The Greatest Manager of All time

The two sides changed ends and resumed the battle for the second half.

Lynn returned to the front of the bench and sat down. He was very curious to see what kind of changes Brighton would make after the break.

After Adams returned to the pitch, he stood on the touchline with both hands in his pockets, his calm gaze fixed on the field.

That only made Lynn even more curious.

'Adams, what move are you going to use against me?'

The Community Stadium gradually rang once more with thunderous cheering.

Only when the first half had ended did both sets of supporters realize that forty-five minutes had already passed. The intensity and speed of the match made it easy for the fans to forget the flow of time.

During the halftime break, they exchanged opinions with their friends, each expressing their own view of the match.

The Seagulls fans regretted the chances their team had missed, while the Swans fans also had to reassess Brighton's fighting strength.

No matter what, both sets of fans agreed on one thing: this was the highest-level match they had ever seen on a Third Division pitch!

Its brilliance spoke for itself.

Precisely because of that, when the second half arrived, the cheering from both sides grew even louder. The fans used their full passion to inspire the teams they supported.

Go, Swans!

Go, Seagulls!

Under the sky of the Third Division, whose wings would spread wide enough to blot out the sun?

If one said the Third Division title itself was not worth much, and that promotion was the truly practical reward, then when it came to deciding who exactly was the strongest in the Third Division, who among the twenty-four teams made the others look dim by comparison, this match was the "final" between the Swans and the Seagulls for the right to call themselves number one!

Neither side wanted to lose.

Both sides wanted to win!

If Swansea lost, even if they ultimately claimed the title, it would probably leave a sour taste.

And if Brighton won, even if they could not win the league title, they would gain enormous satisfaction and achievement on a psychological level.

The referee blew the whistle to start the second half.

One manager sat upright on the bench, while the other stood straight on the touchline. Both were fully focused on the pitch, filtering and analyzing every image that entered their eyes, trying to uncover the opponent's tactical intentions and searching for the opponent's weaknesses.

The players of both teams spread out with surging fighting spirit and threw themselves into fierce struggle and confrontation. If they found a chance to deliver a fatal blow, they would show no mercy!

In the 48th minute, the Swan Sea struck first!

Villa moved to the highest point of the forward line. As he made a diagonal run from the left side outside the box toward the center, Ibrahimović happened to drop back toward the defensive line. This change in movement forced Brighton's defenders to quickly switch their marking targets.

Cromwell played a direct pass from the front third into Villa's running path. Villa seemed to control the ball and take one step toward the empty space on the right channel of the penalty area. Butters and Cullip both shifted toward the direction Villa was moving, only for Villa to suddenly lay the ball back!

After laying it back, Villa immediately turned and made a reverse-cut run.

Ibrahimović followed up from behind and chipped an over-the-top pass diagonally into Villa's running lane.

Because Brighton's defenders had been moving in the opposite direction of Villa's sudden stop, turn, and reverse-cut run, the moment they crossed paths in front of each other, a large distance suddenly opened between them!

Ibrahimović's chipped diagonal pass dropped in front of Villa. Villa brought the ball down from the air with his left foot, but perhaps because it was his left foot, even though Lynn had given him an S-card for Two-Footed Touch, it did not mean his weaker foot was completely equal to his stronger foot. When he stopped the ball toward the right side of his body with his left foot, the touch was slightly too heavy. The ball bounced twice, giving goalkeeper Ben Roberts time to rush out.

It may only have been one or two seconds, but on the football pitch, those seconds could decide life or death!

When Villa caught up to the ball again and shot directly with his right foot, Roberts had already arrived less than two meters in front of it. He spread his arms to widen his blocking area, and Villa's placed shot was blocked by Roberts' lower leg!

A huge sigh from three thousand Swansea fans drifted above the Community Stadium. At the same time, Villa covered his face with both hands, looking so ashamed he wished he could disappear.

After wiping his face, he turned back and saw the ball already being cleared away by Butters into Swansea's half. Villa gestured to Ibrahimović, meaning he was sorry. He had wasted a wonderful chance!

Yes, it had definitely been a wonderful chance. Perhaps a direct volley would have produced a better result than his shot after controlling the ball. But in that instant, Villa had chosen to bring it down and adjust for the sake of safety. After all, the distance between him and the defenders had made him feel secure.

