Chapter 14: A good start

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again, and Beckham was under Everton's key defense. Moyes saw that Don wanted to use Beckham to launch a direct and fast precision strike. Although it was feasible to create an offside, the risk was too high and he had to go to double insurance.

So the defense against Beckham was strengthened.

Fortunately, Donn also made adjustments during the break. Beckham's pass is no longer the only offensive method that the Forest relies on. Since the opponent wants to make an offside, the team will strengthen their direct pass cooperation in front of the opponent's defense line. These are all short passes, and Van der Fate is enough to complete. But Donn is happy that Moyes will focus on Beckham.

After Van der Fate and Ribery cooperated on the side, Ribery firmly stepped forward and lured Everton to focus on him. Van der Fate suddenly passed to the middle. Van der Fate unexpectedly rushed forward and received the ball from Van der Fate without being offside!

Next, the Dutch striker drove the ball and drove straight into the opponent's penalty area.

There was another shocking booing sound at Goodison Park Stadium. If the ball was scored, Everton would be out of the way.

Fortunately, Howard's attack resolved the danger this time, he blocked the angle of Van Nistrue's shot. The Dutchman shot the ball on his fallen left foot, bounced up and changed direction, and flew out of the baseline.

Nottingham Forest's pass was offside nine times, and the tenth time finally succeeded, but no goal was scored. Tang En, who was watching the game below, was a little annoyed.

What was even more annoyed than him was Van Nistrue on the court. He shot with a sure shot that was almost certain, but he shot on Howard's leg by a silly man.

There won't be too many opportunities like this...

Moyes soon discovered Donn's attempt, and he began to reclaim his defense and did not give the Forest forwards the opportunity to get a single shot like this.

The Forest team is also playing slowly. Anyway, they are leading the way, so they just need to spend time with their opponents.

Donn changed to a more comfortable sitting position. Everton poses the greatest threat to the Forest team is Arteta. As for Tim Cahill, Andrew Johnson, Yakub... If Arteta did not support them from the middle and backcourt, it would be much easier for the Forest team to defend.

George Wood is as stable as ever, so stable that it makes people feel a little desperate.

Arteta suffered in the first half. During the break, Moyes asked Arteta to avoid Wood in the second half.

But is he the final decision for this matter? Since Wood has been targeted, it is not easy to run away.

Arteta is not good at midfielders who are good at breaking through, and his physical fitness is not good enough to confront George Wood head-on. In order to avoid Wood, he can only try to dispatch in the backcourt and not go up in person. Only in this way can Wood be concerned about the space behind him and dare not come up and press him in close proximity.

But in this way, Arteta, who is far away from the Forest goal, has no other means to organize offense except for a monotonous long pass, and the Forest's defense is also easy.

What is the purpose of defense? It is not to interrupt the opponent's ball in one-on-one defense, but to prevent the opponent's team from attacking and make their offenses threatened. From this perspective, Wood's defense was successful. As long as the opponent is afraid of confronting him head-on and must bypass it around the bush, he will be considered as completing the task.

"Mickell dares to come up, so we won half of it." Tang En smiled and said to the assistant coaches Chris Lak and Tang beside him, and the two nodded in agreement.

Moyes wants to build a new core and pick the wrong opponent. Nottingham Forest is too familiar with Arteta, and Arteta cannot perform at all in this game.

Fifteen minutes later in the second half, Arteta was replaced, even though he had basically failed in his normal game performance. Although he had basically not made any outstanding contribution to the team's offense in these 60 minutes, his fate was applauded and thanked by Everton fans. Why? It was because of his ruthless foul against George Wood, which was a move that pleased the home team fans. English fans sometimes liked someone and must have how many goals this person scored on the court. There are many ways to express their sincerity in their eyes, and goals were just one of them.

It’s like when Chinese player Li Tie joined Everton, he ruthlessly tackled Tottenham Hotspur’s midfielder Redknapp in less than five minutes on the first time. Because of this action, he won him great praise from Everton fans - of course Li Tie was unintentionally. He did not want to use this tackle to please the home team fans. He just did the work that a midfielder should do in the game. But Everton fans will never forget that Redknapp was the captain of their arch rival Liverpool.

Arteta walked off the court with the applause and love of Everton fans. He was very dissatisfied with his performance. Moyes stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him. Who made him meet George Wood? This person's defensive ability has been proven by the European Champions League. Countless powerful midfielders who are more powerful than Arteta have fallen at Wood's feet.

"You did a great job. Mikel. But it will take some time to integrate into the team."

Inadequate cooperation with the team is also an important reason for Arteta's poor performance.

Arteta nodded. He returned to the bench to sit down, then turned his head to look at the coach's seat of the Forest team. He saw Tang En sitting on the chair of the coach's seat with his legs crossed his legs. He looked very comfortable.

