Change
Change
While having his breakfast and reading the papers, the middle-aged man could not help but laugh. As the next opponent of Tony Twain, he did not appear hostile towards Twain like Powell was and did not underestimate Twain like Lagerbäck. It was because he roughly understood how Twain, as a popular coach in Europe, worked. In fact, they even used to work together.
During the summer of 2004, Nottingham Forest just returned to the Premier League. They needed a professional, competent coach with good experience to lead them and just like that, Twain got promoted from being the coach of the Qatar team to being a coach in the Premier League.
"What are you laughing about, Fernando?" His assistant, Luis Milla, rushed to get a glimpse of the newspaper. He happened to see the picture of Tony Twain in the paper and immediately understood the situation. "Oh, him… I was not surprised that England could beat France, but the ease of the victory and the four goals executed really got me dumbfounded."
Fernando Hierro put the papers away as his smile disappeared, saying, "I did think about that possibility. However, times have changed. The Tony Twain of now and the Tony Twain of twelve years ago are basically two different people. The experience that I have accumulated is no longer useful today. But…" Hierro stared at the newspaper and commented, "That quote truly captured his character! Ha!"
After that, Hierro turned his head and asked his assistant Milla, "Have you watched the game between England and France?"
"Of course! I watched it for the first time when it live-streamed and then watched the recorded version another two times."
"Have you come up with any conclusion?"
"I think the France team lost because they underestimated their opponent. If they had properly prepared for the match, the victory of the England team wouldn't be as decisive. The tactics used by the English players were nothing new. The upper hand that Twain possessed was in his strategic commands in-game as well as his last-minute changes," Milla openly spoke of his thoughts with Hierro. "...and what is more important is that, previously, regardless of whether it was with France or Sweden or Germany, Twain always had the habit of switching his strategy around to confuse his opponents so that they wouldn't be able to get the better of him and all of his tricks. However, this game with France has completely exposed his capabilities to us. His trump card, George Wood, has also been used. I feel that, for us, this means that Tony Twain and his England team have nothing else to hide. The game with us would really be a test of the players' true capabilities. Personally, I feel that in terms of actual capabilities, we are much stronger than the England team…"
After hearing Milla's analysis, Hierro nodded thoughtfully.
※※※
"All of us now need to realize this very fact," Twain gestured with his index finger. In front of him stood the members of the coaching team.
Just as they finished their breakfast, Twain gathered every member of the coaching team in his room for a meeting. The coaches knew that meant the strategizing against Portugal had started. Three days later, they would be up against Spain, the host, at the Nou Mestalla Stadium.
"Whether it was against the Portugal team or the German team, Sweden, France, or even against the Welsh, we always had something secretive that no one could predict. For example, whether George would be playing. We have leveraged on that to win against Germany and Sweden. However, after our game with France, we no longer have such an advantage. We don't have anything else to hide. While it was amazing to have won 4:0 against France, it has exposed all of our capabilities and strategies to our opponents." Twain solemnly explained the severity of the issue at hand.
"Spain has already thoroughly analyzed our strategy so there is no point in trying to pull any tricks. That's why I will not be trying to use any underhanded strategies that are unusual. Instead, I will be focusing on your training and preparation for the game..."
His words delighted everyone in the room. Before this, it seemed Twain was playing all kinds of tricks without any considerations. Now that they thought about it, it did seem that way.
"Spain is a team with a good strategy and this is something that remains true even if they changed their coach. The essence of the Spain team lies with Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas. In that game, we have to stay close to both of them and ensure that we defend against them at all times. We mustn't let them have easy control of the ball. If we happen to let them possess the ball for more than thirty seconds, then we have failed. However, we cannot only pay all of our attention to the midfield. Spain has the tradition of playing along the wing expertly. They have always been skillful in their wing line attacks. We have to pay close attention to that."
While Twain spoke in front, the members of the coaching team were fervently taking down notes. These coaches were looking out for what parts of their training they should be focusing on moving forward, aligning with what Twain had mentioned so that they could arrange for more targeted practice.
"In this next game, George remains in the starting team. But I would like to make some changes to the lineup…" Twain paused when he reached this part as if he were pondering something, then turned his head to ask his assistant coach Des Walker, "How's the health and injury status of everyone?"
Walker flipped through his notebook to check before replying, "Bentley has already recovered and can get back on the court. But Walcott isn't ready yet… Derek expects to be ready by the time we get into finals, if we are getting into finals, that is."
