Chapter 88 Cracked (Part 2)

McLaren is now in a difficult situation. He cannot relieve the pressure on the players, relax these people, and cannot continue to stimulate the tense nerves of these people, for fear that someone will have a weak psychological quality, break the one-to-one goal, or make a mistake in the back pass, etc., he will be in trouble.

At this time, you can neither say "look at the winner and lose" to these players nor say "never lose". It is indeed a headache for you to use the halftime break to inspire players' fighting spirit. In fact, McLaren knows that there is only one way to reduce the psychological burden on players and free them from this vicious cycle of psychological state - to score a goal for the Forest Team.

As long as you score a goal, no problem will be left. The pressure to win, the opponent's fierce pressing... has disappeared.

This is a difficult problem for McLaren. If the goals are so easy, the score of the football game has to be on par with the basketball.

It seems unlikely to change the situation on the field by substitutions now. What else can he expect?

a. The performance of eleven players on the court; b. The opponent's head coach made a fool of himself; c. The opponent's player made a mistake and gave a big gift; d. Settings.

To be honest, McLaren doesn't have much hope. This is a quantitative, not a variable. What is a variable? Tony Donn was stunned by the atmosphere of the finals of the competition, misjudged the situation on the field, and made inexplicable adjustments. The opponent's players under the continuous attack of Middlesbrough, put the pressure on their hands and psychological pressures higher and higher, overwhelmed, made mistakes, and then collapsed...

Thinking of this, McLaren's eyes lit up. Why can't it be? His own players are under great pressure because they are unable to open the situation for a long time. Why don't the opponent's players always beware of our offense because they need to be careful of our attacks. They always think that they can't lose the ball and feel stressed? Look at their way down and down when they leave the court, panting. Tony Tangen's tactics have too high requirements for players. Whether in terms of physical strength or psychological quality, McLaren doesn't think that the Forest can consistently implement this tactic.

So as long as you have enough patience, and continue to use the offense to harass the forest team's defense line, and when their confidence and will begin to shake, they will suddenly launch a fatal blow!

The game is over...

With clear tactical intentions in his mind, McLaren breathed a sigh of relief. He knew how to say to these players.

"I said...I'm going to say...Is anyone starting to doubt that we can't win this final? Have you shaken your confidence and fighting spirit earlier than our opponents?"

The players who were originally dejected looked up at their head coach when they heard the sound. The young coach Steve McLaren, who also convinced them with his grades. Seeing the smile on the boss's face, their confidence was restored.

"No, boss. No one gave up the game." said the team captain, their goalkeeper Schwartz, said.

When the second half began, Donn found that Middlesbrough had strengthened the offense. They seemed to be on the "wall-style defense" of Nottingham Forest. McLaren did not let his team slow down the pace and down his feet. Instead, he accelerated the offensive rhythm. He quickly passed the ball, passed quickly, and shot quickly. The direction of the pass changed from horizontal to vertical, and there were obviously more forward passes.

This is also a way. But Tang En was not very worried. The advantage of the wall-style method is not in speed, but in the stability of the thickness and formation. Unmoving like a mountain is the best description of this letting go tactic, which is to respond to changes in the same way.

As long as you guard the first ten minutes, the rhythm will only slowly fall into his control for the rest of the game. The one who needs to worry about not being able to score the goal is not him sitting firmly on the coach's seat, but McLaren's team.

But just ten minutes into the second half, he jumped out of his seat.

After intercepting the ball, Middlesbrough made a long pass from his own half and directly behind the Forest’s defense line. John Thompson, who has always been calm, made a heads-on mistake! Downing, who was extremely fast, started from behind while his teammates passed the ball. When Thompson emerged from the ground, he happened to rush through the Forest’s last line of defense!

Middlesbrough fans in the stands jumped out of their seats and raised their arms to cheer! This was an excellent opportunity they waited for fifty-five minutes!

Tang Ning just stopped the ball. He planned to break inward with the trend. Suddenly, a gust of wind in front of him, a black shadow flashed, and then the ball under his feet disappeared, and he was suddenly knocked out... At that moment, he felt as if he was hit by a huge rock. He rolled in pain on the ground, and the football had already flew out of the bottom line.

"Foof-!!" All Middlesbrough fans were shouting.

"You're just a foul!!" This is the Nottingham Forest fan's fight back.

The head coaches of both sides stood up from their seats almost at the same time, waiting nervously for the referee's decision.

The referee ran forward and pointed to the corner flag - "This is a corner kick! It's really an incomprehensible penalty... Look at the expressions of the Middlesbrough players, there were huge boos in the stadium two years ago!"

Because the goal in the second half of Nottingham Forest was close to the Middlesbrough fan zone. It was immediately overwhelmed by boos. Middlesbrough players rushed up to surround the referee. They couldn't believe their eyes! How could this ball be a corner kick!? It was clearly a collision! And it was absolutely unreasonable!

McLaren turned around angrily and punched the coach's seat. He was like his own players and could not understand the referee's decision. Didn't that bastard referee see Tangning even rolling in the air? Rolling from inside the court to outside the court! How did his eyes grow? The angry Middlesbrough coach pointed his eyes with two fingers to express his protest.

Tang En breathed a sigh of relief. He fell down. Although Wood was young and had not played many games in the first team's official game, he was the core of this defensive tactic. His tireless running and rough defense were important existences to deter the opponent. If he was sent off by a red card, his defensive system would collapse. Without him running and intercepting in the middle, this wall was just a hollow wall, and he would fall down with one shot.

The referee must have been confused by Wood's speed, or because of his active performance in the first half, the referee had some inertial thinking.

But this danger has passed, and there is even greater danger waiting for Don En and his Forest Team.

"George Wood made a dangerous defense, but fortunately the referee did not pursue it. From the replay, Wood did hit the ball first, but his defensive action was too big and very aggressive. McLaren had enough reasons to complain - this could have been the turning point of the game, leaving the Forest with one absolute defensive core, and was at a disadvantage in both the scene and the number of people. But now his team only got one corner kick, and so far the most active in the first half, Downing was still under treatment off the court! Listen to the booing of the Millennium Stadium!" Even with soundproofing and headphones, Andy Gray could hardly hear his voice. He had to raise the volume while commenting to compete with the crazy Middlesbrough fans.

In fact, McLaren doesn’t have to be so angry. Although he did not reduce the number of players in the Forest team, it took him at least fifty minutes to finally break a crack in the thick and hard wall. Will this be the beginning of the complete collapse of the Forest Wall?

The two coaches Steve McLaren and Tony Donne probably have to think about it carefully.
Chapter completed!