During the halftime interval, Twain praised the entire team and gave special praise to Crouch. However, he did not praise Crouch for lifting his jersey to dedicate the goal to Eastwood. Instead, he praised Peter Crouch’s keen senses. As for the players’ affection for Eastwood, it was enough that Twain knew it in his heart. Twain felt that it would be a little affected if he made too much of it.
He did not know if Eastwood was watching the game. He would leave it to him to thank Crouch and his teammates when he returned.
The Forest team’s ground attack tactics surprised Everton and the team had scored a goal at the end of the first half. Twain affirmed this tactical play and praised Mikel Arteta. He knew very well that the Spaniard was now urgently in need of praise, so he was generous with it. Arteta did a good job. So why not say what he wanted to hear?
In the second half, Twain asked the whole team to continue sticking to this style of play. He was intimidating Everton with Mikel Arteta, whom the Forest team had and not them.
After the game began, the Forest team continued to suppress the midfield. Arteta used offense to press on, and George Wood completely froze Everton’s most threatening player, Tim Cahill. He would not let him do what he was best at, which was to rush up from behind to shoot the ball towards the goal. With Wood around, Arteta could make full use of his offensive talent and neatly sort out the middle of the Forest team’s front field.
Everton did not have Arteta, so their offense was messy. They knew that they could not afford to lose this game, but they did not have a good solution. Cahill often could only choose to shoot long range shots when he had possession of the ball. It was obvious that such offensive efficiency would be low.
And what about Nottingham Forest? They continued at their own pace, which was not too fast and not too slow. Everything was under Arteta’s control.
The past twelve days were not a waste of time. During those twelve days, Twain clearly told the players, Arteta is the core of the team; all tactics we carry out will revolve around him. It’s the same for the game. You have to listen to him and follow his pace. Arteta’s pace is Nottingham Forest’s pace.
And now, the result of the twelve-day training was properly validated on the field in this game.
Although the score had remained unchanged at 1:0, Everton was unable to gain even the slightest advantage on the field. They were kept frantically busy by the Forest team. Looking at this, Twain was confident about the Forest team’s performance for next season.
“Take a look at this Spaniard. Manager Tony Twain has a pretty amazing judgment of players. Mikel Arteta, whose performance in Real Sociedad was terrible to watch, only had two clubs interested in him during the winter transfer period, and now they are both here on the field. Moyes hesitated at the time, hoping to review Arteta’s ability through the loan. But Tony Twain made a direct offer to Real Sociedad to take away the player. Now, Arteta returns the trust of his manager. His performance is phenomenal!”
Andy Gray briefly introduced Mikel Arteta’s relationship with both teams. He could bet that Moyes had never regretted it as much as he did now.
Gray guessed right. Arteta’s performance gratified Tony Twain, and made David Moyes, in the next wall, felt like he was on pins and needles.
As time passed in the second half, Everton’s situation did not improve. Moyes sat in the technical area, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and coolly watched the field. No one knew what was on his mind.
Perhaps now he knew that the board of directors’ indecision had not only cost him a good player but much more.
※※※
In the latter part of the second half, Nottingham Forest, continually spurred on by Arteta, repeatedly launched attacks on Everton’s goal. Finally, in the 77th minute of the game, Ribéry received Arteta’s clever pass and scored again.
Even worse than the 2:0 score, Everton had no way to regain control of the game. They had two defensive midfielders on the field, but no one had a clear idea on how to attack. Everyone wanted to equalize the score as soon as possible. However, some of them wanted to shoot a long ball from the backfield to break through so that it would be quicker and more direct. The others thought they should advance steadily, layer by layer, and strike hard. They thought that they should have the possession of the ball at their feet before they could attack.
They were not unified in their thinking. It would have been a wonder if they could play the game well.
On the contrary, led by Arteta, the Forest team played more and more at ease. They fully mastered the situation on the field.
Cheered on by the Forest fans, the game finally came to an end. Everton lost 0:2 in the away game against Nottingham.
