The Greatest Manager of All time

In the Millennium Stadium stands, the Swansea supporters were excited and optimistic.

Fred Davis took the drink Matthew Bode had bought for him and asked Richard Cork beside him.

"You really don't want one?"

Cork shook his head. "I only drink sugar-free drinks now."

Behind them, Kevin Davis let out a long sigh. "I'd really love a can of beer right now."

Jason Smith burst out laughing. "Same here. Have you noticed? Ever since Lynn took over the team, it's been a long time since we've really worried about matches."

Matthew Bode immediately said, "Yeah. It reminds me of when we protested against the club last year and negotiated with him. When he pulled out his coaching license and threw it onto the table, he was so confident and domineering that it was almost rude. But the facts proved he was right. About the team's direction and strategy, we shouldn't have been pointing fingers. Professional matters should be left to professionals."

Richard Cork defended what they had done back then. "At the time, none of us understood him. It was normal to have some doubts. Let's not bring up old matters. Now we support him one hundred percent, so I'd say we're even. Haha."

Kevin Davis shrugged. "Things like that happen all the time. No need to take them too seriously. Right now, I just want to know if Port Vale still have any chance in the second half!"

"Let's see. I've read some newspaper comments about Port Vale. It's true they lack stamina later in games. Their matches are strange. Either everything goes smoothly and they take the opponent down, or they lose in a way that feels completely natural."

Jason Smith spoke as if he were analyzing the matter seriously.

Richard Cork crossed his arms and said, "Teams like that are very common. Swansea used to be like that too. Do you know why Swansea's performances this season have caused such a stir?"

Everyone turned to Cork, waiting for his answer.

As for how great the wave Swansea had created really was, the Third Division itself had limited influence. But Swansea had still become a focus of public opinion, which already exceeded the influence of their current level.

Richard Cork said firmly, "Comebacks! A comeback is resilience. It shows an unwillingness to lose. Swansea don't just perform steadily when things are going well. They've also come back several times when they were behind. That charm is what makes Swansea different. That's also why more and more people are starting to like Swansea."

Everyone thought it over carefully and felt he was right, so they all nodded.

The second half was about to begin. The fans turned their attention back to the pitch.

Richard Cork stretched out both hands toward everyone and said, "All right, we're close to the first trophy we've waited so many years for. It may not be an especially important trophy, but the lads are working so hard on the pitch. How can we just sit here like outsiders? Come on, let's cheer them on together!"

Led by Richard Cork, the entire stand seemed to be swept up like a spreading fever. Soon, a roaring wave of support shook every direction.

"Swansea, forward!"

"Swansea, forward!"

"Swansea, forward!"

When Swansea's players walked back onto the pitch, they heard the overwhelming cheers rolling down from the stands. A stronger surge of fighting spirit rose in their hearts, and even the fatigue from the first half seemed to fade by more than half.

The players looked at one another. Their eyes were firm and unwavering, burning like fire. It was an invisible source of encouragement, and also the spirit of this team.

Tenacious, unyielding, wild.

Lynn stood again beside the pitch, his gaze calm as he watched the field.

Although he had acted so "arrogant" in front of Robert Page, whenever he commanded a match, he constantly reminded himself to keep a humble heart.

Because he knew that when people became pleased with themselves and believed victory was already in hand, they often gave the opponent the chance to strike a fatal blow.

He could accept giving everything and still losing completely to a stronger opponent, like at Anfield and Stamford Bridge.

But he could not accept losing a match they should have won because of carelessness.

That would leave him ashamed and trapped in self-blame.

In the second half, he wanted to see exactly what Port Vale would do to deal with Swansea. Robert Page had been right about one thing: never underestimate a more experienced opponent.

Experience was an invisible force. It could not be measured, yet in certain moments, it could play an enormous role.

It had nothing to do with visible strength. The power of experience seeped into every corner of a match: player ability, mentality, concentration, and subtle shifts in position and momentum. It was everywhere.

As a team, Port Vale were more experienced overall.

So they absolutely could not be underestimated.

The referee blew the whistle to start the second half.

Lynn sharpened his focus. Robert Page also lifted his chin slightly. Being two goals behind had not made him lose his reason or become negative. Although Lynn disliked his sanctimonious manner, deep down he genuinely admired Robert Page's mentality when commanding a match.

After the second half began, Swansea first slowed the tempo and controlled the match.

Port Vale, meanwhile, clearly increased the intensity of their pressing.

Right after the restart, Port Vale's right midfielder Ian Armstrong committed an obvious foul on Cromwell. He stretched out a foot to tackle, but after Cromwell released the ball, Armstrong tripped him to the ground.

The referee's whistle sounded.

Lynn did not take it too seriously. Fouls were very common on a football pitch. You could not treat every foul as part of a deliberate tactic to injure players. That would be seeing enemies behind every blade of grass.

