Translator:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor:
Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was a little bit of noise in the dressing room. Everyone was talking about the first half and forming their own opinions, or advising other team-mates on how to do better. Only Fernández sat in his seat with his head bowed, playing with the towel in his hand. It was as if he was back to his unsociable form at the start when he first joined the team. He was still regretting that he had missed the shot in the first half.
All the players came in, and Twain was the last to enter the dressing room, the door closed behind him, and the noise outside was gone almost instantly. Hearing the sudden silence in the dressing room, Fernández knew who was coming, so he kept his head bowed. After more than half a season of interaction, he had figured out the head’s temper. The team had a chance to take the lead to end the first half, but they had to accept the draw because of his own mistakes. The King of Nottingham Forest must be very, very unhappy, so there was no way he could escape the scolding.As a player, Fernández was not a man who liked to talk back to the manager, so he chose to suffer such a rebuke in silence.
The expression on Twain’s face after he entered the house signaled to the others that he was going to curse. His eyes swept around the dressing room and ended up on the boy, who was holding his head and fiddling with the towel in his hand.
Honestly, the only thing he felt when Fernández missed the ball was pity, but seeing Fernández stand stock-still in place instead of choosing to continue running and go for another shot angered him. Twain could tolerate bad luck or bad shooting, but he would never tolerate a player just giving up.
As a result, he appreciated the actions of Ibišević after that — rushing up to the Fernández to snarl and express his displeasure. Twain did not think that this kind of behavior would affect the harmony of the team. On the contrary, he felt that if everyone in the team were like Ibišević, the atmosphere in the dressing room would be harmonious to the maximum. What he needed was a team eager to win, not a team that sacrificed some of its most valuable things for harmony.
Twain went straight to Fernández, stopped in front of him, and cast him in his shadow.
Matías What are you looking so annoyed about?
He knew Fernández could understand him. The latter had been in England for half a year, so even though he was not fluent, he could still understand well enough.
Fernández could not ignore Twain. In simple English, he stuttered out,
That ball….did not go in…
Was it just that?
Fernández didn’t know what Twain was talking about. Other than that mistake in the first half, his performance was average and he made no mistakes.
Actually, I don’t care if the ball gets in.
Twain shook his head.
I really don’t care. After all, we already have an away goal.
As his voice rang out in the locker room, the attention of the rest of the public was directed at him and Fernández.
I’m disappointed with your performance, Matías.
Twain stood,while Fernández sat, and instead of bending down and saying this to Fernández, he leaned over and looked down at him.
I don’t care if you score a goal, what I care about is your attitude. Look at what you did after you lost your first kick. You just stood where you were and held your head in your hands. What, were you under attack?
Twain’s voice rose sharply, and everyone flinched even though they knew what was coming. It was like being in a car on a bumpy mountain road and hitting your head on the ceiling of the car with a bang.
Twain gritted his teeth and stared at Fernández. There were basically sparks coming out of his eyes.
As long as the ball is not out of bounds, you will rush up to the ball to assist the shot! Even if you kick the ball into outer space, I won’t have any complaints. If the other side gets the ball first, you kick the ball and him into outer space!
With his bad-tempered boss scolding him, Fernández’s head was buried lower.
Twain hated this attitude. He reached out and dragged Fernández from his seat.
Keep your head up! It’s just a goal which didn’t go in, what’s so great about it? No matter when it is, you have to be full of fighting spirit! Fight! What is fighting spirit? Fighting spirit is to not admit defeat till death! It’s when someone calls you trash and you rush up to fight them. Don’t just keep your head down and and not say a word!
Don was a little worried about Twain’s heart, and he coughed next to him, but he didn’t expect Twain to look back and stare at him,
You’re sick or something, Don?
Well, uh…no, I’m not.
Don knew it was better if he kept quiet.
Yes, I’m sorry, Chief.
Fernández hurriedly apologized..
Don’t pull this with me! What are you sorry for? Fighting spirit is not when someone else scolds you and you kneel down to beg for mercy! What should you do? What should you do?
Although Fernández had not been at Nottingham Forest long, he knew more or less what he had to do. So he looked up and said,
I’ll try to make up for it in the second half, Chief.
Twain loosened his grip on Fernández’s shoulder and patted him. His face immediately brightened.
That’s good. It seems you understand.
Although Twain was known to scold people without mercy, it would be better to look at this from another angle. If you did not treat this as a
scolding
, perhaps it would not be so uncomfortable-. Twain was actually teaching you how to see reason, just more intensely and vigorously, with more emotion and extreme methods.
After helping Fernández see reason, Twain turned to look at the rest of the locker room.
In the first half you guys did a good job. We scored an away goal, that lost goal…
He glanced at George Wood.
It was not the fault of any of you.
He noticed that Wood’s facial muscles moved a little and he was happy.
But we need to make some adjustments. It looks like Quaresma is in great form today and if Mourinho is smart, he would make big use of it in the second half. We need to pay attention to his watch. George, I remember you’re on the right?
Wood nodded,
Yes.
In the back, Wood tends to the right and Thiago, to his left.
