The Young Lion

Although Wenger suffered a 0:4 home defeat in the league, but from the overall strategy, Wenger's planning at this stage was successful.

Even if the rest of the league wins, it is impossible for them to win the championship. Unless they lose all the games and all their competitors win the games, Arsenal will drop from the standings to fourth place. They have already won the Champions League seat.

So excluding confrontational emotions, Arsenal's overall focus has shifted to the FA Cup, and defeated their opponents in the semi-finals to advance to the final first.

Millwall's match against Manchester United takes place a day later.

The game is played on a neutral ground, at Middlesbrough's home ground: the Riverside Stadium.

Before the arrival of this game, Millwall's momentum was rapid, just as the Fleet Street campaign promoted: The Wild Lions have a chance to create a triple crown again!

The league is the leader, and both the Champions League and the FA Cup have reached the semi-finals.

If they can win the remaining games in one go, there is no doubt that they will become the treble winners.

Aldridge was not dazzled by the temptation. When he came to the Riverside Stadium, Millwall sent a substitute lineup. Among them, Southgate, who had been injured for most of the season, made his first start in the game as a substitute at the end of the season.

Ferguson led the Red Devils to the Riverside Stadium, he was more quiet than at the beginning of the season.

Manchester United's change of blood in the new season is not particularly successful, at least not as strong as Arsenal seem.

The status of the league is erratic, and the Champions League has also been eliminated. The only remaining championship that may win the championship is the FA Cup.

The Red Devils' efforts throughout the season will all be concentrated in the FA Cup.

The 2004-2005 FA Cup semi-final is about to start. In the semi-final yesterday. Arsenal won the game and advanced to the final first. They are now waiting for the opponent in the final. Manchester United or Millwall? Wenger after the game He said that he is not afraid of any opponent, but many people think that Wenger lacked confidence when he said this. Whether it is Millwall or Manchester United, the FA Cup final will definitely be a duel between the giants. Today, the formation of troops from both sides From the point of view, Manchester United, which was originally not optimistic by the outside world, has a card advantage. They have dispatched all the main players who can play, but Millwall has put many main players on the bench. Millwall must reserve strength for the Premier League and the Champions League. , there is less than a month left, the season is coming to an end, and May is coming. In terms of importance, the FA Cup is the trophy with the lowest weight for Millwall. They have a tradition and are confident to play with a substitute lineup Compete for final tickets.

Manchester United starting 4231.

Goalkeeper: Carroll.

Defenders: Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Sylvester. Heinze.

Midfielders: Joaquin, Keane. Scholes, Rooney, Giggs.

Forward: Van Nistelrooy.

Millwall started 433.

Goalkeeper: Bout.

Defenders: Ramos, Neil, Southgate, Baynes.

Midfield: Pedretti, Moutinho, Lamour.

Forwards: Larsson, Villa, Glenshire.

If other wealthy coaches dispatched a starting lineup like Millwall in a game of this level, they would definitely be scolded by the fans, but no one would criticize Aldridge for doing so, perhaps, because he won There are too many, too many, some practices that seem unbelievable to others, but when they finally succeed, they are commented as inscrutable and scheming.

It is not that Millwall has never used a substitute lineup to overwhelm a strong opponent in the cup. The good show of defeating Arsenal and Manchester United is still vivid in my memory. Many Lions fans are optimistic that they will relive their old dreams today.

Ferguson was sullen, lost to Aldridge in the league, and his performance in the Champions League has declined intuitively since reaching the final three years ago.

Today, in the FA Cup semi-final, Millwall dispatched a substitute lineup contemptuously. From an objective standpoint, he can understand Aldridge's approach.

The level of the Premier League championship has reached an extreme level.

According to Chelsea's current points, it is higher than the league leader Arsenal in the same period last year!

However, Chelsea are still behind to Millwall.

There is no room for loss in the league, the slightest carelessness and credulity, wishful thinking to stimulate the team mentally, but it is difficult to reverse the fatigue of the team, and Millwall also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League at the same time, and will go to Turin to challenge Juventus a week later Tucci, under such circumstances, it is reasonable for Aldridge to put on a substitute and let the main players rest.

But this kind of reasonable put Ferguson and Manchester United in a very embarrassing situation. It can be said that they were forced to the edge of a cliff before the game started.

If Manchester United lost to such a Millwall team, where is the dignity of Ferguson and the Red Devils?

It would be discreditable.

Because of this, Ferguson's face was a little gloomy, and it was a lie in his heart to say that he was not nervous. If he was really eliminated by Millwall's substitute lineup, what face would he have to return to Manchester?