Lynn sat on the bench and nodded slightly. Regardless of the final result, the process showed that the players had carried out his tactical instructions. The chance had already been created. There was no need to be overly demanding about the outcome.

Even penalties could be blasted over the bar, let alone chances created from open-play positional attacks.

Adams raised his right hand and pressed it to his forehead. He was not sure whether Swansea's attack this time had been accidental or planned in advance. If a manager treated every great chance created by the opponent as part of a normal tactical pattern, that manager would drive himself insane.

He could only keep watching for a while longer.

Brighton were not simply passively taking hits either. They also made active changes.

In the 53rd minute, Knight dropped back into the central attacking area. After receiving Carpenter's pass, Knight did the opposite of what might have been expected. He dribbled two steps backward, then half-turned and swept the ball toward the right-front area. Pierce cut inside!

Carpenter and Knight's dropping movements pinned Pedretti in the middle, leaving him unable to move freely. Carpenter's forward run was only a decoy, meant to hold Cromwell's defensive attention.

Then Pierce suddenly took the inside route. He was, after all, a young player developed by Tottenham's academy system. Even if he had failed to break through at White Hart Lane, he still had something distinctive about him.

Swansea's back line rarely had to deal with opposing wide players cutting inside.

When Pierce cut in, he carved out a bloody path. After entering the penalty area, he completed a one-two with forward Hart, who had moved closer to him, and continued his run to a position inside the box at an angle to goal.

After turning around, Friedrich was clearly already a step slow. He could only do everything he could before Pierce shot, sliding across—not toward the ball, and not toward the man, but to block the low shooting route Pierce might take!

With the angle being fairly narrow, Pierce tried to avoid Friedrich's sliding block by lifting the ball, but he blasted the shot over!

The ball brushed past the upper edge of the goal frame and flew into the stands!

After seeing his shot soar into the sky, Pierce bent over and covered his mouth and nose with both hands. Even he found it unbelievable!

"Brighton have missed the final shot again! Both defenses are creating problems for the opposing attackers. The closer they get to goal, the more pressure they place on the attacking players. They do not have much time to handle the ball. They must make the best decision in a short span and complete the technical action perfectly to produce the desired effect. Looking at it now, it is not surprising that neither team's shooting accuracy is especially high."

Lynn fell into thought in front of the bench.

Cutting inside?

Cutting inside placed very high demands on a player's technical level. Top players could cut inside all the way and score. Non-top players, however, would usually just hand possession to the opponent when they tried.

So many fans did not need to wonder why certain wide players at big clubs never cut inside. It was not that they could not, did not understand it, or were unwilling to try. It was that they knew the success rate was very low, especially at the top level, where opponents defended inside cuts very aggressively.

Swansea had just suffered for it.

They had suffered from a lack of experience!

Because in the team's own training, they first lacked inside-cutting players. Therefore, in internal practice matches, the defenders almost never had to face opponents cutting inside.

And on matchdays?

In the Third Division, the mainstream style was still long balls and high crosses. Wide players crossed, crossed, and crossed again!

Cut inside?

Learn to dribble properly first.

As it happened, Pierce had been trained in Tottenham's youth system and possessed a certain level of technique, so he dared to try. Swansea had no real experience dealing with inside cuts, so it was understandable that their defense was suddenly pierced and they nearly conceded.

Lynn could not help turning his head to glance at Cristiano Ronaldo, who was sitting on the bench and watching the match intently.

When it came to cutting inside, Cristiano Ronaldo would one day become a master of it.

Building a team had to be done step by step, and teaching had to suit the player. Lynn feared his team would not have a proper inside-cutting wide player next season either. After all, for an inverted winger to create huge danger, the first requirement was extremely high talent. In the next era, which wide players who made their names shine brilliantly were not gifted beyond the ordinary?

It was absolutely not a role that could be filled by a hardworking, diligent, template-style player.

Lynn lightly tapped his head with his right fist. He felt he might have been chasing perfection too much!

In truth, he still had some resources in his hands that he could use to make the team's playing style richer.