But three minutes later, when Cromwell tried to organize an attack in the middle and final thirds and was taken down by a fierce sliding tackle from Michael Cummins, Lynn realized something was wrong.

In the 54th minute, left midfielder Adrian Littlejohn also knocked Cromwell down from the side. He received a yellow card.

At this point, Lynn had to reassess Port Vale's defensive strategy in the second half.

The Swansea fans hated Port Vale's repeated fouls on Cromwell, but they were also fired up by the spirit Cromwell showed each time he got back up after falling.

Lynn watched the pitch with a calm gaze, replaying the scenes of Cromwell being fouled in his mind.

Every time Cromwell crossed the halfway line, Port Vale's entire midfield would rush over and knock him down.

Although the fouls did not look especially vicious, it was hard to say whether Cromwell could remain unharmed if this continued.

During the half-time break, Robert Page had repeatedly ordered his team to cripple Cromwell in the second half!

If Swansea lost this midfield organizing core, their attacking power would clearly drop by a great deal.

Several Swansea attacks from set pieces failed to come off. Villa's shooting touch today seemed average. The accuracy of several attempts was frighteningly low, and Villa was adjusting himself up front.

In the 59th minute, Stephen McPhee received the ball in attack but was brought down by Pedretti. McPhee stayed on the ground for a long time without getting up.

Courtesy demanded reciprocity. Pedretti's foul also made it difficult for the opponent's forward to do anything in dangerous areas.

Robert Page's face darkened. He ordered the team doctor to quickly help McPhee get back on his feet. Port Vale had to race against time. They could not afford delays.

At that moment, Lynn shouted from the touchline, "Oliver! Oliver! Zlatan! Zlatan! Come here!"

Cromwell and Ibrahimović came to Lynn.

Lynn spoke quickly to the two of them. "Port Vale are targeting Oliver with fouls in the second half to stop our attacks. Clearly, it's having some effect. We haven't created any decent chances in the second half yet. Now, I'll tell you simply how to adjust. Listen carefully."

Cromwell and Ibrahimović took the water bottles Hughes handed them, opened them, and took a few gulps while listening seriously to Lynn's tactical instructions.

Lynn took a small notebook from the inside pocket of his suit. He quickly pulled off the cap of his pen and held it between the corner of his lips, then used the pen to draw the formations of Port Vale and Swansea on a blank page.

Swansea's players were marked with the letter S, while Port Vale's players were marked with the letter P, because Port Vale's English name was PORT VALE.

Cromwell had been heavily restricted in the second half. As soon as he crossed midfield, he was met by brutal fouls. Although the opponent certainly could not keep fouling endlessly, he was also worried the next foul might send him off injured, just like Fabio Grosso.

He had thought about how to break this chopping tactic, but for the moment, he had no idea. For the sake of attacking, his still-limited experience seemed to make him believe he had to run into the front half.

When Lynn simply arranged Swansea's formation on the page, Cromwell's eyes instantly lit up. His mind began turning quickly, as if a brand-new door had been opened for him.

The formation Lynn drew in the notebook was 4-5-1.

Eleven S's were arranged in a 4-5-1 shape.

First, he circled the S at the arrowhead and said to the two of them, "This is David. He's at the very front."

Then he circled the S close to the attacking midfield or second-striker position and said, "Zlatan, this is you."

Next, at the defensive midfield position, Lynn circled two S's and said, "This is Benoît and Oliver. In the defensive midfield area, the two of you can adjust freely. There are no fixed requirements. Now listen clearly. The formation itself doesn't matter that much. What matters is how the team operates."

Cromwell nodded in deep agreement.

In truth, the mainstream formations in modern football all had their own strengths. There was no fixed rule saying one formation was stronger than another, because every formation could contain many tactical approaches. The key was how the players executed it, how they expressed the tactics within a general shape. Besides, in a fluid match, no team could maintain one fixed formation and stay in the same positions forever.

Lynn removed the pen cap from the corner of his mouth and spoke clearly.

"They're pressing and fouling Oliver in the middle and final thirds. So when Oliver joins the attack in advanced areas, he gets surrounded and hunted down. Now, Oliver, drop your position deeper.

"After dropping back, continue organizing the attack. It may look like you're farther from Port Vale's penalty area, so far that it seems impossible to create danger, but the actual effect isn't like that.

"We're two goals ahead. We don't need to be impatient. We can control the tempo slowly, using the team passing we're best at.

"And then?

"When you control the ball in the defensive midfield zone, who will defend you?

"If it's their two forwards, then our back line is safe. You can pass to either full-back, left or right.

"If it's one of their central midfielders coming to press, then with you, Benoît, and the full-backs supporting, you can make him dizzy. And your forward space will become larger. You'll have more choices when running forward, and the chance of being pressed will be lower.

"You'll be safer.

