775 Twain’s Christmas Tree

Aaron Mitchell's promotion into the first team marked the official commencement of work on Žigić's transfer.

Allan picked a few clubs that had put in the highest bids for Žigić and accepted their offers.

Žigić had no special thoughts regarding his transfer. He was not one of those loyal subjects who would pledge his undying allegiance to Forest. If the other club was able to offer him an even better contract than the one he currently had, then he would certainly not reject their offer.

Additionally, he was well aware that the boss has no intention of keeping him at the club, given Mitchell's sudden promotion into the first team. It was pointless for him to stay.

The three clubs whose bids had been accepted by Allan Adams were the Premier League's Newcastle, Bundesliga's Hamburger SV, and La Liga's Villarreal CF. All three clubs had put in a bid of 10 million pounds. A bid of 10 million pounds was very attractive given the current circumstances. It was no wonder that Allan wanted to speak to Twain about it.

Negotiations for Žigić's transfer proceeded smoothly. Eventually, Žigić chose to go to La Liga's Villarreal CF, because the club offered him the best personal terms. In addition, they were also a team with the capability of fighting for a Champions League spot every season.

Three days later, both Nottingham Forest and Villarreal CF officially announced the completion of the transfer. Žigić has transferred to the 'Yellow Submarine' for a transfer fee of 10 million pounds.

Twain had initially bought Žigić for 10 million euros. Now that Žigić was sold for 10 million pounds, it meant that he was sold for 10.8 million euros. Given the current economic situation, being able to make a little bit of profit off a player was considered to be a good deal for the club. At the very least, it was proof that Twain was spot on with his judgment of players, because the club did not suffer a loss on the players that he had bought.

Žigić's number 9 shirt was left behind after his departure. Twain gave the shirt to Mitchell. When he passed the shirt to Mitchell, he kept a long face and told him sternly, "The number doesn't represent anything. The number 9 does not symbolize that you are a starting player in the team."

Mitchell had gotten used to the way that his boss spoke and acted. He nodded his head and replied, "I know that, boss. I will do my best."

Twain's mouth parted slightly at his response, and he passed it off as a smile.

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Žigić had not performed badly during his time at Nottingham Forest. In the two and half seasons that he played for Forest, he scored a total of 21 goals and provided 25 assists.

Sadly, the team went through its 'darkest times' during the two seasons where he was a player for Forest. They did not become the champions in any competition, and they also did not attain a single accolade. Žigić came and left empty-handed.

The Nottingham Forest fans did not regard Žigić as being on the same level as the other center forwards in their team, such as van Nistelrooy or Eastwood. Žigić left the team without giving them any memorable moments that others would still think about in years to come.

Not too long after Žigić's transfer had been finalized, John Bostock also accepted Fulham's loan offer. Twain added a clause in Bostock's contract, stated that he was not allowed to play in any games between Fulham and Nottingham Forest.

It was not rare for such a clause to appear in the contracts of players playing for La Liga. In contrast, such a clause was rarely included by Premier League clubs. It was quite shameless of Twain to include the clause, but he did not want Forest to be defeated at the hands of a player that they had groomed. The misfortune that happened at Real Madrid when they faced RCD Mallorca and Samuel Eto'o should never befall Nottingham Forest.

Ex-Real Madrid player Pablo Garcia once talked about the clause, and he called it a 'sh*t clause'. One could tell how much he despised the clause.

Twain did not care about the reputation surrounding the clause. Everything of use to him was good!

Fulham did not care about the inclusion of the clause either. They were already halfway through the season, and they would only face Forest once in the remaining games. It was not a big deal to be without Bostock for just one game.

However, Bostock was slightly upset about the inclusion of the clause, because he had hoped to get the chance to show off his skills to Twain during the match against Forest, which would then attract Twain's attention and help him earn a spot in the starting team in the following season.

That was the situation that Twain feared the most. He was afraid that the players he had loaned out to other clubs would play with a desire of proving their worth to their parent club, and they would then perform exceptionally well during the games against Forest and become the star player who defeated his team. That was why he needed to completely eliminate the possibility of such a situation happening before it was too late.

