Chapter 163: The Bearing of the Strong
After Swansea had a goal ruled out, the players' mentality became slightly unstable.
They felt they had been treated unfairly, and as a result, their defending became rough and aggressive!
At first, this put enormous pressure on Reading and prevented them from organizing attacks through midfield. But Swansea were only focused on destroying the opponent's attacks. They could not transition properly from defense to attack, and their own mistakes began to increase.
Their hot-blooded pressing also began exposing obvious gaps in the back line.
In the 32nd minute, after Cromwell, Ibrahimović, and Pedretti surrounded Watson in midfield from front and back, Watson played the ball sideways to the unmarked Newman. Newman immediately sent a direct pass to forward Forster in front of the penalty area.
After controlling the ball, Forster turned and pushed forward. He carried the ball into the box, and Gabbidon stepped up to press him. Before Gabbidon could make the tackle, Forster used his right foot to knock the ball diagonally aside. The ball rolled past Gabbidon, but it was obvious that Forster himself no longer had the strength or balance to follow it. So, the instant Gabbidon stretched his foot out to intercept him, Forster directly launched himself into the air, rolled forward, and even let out a "scream"!
Gabbidon was stunned on the spot!
From far away, it might have looked as if he had tripped Forster, but he knew very well that his foot had landed roughly thirty centimeters in front of Forster's right foot. Since Forster had knocked the ball away in advance, Gabbidon's interception had failed and his foot had missed!
But he had not made any physical contact with Forster at all. As Forster rolled on the ground, the referee's whistle sounded.
Everyone turned to look, only to see the referee pointing toward the penalty spot, awarding Reading a penalty for Gabbidon's foul inside the box!
Gabbidon instantly exploded in anger. With an expression full of grievance and fury, he rushed in front of the referee and roared, "What is wrong with you? I didn't touch him at all! He fell down on his own! He's diving! He's acting! That is not a penalty!"
Perhaps Gabbidon's expression looked too fierce in his agitation. The referee kept a stern face and showed him a yellow card. Friedrich immediately pushed Gabbidon away to prevent him from losing control and being sent off directly!
Friedrich had also seen from nearby that Gabbidon had not touched the opponent at all. Now, he worked hard to calm himself and explain the situation to the referee. He placed both hands in front of his chest in a pleading gesture and calmly told the referee that Gabbidon had not had any physical contact with Forster just now.
But the referee would not listen at all. He had no intention of hearing anyone's words.
Cromwell also ran over to protest, but before he could say two sentences, the referee immediately put the whistle in his mouth and blew it, then jogged into the penalty area.
It turned out that Balitsch had gone over to Forster and started mocking him. Forster could not tolerate Balitsch's humiliation and got up, ready to fight him!
The referee controlled the players from both teams and did not allow a conflict to break out on the pitch.
Reading were the side benefiting from the decision, so they did not want to cause trouble.
Swansea, meanwhile, were now full of resentment toward the referee.
Lynn walked to the touchline. He laughed, then began applauding. He clapped toward the referee, clapped toward Alan Pardew, and even shouted at Pardew, "Pardew, I suggest you change careers and become a diving coach. Maybe you'll train a world champion!"
Alan Pardew gestured toward Lynn, signaling for him to shut up!
In the stands behind Lynn, the Reading fans were furious. Together, they booed Lynn and also imitated Pardew's gesture for him to be quiet!
Lynn applauded their behavior and shouted, "Reading's diving team is performing pretty well today!"
"Swansea have been awarded against with a penalty inside the box. From the replay, this is an obvious misjudgment. Gabbidon did not make physical contact with Forster. It looks more like Forster's touch to change direction was too heavy, causing him to lose control of the ball before he took the opportunity to go down and win a foul.
"What is most ridiculous is that there was still a clear distance between his body and Gabbidon's, yet he fell so dramatically, even letting out a scream.
"Judging from the referee's position, he could only see Forster's back, so he could not accurately see whether Gabbidon had made contact with Forster. Perhaps from his angle, Forster's fall looked too convincing, and the scream also easily affected the referee's judgment.
"Forster deceived the referee, and the referee fell for it!
