and said, ”That's normal. Manchester City has no reason to go all out in this game.”

However, he was gritting his teeth in his heart: Damn you Manchester City! Watch how I destroy you the next time we meet!

He did a good job regarding security. None of the Forest players knew about the situation at Manchester City, and they stepped onto the field with unlimited confidence and hope. He treated it as him lying to his players, but it was better than telling them the truth before the game and watching them lose motivation.

He only wished that Manchester City would have a little fight inside them, but it seemed like that was going to be too much to ask for…

McClaren, Manchester City… He had met the worst combination that he could ever meet in a thousand years.

”Ignore Manchester City, we can't count on other people… Ask our guys to press on in attack. If we continue to let Sunderland drag the game out, the players' mental state will take a turn for the worse…” Twain walked to the sideline after saying this. He did not shout nor make any hand signals; he merely stood there with his arms folded. He knew that the players knew what he meant just by seeing him at the sideline.

After that, Nottingham Forest increased the intensity of their attack, committing more players forward in attack, and the two full-backs started to actively assist the attack.

The commentator kept saying that Nottingham Forest and Sunderland were not on the same level. Forest was way stronger than Sunderland, so there was no doubt that Forest was going to win this game. The only uncertainty was the number of goals that Forest would win by…

Following that, the topic of discussion switched over to London as he talked about the match between Arsenal and Manchester City. The players on the field might not know what was happening in the Etihad Stadium, but the spectators were very clear. Even if the commentator did not say anything, the Forest fans would switch channels on their radio frequently.

※※※

Ten minutes later, there was news of a goal from Etihad Stadium. Nobody knew which side scored yet until the scrolling marquee at the bottom of the TV screen indicated that Arsenal had scored on the 16th minute, the scorer was Van Persie.

The City Ground burst out with a loud boo when they knew about this news. Even if the one controlling the ball was a Forest player, the booing still continued.

The players were stunned momentarily, and they knew what the reason was.

Kerslake wanted to tell Twain about the latest situation, but Twain stopped him with his hand. ”I know by listening to the booing.”

Kerslake remained silent.

※※※

Van Persie sprinted like a madman amidst the deafening cheers in the stadium. Behind him, his Arsenal teammates were roaring with their fists clenched.

Wenger also ran out from the manager's seat in agitation and jumped around.

Leading after just 16 minutes, he had a reason to be happy indeed.

The Arsenal fans from the stands swarmed forward in an attempt to get closer to their hero. Everyone was screaming Van Persie's name.

On the other end of the field, the Manchester City players did not react to conceding this goal. They were expressionless. Rather than saying they were shell-shocked, it would be more accurate to say they did not care.

Ashley Young looked down as he sat on the substitute's bench. He did not want the others to see the laughter on his face. This was Manchester City. The same Manchester City that was so full of passion and drive to be able to overtake Manchester United, Milan and dethrone Real Madrid as the best club in the world!

McClaren was a little displeased, but maybe the reason was just because they conceded so early. However, despite being displeased, he merely complained a little at the manager's seat and did nothing. His butt did not even leave the seat.

Bendtner stood in the center circle waiting for the restart. Opposite him was Robinho with a nonchalant look on his face.

※※※

”Manchester City resisted symbolically for ten minutes,” Kerslake described what happened to Twain after the booing stopped. ”They committed very little players in attack, the forwards were isolated, and the gaps between the lines were huge as if they had no united tactics. The defense wants to defend, the forwards…” He stopped for a moment here. ”The commentary kept mentioning Bendtner, his name popped up the most for Manchester City. He was very active, but he could not get any support from midfield.”

Twain did not mention anything about Bendtner's performance. He merely said, ”Ignore what happens there, we're still level here…”

Sunderland was very fierce in fighting for the ball, pressing all over the pitch without considering if their stamina could take it. Such pressing also gave the Forest team some problems. Whether it was the defenders or the midfield players, they could not control the ball properly under such pressing, much less build up an attack. The energy that Sunderland was displaying in their desire to survive made things very difficult for Nottingham Forest.

And now that Arsenal was leading, for a moment, their morale was shaken…

Some would think: Arsenal is already ahead, what's the point even if we beat Sunderland?

The others placed their concentration on the match between Arsenal and Manchester City. Even though they were physically in the City Ground Stadium, they were already at Etihad Stadium in spirit.

How could they continue playing a game like this?

Twain stood at the sideline and frowned.

This is not a match that I wanted to see… Twain muttered in his heart.

After that, he shouted at Wood loudly, ”George! You're the captain! Do something! Look at your team! Look at their eyes!!”

Wood heard Twain's voice, turned to look back and realized that everyone was rather distracted.