In the VIP box of the Millennium Stadium, a blonde beauty dressed up in the fashion couldn't help but yawn, and changed her sitting posture with some interest. She's not a very professional fan, she's not even a fan, and she believes that the more important the game, the more exciting it should be. But this English League Cup final lasted ten minutes, but the scene was dull and disappointed her, this game was very boring in the eyes of the beauty.

It's not just the beauty who feels bored, but also the fans in the stands and in front of the TV.

This is the final of an important cup competition, and conservative and dull is the main theme. Martin, who was in charge of the commentary. Taylor and Andy. Gray knew this, but he didn't complain in the commentary. Gray, however, questioned the Forest's defensive style of play as soon as they came up - how long will Donn's team be able to hold on to it from the first minute of the game? Forty-five minutes? Ninety minutes? Still is...... One hundred and twenty minutes?

"Macaroni (massimo_marone) tries a long shot! It bounced off the bottom line on the Forest player and it was a corner. The Italian looked excited after the start of the game, and in just eleven minutes, he had already had two shots on goal! ”

Middlesbrough fielded a strong attacking line-up for this game, and it is clear that it is not McClaren who thinks the key game should be conservative, or that McClaren did not choose to be conservative against Nottingham Forest.

In fact, since Robson took charge of this team, Middlesbrough's tradition has been attacking football with technical flow. They have the title of "giant killer" in the Premier League, and they have a lot of experience in playing strong teams. But playing teams that are good at pressing and have great players is a bit overwhelming.

Attacking and defending are their biggest characteristic, McClaren didn't know what Donn was going to do, but he decided to launch a fierce attack at the beginning of the game, hoping to use the momentum to establish a lead first, and the rest of the game will be easier for the more technical Middlesbrough. Contrary to Donn's pre-match plan, he doesn't plan to strengthen his defense during the game, but instead maximizes his attacking advantage. Blasting open the door to Nottingham Forest with a succession of goals and breaking the fighting spirit of this first-division team.

Therefore, in this game, he fielded the strongest attacking lineup he could put out. The forward line is led by Italian striker Massimo. Macaroni and Cameroonian Joseph. Jobi (joseph_job), the former with accurate shots and the latter with excellent dribbling.

The midfield four, from left to right, is Middlesbrough's hopeful, 19-year-old talent. Downing (stewart_downing), only 1.65 meters tall, but the Brazilian midfielder Juninho (Juninho), who is excellent in technique, and the Dutch midfielder George, who is fierce in defense and fast and not afraid of physical collisions. Boyeng (ge_boateng) and Spanish striker Mendieta (gaizka_mendieta), on loan from Lazio.

There are few changes to the arrangement on the back line, and there is not much room for McClaren to choose from.

Left wing-back, Frenchman Frank. Queedru (franck_queudrue) is a dangerous player for Donne, who can be comfortable both defensively and offensively. Although he is only 1.83 meters tall, he has excellent header skills and free kick shooting skills. He has been one of the best left-backs in the Premier League in the last two seasons. At right-back, England international Danny, who is on loan from Leeds United, is on loan. Mills (danny_mills), the two centre-backs are 31-year-old veteran Ugo. Essiogu (ugo_ehiogu) and twenty-three-year-old Chris. Riggott (chris_riggott).

The goalkeeper is Australian international Mark Mark. Schwartz (mark_schwarzer).

Such a lineup, in addition to the big Juninho, is basically the main lineup of Middlesbrough in the Premier League. Of the four midfielders, only one of them is defensive, while the other three are all attacking and defending. McLaren's intentions are obvious - attack!

Defence has never been a familiar style of play for Middlesbrough, who like to play beautiful cross-cutting and fluid attacking football.

And today...... They don't yet know that their proudest attack is about to hit the wall.

Juninho drove a corner, but Queedru, who was heavily watched by the Forest players, failed to get the ball on the ball, and Middlesbrough's attack ended in nothing.

Soon, the Middlesbrough team wearing the yellow away shirt came again, because the Forest team basically did not have any counter-attacking power in front, only one Crouch, the goalkeeper drove past him, even if he could fight for the first point with his height advantage, the second drop point could only be given to the opponent.

Although the formation reported by the Forest team before the game was 442, in fact, there was only one Crouch at the front. In the past, Donn would have arranged for Eastwood to hover around the tall guy in search of a second spot, but today he didn't ask for that, and instead asked the Gypsies to pull back to defend.