"Swansea have every reason to appeal this decision. We can also understand Gabbidon's anger. For that, he even received a yellow card!"
The Swansea fans in the stands kept shaking their heads. They had not expected the team to first have a good goal ruled out, and now suffer from a wrongly awarded penalty!
Reading fans did not care about any of that. Their eyes were full of expectation as they stared at Ricky Newman walking toward the penalty spot. The thirty-year-old veteran should be able to withstand the pressure!
All the Swansea players stood outside the box, watching Reading take the penalty. Their expressions clearly suppressed their anger, but the match still had to continue.
As Newman began his run-up, everyone had already started rushing into the box. Newman pushed his shot down the middle, leaving Glendor filled with regret. Glendor had guessed wrong and dived to the right!
The ball flew through the center and into the net.
The Madejski Stadium instantly erupted with deafening noise!
"Newman converts the penalty in one stroke! Reading lead Swansea 1–0 at home through a controversial penalty!
"Will Swansea's mentality change because of this goal?
"They should have been one goal ahead, but now they are one goal behind. Two misjudgments inside and out. Can this young Swansea side calmly face the rest of the match?"
The Swansea players looked at each other. It was as if a flame was burning in each of their hearts, boiling the blood in their bodies until they felt ready to explode. It burned so fiercely that veins bulged on their foreheads, and they wanted to release that fire and burn the sky and earth to ashes!
At that moment, Lynn stood on the touchline and shouted at Cromwell and James Cook!
"James, Oliver, come here! Come here!"
The Reading players had gone to celebrate. At this moment, Lynn called Cromwell and Cook in front of him.
It was still only the first half, so Lynn could not make substitutions. Taking anyone off might create psychological dissatisfaction in the player.
Because overall, nobody had performed badly.
Even Balitsch, who had been targeted by the opponent from the start, had not been torn apart!
Besides, it was the referee's problem that had caused the team to fall one goal behind. If it had been fair, Swansea should have been leading by one now.
So Lynn could not strike at the players' confidence. But to reverse the disadvantage right now, against Reading's tactics, Lynn could no longer wait for the players to make their own adjustments and face the match by themselves.
Because the players' mentality right now was very delicate. They were standing on a swaying edge. With the slightest carelessness, they would completely cross from reason into madness!
And then Lynn would have no idea how the match would develop.
The game would completely lose control.
So as the manager, he had to stand up.
With a calm expression, he said to Cromwell and Cook, "Long story short, we're adjusting the formation now. We'll switch to 4-3-3.
"James, you'll move to defensive midfield and help Benoît guard the middle. Suppress Reading's midfield and help us take back the advantage and initiative.
"Oliver, you'll play central midfield. Also, tell David to play right wing. Zlatan will play center forward. He knows what he should do.
"On the left, tell Grosso to drop back and play full-back. Let Tobias play left wing!
"In attack, Oliver, you'll be responsible for organizing ground passing and movement. James, when you have the chance, be bold with long passes and use your strengths. Open up your vision!
"Go. Reading are nothing special. Reversing the situation won't be as difficult as you imagine. First, you have to calm down. You cannot panic!
"Understood?"
Cromwell and Cook both nodded seriously.
They ran back onto the pitch and told their teammates about Lynn's tactical change.
Their teammates all looked toward Lynn, only to see that he was now giving them an encouraging look with a smile on his face.
They felt the flames inside their bodies dim quite a bit, and everyone calmed down again.
Their Boss had not gone mad. He smiled in the face of injustice, because that encouraging look in his eyes was filled with confidence!
We have not suffered some unbearable grievance.
We do not need hysterical anger.
Whether it is the referee's loss of fairness or the opponent's low tricks, we will face it with a smile!
Because we are strong enough!
Since we want to be the strong side, then we must show the true bearing of the strong!
Swansea immediately changed formation.
For them, the biggest problem was that James Cook had never played as a defensive midfielder before. Today, he was suddenly being asked to play there. James Cook, the obedient kid, had no objection. He would resolutely obey Lynn's instructions, but whether he could meet the manager's tactical requirements was something no one could be sure of, including Lynn.
Lynn's current adjustment was meant to bring out the team's pace advantage on the flanks.