Aldridge did not think as much as Ferguson thought. In terms of strength on paper, Millwall's substitute lineup must be weaker than Manchester United, and the gap is obvious, especially in the midfield, which is likely to be suppressed.

There is a gap in the lineup, which is inevitable. In any game, there will always be a gap between the strong and the weak. Millwall has half a team of world-class players, but world-class players do not mean they are iron men. Playing at a world-class level is not realistic at all!

Standing on the sidelines with his head held high, Aldridge's positioning for this game is very simple.

If we talk about counter-defense, Manchester United must have guessed it, at least after seeing Millwall's starting lineup, they are roughly prepared.

After all, it is too difficult for the midfielder to not lose against Manchester United.

Back then, using the substitute lineup to defeat Manchester United and Arsenal was to use defense.

The applicability of counterattack is very wide, and it is also an effective means to use tactics to make up for a certain gap between the weak side and the strong side.

Then, if the opponent can guess and be prepared, the effect of fighting like this may not be very good, after all, the opponent is guarding against your move.

Therefore, Aldridge will face Manchester United on the wing today.

The defense maintains the most basic 5 people, double guards, double defensive midfielders, and Lamore, who starts in the midfielder and actually hits the midfielder.

Moutinho and Lamour are the ones who play the ball in the middle. If only one person is used, the possibility of being marked to death and being restricted is extremely high.

Walking on the wing, dual forwards, dual defenders transforming into forwards, plus a center forward, this is the five-man team that is put into the offense.

The defense is based on wingers, and the wingbacks who change forwards are the surprise backhands.

This can be regarded as targeted. Ferguson began to withdraw Scholes's position and play a role in sorting out the midfield. Coles has had relatively good results.

Manchester United's wing attack is a tradition. It has been persisting in the past, present, and future. The key point is that both wings fly together. Even if the full-backs do not assist, in the midfield, the most open area is still on the wing. Millwall wants to attack. Take advantage of this.

When the game was about to start, Ferguson also left his seat and went to the sidelines to supervise the battle.

The stern-looking Ferguson knew that this was a game that could not be lost.

It's not even a matter of qualifying for the FA Cup final.

It's purely competitive.

If Manchester United's main force loses to Millwall's substitute, it may be a fatal blow to Manchester United's confidence in this period. It will become a nightmare or a demon.

The game started, the rhythm of the game was a little slow in the first five minutes, both sides were entering the game state, Manchester United lost to Chelsea in the last league game, it can be regarded as saving energy for this game, but since it is a loss, today is another cup game There is nothing wrong with deciding the outcome, being more cautious, and being more cautious.

In terms of the rhythm of the game, Millwall was led by the nose by the opponent. After watching for a while, Aldridge made a gesture to let the team actively accelerate and use the impact of the wing to change the rhythm of the game.

If you don't destroy Manchester United's control of the rhythm of the game, then Millwall may not have any chance, because by the time you react to destroy the rhythm, the score may already be behind, and it has accumulated an irreversible disadvantage.

In the 9th minute, Ramos passed the ball to Lamore in the middle from the backcourt. When Scholes came to press, Lamore knocked the ball back to Moutinho, who passed it diagonally to the side. , Baines crossed the midfield line, and after touching the ball, he played with Glenshire on the wing to cooperate with the bottom.

Baynes did not dare to confront Neville head-on, for fear of losing the ball, so he quickly passed the ball.

Villa, who outflanked the center, jumped up high and wanted to head the ball, but because the ball was passed a bit high, Villa jumped to the limit height but could only feel the ball flying past his head.

Just when Villa was regretting, he heard another bang, someone headed the ball.

Is it a rescue?

No, it's an attack.

Larsson cuts hard into the box to head in front of Sylvester.

Unfortunately, the ball was slightly off the top.

Millwall took the lead in sounding the horn of attack, and Larsson, who was quick in movement, almost scored with a header!

Watching from the sidelines, Ferguson suddenly felt his heart tighten.

Millwall is not here to fight back!

It cannot be said how aggressive Millwall's offense is. Anyway, when attacking, there will be 6 players in the halftime.

Ferguson was afraid. If Millwall scored first, the trend of the game would completely change.

For this game, Manchester United actually wanted to play fast. Not playing fast at the beginning and slowing down the pace is a means of paralyzing the enemy, creating false appearances, and then suddenly exerting force to beat the opponent by surprise.

Although Aldridge also made targeted arrangements for the game, subject to the level of players, when Manchester United premeditatedly showed weakness before exerting strength, Millwall's defense exposed the problem of young players responding to the sudden increase in rhythm and slow response. Tinho's protection of the penalty area was not timely enough.

At the same time, the veteran Southgate made a mistake on the court that made the Lions fans feel very uncomfortable. (To be continued..)

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