"And if their wide midfielder comes to harass you, that's even simpler. No matter which side's wide midfielder comes to press you, there will be huge passing space diagonally ahead of you. This is completely different from being pressed by a wide midfielder in the attacking third.

"James or Tobias will get very good opportunities on the flank, either one-on-one or by playing passing combinations with teammates.

"In short, once your position drops back, you'll feel as if you've entered a whole new world with sea and sky wide open."

Cromwell nodded excitedly again and again, delighted as if he had discovered a new continent.

Swansea had played a 4-3-3 before, but that 4-3-3 used two defensive holding midfielders.

Cromwell's position had been attacking midfielder, the important role responsible for organizing and setting up the final phase of attack.

Now, his position was dropping deeper. In reality, he would be playing as a deep-lying playmaker.

A new role that had not yet fully taken root in European football.

In the near future, Ancelotti would transform Pirlo into the classic version of that role.

Organizing from defensive midfield looked more dangerous, of course. It placed higher demands on the organizer's technique. He had to control the ball, escape pressure, and build the team's attacks effectively based on his reading of the match.

But such a role could make a team's defensive-to-attacking transition even faster. In the past, launching an attack might have required more time. Now, with the ball in the defensive midfield zone, one precise pass from the deep-lying organizer could immediately create a dangerous attack.

And organizing from this position was actually safer, as long as the team had enough strength to control the ball and enough technical ability.

Because the opponent did not have enough men to surround him!

In this era, most forwards were still the kind who only attacked and did not do the dirty, tiring work. That meant defensive midfielders were not under heavy pressure. If the opponent's central midfielder pressed up, midfield would become empty. If the wide midfielder came inside to surround him, the flank would be open!

This was a true tactical counter.

A tactical change ahead of its time. It might not create a full tactical revolution, but it was enough to give the team a tactical advantage when facing opponents of equal or slightly superior strength!

Cromwell understood what he had to do.

Lynn looked up at the pitch. The injured Stephen McPhee was walking off. According to the rules, after an injured player received treatment, he had to get the referee's permission from outside the pitch before returning.

Lynn seized the time and turned to Ibrahimović.

"Zlatan, drop your position back. Here, your main job is to pin their defensive midfielder. Because your position is deeper, we can keep our three lines tightly connected. That way, when we attack, the distance won't stretch too far and lower our passing and combination success rate.

"Also, David will stay at the very front to pin down their defensive line. His speed advantage means he can beat the offside trap at any moment. You adapt freely here. If their back line pushes up, try to send balls in behind for David to run onto. If their back line drops, then you can play freely. Long shots, combinations — the first thing you'll have is the space you need.

"Do you both understand?"

Ibrahimović and Cromwell nodded together.

In the stands, Swansea fans saw Lynn earnestly giving Cromwell and Ibrahimović detailed instructions. They only felt happy.

Lynn really had something about him!

After Ibrahimović and Cromwell returned to the pitch, Lynn put the small notebook and pen back into his pocket. Then he resumed his upright posture, standing tall on the touchline.

Most of his adjustments usually focused on the center. That was also why, when fans watched professional team-building news or tactical analysis, they often heard and saw the term "spine."

Defenders, midfielders, forwards — the central line carried greater responsibility, because the spine laid the foundation for a team's overall attack and defense.

The flanks were important too, of course, but generally speaking, their importance was more tactical and situational. The spine, however, was the backbone of a team.

McPhee returned to the pitch, and the match continued. Port Vale's free kick was launched directly into Swansea's penalty area. Friedrich muscled Steve Brooker aside in the aerial battle, then headed the ball clear.

When the match returned to a midfield contest, Robert Page frowned again.

Cromwell had dropped to the defensive midfield line!

He was almost level with Pedretti.

It looked as if he had backed down, afraid of going forward and being fouled by Port Vale's players.

At first, Robert Page did not care. He assumed Swansea's attack would no longer function, because this was still an era that valued organization heavily in traditional areas. In mainstream thinking, organizing attacks through an attacking midfielder or central midfielder was only natural. Defensive midfield? That was for dirty work and hard labor. Even if there were stunning, elegant defensive midfielders like Redondo, that did not mean such players mainly carried organizing duties.

But after Page watched the match for a while, he discovered a problem.

And that problem made his brow furrow deeper and deeper.

Cromwell was safe.

And he was also becoming the core of Swansea's passing organization.

Brooker and McPhee did not put much pressure on Cromwell. Cromwell could complete his passing tasks calmly, almost strolling around, while making it impossible for the opponent to get close to him.

Then, whenever a Port Vale midfielder, whether central or wide, went to pressure Cromwell, Cromwell would immediately pass the ball behind them, into the space they had exposed!

Robert Page could not quite understand exactly how Lynn's move worked.

But judging by the effect, it truly left him helpless.

The Young Marshal of the Swans was beginning to truly show his distinctive coaching ability!

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