champion godfather

Chapter 69 Coach vs. Coach
The second round of the League One play-off semi-final between Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest has been going on for more than ten minutes, and the score on the field has not changed at all.Although the Forest team showed admirable fighting spirit, Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock (Neil`Warnock) was clearly prepared.Twain was studying his team, and he was also studying his team.

Marlon Halewood was taken care of by the defenders of Sheffield United. Phil`Jagielka (Phil`Jagielka), who was originally a defensive midfielder, was deliberately placed as a central defender by the head coach Warnock in this game. In the position, there is only one purpose - to guard against the silver boot shooter in League One this season.

Even though Jakinika is only 20 years old, he has already played a full League One.And has become the core of the team's midfield defense. He is all-round and can play anywhere on the back line.Tang En recognized this person. Although he seldom paid attention to weak teams' games when watching the Premier League, he still tried to watch every strong team's games.In the last round of Premier League matches in 2006, Arsenal under Arsene Wenger lost 0:1 to Sheffield United in the Premier League at that time. In the last 31 minutes of the game, the man who guarded the goal for the team was the man in front of him. Phil Jakilka.That game may have been the longest game in goal by an outfield keeper.Because of this, Dunn remembered this somewhat awkward name.

Seeing him active in the central defender line, blocking Halewood's attacks time and time again, what else can Twain say besides lamenting that he has encountered such a difficult opponent?

Another person who gave Twain a headache is Sheffield United's main midfielder Michael`Tonge. This Manchester United apprentice three years ago has now grown into the core midfielder of Sheffield United. They all revolve around him. He passes, tackles, organizes offenses, and even completes the fatal blow himself. He has played 44 times this season and scored six goals.But what he is best at is dribbling.

He and Jakilka are members of the England Under-21 national team.

The two of them are also the biggest contributors to Sheffield United's ability to enter the play-offs.

Of course, the person Tang En found most difficult was not on the field, but Sheffield United head coach Neil Warnock sitting on the coaching bench of the home team.

The 54-year-old is a native of Sheffield, with mottled hair and rich experience.This old coach is also an outspoken and temperamental person. His coaching style is somewhat similar to Twain's. He likes to stand on the sidelines to direct the game, and occasionally comes back to the coach's bench. During the 10 minutes of the game, his endless swear words can even cover The singing of [-] fans in the stands across Barramore Lane.

Looking at Sheffield United's highly targeted tactics, Tang En knew that he had encountered a formidable opponent.It is no accident that the team can lose to Sheffield United three times in one season.Even if he was himself, he lost two battles under this person.

Nottingham Forest's outstanding performance in the second half of the season was largely related to their main striker, Marlon Halewood. Twain also saw that Halewood was in a good state, so he simply arranged tactics with him as the core of the attack. Halewood's skills are exquisite. , The physical condition is also very good, with him as the core, the opponent's defender often suffers, and it cannot prevent him from scoring goals frequently.Coupled with another extremely fast David Johnson, this pair of partners has become the most successful and sharpest striker combination in League One this season after the end of the season. They have scored 46 goals in total. You must know that Nottingham this season The Forest team only scored 83 goals in total.Portsmouth is the sharpest attacking team this season, they scored 97 goals, Nottingham Forest ranked second.

But now the most lethal pairing of strikers has lost its way in the Sheffield United defense, completely losing its power.

However, the opponent was formidable, and after half a season of actual combat, Tang En was no longer a vegetarian.He has always thought that he is a "natural coach". If he switches careers to other jobs, he will be miserable, but he is very talented as a coach.Who said that only players need talent?

As mentioned before, the core of the Sheffield United team is their midfielder Michael Tonge, who initiates almost 60.00% of the offense.In this game, Dunn did not use the veteran Ian Jess and Gareth Williams, who had started most of the season, but used a younger midfield combination.

Four midfielders stand in parallel, from left to right are Andy Reid, Rich Smeka, Eugene Pope, Brian Cash.Tang En did not set up an attacking midfielder in the middle, but had two defensive midfielders guard the center of the court. The meaning couldn't be more obvious—to use the defensive abilities of Eugen Pope and Ricky Smeka to restrain Xie The activities of Field's midfielder, especially Michael Tongqi, the core midfielder, must be stuck, and he cannot be allowed to play.