For example, Horatio Nelson, who could not get much playing time because of age, ability, experience, and other factors. He was left-footed and ranked behind Grosso in the competition. Sometimes, if Evra trained well and Tobias Rau was pushed up to wide midfielder, Nelson still could not get playing time.

But if Horatio Nelson were developed as an inverted winger, then the problem of James Cook lacking a suitable substitute would be solved!

And the team's attacking tactics would become more varied too!

After thinking this through, the corners of Lynn's mouth lifted. He looked toward Brighton manager Adams not far away, only able to see his side profile from behind. Lynn thought to himself, 'As expected, what helps a person grow the most is still his opponent.'

Adams had expanded Lynn's thinking today and given him some inspiration. That alone was probably a rare treasure.

On the pitch, Swansea and Brighton went through a period of fierce fighting in midfield. Both teams were compressing the space in the center. Possession changed hands several times, and attacks after turnovers became somewhat rushed. The faster the tempo, the more both sides' error rates rose. That revealed an obvious problem: the rhythm had broken down!

It had become too fast. So fast that both teams' attacking and defensive systems could no longer control it. Neither side could organize attacks effectively and smoothly anymore. That was proof that the rhythm had collapsed!

Swansea reacted faster in this regard.

In the 68th minute, after gaining control, Cromwell was the first to pass the ball back to goalkeeper Glendower.

It was a somewhat risky pass, but a reasonable one.

The ball had been passed into the most dangerous defensive area for Swansea, but looking at the situation on the pitch, it was actually very safe!

Because only one opposing forward ran over to harass him. Glendower only needed to calmly pass the ball to a full-back.

Swansea now had time to spread their formation, stretch the width and length of their attacking space, and use reasonable movement to create more passing options.

Gabbidon played a direct pass forward to James Cook, who had pulled wide and moved into space.

After receiving the ball, James Cook dribbled forward two steps. Only when Cromwell ran over from the middle to support him did he pass the ball sideways at the crucial moment just before Harding could recover into position.

Cromwell received the ball and carried it directly forward, driving the attack ahead.

The path in front of him looked somewhat empty, almost unobstructed.

But when he stepped into the area thirty-five yards from goal, Hammond moved into his advancing lane.

Cromwell lifted his head and observed his teammates' movement. He saw Villa making a diagonal run behind Hammond into the empty left channel of the penalty area.

Cromwell immediately passed the ball diagonally over. After releasing it, he also ran in the direction of his own pass.

Villa charged on the front line, with Ibrahimović five yards behind him.

Hammond turned around and immediately moved to mark Ibrahimović tightly. Villa, after controlling the ball, dribbled one step sideways toward the left, then half-turned and played the ball back!

Seeing this, Hammond instantly moved to prepare to press Cromwell. But Ibrahimović, who had originally been beside him, quietly charged toward the empty right channel of the penalty area. As he ran, he kept looking back. From about ten yards away, he saw Cromwell look toward him, and Ibrahimović immediately understood.

Villa had completed his role as a decoy and cover in the left channel of the box.

After Villa's return pass, Cromwell now had to attack the reverse-cut lane!

Cromwell played the ball first time, knocking it back into the penalty area.

But it was toward Ibrahimović's running direction.

Butters immediately turned and moved diagonally to block Ibrahimović.

However, even though Ibrahimović was already one-on-one inside the box, he dragged the ball back. With that drag, Butters rushed diagonally past in front of him!

At this moment, Ibrahimović faced the goal and suddenly placed a left-footed shot.

Although goalkeeper Ben Roberts did everything he could to dive, his arms were not long enough. The ball rolled into the far corner of the goal, leaving him powerless.

The moment the ball rolled into Brighton's goal, Adams held his head with both hands and lowered it, feeling unbearable pain and despair.

Now he was certain. Swansea's second-half attack had been carried out consciously and deliberately.

It was an extremely delicate tactical design!

And when Swansea's players had the space and conditions, they had actually executed it so well!

While it made him feel envious, it also made him understand that he had lost this tactical battle against Lynn!

In the Community Stadium stands, the Seagulls fans stared in stunned silence. They had just watched Swansea produce an attack as smooth and unstoppable as mercury spilling across the floor, completely tearing open the Seagulls' defense. It proved that Swansea truly were stronger than the Seagulls!

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