Jess shook hands with Eugen sadly and then walked to the player's corridor. Despite his help with scoring that one goal, he knew that the worsened situation at the second half of the match was partly due to his performance in the midfield. Tang En approached and stopped him.
"You have done enough, Eoin. Don't worry. Go take a shower and come back to watch us play. We are going to win."
Jess looked at Twain with disbelief about what he just said.
The young manager opened his mouth wide and laughed. "Want to make a bet, Eoin?"
"This is really unbelievable! After Forest scored two goals, and when everybody thought there was no hope for Wimbledon, look at where they are now… from forest having two goals at the first half in four minutes and absolutely at the advantage to Wimbledon showing their full potential with two goals in four minutes. Now it is a draw!" While Motson was commentating, he thought of a question to himself. As long as Tony Twain is managing, will the matches always be this dramatic? With him, it seemed there would always be something to look forward to.
"After losing two goals, Twain has begun to substitute players. He subbed in the young German player, Eugen Bopp, to replace the experienced Eoin Jess. But I feel certain that his decision was based on Wimbledon's first goal, as the second one came way too suddenly and unexpectedly."
It was true. No one had expected the second goal, including the manager, Murdoch. His celebration of the second goal was not as crazy as the first one, as he merely hugged his assistant manager and clapped his hands.
Tang En glanced at him and realized he had become even more annoying than before. If it was really going to end with a draw, he would not attend the press conference so that he could avoid that annoying face. If this old guy were to say something arrogant at the conference, like "we ought to have won the match" or "we could have gotten three goals", Tang En was afraid that he might not be able to control himself and plug the microphone into his big mouth.
Anyway, Tang En was in a damn bad mood! Thank god the performance of the young German made his mood slightly better.
Eugen Bopp made his first tackle, as he stole the ball from Reo-Coker in the central midfield and passed it to Williams at the side. Although they lost the ball in the end, his remarkable performance got applause from the fans and even Tang En gave him a thumbs-up.
Bopp became more active after receiving confirmation and compliments from the fans and his manager. Afterwards, fans and commentators would always remember scenes like these.
Wimbledon had gained possession with their fierce tackling. But Eugen Bopp immediately tackled the ball again. Feeling the pressure, Bopp passed the ball to Andy Reid, who passed to Gareth Williams, but they lost the ball under Wimbledon's continual attacks. Wimbledon decided to make a fast break for Forest's goal area, wanting to score another goal and win the match. However, the ball got tackled again by Bopp and Scimeca when it just entered the midfield.
Usually in two minutes, possession could go between the two teams three to four times.
Even in the situation when the ball could not be tackled, Bopp would find ways to commit fouls to reduce the opposing team's speed and rate of attacks. His stamina was not a problem, since he had just entered the field. It was at least better than the Wimbledon players, who had been tackling the ball for half of the match.
The result was that neither team could efficiently attack. Each side made many mistakes.
Tang En, on the other hand, was rather satisfied with the situation and said to Walker, "We've successfully delayed them. Bopp has done a great job. Perhaps it is time to give him more opportunities."
Walker agreed with what Twain said about Bopp, but was not optimistic about the current situation. "Bopp's performance in this last season has been commendable. But even if we stop Wimbledon from attacking us, we are still unable to attack. Are you satisfied with a draw now, Tony?"
"Of course a draw is not enough, but we have to give the team some time to prepare and adapt." Tang En was not very confident either. The increase of defense at the midfield was at the expense of lowering their attacking strength. Though Eoin Jess was not good at defending, his passing skills and experience were still commendable. Do we now have to solely depend on Andy Reid?
Tang En suddenly thought of something and asked Walker how much time was remaining in the match.
"Not counting the injury stoppage time, we still have 17 minutes."
"Should be enough. Des, call Cash back."
Bopp has put in a lot of effort to balance the situation, and we cannot just let his efforts go to waste. As the head manager, Tang En had to make the adjustment accordingly, if not he would be the sinner in the end.
The 20-year-old midfielder, Brian Cash, was able to play both wings in the midfield. His ability to pass and shoot was nothing special. As a wing player, his skill to cross from the byline was just ordinary. However, he had one plus point that made Tang En appreciate him, which was his excellent dribbling technique. Cash did not have speed, but was a player who solely depended on his skills.
Because the four key players in the midfield had been confirmed, Cash and Bopp had to be substitutes instead. They might not play at every match, but there were situations that required their specific skills and abilities. Today's match would be an example.
Eugen Bopp's presence on the field proved that Tang En's thinking was correct. Since the defending side had become more stabilized, he needed to counter strike now.
Cash came to the coach's seats, and Tang En told him that he only needed to do one thing when he entered the field. "Break through, break through, and break through! Don't be afraid of Wimbledon's defenders, because they have no more to show. Do you see them panting for breath? Just use your skills to play with them, irritate them, and break through them! As long as their defensive line is messed up by you, we will get our chance."
Speaking to this point, Cash asked, "Boss, how much do you want me to stir them up?"
Tang En was stunned and said, "Stir them up until they become juice!"
"Got it!"
"You got it?"
"Yes. Just like cutting an apple into pieces and putting it in a blender."
Tang En opened his eyes wide and looked at this Irishman. "Oh, god, your analogy is perfect! That's right. Do it just like that! Except let's change apple to nuts. Go ahead and smash them to pieces!"