In the end, Bostock accepted the inclusion of the clause. What could he do even if he did not agree to its inclusion? The only two choices for him were to either accept it or to spend the remaining season on the bench.

There were certain times where Twain seemed like your closest friend, but most of the time, he seemed like a despicable demon.

Two players left Nottingham Forest during the winter transfer window, but the club did not bring in any new players. Twain believed that his current line-up was enough to deal with the remaining matches of the season.

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On 16th January, Nottingham Forest faced Everton in an away game. It was the game where Twain was going to unveil his new formation for the very first time.

Moyes had studied Forest's recent performances in their past few games. He figured that Twain would still insist on playing an attacking style football, but he never expected Twain to change his formation.

Twain might have changed the way his team played football from time to time, but all this while, there were certain things that Twain insisted on and never changed. One, he always placed a strong emphasis on defense. Two, he always made use of the flanks to attack. Three, he always employed two center forwards. Four, he always made use of a defensive midfielder.

4-2-3-1.

That was the formation that Forest was going to use during the match against Everton.

Joe Mattock, Pepe, Jonathan Woodgate, and Nicolas Nkoulou make up the back four. Such an arrangement was not surprising. What was surprising was the fact that Twain did not put a defensive midfielder in place!

George Wood would still be playing in the game. How could he possibly not play in a game when he was in good form, was not sick or injured and had not been banned from playing? It was just that there were some slight modifications to the position that he would be playing at.

Wood was not going to play as a defensive midfielder for the match. Both his and his partner Tiago's positions had been moved forward. They were no longer defensive midfielders but rather central midfielders.

The importance of such a shift shouldn't be underestimated. The responsibilities of a defensive midfielder differed from that of a central midfielder. A defensive midfielder primarily focused on defense, whereas a central midfielder typically acted as the bridge between the team's offense and defense. They were required to play a larger role during the team's attacking moves.

Forest's coaching staff had actually been working on developing George Wood's offensive abilities for a few seasons. However, due to the fact that he had always played as a defensive midfielder, only his defensive abilities had been tested thus far.

With this change in position, Wood would be able to unshackle himself and focus more on attacking. It signified a rare breakthrough for both Wood and Forest.

Wood and Tiago were in charge of organizing the team's offense in the midfield. In addition, they also had to take on the important task of defending. They were the busiest players in their entire team.

The three players playing in front of them were Chris Cohen, Matías Fernández and Gabriel Agbonlahor. Cohen and Agbonlahor were positioned on the left and right flanks, while Fernández was positioned in the middle. His central position would allow him to make good use of his long shots to either provide the final pass needed for his team's attacks or to score a goal.

Fernández was playing as a playmaker, but not as one who would organize the team's attacks. He was playing as a playmaker who would score goals.

Fernández's ability to score was one of the reasons why Twain chose to use him over Şahin. Şahin's ability to score goals paled in comparison to Fernández.

It was not surprising that Agbonlahor was playing on the right flank, because he had played in that position numerous times during his time at Aston Villa. It was also not his first time playing as a right-winger for Forest.

The center-forward positioned at the very front was Ibišević.

Additionally, Twain had also requested his two full-backs to actively participate in the team's offense, which was a complete change to the team's tactics. Twain rarely allowed his full-backs to go forward and join the attack. It was evident that Twain had really set his heart on playing an attacking style football at Everton's home ground.

The coaching staff might have gotten Wood to play as the central midfielder in training numerous times before, but it was his first time playing in that position in an actual match, which is why the Nottingham Forest's coaching staff were all nervously watching how the match played out. They wanted to see if Wood would be able to perform as he did during their training sessions.

Wood did not get used to his new position initially. He kept wanting to run back and play as a defensive midfielder. This forced Twain to chastise him loudly from the side of the pitch, and he made Wood return to his position as a central midfielder.

Retreating backward was permissible for central midfielders since their role also involved defense. However, it was not permissible to retreat backward and not move back up afterward.

Tiago took on the responsibility of organizing the team's offense while Wood struggled to get used to his new role. He used to play in this position in the past, so he did not take long to get used to it, and was able to get into the role straight away.