He is familiar with this action. When the Forest team is playing, if the situation is good, he will relax himself in this way.  In the past, he often saw the boss doing this on the bench of the Forest team. At that time, he was a player of the Forest team. As long as he saw the boss perform this action, he would feel at ease.   It means that he was sure to win this game.

But now as an opponent... I feel uncomfortable no matter how you look at it, and there seems to be a hint of contempt in this action.

In an interview before the game, as a player who transferred from Forests to Everton, the most asked was his opinion on the head coach. He said at the time, "I think the boss is a good person." This is not a lie. He did think so when he was in Forests. Even if he could only be a substitute.

But now it’s different. As an opponent, he feels that the boss is a little too arrogant... Everton is not a weak team in the Premier League, so how can he show a feeling of being “slighted”?

Coach Tony Tangen... is such a strange person. When standing with him, he will follow him wholeheartedly. But once he stands opposite him, he will find that this person hates him... He used to think that he was extreme, arrogant, and arrogant, but now he feels that he is an insult to his opponent.

Maybe as an opponent, you will be very dissatisfied... But look at the score, the Forest team leads.

To be fair, this man is also qualified to be crazy...

Arteta took his eyes off Donn. He decided not to care about the Forests, and from now on, he would cheer for Everton in his heart and advance and retreat with Everton because he is Everton's person - at least in the next four years.

Moyes replaced Arteta with an old acquaintance between Beckham and Van Nistrui - Phil Neville, who transferred from Manchester United to join Everton.

This is not a transfer deal that was completed this summer. Phil Neville transferred to Everton from Manchester United two years ago. At that time, he was 28 years old and chose to join Everton, who was guaranteed to play in the World Cup.

He was a versatile player when he was at Manchester United. He could play as a defender or a midfielder for the team's needs. Now at Everton, he was basically fixed in the midfield by Moyes, using his experience to help the team move forward.

Seeing Neville appear on the court, Beckham was attracted by his eyes. His eyes were always following his former friends. The fans stood up and applauded his former Manchester United teammates. At this time, Phil had long won the love of Everton fans. This kind of love is different from Arteta's love, and this is deeper.

This is the first time Beckham has returned to the Premier League after leaving Manchester United. Many of the people in Manchester United now play for other teams. This way, the old friends reunite on the battlefield. But it is a scene where each of them is their own. I believe that it is essential in the future.

Seeing Neville appearing on the court, Tim Cahill, who was originally wearing the captain's armband, ran forward, took off the armband from his arm, and handed it to Everton's No. 18.

Neville did not refuse, took the armband and lowered his head to put it on.

Everton's captain...

Beckham sighed in his heart. How many people still stayed at Old Trafford, the Red Devils who were the 1999 Triple Crown champion?

Neville's short pass is better, and he is far more familiar with the team than Arteta. He understands the characteristics of every teammate and knows how to pass the ball to them to the most effective.

And most importantly, he is not afraid to confront George Wood head-on, he may lose, but he will never escape.

After he came on the court, Everton's offense began to become active.

The entire team and Arteta were completely different when they were on the court. It really worked for two seasons, which was different from those who worked for more than ten days...

Arteta was convinced. But he was not discouraged. He knew that Phil Neville was about to become a past in Everton. And he belonged to the future in Everton.

Although Everton is not as strong as the Forests, he has no chance to compete for the European Champions League. But even sitting on the bench, he will feel hope. In Nottingham Forest, a team with ambitious goals... he may also sit on the bench at the beginning, because the boss will always tirelessly chase those celebrities in the transfer market. This is the characteristic of a wealthy club.

Under Neville's leadership, Everton launched a counterattack against the Forest. The Forest had no time to find the gap behind their defense line. It was the top priority to defend with all its strength during this period.

George Wood's goal became Neville, but he found that the goal he wanted to defend was not a person, but a team. When Neville got the ball, the Everton players around him would move, respond to him, and seek cooperation with him.

One-on-one defense breakthrough is easy, but it is difficult to prevent the opponent from passing the ball.

Under Neville's leadership, Everton played a short pass and cooperated with the small team. Unlike Arteta's frequent long passes before, Neville was more patient and dealt with the Forests. Looking for opportunities. Gradually, they regained control of the game amid the deafening shouts of home fans.

"The Forests' defense was surprised. I think Don Eun should consider substitutions to strengthen the defense. After all, they are now leading with one goal."

This commentator must not know the real Don. He trains and explains tactics in the team and always says to the players of the Forest Team: "The most unsafe score in the world is 1:0."

As a former Chinese fan, he has long suffered from "leading one goal and then defending to the death". For some people, defense is for defense. But for Tang En, defense is for attack.