Nottingham Forest have all but given up on attacking, in order to build a high wall in front of their own goal and completely block all Middlesbrough attacks.

Italy has a tradition of "chain defense", which refers to the team's overall attention to co-defense, one link after another. And the defensive system that Donn spent more than a week building for the Forest team before this game is what he calls the "wall defense". It is an all-round reinforced concrete defense system.

The back line will never press up, never create offsides, and the three lines will maintain close distances and complete formations. Within the 30-meter area of their own goal, a small situation of more play and less is formed, requiring all teams to cooperate in defense and compress the opponent's offensive space. You can use your possession to make lateral moves outside my defence, but my players aren't going to be impatient just because you're passing from right to left and left to right. No! No matter how you pass sideways, as long as you don't pass through, then I'll watch you play with the ball from behind the defensive line, even if you have 80 percent of the ball in the final game.

But if you're going to change the direction of attack from horizontal to vertical, you want to pass through my defensive area...... Then I'm sorry I can't let you get what you want. Fierce tackles, two or three people encircled, impermeable forbidden areas...... This is the situation you will face.

The Forest's defensive range is like a muddy swamp, there is no problem not to set foot on it, and once you enter, it will make your attack difficult to move an inch!

In most people's minds, defending seems to be just the job of the back line and defensive midfielders, with forwards and midfielders who can stand in front of their team while they are defending and wait for opportunities to counter-attack. This kind of defense is like a plywood, which looks like it can shelter from the wind and rain, but in fact, with a little force, it can be broken with a single stab. Why? Because it does not have enough strategic depth, a subtle direct pass is enough to tear through this paper tiger-like defense.

But that's not the case with Donn's defensive philosophy.

What is a "wall"?

A wall of height, length, and thickness, made of boulders, which cannot be easily overcome.

Height - George. Wood is 1.86 meters tall, has excellent jumping, and is not weak in heading. Robert. Hut, who is 1.90 meters tall, has a height and is good at heading. Wes. Mogan, 1.88 meters tall, has excellent air defense capabilities.

There is a length - from the left side of the pitch to the right side of the pitch, which is the control of Donn's overall defense, and the two wing-backs who started are Chris. Cummons and Ashley. Young's role in this game was not to give Crouch a header pass, but to act as a full-back.

There is a thickness - can a centimeter thick plank be called a wall? Nottingham Forest's mobile wall is a defensive zone from forward to back. From the moment Crouch and Eastwood faced Middlesbrough's attack, Forest's defensive system was in action.

This is a real wall two and a half meters high, sixty meters long, and thirty meters wide!

Middlesbrough's offensive weakened after fifteen minutes, not because they didn't want to attack, but because they used twice as much energy as usual in their defensive confrontation with Forest.

Donn asked the team to dare to kick in defense, to be fast, to move fiercely, close to the small action can not stop, even if you can't tackle the opponent's ball, you have to do enough action, because that will affect the opponent's every catch and pass, over time, when their active mistakes in the attack begin to increase, the Forest team's defensive purpose will be achieved.

Donn firmly believes that no matter how technical Middlesbrough is, their players' individual skills and team-wide coordination cannot compare to a team of Real Madrid's level, and Real Madrid is at a loss in the face of teams that are crazy to press and shrink defensively, let alone Middlesbrough in the middle of the Premier League.

This kind of defense makes it difficult for Middlesbrough to play. Both their head coach Steve. McClaren and the players themselves, they did think before the game that the weaker Nottingham Forest might adopt a defensive strategy to play against Premier League side Middlesbrough, but none of them expected the Forest to defend so thoroughly and so ...... Crazy.

Juninho is a player with excellent skills at his feet, but he has been to Middlesbrough three times before and after, except for the first impressive performance, but unfortunately Middlesbrough ended up relegated. The next two times he returned to this team, his form was not as good as before, especially after he was kicked and broke his leg, and his performance was even worse.

McClaren brought him on the pitch with the intention of using his individual skills to cause problems for the Forest backline. He watched two semi-finals between Forest and Bolton, especially the first. He believes Bolton manager Sam Allardyce's biggest mistake was not making the most of Okocha's individual technical ability. George. Wood was very active in that game, but McClaren felt he lacked the experience to deal with changes on the fly, and if Allardyce gave Okocha plenty of freedom from the start to mess with Forest's defence, then Bolton would have completely crushed the newcomer Wood's debut.

(To be continued)