967 Nepotism (2/2)
After reading out Rooney's name, there was only one last name to be read. Vaughan sat up straight and prepared to welcome the historic moment——He would be the starting striker in the European Championship final.
”Agbonlahor.”
However, the name that came out of Twain's mouth stunned him.
He did not expect Twain to pick Agbonlahor, who did not have any standout performance, instead of himself. He looked at Twain with a bemused look on his face, but he did not say anything. He looked down and clenched both fists in anger.
Twain's decision shocked the other players. Everyone else thought that the other starting striker would definitely be James. Even Agbonlahor did not expect himself to be starting in such an important match and the surprise and happiness combined to make give him a very complex feeling. He did not even dare to look at Vaughan who was seated next to him.
”Why is Agbonlahor the one starting?!” All the reporters had the same question when they saw the starting lineup.
”Based on current form, James Vaughan should be Rooney's starting partner. If not for his brace in the semi-final, Spain might be the one playing in the final!”
”I don't know why Tony made such an arrangement…”
”Sigh, what's there to not understand? Just look at Lippi. All these successful managers do the same thing when it comes to important matches——They would rather pick players that they are more familiar and like more, instead of players who are performing better. It's just experience. Agbonlahor is a Nottingham Forest player and he worships Twain. Twain likes him a lot too. Compared to Vaughan, Twain is more familiar with him, that's why he starts.”
The reporters were embroiled in a discussion and for a moment, ”nepotism” was the trending thought amongst the reporters.
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After reading out the starting lineup, Twain looked at the players and remembered the expressions on everyone's faces.
”This is the starting lineup.”
The match tactics had been discussed during the tactical meeting the day before and even though everyone did not know who would be starting at that time, they had to remember the tactics for their own positions.
”I hope that everyone still remembers what we discussed last night. Let's give them a surprise!”
This starting lineup was too much of a blow to everyone, so much so that they did not hear what Twain said after that. They were all concerned about Vaughan.
Twain had to bring their attention back to the match. He clapped and raised his voice, ”What's wrong? Pre-match anxiety causing you guys to be distracted?”
The players could tell very easily that their Boss was a little unhappy. So, despite their unhappiness about Vaughan's treatment, they had to keep it to themselves and focus their attention back onto the match.
However, due to the starting lineup issue, they had forgotten about their nervousness. They were only a little bit confused. How could Boss make such an obvious mistake when he had always been treating everyone in the team very fairly? They did not feel that Agbonlahor should not be starting, but even an idiot could tell that Vaughan was in better form and him starting would be much more effective than Agbonlahor. Did he not want to win this match? Could he really be doing this so that his favored players could make a name for themselves in history? Then why did he not let Moke, Cohen and Bentley start too? They were also players of Nottingham Forest, were they not?
The players headed to the pitch of the final with all these questions in their minds.
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”They're out! Let's welcome the eleven starting players for England!” John Morrison shouted passionately as he started to introduce every starting player for the fans.
Even though he was surprised about Agbonlahor starting the match, his voice and tone did not appear to be any different when he read out Agbonlahor's name.
To be honest, Twain's starting lineup was basically just as Lippi expected. He was only surprised that Twain did not start the impressive James Vaughan in the striker role and allowed Agbonlahor to start instead. This was a change that he did not understand. As a striker, Agbonlahor's shooting was not comparable to Vaughan. Other than his speed, he had no other advantage and he was more suitable on the flanks than in the middle. Italy had specially analyzed Vaughan for this match but they did not expect Twain to not start him!
Even though he was surprised, Lippi also felt very interested about it. He thought that the match would be very interesting since he was able to be surprised. As the last match before he retired, he was not just looking for a result, it would be best if it would be a match that he would never forget.
Tony Twain and his England team. They were obviously good enough to be the opponent for his final hurrah.
An explosive final, then we'll become champions.
This was Lippi's final wish.