He turned around and asked Chris Lack to call Bell back.

When Bell was warming up, he heard Chris Lack call his name and happily ran back with a sprint.

"Boss!" He looked at Tang En with a smile.

Tang En likes Bell's childlike personality. Only when he is not nervous can he perform at a normal level. The so-called "a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger"...

He nodded in praise: "You know what I asked you to do, so I won't talk nonsense. After you get on the court, actively move forward and don't worry behind you. George will help you fill the seat. You go and tell Ribery, let him lean towards the middle and get out of the corridor on the left. You know how to do the next thing?"

Bell nodded vigorously: "I know, boss!"

"Go." Tang En didn't say nonsense, and Bell ran to the fourth official. After a series of safety checks, he was allowed to appear.

The Forests won an out-of-bounds ball, and took this opportunity to replace Leyton Barnes.

"Switch to a full-back who has a better offense...it seems that Don Eun is not satisfied with leading with one goal!"

This is nonsense. Of course it will not be satisfied. Don Everton, who was planning to counterattack just now, completely died of his home reversal. Is there any better way than scoring their goal?

After Bale came on the court, he actively assisted on the left, Ribery moved to the middle, and Van der Fate stayed behind to organize the attack, and the Forest's formation looked a bit strange. On the right, Beckham and Zimbonda did not step forward. Not only did Beckham not go up, but he also worked very hard to help Zimbonda defend. Everton's offense here was subject to huge resistance. They planned to focus the offense on the left and right of the Forest.

As a result, Tang En substituted the players. The Forest team changed to the main attack on the wing, and Bale and Ribery took turns to attack this side. Everton was too late to defend, so where did he get the attack? He relied on the offense to suppress him? Everton's strength on the wing was not as good as Nottingham Forest, which made his fortune on the wing.

Ribery leaned towards the middle and made the left corridor out. As long as the Forest team took the ball, Bale rushed forward without hesitation.

He didn't consider losing the ball because he believed Wood.

Van der Fate handed the football to Ribery, who broke through the diagonal line in the middle and saw two opponents blocking the front. So he divided the football to the side. Bale followed up in time. He received the ball.

He did not stop the ball, but took the ball forward! Then he accelerated and rushed forward. He threw away the Everton right-back Tony Hibbert (tony_hibbert) who came up to block. Hibbert reacted quickly. He immediately turned around and chased after him, but was not pulled away by Bell.

Just when he was about to push Bale to the near sideline, Bale suddenly cut in front of him, blocking Hibert's running route, forcing him to slow down.

Taking this opportunity, Bale knocked the football to the middle, intending to dribble horizontally to disrupt Everton's defense. But he failed, and his breakthrough was terminated by Everton's black central defender Joseph Jaber (joseph_yobo)... Of course, he used a foul. He stretched his foot to Bale's right foot from the back, and Bale, who lost the center of gravity, fell down - a free kick of about 30 meters to the left of the goal!

"Look at the referee's gesture... give it a free kick!" The TV commentator said excitedly. Not only him, but also the Forest fans at the scene, and countless Beckham fans in front of the TV were excited. Why did everyone wait for a long time? "Maybe we will see Beckham's first goal in return to the Premier League?"

Bell was pulled up from the ground by Beckham. He saw Beckham holding the football and obviously vowed to take the penalty.  In the past, when he was right in the forest, he was the number one player in set-pieces as long as he was on the court.    Later, when Beckham came, the leader did not say who was first and who was second.

Beckham bent down and placed the football at the foul spot. Bale did not leave, he stood beside him. He was preparing to cover Beckham. His free kick was also famous for being accurate in the Premier League. Now, with Beckham, one is good at left foot and the other is good at right foot. Two people stand in front of the football, which will make the opponent confused.

Although this ball must be played by Beckham, he can also stand here to confuse his opponents - after all, the opponent doesn't know the Forest team's arrangements, although there is actually no arrangement...

After Beckham put the football in place, he stood up and saw Bell standing next to him, so he walked over.

"Garrez, you can play this ball." He smiled at Bell.

Gareth Bell was a little surprised, his eyes glared, and his cheeks bulged.

"What? You can't kick it?"

"Ah... no, it's not like that. Just..." Bell stuttered for a long time, and finally explained the meaning clearly, "...Don't everyone want to see you kick?"

Beckham wanted to laugh. But that was too eye-catching. He smiled and said to Bell, "This is a formal competition, not a commercial event. There is no reason why the audience wants to see what they want? Besides, it is precisely because the opponent also thinks that I will kick. So you can't help them to prevent it."

"But..." Bell wanted to say something, but he interrupted Beckham waved his hand.

"Who is the Forest's number one setter before I come?"
To be continued...