Twain stroked his chin and thought deeply for a while. Walcott's absence from the game posed a huge problem for him because, in their game with Spain, the team would need Walcott's speed as an advantage. In terms of ball control in midfield, the England team could hardly be compared to Spain. If England were to pit themselves against Spain in the midfield, it would be shortchanging themselves and giving Spain the upper hand. It would be foolish for Twain to do that. Fundamentally, football was a game that consisted of teams trying to limit their opponent's strengths and create all opportunities to maximize their own. Since we cannot compete with Spain in the midfield, he thought, we should leverage on our speed to break Spain's line of defense. Perhaps the traditional England strategy could be used as a reference…
"I want to change the lineup," Twain said.
Some of the members of the coaching team were shocked. However, Des Walker was not surprised at all. Twain did not preempt Walker about this arrangement, but Walker knew Twain well enough to realize that he was someone to change his plans all the time.
In reality, for international matches like these, it was rare that any head coach would make changes to the formation because that was too much of a risk. Most of the teams would stick with a single formation for the entire season, which either made or broke their reputation.
As for Tony Twain, his starting formation had constantly changed ever since the first match in the preliminary round, and this had everything to do with George Wood's slow recovery. However, of course, Twain had his own intentions for that. The formation, used in the first match, was similarly used in the second match but only yielded a serious challenge for the England team. Twain immediately dismissed Glen Johnson, the main right back player, who from then on only sat on the bench. Glen Johnson was replaced by Micah Richards. Following which, Downing was replaced by Chris Cohen and Walcott replaced Bentley due to his injury. It looked like Twain was still trying to put together the winning team.
However, despite any changes, Twain had never altered the 4-4-2 traditional English formation. His tone today seemed to indicate that there was a possibility that that may change.
"Let's abandon 4-4-2 and change our formation to 3-5-2," Twain announced. "I bet the Spanish team wouldn't predict such a drastic change!" Upon saying that, Twain became evidently excited.
The coaches mumbled silently among themselves, Even the English themselves were not anticipating this, let alone the Spanish team…
"If nothing goes wrong, the three center back players should be Terry, Taylor, and Richards. They will be mainly responsible for the defense and will not be advancing forward, not even past the centerline. As for the defensive midfielders… Michael Johnson and George Wood. Gerrard will be pushed forward as an attacking midfielder." Twain wrote the names of the players in their respective positions on the tactic board, "For our attack, Rooney will be at the forward left and on the left, it will be Agbonlahor. As for the strikers, Mitchell will be at the front, and James Vaughan will be slightly behind him."
After reading out everyone's names and positions, Twain dropped the marker and rubbed his palms. "Strictly speaking, the 3-5-2 formation should be renamed as 3-2-3-1-1 with Rooney, Gerrard and Agbonlahor lined behind Vaughan. It would resemble a three attacking midfielders formation, only that Rooney and Agbonlahor will be slightly more to the sidelines."
"Mitchell has good tactics and Vaughan has the sprinting power. They should be able to capture the attention of the opponent's defense. However, our main line of attack doesn't only consist of the two of them. There are three people." Twain circled Rooney's, Gerrard's and Agbonlahor's names on the board.
"At the same time, Rooney and Agbonlahor have the task of taking care of the defense. But I believe that shouldn't be a problem." Twain understood Agbonlahor very well since he had brought him into the team himself. In addition, Rooney had also played as the winger back in Manchester United and also his defense was promising, all thanks to Ferguson.
"The main thing is that they have substantial sprinting power by the sidelines which can pose a threat near the goal post. They can effectively prevent the attacks by Spain along the sidelines. Leaving the task of scoring to the three of them will definitely throw the Spanish off guard. The head coach of the Spanish team would never have expected this."
"Wood and Johnson will take care of the defense, but Wood also has to tend to his midfielder duties. We will need his long pass so Johnson has a bigger role to play for the defense. I don't need Johnson to focus too much on attacking. His responsibility is similar to the three center back players."
After arranging everyone in their positions, Twain added, "During training, we need to focus more on contact defense. During the game, we can afford to use more tackling and collusions. I encourage all of you to play cheap tricks and a little rough here and there. As long as we can win the possession, I don't really care what means are taken."
