Chapter 97 97: A Winning Team Doesn’t Change!
When Tobias Rau shot past Ian Brightwell like a gust of wind, Brightwell felt both conflicted and helpless.
According to Port Vale's ideal plan, once Ian Brightwell used a rough foul to intimidate the opponent, his presence should have been enough to make Swansea's players go weak in the legs whenever they faced him.
But now, with a yellow card already hanging over him, Brightwell had not expected Swansea to remain so determined to attack down the left even after Grosso went off injured.
And it was obvious they were bullying him precisely because he had been booked and no longer dared to act recklessly.
Knowing full well there were tigers in the mountain, they still chose to march straight toward the tiger's den!
Lynn would not panic. He also had complete faith in his players.
Tobias Rau was not afraid of facing Brightwell at all. After nearly a full season, Swansea's players had already developed a distinctive spirit. They were young, full of drive, and while they swept across the pitch like a storm of youth, they were not afraid of wind or rain.
Did Port Vale really think one rough foul could scare them senseless?
Even if it came to a fight, who was afraid of whom?
Perhaps the post-match brawl at Ninian Park had played a part as well. The players had seen Lynn charge at the front line with their own eyes, and that had left a huge impact on them.
Fearless.
At this moment, Tobias Rau, having broken through Brightwell's defensive zone, charged into the penalty area without slowing down. The ball Villa had let run past him was about to roll over the byline when Tobias Rau arrived just in time!
The Swansea fans in the stadium boiled over with excitement.
Everyone was hoping Tobias Rau could deliver a good pass, and there was already a huge gap inside Port Vale's penalty area.
Lipa had stepped forward to tightly mark Villa, which effectively left the space inside the box for Michael Walsh to handle alone. This 24-year-old player of average ability only began chasing Ibrahimović after the Swedish striker had already started his run.
It was too late.
Tobias Rau calmly used the inside of his foot to pass the ball toward the top corner of the six-yard box.
He had seen Ibrahimović running toward that area.
Goalkeeper Goodlad shifted toward the near post. Ibrahimović rushed to the corner of the six-yard box and met the pass with the outside of his right foot, lifting the ball toward the far corner.
There was something wonderfully simple about it, like a heavy sword without a sharp edge, relying on sheer mastery rather than fancy technique.
Goodlad jumped from the spot, stretching his left hand toward the ball flying past the left side of his body toward the far corner. But his fingertips could not reach it. He was still more than half a meter away!
After shooting, Ibrahimović turned his head to look at the goal. When he saw the ball fly into the upper-right corner, he smiled and spread his arms, jogging slowly toward the corner flag.
Villa chased from behind and jumped straight onto his back, roaring at the top of his lungs.
"Zlatan Ibrahimović! Zlatan Ibrahimović!
"Swansea have opened the scoring!
"What a wonderful goal!
"Swansea have destroyed Port Vale's defense through quick attacking play and continuous passing on the ground, a true team goal.
"Cromwell controlled play from midfield, using a series of triangular passing moves to break through Port Vale's counter-press, then sent a brilliant pass near the edge of the box. But the most beautiful part was Villa letting the ball run. Hahaha, what an unexpected touch! Tobias Rau cut into the penalty area from the flank and assisted Ibrahimović near the byline!
"Swansea have shown us a style of football that is different from the usual British game!
"They control the ball skillfully, pass with chemistry, move actively and flexibly, and finally use layers of passing and movement to tear the opponent's defense apart!
"Port Vale need to think of a solution. Robert Page, Port Vale defended well after kick-off, but their attack has been weak. Now they've conceded. What will the Valiants do?"
The Millennium Stadium shook with noise.
Swansea fans cheered excitedly, chanting Ibrahimović's name as they watched the man standing in front of the corner flag, hands slightly raised and spread, his face proud and arrogant.
Robert Page lowered his head and cursed under his breath. Then he walked forward to the touchline and gestured toward the players on the pitch, smashing his fist into his palm. He was clearly telling the Port Vale players to be tougher!