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It was obvious from the start of the match that it was the very first time that Forest had employed such a formation and tactic in an actual match because all the players were trying to get used to the new playing style…

Moyes could not comprehend why Twain would suddenly employ a set of tactics and formation that his players have clearly not gotten used to. However, he did not dwell on things he could not understand.

"Since Forest have yet to find their momentum for the match, I'm going to go ahead and take full advantage of this situation!" he thought to himself. Moyes instructed his team to start attacking Forest's goalpost ferociously.

Eventually, in the 17th minute of the match, their genius forward, James Vaughan, displayed his gifts right outside Forest's penalty box.

He initially wanted to make his way into the penalty box after receiving a pass from his teammate, but he faced Tiago's interception outside the penalty box. Tiago's tackle did not stop Vaughan completely. He wobbled a little but was able to regain his composure quickly. He then raised his feet and shot toward goal before Wood came over to tackle him. The ball flew over the tip of Akinfeev's fingers like an artillery shell and soared into the back of the net!

"A world-class strike!" the commentator roared excitedly. "When Wayne Rooney was still at Everton, he scored a nearly identical goal in the match against Arsenal! Everton's fans have all forgotten about Wayne Rooney with how Vaughan has been performing lately! He has already scored 11 goals for the team as Everton's first choice forward this season! The future ahead of him is very promising!"

The goal set the crowd at Goodison Park on fire. Everton's fans began doing Mexican waves in the stands to celebrate. They were like a sea that had just been hit by a storm.

Twain felt a little crestfallen.

This was the difference between a genius player and an ordinary player. An ordinary player would choose to give up when he had to deal with interceptions from both Tiago and Wood, whereas a genius player would grasp at the fleeting chance and send the ball into the net through a small gap between players…

The blame was definitely not on him as the manager…

Now that his team was trailing, should he revert back to the 4-4-2 formation that they are used to? It was not impossible to make the changes based on their current line-up. Agbonlahor could be moved into the center-forward position, and Cohen could take over on the right flank. However, Twain adamantly said, 'No!' to the idea.

He had to stick with the 4-2-3-1 formation. He firmly believed that it would be Everton's turn to be down in luck once his team got used to the new playing style!

The might of the 4-2-3-1 formation had already been shown during training. The problem right now was how to successfully display that same might during an actual match.

The key to solving the problem lay with George Wood. If he was not able to get into his new role, then it would affect the team's performance as a whole.

Twain believed that Wood's sense of football was not that terrible. After all, he was a player that Demetrio Albertini thought highly of. Albertini was a man whom people called the 'commander of the midfield'. He was known for having a keen grasp of football.

George Wood finally started getting used to playing in his new position after struggling for 20 minutes on the pitch. However, he had his own insights on how to play in his new position. He did not only anchor himself at the position of the central midfielder. He was more flexible, and the way he played was akin to how the traditional box-to-box midfielders used to play in England. His playing style allowed him to actively put in a good performance in both the team's offense and defense.

Players who adopted such a playing style had to cover a large area on the pitch, and it was very physically demanding. However, stamina was Wood's forte, so he did not need to worry about running out of energy in the later stages of the match due to his constant running back and forth throughout the match. It was a playing style that suited Wood nicely.

Twain smiled after seeing how Wood was playing his new role as the central midfielder. It was not what Twain had put in place for him, but Wood's way of doing things was actually much better.

Let him find a way to play that suits him the most. Maybe he would play in a way that exceeds all our expectations.

Wood began his performance of sprinting back and forth from one penalty box to the other. He stopped Everton's attacks. He organized Forest's offense. He kept appearing at every single place where he was needed. He was so full of energy that it made him seem like a superman.

"George Wood tackles Vaughan and takes the ball! Did he foul him? No, it was a clean tackle!"

"George Wood's through ball! Brilliant! It went past all the Everton defenders! But sadly there's no one who could receive it. He kicked it too hard…"

"He tries to do a long shot! But the ball goes over the bar!"

"Ohhhhh! George Wood! He has stopped Everton's counterattack once again!"

Nottingham Forest's two central midfielders made up the core of their new formation. George Wood was the key player between the two central midfielders, and his performance was pivotal to the team's success. If Wood performed well, then the whole team performed well.

