Godfather Of Champions

 “World class ball! World class ball! The captain for the Reds has finally exploded into life! He has drawn first blood in his duel with George Wood!”

Gerrard stood where he was after scoring and pumped his fist towards George Wood after scoring.

Even though he didn’t like to compete for the status of England’s best player, he didn’t like to concede defeat in a match against any opponent either. The media was right to keep mentioning him and Wood together. He also thought that George Wood was an opponent that could compete with him. It was very satisfying to go one on one with Wood and beating him.

George Wood had a sullen and unfriendly expression on his face. He was responsible for the goal that they conceded and he was not going to shirk the responsibility.

Since it was his own responsibility, he had to think of a way to make up for it then…

“Ah ha ha! Beautiful!”, Beesley shouted after seeing Gerrard’s goal from the press box, he stood up from his seat and waved his fists excitedly.

After cheering for a while, he sat back down and typed on his keyboard, “…Gerrard scored a world class ball to announce that he’s the best midfielder in this country… No, perhaps I should remove the word ‘midfielder’, he’s the best player in England… George Wood might be good defensively but his goal-scoring ability is lacking…”

At this point, he glanced at the field and found Wood. Wood was standing at the same spot, but he could not see his expression.

“What a pity, it must be quite a sight…”, He shook his head, muttering with a cigarette in his mouth.

However, he smiled again later as he saw Tony Twain on the TV screen.

The live broadcast of the match was showing a replay of Tony Twain’s reaction in the technical area at the moment when the goal was scored.

When the ball was unexpectedly passed to Gerrard, his butt left his seat and his upper body extended outside the technical area as he paid attention to what was happening. When Gerrard finally shot the ball into the goal, he sat back down into his seat and waved his right hand with some disdain.

“Ha ha!”, Beesley laughed happily after seeing Twain’s performance. “Where do you think you are? Mister Twain? This is our home ground! It’s Anfield! This is the most devilish stadium in the world! Listen to this singing! You’ll never walk alone, Liverpool!”

Beesley was a little crazed then. But his behaviour is nothing special as there were many people in the Premier League who found joy in watching Tony Twain make a fool of himself. None more than the host of Sky Television’s “Football Matters”, mister Carl Spicer.

The beautiful goal by Gerrard boosted morale and the singing from the stands boomed even louder.

“When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high—”

“And don’t be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm. There’s a golden sky, and the sweet silver song of a lark—”

“Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain—”

“Though your dreams be tossed and blown—”

“Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart—”

“And you’ll never walk alone—”

“You’ll never walk alone—”

In Heysel, in Hillsborough and in Istanbul in 2005… This song has encouraged the Reds on countless occasions and tonight will be no exception.

All the Reds’ supporters, even the Reds’ players think so.

For a long period of time after that, Liverpool was in cruise control as they bombarded Nottingham Forest. The singing of their fans were like a conductor’s stick, commanding the team to attack. The singing became louder every time the team attacked and when the team was building up to attack, it became softer.

“This is an exclusive view that you can only see at Anfield!”, the commentator exclaimed, “Nottingham Forest seems to be finding it difficult to hold their grounds. Tony Twain obviously did not prepare well enough for the stubbornness displayed by Liverpool in this match. What was it that he said before the match? ‘Nobody can trouble me.’ That sounds like a joke now…”

Twain stood up, he could smell the stench of danger from the relentless attack displayed by Liverpool.

Liverpool was determined not to act as a foil for Twain’s ten-years-anniversary indeed…

George Wood wanted to make up for his mistake by attacking, but he could not even lift up his head under the fierce attack of his opponent. Even Gago had to gradually dropped back to help out in defense. Forest really could not catch a break in attack at all. The Liverpool players felt like they were all on stimulant. They were in every position, all their passes were able to reach their teammate accurately and every shot seemed like it would penetrate the Akinfeev’s goal… As the saying goes, “when things go well, everything you try will come off”, Liverpool was already in that state then.

“Bastards…”, Twain cursed on the sideline. He really did not expect the whole Liverpool team to have such a change from just a beautiful goal.

And that song!

Twain was actually quite envious of Liverpool because they have an anthem that the whole world knew about. Whether the team was performing well or not, the Liverpool fans would sing this song. This was more effective than any cheer. A pity. Nottingham Forest did not have something like this…

In terms of team culture, his own team was miles away from the opponent’s…

The Forest players finally hung on till half time and they walked out of the pitch with their heads low right after the referee blew his whistle for the end of the first half. They also felt embarrassed about their performance in the first half. On the other hand, the Liverpool players took in the song and cheers of the fans with their heads held high on the pitch.

“There’s nothing to feel disheartened about…”, Twain told his players in the changing room, “We’re still level now, what’s there to feel disheartened about? As long as we score in the second half, we’ll still be the ones leading. You have to think of it this way…”

When Twain was giving his team counselling in the changing room, a bunch of die-hard Forest fans gathered outside the drinks stall, drinking beer while sighing because of the first half.

