Godfather Of Champions

Things progressed smoothly and according to Twain’s wishes.

The next day, the major media outlets hyped the war of words between Manager Tony Twain and the reporter from The Sun at the news conference. The incident involving the three players’ visit to the prostitutes had been completely cast aside.

Even The Sun itself publicized the matter, and unquestionably, they wouldn’t say anything nice about Twain, whom they described as an unreasonable, annoying troublemaker who used obscenities and was completely uncivilized.

This kind of description lacked creativity, as they had used it on Twain in the past. Therefore, with regards to this assessment, Twain didn’t care at all. Even if the whole world thought that he was Satan incarnate with horns on his head, it didn’t matter to him.

He was happy to see that no one cared about what the three players had done in the red-light district.

Now, the media hype was focused on him and gave the team the calm they needed most.

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The Amsterdam Tournament had a history of more than thirty-one years and had held twenty-six tournaments so far. Because of its long history and the high ranks of the teams invited, it had the honor of being named “Europe’s top invitational tournament.” Even so, the friendly matches were still friendly. Twain didn’t care if the team could perform well in this invitational tournament. He placed more value on the state of the team. This was a great opportunity to test the results of the training they had done during this period of time.

The game between Nottingham Forest and Porto was second. The host, Ajax, tied 1:1 with Inter Milan in the first match. Adriano continued his terrible performance and streak of not being able to score since the World Cup.

This game, Twain didn’t use the 4-4-2 flat four positioning that they had been best at for the last two seasons. Instead, they played the 4-5-1 formation, which was really 4-4-1-1.

As the striker, Van Nistelrooy was the sole player at the front, and behind him, taking the point role was Van der Vaart. He was positioned between the attacking midfield and shadow striker. Twain gave him special instruction to send more long shots.

The four behind him had also been changed from the Forest team’s previous season lineup.

No matter how much Twain had diverted the media attention at the press conference yesterday to clear his men’s name by making a scene, his arrangement today still exposed the scenes behind the matter. Ashley Young didn’t appear in the right side position, and another right midfielder, Aaron Lennon wasn’t there either. Chinese player Sun Jihai was in the starting lineup.

Sun Jihai was a very good utility player. He could play as right back, right midfielder, and defensive midfielder.

Ribéry did not start as the left midfielder. Instead, it was Petrov.

The two side midfielders were a combination from last season—George Wood and Mikel Arteta.

The rear defensive line was the same as the previous season: the center backs were Pepe and Piqué, the left back was Leighton Baines, the right back was Chimbonda, and the goalkeeper was Edwin van der Sar.

In addition to Ashley Young, Aaron Lennon, and Gareth Bale, all the other players sat on the substitutes’ bench.

Twain drew the starting lineup on the tactical board. After he gave instructions on the specific tactics, he made a final exhortation. “Two things.” He extended two fingers and said, “First, don’t get hurt. Second, show what you’re capable of without getting hurt.”

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Sometimes when one thought hard, a lot of things in the world seemed very interesting.

Porto was the third strong Portuguese team that Nottingham Forest had played against in three years. Twain’s team seemed to have a special bond with Portugal.

First it was Benfica, then Sporting Lisbon, and now, it was Porto.

Furthermore, the Forest team’s center back, Pepe, had been bought from Porto, a famous team in Europe, and had also once been coached by Twain’s old nemesis, Mourinho.

After Mourinho’s departure, Porto might have still continued to dominate in Portugal, but it wouldn’t be so easy to maintain its position in the European football.

The current match in the Amsterdam Tournament was a competition between the king of European football three years earlier and today’s upstart.

The strength of both teams was no longer on the same level.

The Forest team scored two goals in the first half and basically locked in their victory.

After Van Nistelrooy received Petrov’s pass, he thrust the ball fifteen feet in front of the goal and continued his good form from training in the friendly. He proved once again that his departure from Manchester United was definitely not due to nonsense like a decline in form or an increase in age.

“Nottingham Forest scores! Van Nistelrooy and Petrov, a terrific performance between the two new players!”

