The Greatest Manager of All time

The moment Ibrahimović blasted the ball into Reading's goal, the Madejski Stadium fell utterly silent!

This was a goal with no controversy whatsoever, and at the same time, Reading's defensive line had officially been torn open!

Torn open by Cromwell's exquisite through ball, by Villa's explosive speed, and by Ibrahimović's thunderous strike!

Ibrahimović spread his arms and rushed toward the away fans' stand. Having just renewed his contract with the club, he felt his form getting better and better.

He had to admit that playing under Lynn had allowed him to progress at incredible speed. Although the Second Division still did not pose much of a challenge to him, the season had already reached its 23rd league match, and he had missed ten of them, yet he had still raised his personal tally to twelve goals. That alone showed how terrifyingly efficient he was in front of goal!

Of course, there was still a certain gap between him and the team's top scorer, Villa. In the seventeen matches Villa had played, he had scored twenty-three goals!

That kind of madness frightened every opponent in the league. Otherwise, why would every team place so much importance on Villa's presence?

The Swansea fans surged toward the edge of the stand in ecstasy, roaring Ibrahimović's name and cheering his goal!

On the touchline, Lynn waved his fist and roared toward the pitch, "Go on, fucking disallow another Swansea goal! If you've got the guts, blow the whistle again! However many you rule out, Swansea will score that many more!"

"Oh-ho-ho! Swansea have scored! At a moment we never expected, Swansea have actually scored!

"They didn't seem to commit too many attacking players, but after gaining the upper hand in midfield, Cromwell tore open Reading's defensive line with one through ball.

"The most astonishing player was Villa. He stormed into the penalty area from the outside channel. Pay attention, he overtook from the outside before cutting into the box!

"When Nicky Shorey turned and tried to chase Villa, it felt as if half a century had already passed!

"He couldn't even touch Villa's shirt. With that explosive speed, Villa had already created a half one-on-one after cutting into the penalty area. Then he drew Brown's defensive attention. Brown had only taken two steps toward Villa when Villa laid the ball off to Ibrahimović, who had plenty of space. Ibrahimović decisively blasted the ball into the net!

"Swansea have equalized at the Madejski Stadium!

"1–1!"

Alan Pardew's face was filled with unwillingness. Reading had been only a few minutes away from entering the dressing room with the lead, but he had not expected Swansea to produce an attack that made his heart tremble. In the end, Swansea used this goal to level the score.

Reading's defenders could not help turning their eyes toward Nicky Shorey. It was not quite blame, but there was still a questioning meaning in their looks: how did you get destroyed so completely?

What exactly was speed?

Sports media often mixed speed together with anticipation.

For example, if I start running earlier than someone else, then my speed will look faster.

Shorey's anticipation had not allowed him to start earlier, so he was slow.

Villa and Cromwell's timing in pass and run had been seamless. One passed, one ran, tightly connected, which made Villa look even faster!

This kind of speed was even ahead of Reading's entire defensive line. In other words, Villa was like someone in a race who had started first. By the time everyone else had just started moving, his speed had already reached its peak. In a short explosive sprint, his pace naturally looked exaggeratedly fast!

Reading did not think about any of that now. After restarting the match, they immediately organized a new attack to assault Swansea's defense.

After continuous passing in midfield, the attack shifted to the right flank. Scott Murray ran past Tobias Rau on the right and received Ingimarsson's pass. He prepared to dribble toward the byline, but then noticed quite a few Swansea players around him.

Directly ahead was Grosso. Slightly ahead toward the edge of the box was Pedretti. Cromwell was level with him in the middle. Murray felt that he could only push the attack forward, but when Cromwell chased from his diagonal rear, a pressing circle quickly formed.

Grosso, Pedretti, Cromwell.

Murray no longer dared to try breaking through. He directly crossed from the flank.

The ball flew into the penalty area. Center-back Friedrich jumped against center-forward Nicky Forster and headed the ball away toward the right front.

The cleared ball landed at James Cook's feet.

The opposing attacking midfielder, Kevin Watson, immediately chased from the diagonal rear to press him. Watson believed he was slightly faster and was confident he could take the ball from James Cook. Unfortunately, before he could get close, James Cook sent a diagonal pass to the right flank, ahead of Balitsch's run.