In the second half, you and Thiago will change positions to come to the left. On defense, help Barnes and Fernández limit Quaresma to the sideline.
That was what Wood wanted to hear the most. His answer was even louder,
OK!
Of course, Twain knew what Woodwas thinking, so he added,
Try not to foul, and definitely don’t get any cards.
Although Wood had stopped getting cards unnecessarily these days, Twain thought it was necessary to remind him again. Allowing Wood to guard Quaresma when he was so keyed up was a double-edged sword that might cut his own fingers and result in a huge loss.
Guys, Inter Milan wants to play our defensive counter-attack, so in the second half you need to pay more attention to the defence than in the first half. We will start with defending, and slowly toughen up with Milan at the midfield. Once the situation is good for us, they will become more on edge as the game goes on and throw aside Mourinho’s tactics, as long as they cannot score in the later part of the game. That will be our chance.
Pepe stood up and asked,
Chief, are you saying we defend against counter-attacks in the second half?
Twain made a thumbs up,
Yes!
※※※
While Twain was
reasoning
with Fernández in the dressing room, Mourinho was busy telling his players about the second-half tactical adjustments.
The score of 1-1 in the first half, while containing some occasional elements, was also telling. Mourinho discovered one thing: Inter Milan would undoubtedly lose out if he assumed Tony Twain had not changed.
What did he mean by ‘change
? It was saying how Tony Twain himself and his team were not very good at positional warfare. When their opponents secured their defense and counter-attacked Nottingham Forest, Tony Twain and his players would run out of plays and could only rely on some free kicks and luck to win the contest. At least that habit did not improve until Mourinho left England.
But judging by the first half, Nottingham Forest was now completely out of the question of not being good at the position. Twain’s special
Christmas tree
formation was the best choice for battle. The first attack in the battle of the position was often not important, the important thing was the following attacks. In this aspect, it was easier to accomplish that with Nottingham Forest’s current midfield. The midfield has thickness, the attack had different layers, the defense also had depth, so it would not be as easy for the opponent to counter attack after a failed attack. Their opponents would also not be able to break through a whole area after breaking in at a point. At the time they were surrounding the midfield while playing around Inter Milan at half-time, they looked like a stronger team.
Mourinho could not guarantee that Inter Milan would survive if Nottingham Forest continued to play like this in the second half, so changes had to be made. He guessed that Twain would not stick to the tactics of pressing Inter Milan in the second half. On second thought, he realised that he would give up on pressing Inter Milan if he were Twain as it left too much space behind him, which made it easier for the opponent to counter-attack.
… Nottingham Forest’s attack in the second half should not have been as aggressive as it was in the first half, so it was our turn to attack. Also pay attention to our own behind, you can see how sharp their counter-attack is, right? You’ll see it a lot in the second half.
Watch out for their two sides and their quick counter-attack. We also need to strengthen our side attacks, with our attacks to suppress their attack. At this point, he glanced at Quaresma.
The Portuguese was listening to the manager’s arrangement with a satisfied smile. Could a game change a player’s fate? Mourinho did not think this situation was ideal, but he did need to use Quaresma’s strength in this game. He said he should pay more attention on the side attacks. Quaresma was also one of the two side roads, so the implication was obvious.
Quaresma was clearly excited about what the manager had shown. He had been a fringe figure at Inter Milan for several seasons and had been disappointed that he could not impress the manager with his brilliant footwork. Now the Champions League quarter-final against Nottingham Forest might be a good opportunity, and the absence of Mancini’s due to his injury might be God’s arrangement. As long as they maintained this state and momentum, it was estimated that he could only be the Brazilian’s reserve even if the latter recovered from his injury.
Such a future was exciting for Quaresma who could not wait to get started in the second half, but Mourinho also made his own demands for Quaresma.
Riccardo, don’t limit your position to the side. I know you like the feeling of taking the ball on the sideline, but you have to be more flexible in this game. Both sides and middle roads are available.
Quaresma nodded to show that he understood; only a fool would shake his head.
After speaking to Quaresma, Mourinho looked to everyone.
The focus of this game is to score goals without losing the ball. You have to remember, 1:1 score is absolutely not good, 2:2 and 3 :3 are not okay! You have to win and you can’t let them score again. Otherwise our home-field advantage is meaningless! Tony Twain and Nottingham Forest want revenge. No matter what he thinks, no matter what others say, the situation is against us, we have reached the edge of the cliff, and we will fall if we’re careless. Every one of you better be careful!
Mourinho’s last words amounted to a euphemistic admission of his previous mistakes. He once said he did not care if it was a revenge game for Nottingham Forest and that they should just regard it as a normal game to play. But now he found that this was simply not possible. If it were a normal game, then his team was definitely losing. Because the game began with a pre-match war, he had already been pulled into Tony Twain’s orbit.
Tony Twain seemed to have some sort of magical power that could drive the people he had interacted with crazy.
Mourinho could do nothing but go crazy with him now and let the players realise that this game was different from the ordinary games of the past. Why was it different? Not because they blew their heads two seasons ago — that was just an excuse for Twain to play psychological warfare. The reason was simple:
It was because their opponent was Tony Twain.