Although James Cook had performed well as a wide midfielder, he lacked speed and direct impact.
Lynn could see that Alan Pardew's research on Swansea had been very thorough. At the very least, Reading had created many difficulties for Swansea today. But Swansea were by no means as simple as he understood.
Now, Lynn began changing the formation, stimulating new attacking vitality in the team and showing a completely different attacking pattern.
Alan Pardew was immersed in the joy of his team taking the lead. He had just roared, his face still red, and now he glanced at Lynn with contempt.
After the match restarted, Swansea's midfield suffered a brief disconnect and confusion.
James Cook needed to adapt to the new position. Out of habit, after stopping the ball, he began moving toward the flank, which made it easy for him to lose possession. Especially when he was on the flank, he only needed to guard against the front, the back, and the left. His right side was the touchline. Although that was equivalent to a defender, the touchline was ultimately dead, unlike a defender, who was alive!
But after he moved into midfield, he had to be alert to all directions.
Because of that, he was still somewhat uncomfortable. Cromwell constantly reminded him of what he needed to pay attention to, helping him quickly integrate into the midfield position. Pedretti also remained alert and covered James Cook carefully.
In the 38th minute, James Cook's mistake almost created a tragedy.
He was successfully tackled by Salako. The latter carried the ball directly to the edge of the penalty area, then sent a diagonal pass in place. Friedrich jumped on the spot to head it clear but failed to touch the ball. The ball dropped into the area behind him, where attacking midfielder Kevin Watson struck a volley that blasted into the stands!
Just a little away, Reading had almost scored again!
James Cook raised his hand toward his defensive teammates in apology. Cromwell ran to his side and said, "Reduce your touches. Midfield is the most dangerous area. Unless you are absolutely certain, if you don't know what's around you, never hold onto the ball!
"On the flank, you can control the ball, but in the middle, letting the ball move faster between teammates' feet is more effective for tearing open the opponent's defensive line and finding chances to organize attacks."
James Cook readily accepted the advice and engraved Cromwell's warning in his heart.
He began to use the fundamentals of one-touch passing. As he exchanged quick, smooth one-touch passes with Pedretti and Cromwell, Swansea were also able to build coherent combinations in small spaces through midfield.
On the touchline, Alan Pardew found himself somewhat unable to understand Swansea's true intention. Ibrahimović was basically finding it difficult to get chances on the front line. Even if he dropped back to receive the ball, unless he could beat Reading's entire back line by himself, Villa was no longer beside him to support. Pardew could not figure out what Swansea's current style relied on to attack Reading's penalty area!
Were they going to shoot from distance?
Villa was operating on the flank. After moving away from the box, Villa did not seem to help the attack much. Alan Pardew shared the same view as many Reading fans: Lynn putting Villa on the wing was crippling his own weapon!
In their understanding, no matter how brilliant a wide player was, he could never be as imposing as a striker.
Take Manchester United's flying wings, for example. Giggs on the left, Beckham on the right. Impressive enough, weren't they?
But the two of them combined could not score as many goals in one season as Henry. So what if they were brilliant?
At the end of the day, they were still only wide midfielders, not forwards!
Lynn stood on the touchline with both hands in his pockets, his expression calm. He believed his disciples on the pitch would not disappoint him.
And the scenes that followed in this match would overturn Alan Pardew and the Reading fans' understanding of Villa!
In the 43rd minute, after Swansea completed a triangular passing move in midfield, Cromwell moved forward. James Cook lifted the ball between Watson and Newman.
After stopping the ball, Cromwell suddenly sent out a diagonal through pass!
The ball rolled rapidly through the channel between Reading's full-back and center-back.
Villa, whose starting position had originally been on the flank, exploded from the outside with a burst of speed that terrified Reading's defensive line!
He overtook on the outside, cut inside, and entered the penalty area, just in time to receive Cromwell's low through ball!
Reading center-back Steve Brown had to move to block Villa.
The moment he moved, Villa gently knocked the ball across the middle. Brown stopped sharply and turned to look, only to see Ibrahimović shaking off Williams' defense and meeting the ball near the right side of goal. With one cushioned finish, he blasted it into the near corner of Reading's net!