Not only did Watson rush into empty space, even John Salako's pressing also missed.

After passing, James Cook moved forward. Balitsch strode up, kicked the ball five meters ahead, then after catching up himself, passed diagonally into the middle.

James Cook controlled the ball with his right foot near the halfway line and looked up to observe the situation in the front field. Without hesitation, he launched a long ball toward the edge of the penalty area.

Defensive midfielder Ivar Ingimarsson had not yet run back into his position, because Swansea's players had not been attacking through the middle.

So Ingimarsson's first reaction had actually been to stay in the center and try to snipe Cromwell or James Cook. He had not expected James Cook to send a long pass, and now he could only turn and run back.

Ibrahimović pulled out of the penalty area to provide support, and this ball was looking for him. Center-back Williams stepped forward, marking the Swedish striker tightly from behind.

Villa appeared just right of the edge of the penalty area, which put Reading's defensive line on high alert. Brown and Shorey both immediately moved in front of Villa to prevent him from entering the box or receiving Ibrahimović's pass.

As a result, Reading's defensive positioning became overly concentrated in the middle and on the right.

When the falling ball was headed into the box by Ibrahimović after he jumped, Reading's defensive line was shocked!

Ibrahimović's headed layoff sent the ball into the empty left channel of the penalty area.

There was far too much space in that area, and the loose defense there could be seen at a glance.

Graeme Murty was just about to turn and rush into the box to compete for the landing point, but then he saw Tobias Rau cutting into the penalty area!

Before the ball hit the ground, Tobias Rau charged forward and used his chest to bring it down from the air. Immediately after, he adjusted it with his left foot. Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann abandoned his goal and rushed out. Just as he reached a position two meters from Tobias Rau, Tobias pushed the ball with his left foot!

Hahnemann instinctively went to ground and spread his legs to expand his blocking range, but the ball was a step faster, rolling past his foot and behind him, straight into the net!

After scoring, Tobias Rau immediately turned his head toward the linesman. Seeing that the linesman had not raised his flag, he let out a wild roar and sprinted toward the touchline!

"Swansea have scored again! OMG! Swansea have completed the comeback in three minutes! Once again, they have torn through Reading's defensive line with simple, brutal combination play!

"This time, it was James Cook's long pass from midfield, Ibrahimović's headed layoff in front of the box, and Tobias Rau storming into the penalty area from the flank like a gust of wind. He controlled the ball with his chest, adjusted once, and finished!

"After Lynn changed the formation and style of play, Swansea's attacking power has increased dramatically. Reading's defensive line is clearly too slow when turning, especially when facing the impact of wide players cutting inside. They look very uncomfortable, and there are huge problems in the cooperation between their players!

"Alan Pardew needs to adjust his defense properly. Otherwise, their back line may be torn apart again and again!"

After seeing Tobias Rau score, even Lynn had not expected the second goal to arrive so quickly. He had already been thinking about what to say during the half-time break.

But these young lads were truly brilliant. With a sudden clatter and crash, they scored twice in quick succession and completed the comeback directly!

Lynn placed both hands beside his ears, making a listening gesture.

Less than ten minutes earlier, Reading's fans had booed him and told him to shut up.

He had listened obediently and shut his mouth.

Now, he wanted to keep hearing Reading fans boo!

If they had the ability, let the boos get even louder!

The Reading fans in the Madejski Stadium stands felt as if they had been struck by a bolt from the blue!

In the blink of an eye, their team had been turned around!

They watched Swansea's players celebrate the goal and their fans fall into wild ecstasy. With the first half about to end, their mood naturally plunged straight downward.

Perhaps only less than half of the fans continued singing, "We're playing bloody Swansea!"

Alan Pardew's face was full of anger. He had no idea what had just happened!

When he saw Lynn placing both hands by his ears in a listening gesture, he lowered his head and cursed a few times under his breath.

As the Swansea players walked back to their half, they encouraged one another. They had already found the key to winning this match, and they firmly believed that if they kept playing this way, they could completely destroy Reading.

At this moment, they did not want the match to end at all.