In the 40th minute of the first half, Wood intercepted Tim Cahill's ball and then passed it over to Tiago. Tiago subsequently passed the ball over to Cohen, who was positioned at the right flank.

Cohen passed the ball into the middle. Everton's goalkeeper, Tim Howard, made an error of judgment when he came out to try and keep the ball away. He failed to touch the ball and allowed it to fly over his head!

How could Ibišević possibly miss out on such a good chance? He broke free of Joseph Yobo who was marking him and jumped up. He then headed the ball into the net!

This was the advantage of playing two central midfielders. The team was able to snatch the ball from their opponents and go on the counterattack instantly. There was no delay when they made the switch, and it also didn't give their opponents a chance to snatch the ball back in the midfield.

※※※

During half time, Twain acknowledged his players' performance in the latter part of the first half. He told them to keep playing in the same way in the second half. Everton were incapable of stopping Forest when they went on an all-out attack.

It was just as Twain had said.

In the second half, Everton put up a resistance for a short period of time, but Nottingham Forest were able to seize complete control of the game thereafter.

Playing five midfielders was not just for show. It was a tactic that allowed Forest to control the midfield and stop the opponents' attacks in the midfield. In addition, it also allowed the team to pressure the opponent's defense and gain the upper hand in the game. Once the team gained the upper hand, they could turn this advantage into a victory.

Twain had deliberately chosen Everton to be the club that he tried his new tactics and formation on. He was afraid that something would go wrong if he tried them against a strong opponent, and there was also no point in trying them out on weak teams.

Therefore, Everton, being a mid-table team who had been performing consistently, and who also had the ability to fight for the qualifying spots to get into the Champions League, were the best team for Twain to try his new formation out on.

Poor Moyes…

In the 80th minute of the match, Nottingham Forest's domination of the game finally paid off.

What happened this time around was that Matías Fernández first created space by running off the ball. Tiago then passed the ball directly into the empty space and Ibišević was onside to score his 14th goal of the season in the Premier League. He had now scored a total of 16 goals in all competitions.

Ibišević only had to score four more goals in order for Twain to win his bet with Carl Spicer. The way Ibišević was playing at the moment, scoring four goals was not a problem at all.

Ultimately, Nottingham Forest defeated Everton with the two goals from Ibišević. However, the real reason why the team was able to beat Everton was because of Twain's 'Christmas Tree'.

As everyone knew, AC Milan's 4-3-2-1 formation was known as the 'Christmas Tree Formation'. Similarly, Twain's 4-2-3-1 formation also looked like a Christmas Tree, which was why Twain referred to his formation as his own 'Christmas Tree'. It was 'unique' and 'the one and only tree in the whole world'. To Twain, other 4-2-3-1 formations could not be called a Christmas Tree formation. Only his 4-2-3-1 was a Christmas Tree.'

The statistics for the match highlighted the reason why Everton lost. Nottingham Forest had 59% possession. Their pass accuracy was 79%, and their rate of successful interceptions was 89%. They made a total of 14 shots in the game and 10 of them were on target. In comparison, Everton only made six shots in the game, and only three were on target. They were clearly inferior throughout the game.

During the post-match press conference, Moyes grudgingly admitted that his team was inferior. "They completely controlled the flow of the match. They deserved to win…"

On the other hand, Twain was very proud of the result. "I am very happy to see such a performance. We won convincingly."

A reporter asked him for the reason behind why he had chosen to give up on using the 4-4-2 formation that he had always relied on for the past few seasons.

Twain threw out his hands. "Why? Does the 2:1 score and 3 points not answer your question?"

"But hasn't your style of football always been to defend and counterattack, as well as to employ a 4-4-2 formation?"

"That's what you think. My style of football has always been the same. It comes in the form of victory and becoming champions. Everything else is nothing more than the means that I use to achieve them. As long as we can win and become the champions, I don't care if we do it by defending and counterattacking, or by going all out in either attack or defense. I also don't care if it's a 4-4-2 or a 4-2-3-1 formation."

Twain smiled as he threw out his well-known phrase. "I will do anything to win and to become the champions."