“We completely lost!”, said Skinny Bill as he waved his arms forcefully. “Our voice could not even compare with theirs… Look at the team’s performance in the first half, I believe their poor performance had something to do with the lack of support from us.”

“If it’s on our home ground… We’ll definitely make Liverpool go back crying!”, someone in the group shouted indignantly.

What he got in return was more sighs. No matter how you look at it, they looked like a bunch of defeated cocks who could only talk tough.

“Say… Tony’s ten-years-anniversary…would it end just like this?”, someone finally asked what everyone was worried about.

“How is it possible?”

“No way!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

The bunch of them rejected the idea quickly, but in truth, the idea of this result was growing bit by bit in everyone’s mind, from a blur to a clear picture, from “ridiculous” to “reality”.

“I feel disgusted when I think about the gloating faces of Spicer and Beesley if we lose this match…”, Bill said, the strong tone that he used was unable to cover up the uneasiness in his mind.

Fat John, who had been silent all this while, passed him a beer.

“I’m not done with this yet…”, Bill said as he lifted the cup in his hand. He did not even manage to take a sip of his beer because he was talking all the way.

“Have another. Wet your whistle, pal.”

“What idea did you come up with now?”

“Isn’t it just singing? We can’t sing just because we have less people? We’ll fight them head-on in the second half!”, John said fiercely.

After hearing this, Bill took the cup and drank it in one gulp. The others drank their beer after watching him do so and threw the disposable cups into the rubbish bin at the side.

“Sing our song!”

“Okay, don’t think about the significance of this match.” Twain said. He knew that some people might bear some unnecessary burden because of how special this match was. “You guys must not fall back just because Liverpool is attacking just like what you did in the first half. Are you afraid of conceding? If you’re afraid of conceding, then attack! Score a few goals and we’ll see if they still have the capabilities to attack. Gago, your positioning is too messy in the first half, you were in front for a while then at the back. Didn’t I tell you that your position is a little bit in front of George’s?”

Gago had no answer. He was responsible for the first part of the first half but it was not his problem in the second part.

Wood had a very strong desire to score in this match, that was why he moved forward so often that he snatched Gago’s position. Gago realized this later and he followed what the boss wanted in training—”Two of you, no matter who’s attacking, there must be one covering at the back”—and he retreated until he was behind Wood. This caused his position to be not fixed and confused his own teammates…

” Wood stood out and said, “It’s my responsibility.”

Twain looked at him. Would Eastwood be effective if he’s introduced now? He was not sure yet, although he could see with his own eyes that Wood’s performance in the first half was like a roller-coaster ride.

“Do you want to say something about your performance in the first half, George?”, Twain asked.

“Yes.” Wood nodded and said, “After Gerrard scored, I became a little agitated and snatched Fernando’s position.”

“Yes, I can see that. Can you tell us why you were so agitated?”, Twain asked.

Wood stayed silent for a while before saying, “Gerrard’s goal was my responsibility…”

Twain smiled and said, “An agitated George Wood, you don’t see that often. Are you unhappy that Gerrard scored such a beautiful goal right in front of you?”

Wood nodded.

Mm, that’s why you tried very hard to attack…”, Twain mumbled. “Let’s do this. We’ll make some adjustments. In the second half, George, you’ll stay in front, Gago at the back. You’ll be in-charge of attacking and Gago will be in-charge of defending, any questions?”

Wood was surprised and he looked at Twain.

Gago at the side said, “No problem, boss.” Of course there was no problem. That kind of adjustment was nothing new. Twain would often ask the two of them to switch positions in previous matches, after all, they were players who could both attack and defend.

“Is there a problem, George?” Twain did not want to let it go without getting an answer from Wood.

“I…have no problems with that.”, Wood replied.

Twain snapped his finger and said, “Remember your mission, it’s not to defend, it’s to attack. If Liverpool realized that we made this kind of adjustments, they will definitely tighten the marking on Aaron and Ibi, as well as on Bentley and Fernández.” He told the whole team, “I hope the four of you can be more active in front and run more. Try to draw the attention of the Liverpool defence to focus on you, then…”

Twain took out a marker and drew an arrow from the circle representing Wood towards the opponent’s goal.

“My personal advise under this situation, shooting is more effective than passing.”

After the second half started, the song “You’ll never walk alone” continued to be sung from the stands and Liverpool continued their excellent performance from the first half and kept Forest pinned in their own half of the pitch.

Twain kept waving his arm on the sideline, indicating for his team to press up and not be cowards.

Beesley’s fingers flew around the keyboard of his laptop, covering Liverpool with all the praises that he could think of. There was an undisguisable smile on his face, which he did not try to disguise either, as he anticipated this match to go towards the ending that he expected.

Maybe they were tired, the song “You’ll never walk alone” finally stopped. At this moment, there was another song that rang out from the stands. It was not very loud, but because it happened when the Liverpool fans are resting, it was very clear.