Lastly, Twain looked at his colleagues. "All in all, these are my requests. This is my strategy against Spain. We have the advantage of one day's rest more than they will have. Moreover, they have been using the same old formation for every game so their physical fitness is definitely not as robust as our team's is. Being the host as well as playing from home are both to their advantage as well as their disadvantage. The fans of the Spanish team harbor high hopes of them taking the home championship for the European Cup and this is putting immense pressure on them. I don't think the Spanish team can handle that kind of pressure well. In terms of mental strength, they are way less strong compared to us," Twain gloated. Ever since he became their head coach, all his preaching had helped to advance the players psychologically, which would be put to good use now. The English team today was just like Nottingham Forest, psychologically invincible.
"Gentlemen, do any of you have anything to add?"
Des Walker pondered for a moment before venturing, "Is this strategy too risky? We have never practiced the 3-5-2 formation before. Three days of practice may not be enough."
"Time may not be on our side, but we need to try. If we were to go along with the original formation, we are practically giving ourselves to the Spanish, with nothing to hide or use against them. The Spanish have already analyzed everything about our tactics. From our game with Portugal onwards, the Spanish coach was there to observe our every move. They are very clear about our strategy and dynamics. That way, we will lose any advantage from the beginning. Hence there is a need to take this risk."
The other coaches could only agree with what Twain had said. The game with France had significantly pulled the weight for the England team and presented the latter as a competent team for the championship. After winning the recognition from all over the world, they naturally became a team that their opponents looked out for. Besides, Twain had shown everything on his hand in that game, which justified the need for some changes.
"I don't have any objections. I think we can give it a shot." Tony Carr, the most senior coach in the coaching team, nodded to signal his agreement with Twain's arrangement.
The most senior coach has spoken and there followed the agreement of the other coaches. There and then, the strategy they would use against Spain was determined. What came next would depend on the training and how the coaching team approached Twain's strategy and intentions. Most importantly, they would need to properly familiarize the players with the new formation, positions, and strategy in the coming three to four days. This was something that must be practiced, not just spoken of.
Deep down, Twain knew his own strengths and weaknesses. If it wasn't for the assistance of his coaching team, he was basically a second Zhao Kuo with all talk and no action. However, he was clever enough not to ever flaunt his weaknesses. He would not interfere unnecessarily in the matters of the coaching team or even in the regular practices of the team simply to prove that he was an outstanding, all-knowing head coach. Humans were neither robots nor calculators. It was impossible to know everything and be capable of doing everything in the best way possible. There were some things that could only be accomplished when others came together to help. Only when a person had a strong self-awareness could he truly attain success.
The coaching team told the players about Twain's new strategies on the training field, and many were surprised. However, they did not raise up any contrary opinions or discontent. The leadership brought them success against strong opponents, and everyone was used to the head coach being right. Working together with the head coach was easy as they only needed to know what they were supposed to do, and the head coach would take care of everything else.
When the players were still warming up on the playing field, the all-knowing head coach was aiding the security in chasing away all those persistent reporters, telling them the fifteen minutes of free filming were long over, and that it was a privilege that he even gave them an additional few minutes...
※※※
When England was training hard to challenge the best of the best. Spain was also preparing for war under the leadership of the coaches.
The media of Spain and England had a huge volume of reports about this competition. It was as if this match was in the finals. No matter the tone of whichever the side, it was as if winning over the opposing side would allow them to win the championships.
At Barcelona's Estadio de Mestalla stadium, the clouds inciting war were gathering.
The French people have already gone home devastated, and started an "exercise" against Puel. The French loved this type of "exercise". Some media started to put up the content of Ribery's interview, proving how they were all-knowing, but Claude Puel turned a deaf ear to all of that, disregarding all their warnings, and at the end, it turned into such a disappointing ending. He needed to take responsibility for this!
The French's denouncement of Puel was getting worse and worse. There were even radical French fans who hurled direct insults to the French Football Association, wanting them to fire this head coach who caused huge disgrace to the French team.
The French media was even more overwhelming with their reports about the French team's failure. The statements Puel said after the match were brought out to be strictly criticized.
Under such circumstances, Puel, who was stubborn in saying how he would definitely not resign during the news conference, was fired by the French Football Association.
The English media was exhilarated about that, as the "Coach Killer" Twain finally destroyed a head coach in a national team. Claude Puel transformed into a new badge on Twain's chest. (To be continued; if you want to know what happens afterward, please log into www.qidian.com, where there would be more chapters, support the author, support legal reading!)