They did not need rest!

Their bloodlust had gone mad, and they wanted to grind Reading's bones into ash!

As they set up their formation and prepared for the restart, the Swansea players showed surging fighting spirit. It was as if a murderous aura had risen and swept across the entire stadium!

Reading looked somewhat lost. They were a group of experienced veterans, and any player with even a little sense could see that right now, they could not stop Swansea's attacks. Therefore, the veterans signaled for the team to avoid Swansea's sharp edge for the moment and wait until half-time to see what solution the manager had to contain Swansea's attack before making further plans!

So after restarting, Reading did not attack. They passed the ball repeatedly around the back to kill time, and the little time left in the first half was drained away just like that.

The referee blew the whistle to end the first half. Lynn turned and walked toward the players' tunnel, coincidentally walking alongside Alan Pardew.

Alan Pardew originally thought Lynn would mock and ridicule him to the extreme, but Lynn, walking with his head held high and chest out, had no interest in even speaking to Pardew, as if Pardew did not exist at all.

That attitude made Alan Pardew feel even worse. Full of anger, he walked into the dressing room.

How would he adjust the team?

Lynn did not know, but he was somewhat looking forward to it. He wanted to see whether Reading could crack Swansea's wing-forward tactics.

After Swansea changed formation and tactics, they had highlighted the role of the wingers.

This was rarely seen in English football.

Because what English football was proud of was the role of the wide midfielder!

Back when England won the World Cup on home soil, the 4-4-2 formation they built had shone brilliantly and played a decisive role. From then on, wide midfielders became tradition, and 4-4-2 became mainstream.

How many years had they gone without facing wingers?

No one knew. So when Arsenal's Pires, along with Henry, who habitually launched attacks from wide areas and cut straight into the box, became active in English football, the Premier League was turned upside down!

But the teams beneath the Premier League were still living in that old era of English style—or perhaps an era with no real style at all.

Defenders rarely encountered wingers, so naturally, they were not used to defending against them.

The habits needed to defend wide midfielders and the habits needed to defend wingers were completely different.

For that reason, Lynn was also quite looking forward to it. If Alan Pardew could adjust and suppress Swansea's attack, then Swansea would be able to further accumulate experience and carry out tactical transformation.

Inside the dressing room, the Swansea players did not discuss the goal that had been ruled out or the wrongly awarded penalty in the first half. Everyone was discussing the attacking strategy after the formation change.

This phenomenon was very good. Lynn did not like his team acting like a bunch of resentful complainers. In truth, everyone knew very well that unfair things would occasionally happen. If they could not face them calmly, then there would probably be much more anger to suffer in the future.

Why make things difficult for themselves?

As long as they became stronger, they could face everything with greater ease.

During half-time, the Swansea fans were not idle either. They gathered together and discussed how to cheer the team on in the second half.

Richard Cork rejected someone's suggestion that they also use songs to humiliate the opponent.

He believed Swansea fans should focus their energy on how to inspire the players instead.

So after discussion, the fans decided to sing one song together in the second half.

An old song they were familiar with: "Is This the Way to Amarillo?"

Then, before the second half began, just as the players from both teams had returned to the pitch and the match had not yet restarted, the Swansea fans' uplifting song echoed through the Madejski Stadium stands.

"Sha la la la la la, Zlatan! Sha la la la la la, Zlatan! Zlatan! Zlatan Ibrahimović is going to fire at you!"

"Sha la la la la la, Saint David! Sha la la la la la, Saint David! Saint David! Saint David Villa is ready to blast you away!"

The Swansea fans did not change the tune. They simply kept swapping in players' names as they sang.

This made the Swansea players on the pitch become even more filled with fighting spirit!

Standing in front of the dugout, Lynn heard the fans' song. He turned toward the coaches sitting on the bench and smiled. "Look how lovely our fans are!"

Everyone smiled at the same time, and Thomas Paine could not help singing along.

Lynn lowered his head and smiled. Then he turned and saw Reading manager Alan Pardew standing on the touchline with a serious, slightly nervous expression.

Lynn put away his smile, adjusted his emotions, then walked to the touchline with his head held high and both hands behind his back, ready to command the second half.

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