When the final whistle blew, Moyes looked up and sighed. It had stopped raining. He strode to the home team’s technical area and was the first to extend his hand towards Twain.
“Just one-point difference, Tony. I’m not going to let you get what you want.”
“Then you should be more careful!” Twain, who had won, was in a good mood and answered with a smile.
The two men shook hands. Moyes turned to leave the stadium and Twain continued to stand on the sidelines, quietly watching the players thank the fans for their support. Having won this crucial battle, Twain did not feel unburdened. The season was not over yet. In the next seven rounds of the league, the Forest team needed to do their best to ensure that they would not fall behind any one of their opponents.
Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United. They would face all four strong teams in the final seven rounds of the league.
If he thought that, after beating Everton, they could breathe a sigh of relief, lie down, and take a break, then the Forest team’s achievements would end here.
Moyes was not too disheartened when he shook hands with Twain because he had considered that. Based on the schedule, Everton, who had one more point than the Forest team, had an advantage. Their final seven-round opponents were not as difficult to deal with as the Forest team.
Even though Everton currently ranked higher than the Forest team, their strategy was no longer trying their best to shake off their opponents. Instead, they focused on playing well and waiting quietly for the Forest team to make a mistake.
Moyes did not believe that Twain’s team could avoid a mistake. These four opponents are too powerful. Twain will certainly make a mistake! He will! He will not be able to withstand the pressure, and he’ll collapse. At that point, he would not need to exert any force and could easily pull far ahead of Nottingham Forest.
Now, not only was Tang En unable to breathe a sigh of relief, but he could feel tightening around his chest. But he could not let the players detect the slightest hint of it. The guys had performed beautifully in this game. He should praise and encourage them instead of telling them with a tense expression that the hard times were just starting.
Tang En did not know what the other managers in the world did. He had not actually received any formal training. His experience of how he became a manager also seemed somewhat mythical. The so-called “mythical” actually meant that his path was completely unorthodox. Therefore sometimes, when he considered some problems, his usual thinking was not from the perspective of a professional football manager, but from other angles.
Tang En was used to putting all the pressure on his shoulders because he was the manager of the team, which meant that he was the boss of the team. What’s the role of a boss? It doesn’t mean that I alone get all the credit and glory. It means that I’ll take on all the blame for my men and clean up the messes. If other people bully my people, I must be the boss and stand in front of the guys. Even if my men have done something wrong, it’s not for outsiders to censure. It’s completely up to me to teach and reprimand them behind the closed doors of the locker room.
This might sound like the big bosses in those Hong Kong gangster movies. But that was how Tang En felt. He interchanged the football team with a gang, and manager and boss meant the same thing. Due to the fact that his interaction with the team was shorter than the other managers’, he used his own ideas to manage the team. What was the actual result? It was quite good. So far, Nottingham Forest did not have any conclusive evidence of a scandal. There were no conflicts in the locker room. Why? Because the team has such a gangster boss.
His way of managing the team was rarely seen in English football circles. He could joke with any player off the training field. No matter what kind of jokes—vulgar, dirty, tacky—he could make them. The players could also joke with him. He did not keep them at arm’s length with a serious expression because he was the manager. Even if the players had difficulties which had nothing to do with the game and football, he would certainly try to solve them, rather than pretended not to know how. When the media condemned his players, it was like they had attacked him instead. He would readily step up and give the media the fiercest comebacks he could.
Mourinho was similar to Twain in this respect, but it was still not the same. Mourinho always had some sense of superiority. But Twain did not. He had no sense of superiority.
The Forest players finally finished thanking the fans. One by one, they walked off the field. When they passed by Twain, he smiled and patted them on the shoulders. “Terrific job. Hurry back to the shower and change your clothes. Don’t catch a cold.”
He said the same to everyone who walked by. When Crouch walked over to him, Twain looked up at the tall guy and smiled. “Peter, how are you feeling? Eriksson was up there watching, and you scored a goal.” He pointed to the box suite behind the main stand.