Lynn raised both fists high, his face glowing with a bright smile. Just as Robert Page finished encouraging his players and turned around, Lynn happened to lower his hands.
Their eyes met from ten meters apart.
Lynn did not care whether the other man could hear him or not. His lips moved.
"Sorry. First blood is ours."
Robert Page's expression darkened slightly. He deliberately stopped looking at Lynn.
Port Vale's players were a little confused.
Because Robert Page's pre-match tactical plan had not worked!
Yes, Brightwell had injured Grosso and forced him off. Logically speaking, that should have been enough to intimidate the opponent, right?
But nobody expected Swansea's attacks to become fiercer and fiercer, and for them to specifically target Brightwell's side!
That left Port Vale somewhat at a loss.
After the restart, Port Vale wanted to launch a fierce attack, but Swansea's defending was calm.
In the 24th minute, Adrian Littlejohn tried to play a wall pass with forward Brooker on the flank. But the alert Gabbidon stepped into position first, cutting off the through ball Brooker had sent toward him!
After winning the ball, Gabbidon lacked a passing option. A full-back naturally could not casually pass the ball to a centre-back in that situation. The risk was extremely high. If the centre-back were pressed and dispossessed, the chance of the opponent scoring would become enormous.
In the end, Gabbidon simply kicked the ball straight out for a throw-in.
Lynn applauded from the touchline, praising Gabbidon's choice. If there really was no option, there was nothing wrong with kicking the ball out of play. The biggest taboo was making a panicked mistake and accidentally assisting the opponent.
Port Vale's throw-in was launched straight into the penalty area, only to be headed clear by the aerial monster Brunel.
For a while, midfield turned into a chaotic battle.
Cromwell, Pedretti, James Cook, and Tobias Rau fought back and forth against Littlejohn, Brooker, Cummins, Brisco, and Armstrong. The challenges were fierce. Possession changed hands several times, but neither team managed to build an attack from the scramble.
The minutes ticked by.
Once Swansea stabilized the game, they still launched their attacks down the left.
Brightwell had only looked powerful for that one minute.
He had sent Grosso off injured. That was all.
After that, he became the main target of Swansea's attacks.
Because he had a yellow card.
He had to be careful and avoid receiving a second yellow and being sent off!
In the 36th minute, Tobias Rau shaped as if he were going to pass to Cromwell on the flank. Brightwell shifted his weight, preparing to stick out a foot and block him. But the German's technique was nimble, and he flicked the ball in the opposite direction before bursting past Brightwell with great speed.
Tobias Rau's pace might not quite compare with Villa, Badenberg, or Nelson, but below the First Division in English football, he still had a clear advantage.
That was why he had always been confident in his speed. Especially since he often played full-back, once he fully accelerated and began charging forward, he could frequently fly past the defender in front of him, even if he had to deviate from a straight line and take a slightly longer route.
This time, his standing feint combined with his explosive acceleration allowed him to break past Brightwell again.
As Tobias Rau beat Brightwell, he could not help thinking to himself, 'Old man, I won't even give you a chance to foul me!'
Indeed, even though Brightwell had plenty of top-level experience, he was still thirty-three years old. He could crash into Grosso because Grosso had been making a run, not dribbling past him. Once Tobias Rau actually beat him, Brightwell turned and saw that he had no chance of catching up.
Because Swansea had spent almost the entire first half attacking strongly down the left, and because Port Vale's first goal conceded had come after their left-side defense was blown apart, Port Vale's back line instinctively tilted toward that side.
They wanted to squeeze the space available to Swansea's wide players after they broke through the defense. Right-back Lipa actively moved toward the edge of the box, ready to block Tobias Rau's cross. Defensive midfielder Brisco dropped into the penalty area to work with left centre-back Michael Walsh and full-back Ryan Brown in closely marking Swansea's two forwards, Villa and Ibrahimović.