The tactical arrangements of the two head coaches are very targeted. The result of this is that 15 minutes into the game, neither of them got a better chance. Most of the time they fought repeatedly near the midfield.The defense of Pope and Smeka made Tong Qi and Michael Brown (Michael`Brown) uncomfortable, and they couldn't organize an effective offense at all.

"I admit that Coach Twain arranged for two young men who seldom start in the league to make surprises first, and the effect is very good. But the price is to sacrifice the Forest team's own offense. The two forwards are formed by the opponent's five defenders." The defensive lineup is completely hopeless, and there is no one in the midfield who can organize the attack. If we continue to play like this... To be honest, I don’t understand.” Mark Lawrenson commented on the Forest team’s 15 minutes so far. He Shaking his head to cooperate with Mortensen's explanation. "Sheffield United coach Warnock's formation in this game is 541, with three central defenders. He chose a safe tactic. Of course he has a reason to do so. After all, he won a beautiful away game. The three points, the worst plan for this game, as long as he is tied, he can win, no matter how many points. But coach Twain can't think so, at this time he should not defend, but should attack. Now it's like...he must be dizzy!"

"Mark, I don't understand either." Mortensen disagreed with his partner, "But I think Coach Twain must have his own ideas in this arrangement. I have commented on most of the games for half a season. He is the kind of A coach who can make my eyes shine..."

Hansen laughed: "This is used to describe players, John."

"There is no rule that can't be used to describe a coach. Many of Twain's performances have surprised me, and I hope this game can also allow me to see that scene."

Mortensen had just finished speaking when Forest's right-winger Brian Cash made a brilliant drive across the wing and forced Sheffield United left-back Steve`Yates to foul him, Nottingham Forest Received a free kick on the right side of the front field.

Seeing this scene, Dunn stood up from the coach's bench and walked to the sidelines.Then he just stood there, didn't do anything, didn't shout anything.But the forest players on the field knew what this meant. They practiced hard for a week of set-piece tactics, and they were finally going to come in handy here!
Michael Dawson ran into the opponent's penalty area, and Hajjerd also left the backcourt. The entire defense line of the Forest team pressed up, and the two defensive midfielders Smeka and Pope were dragged down at the end.

Anyone who can head the ball is in front of Sheffield United.

Tang En's intention could not be more obvious.He was not afraid that Warnock would see it, even if he could see it now, he would not be able to make effective adjustments in time-this old man would never have imagined that he would give up conventional offensive methods in the away game and seek to use set kicks to solve the battle.

If you can't think of it, I'll catch you off guard!

He glanced at Warnock, who was standing on the sidelines and kept waving and roaring, with a smug smile on his face.

Old man, are you trying to keep your guards on the big guys Dawson and Hagield?Very good, I wish for it!

Because Ian Jess was not on the field, the free kick was handed over to Reed to take the penalty. He carefully positioned the ball and then looked at the penalty area.Sure enough, as expected by the head coach, the defenders of Sheffield United focused on Dawson, Hajelder, and Hale Wood. No one cared about David Johnson, who was not tall. It is too short, and it is almost impossible to find it in the restricted area full of tall people. It takes a lot of effort to see the shadow of this teammate through the crowd.

Michael Dawson with a height of 1.9 meters, Hajelder with a height of 1.8 meters, and Hale Wood with a height of 1.8 meters are the best screens.

Reed drove the ball into the box, but he surprised everyone at Sheffield United.He didn't drive a high ball to find the Dawsons' heads, but a half high ball, flat and fast!
In the astonished eyes of everyone, David Johnson suddenly burst out from the crowd and rushed forward!At the moment when the running route coincided with the flight trajectory of the ball, he shook his head and pushed the ball towards the near corner of the goal!
Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy`Kenny (Paddy`Kenny) faced this sudden attack at such a close situation, and it was too late to react, and the football flew into the goal against the goal post!
Standing on the sidelines, Tang En raised his arms high in celebration of the goal, and he did not forget to look to the next door.But Warnock didn't look too frustrated, he just turned and walked back to the dugout.This performance made Dunn a little disappointed - an attack he carefully planned did not cause any emotional fluctuations on the other side.

(End of this chapter)