Twain got up from his seat and applauded at the side of the field. He was certainly happy with the goal, but he was even more pleased with the tight coordination that the team had shown before the goal.

Upon taking possession of the ball, Arteta had passed the ball to Van der Vaart, who had received the ball with his back towards the goal. When Van der Vaart hadn’t had a chance to turn around to shoot, he had cleverly passed the ball in time to Petrov, who swiftly plugged in from the side. Then, after Petrov forced a breakthrough with his speed and made a pass, Van Nistelrooy had fully revealed his world-class striker’s instinct at this moment. When he saw that the opposing defenders pressed in more tightly, he first charged forward, made to look like he was going to receive, and ran to the middle before he suddenly braked and retreated. The opposing defender didn’t fall for it, as he also turned back to retreat. At this time, Van Nistelrooy and the other party brushed past each other—he suddenly started and sprinted ahead again! After this short battle of wits, he no longer had a Porto defensive player around him, and he easily breached the goal after he received the ball.

Van der Vaart showed praiseworthy skill in this attack too. That was, in the absence of a chance to shoot, he had passed the ball to a teammate in a better position, rather than forced himself to make a turn and try to shoot.

Twain looked at all this and burned it into his memory. He liked players like Van der Vaart, who was the kind of person who, at the expense of the team, for his own shot, would not hesitate to abandon him, even if he had just spent 4 million on him and promised him a good future.

The second goal came more easily. Without the complicated passing and coordination, Arteta’s sudden dribble and plug-in caught the attention of the Porto players. Just when everyone focused their efforts on the Spanish player, he made a cross pass to Van der Vaart, then the former Ajax player fired a long shot at his ex-home team’s net amidst the cheers of countless Ajax fans!

The ball whizzed past Porto’s defensive line and slammed into the goal!

“Rafael van der Vaart—for him, this is a perfect farewell and rebirth! He used his best shot to bid farewell to Ajax and prove his ability as an all-rounder to his new owner! Ajax’s Number 23 has become Nottingham Forest’s Number 23. All the best, Rafael!” the Dutch commentator hollered at the commentator’s box.

During halftime, Twain analyzed the two goals for the team. He praised the entire team for the first goal, and praised the scorers, Van der Vaart, and Arteta, who had assisted his rival teammate for the second goal.

“Guys, do you still remember what we were rated a month ago? ‘A strong team.’ Now, I’m very pleased that you’ve proven this. Keep up the good performance in the second half!”

Next, Twain changed five players in one go and used all five substitutions during the halftime interval. The team’s formation reverted back to the 4-4-2 formation which they had been best at last season… with just a slight difference.

Van Nistelrooy, who had scored the goal, was replaced, and Twain brought on Bendtner to play as the center forward. Eastwood replaced Arteta, and the team’s midfield changed into a diamond formation. Ribéry replaced Sun Jihai to play as the right midfielder, and Petrov’s position remained unchanged.

For the center back position, Twain called off Piqué and brought on Kompany.

The five substitutions brought about a dramatic change in the team.

In the first half, Twain experimented with more tactical possibilities, while the tactic used in the second half was likely to be used often in the upcoming season. The lineup obviously wouldn’t be the same as it currently was…

After the start of the second half, the Forest team changed their offensive momentum from the first half and switched to defensive mode instead.

Twain still constantly experimented with and adjusted the tactics. He wanted to see what tactics should be used in different situations and how the team performed.

There was one thing that everyone was well aware but didn’t want to say. Who benefitted from Twain’s snub of Anelka? It was Eastwood who had missed the vast majority of last season’s games due to his injury.

His first comeback game had been stunning, but things had quieted down again for nine months. His injury, which had required two surgeries, still continued to affect his condition.

Now that Anelka was no longer in the main position, Twain was perfectly justified to give Eastwood more chances to get his game back.

Twain hadn’t said this to him, but he knew Eastwood must know in his mind that this was his chance. He had to grab ahold of it or he would be eliminated—even if the boss kept him on the team, he wouldn’t have agreed to that kind of life.