“With the game down to the last minute, do you think it’s over? There’s little time left as the referee looks at his watch and your heart goes, ‘Forget it, we still have the future’—”

“The cheering song gradually loses its voice, and some people begin to leave early. A bunch of beer cups are strewn about in the stands, and it’s a mess!—”

“The opposing players laugh at our final struggle, and the opposing fans celebrate their victory in advance!—”

“The Forest team’s number 11 steps forward and he said, ‘No! The game isn’t over yet! Don’t be too happy!’”

“Don’t—Be—Happy—Yet!!!”

A few thousand Nottingham Forest fans shouted this line together and they gave the Liverpool fans a scare.

Twain cocked his ears and listened for a while, then turned to look at Eastwood next to him.

Eastwood was obviously entranced, he looked up and opened his mouth in surprise. He did not expect to be able to hear this song again.

Wood heard the song too and he felt goosebumps, deeply affected by it.

“Do you think I’m happy to retire?!”, he felt like his collar was being held by Eastwood as Eastwood berated him and he found it a little hard to breathe. “I still want to continue playing!”

When George Wood was still in a trance because of this song, the other players of the Forest team were similarly being affected by the “Song of Eastwood”. The scene of Fred’s farewell in the City Ground was still unforgettable for them. Their best comrade had no choice but to leave them because of injury. With the match in such a situation, Fred, who was seated in the coach’s seat must be kicking himself for not being able to play himself! They clenched their fists and stared at Liverpool’s goal and they were itching to score.

“Press up!” shouted Akinfeev behind everyone, “Boss wants us to press up! Don’t make me the leading man!”

Gago entrusted the ball to Wood. Boss was right. No matter how the captain performed during the previous few matches, he had to trust his captain , he could only trust his captain.

After Wood received the ball, the one who came up to defend him was not Mascherano but Gerrard.

Wood feinted a pass to his teammate supporting him at the side, then kicked the ball forward suddenly— he was going to dribble through!

Gerrard put his body close to Wood to force him to slow down and signalled for Mascherano to come help. He realized that it was a little bit difficult to defend Wood, who was determined to attack, by himself…

With Gerrard on the left and Mascherano on the right, the two of them were like bodyguards, “escorting” Wood forward. Gerrard disturbed him from one side while Mascherano waited for a chance to tackle the ball from the other. Gerrard was not afraid that Wood would take a long shot. Once he was poised to shoot, that would be the perfect chance for them to intercept the ball. As long as he can stick close to Wood, the Forest team’s attack this time would not cause them any problems…

Aaron Mitchell and Ibišević ran towards the two flanks in support to pull the defenders away from the centre. Agger and Skrtel did not dare to leave them alone. Furthermore, they saw there was both Gerrard and Mascherano defending Wood and thought that even if they leave the centre open, there would not much threat to the goal guarded by Reina.

Wood still had no intentions of passing and continued dribbling forward. He continued tussling with Gerrard and Mascherano while running forward, preventing the ball from being stolen by them. He had the basics training that he did everyday for the past ten years to thank for his solid dribbling. Mascherano and Gerrard could not find any chance at all…

Then…Gerrard looked up and he was shocked!

The penalty area is just ahead! Since when were they so close to the penalty area?

A terrible thought flashed through Gerrard’s mind—he was tricked by Wood. He thought that Wood only knew long shots but he actually wanted to break into the penalty area to have an one-on-one with the goalkeeper this time!

His dribbling is good, it’s not easy to intercept the ball, he can only foul him now… At this position, it’ll be too late if he doesn’t foul him now!

Gerrard did not hesitate anymore and tackled Wood from diagonally behind him. At the same time, Mascherano gave Wood a strong push from the back. They obviously have the same thought—we have to foul him now!

Wood suddenly kicked the ball away and Gerrard did not manage to get the ball. However, that was okay as he was not going for the ball anyway.

He tackled Wood but he was not able to bring him down. The push from behind by Mascherano became a force that allowed Wood to move forward… He managed to dodge the fouls by the two of them and even though he was still unbalanced and his steps were unsteady, he did not fall and lose the control of the ball.

The referee had the whistle in his mouth but he did not blow for a foul by Gerrard or Mascherano, instead, he allowed the match to continue.

Right when Wood kicked the ball out, Reina was alert and moved. This might be the best opportunity to do so but Wood’s explosive power was too scary. Reina barely ran out from the goal and Wood only took two steps to catch up with the ball. Even though his steps were still unsteady, it did not stop him from shooting…

It was like a volley with all his might. When the ball flew past Reina, he did not even see the ball clearly. All he heard was a “whoosh” and then a “clang!”.

The ball hit the inside of the post and bounced into the goal! The goal was still vibrating…

Reina felt a chill all of a sudden—if this shot was to hit his face, would he go into a shock on the spot?

From less than ten meters away from goal, the ball was shot with the strength of a long shot and the goal happened in a flash. Reina might be the only one who could understand the power of this shot. He knelt on the ground, a little dazed, and he did not even turn back to look at the ball inside the goal.

The song “You’ll never walk alone ” which was ringing in the Anfield skies disappeared and only another voice continued to roar out:

“The game isn’t over yet, don’t be too happy! Don’t be happy yet—!!”