After beating his man, Tobias Rau immediately observed Swansea's attacking movement. The left side of the penalty area and the central area in front of goal were packed with bodies. He could not see an ideal passing lane, so he looked behind him.
With one sweep of his eyes, he saw Cromwell moving toward the front of the penalty area.
He decisively played the ball diagonally back toward the top of the arc.
Port Vale's defenders turned their heads in the direction the ball was rolling. They saw Cromwell rushing in as if he were about to unleash a long-range shot. Someone immediately stepped forward to block him. Ryan Brown charged across diagonally, but the calm Cromwell simply shifted the ball sideways with his first touch, making the onrushing Brown miss completely!
Just when everyone thought Cromwell had dodged the defender and adjusted himself to shoot, he flicked his ankle and sent a diagonal through ball into the right side of the penalty area!
Full-back Ryan Brown had rushed forward to defend, and the defensive line had already tilted toward the other side earlier. As a result, a huge gap had appeared in the right side of Port Vale's penalty area.
Swansea's right midfielder James Cook cut inside into the box completely unmarked. Meeting Cromwell's pass, he adjusted the ball onto his right foot and chose a safe side-foot finish.
The ball rolled quickly toward the bottom-right corner.
After shooting, James Cook stared at Port Vale's goal.
Goalkeeper Goodlad had consciously tried to block the near corner, but he had not expected James Cook's placed shot to be so precise. He dived with everything he had, but his hand still could not reach the ball. He could only watch helplessly as it brushed the inside of the post and rolled into the net!
When James Cook saw the ball go in, a surprised smile bloomed on his face. He jumped up happily.
Like a child on the pitch, he shouted toward his teammates, "Zlatan, Oliver, David, I scored! Tobias, we're two goals ahead now!"
His teammates rushed over and surrounded James Cook. In the Millennium Stadium stands, the Swansea fans were just as happy as children.
"OMG! Port Vale have conceded a second goal!
"Young James Cook has sent the ball into the net with a side-foot finish inside the penalty area. This shot was incredibly precise, truly tucked into the farthest corner!
"Goodlad failed to block the near post. He has to bear some responsibility for that goal.
"But we should also see the brilliance of Swansea's attack. Tobias Rau surged from the left to the edge of the penalty area, then passed the ball back toward the front of the box. Cromwell quickly shifted the threat. Swansea had been pressing down the left and through the middle before suddenly attacking the right. James Cook cut into the penalty area unmarked, and Port Vale were completely caught off guard! They've been played dizzy!
"2–0!
"The Swan Sea lead the Valiants by two goals in the first half of the Football League Trophy final at the Millennium Stadium!"
Robert Page closed his eyes and tilted his head up, looking as if he were silently asking the heavens for answers.
He was a little confused now.
The Swansea he knew should not have been this strong!
Of course, Swansea were improving at high speed.
Although physical strength and technical ability required long accumulation and repeated refinement before they could make a qualitative leap, once everyone's overall strength rose to another level, and once the chemistry from team understanding began to work, Lynn could inject many tactical ideas into the team's technical and tactical play.
The idea behind this goal was "attack in the east, strike in the west."
In the future, this would become one of the most common positional attacking methods used by many of Europe's top teams.
Stretch the width of the attack, then quickly shift the attack from one side to the other. With the pitch so wide, it was extremely difficult for the defensive spacing to remain consistent during that shift. Once the distance between defenders was stretched, gaps would naturally appear.
Swansea could not yet shift attacks back and forth continuously, but after forcing the opponent to expose defensive gaps through strong pressure, they could at least make one decisive switch now!
Lynn applauded James Cook's goal from the touchline.
When Cook walked back to his own half, Lynn stepped forward and gave him a thumbs-up.
James Cook smiled shyly again.
Inside, he was unbelievably happy. Although he was the assist leader in the team, being able to personally score a crucial goal for the team made him overjoyed. That happiness was completely different.