Eastwood had to prove that Manager Twain was right to ditch Anelka because he was a striker that was still useful.

And what was the best way to prove that he was still a powerful striker?

“It’s a GOOOOOOAL! Freddy Eastwood! A name that we still long for… and he scores! Nottingham Forest leads Porto with three goals!”

Twain jumped up from the substitutes’ bench. Eastwood had lived up to his expectation.

After he scored the goal, Eastwood ran towards Twain and hugged him tightly.

Naturally, this goal was dedicated to Manager Tony Twain, who had always supported and trusted him while waiting for a chance to give him a new lease on life.

His teammates rushed up to celebrate Eastwood’s goal. Only Anelka sat alone on the bench and didn’t get up.

“For you, I f*cking let my favorite player sit on the bench!” During his outburst of rage at that time, Twain had yelled out this comment that Anelka still clearly remembered.

Now, you finally don’t have to put your favorite player on the bench…

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Porto scored a face-saving goal with a long shot by young player Anderson at the last minute.

Everyone realized the strength of the current Forest team through this game. At the press conference after the game, the Portuguese media no longer grudgingly termed the result of the Forest team’s victory over Porto as “an upset win.” As rivals, they acknowledged the strength and status of the Forest team now—this was indeed a strong team.

Are you kidding? If a team with Van Nistelrooy, Van der Vaart, Edwin van der Sar, Ribéry, Wood, and other players is still called a dark horse, then what does a real strong team look like?

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A day later, the Forest team was at the stadium, challenging the final opponent of this invitational tournament—the official host, Ajax.

In this game, Twain unexpectedly started the game with his substitute players.

He was well aware that his substitutes were inadequate, so he seized every opportunity to give them the chance to develop in competitions. Even if there was hope of winning the title in the invitational tournament, he also considered how to give his entire team thorough training first, rather than a mere tournament trophy.

Therefore, the starting goalkeeper was Paul Gerrard, and the starting center defense was Kompany and Wes Morgan. The starting defensive midfielder was Sun Jihai. It looked like Twain was determined to fully utilize Sun Jihai. Albertini also appeared in the starting lineup. Kris Commons became the starting right midfielder, and Van der Vaart went to the left side and became the left midfielder. The strikers were Bendtner and Viduka.

Twain’s requirements of Van der Vaart were not to let him be active on the left flank, but to lean towards the middle as much as possible, then to let Leighton Baines come up and actively assist.

He had studied Real Madrid’s tactics during their most glorious moments at the turn of the century and intended to test the suitability of their tactics for the Forest team in this game.

However, because he had punished three players, and these three players had their own important roles in the team’s tactical system, the results of the test had to be discounted.

With such a lineup, plus this tactic, the results of the Forest team were imaginable. They lost to the official host in this game with the score at 1:2.

At the last minute, Twain finally thought to bring in Anelka after he had used four of his allowed substitutions, but he only left him a mere ten minutes. Anelka could do nothing and didn’t score. The Forest team’s only goal was scored by Bendtner.

Nottingham Forest didn’t win the title in the end because of their loss to Ajax.

Ajax’s rules were very special. Other than complying with the general game regulations of three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero points for a loss, there was a rule created by them that was increasingly being used by more and more invitational tournaments to “encourage offense”. It was that each goal was counted as one point. The scores from each game’s win, loss, or draw plus the number of goals scored would be converted into the team’s total score.

Nottingham Forest had gotten a win and a loss, and their game score was three points. Then they had scored a total of four goals in two games, with one point per goal, counting as four points. The addition of the two sets was the Forest Team’s final score in this invitational tournament, seven.

The tournament’s champion was Mancini’s Inter Milan. They had one win and one draw, which gave them four points, and they had relied on their goal score to overtake the host Ajax.

Nottingham Forest had seven points, the same as Ajax, but placed third due to the outcome of their games. Twain didn’t care about the rankings. The day after the game, he ended the team’s training in the Netherlands and brought the team back to Nottingham.

It was now August, and in ten days, the English Premier League would kick off a new season. That was the tournament that Twain would split hairs over