Robert Page was starting to panic.
He felt Swansea's strength was far deeper than he had expected.
Two goals down, this match was becoming dangerous!
He needed to think carefully about how to defend, so he ordered the team to focus on defense before half-time.
The Valiants now looked as if they had lost both sword and shield. Their attack was not sharp, and their defense was unstable. They knew the whole team needed to settle down.
Ian Brightwell was about to explode with anger.
In the opening minute, he had been very pleased with himself after injuring Grosso. But from that moment on, Swansea's attacks had humiliated him again and again!
Tobias Rau's younger, sharper impact made him look clumsy as a pig.
He was being spun around until he was dizzy.
Yet he could not use rough fouls to stop his opponent. If there was physical contact, that would be one thing, but whenever Swansea attacked his side, they played passing combinations.
They raced him.
If he had the nerve, he could foul again the way he fouled Grosso.
Otherwise, he could only accept his fate honestly.
He could not catch anyone!
After the restart, the rhythm of the match became relatively steady. Swansea were two goals ahead now, so they could slow their attacks and tighten the fence in response to Port Vale's pressure. But Port Vale also slowed the tempo, so the game became fairly calm and uneventful.
When the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, Lynn and Robert Page turned almost at the same time and walked into the players' tunnel.
It had never been such a coincidence before. This was the first time since Lynn had become a manager that he and the opposing manager walked into the tunnel together, almost side by side.
Robert Page clearly did not want to speak to Lynn.
But Lynn smiled, patted the other man on the back, leaned close, and asked in a low voice, "Have you thought about what you'll say when you kneel and beg me for mercy?"
Robert Page shot Lynn a dark glance and said in a low voice, "Don't celebrate too early. There are still forty-five minutes left."
"Yes, there are still forty-five minutes. Please make good use of them. I haven't had my fun yet. Right now, I've only cut open the Valiant's body with a knife. I still want to watch his blood drain away little by little."
"Don't underestimate an opponent with more experience than you."
"Thank you for the reminder. I'll remember it. See you in the second half."
Lynn turned and walked into the north-wing dressing room of the Millennium Stadium. Robert Page walked into the south-wing dressing room.
After entering the dressing room, Robert Page did not lose his temper in anger.
He calmly leaned against the wall and carefully recalled the key attacking and defensive points of the entire first half.
His pre-match plan had not worked, and he had also failed to anticipate that Swansea's ground-based passing attacks would be so sharp and domineering.
Based on his coaching experience and style, the overall idea still had to be limiting Swansea's attack first. Once they suppressed the opponent's attack, then Port Vale could open up and attack Swansea's goal.
Attack, attack.
Swansea's attack.
He thought of the one man who had played a key role in both attacks: Oliver Cromwell!
The brilliant through ball that created Tobias Rau's assist for Ibrahimović had been played by Cromwell in the front half.
James Cook's goal had also come directly from Cromwell's assist!
The key man was Cromwell!
Robert Page had a plan. Once the players returned, he immediately made them listen to his tactical arrangements.
On Swansea's side, Lynn chose to respond to all changes by making none.
There was a rule in European football: a winning team doesn't change!
Whether it was a champion side or a team holding the lead in a match, they would not easily alter the team itself or the tactics being used during the game.
A team capable of achieving eye-catching results in European competition or in its own domestic league would not casually change its lineup and tactical structure. When a team was already on a winning track, changing lightly could create trouble. After all, polishing a team until it could sweep across the battlefield was already extremely difficult. Performing major surgery on that team would only make people feel you were looking for problems when there were none.
The same applied to a single match.
If you had the lead, and the team had not been extremely passive on the pitch, nor exposed any glaring weakness, why change?
The team was operating well and had gained an advantage.
Just keep it going!
You could not guess every adjustment the opponent would make in every match. At a time like this, changing casually had a very high chance of becoming a case of being too clever for your own good.
So, a winning team doesn't change!