The Young Lion

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After eating at noon, Aldridge took a short rest, and then went to the hotel where the team stayed during training in the afternoon. He changed into swimming trunks and kept fit by swimming.

He was the only one in the huge indoor swimming pool, swimming back and forth in the lanes at a constant speed.

At some point, wearing swimming goggles, he saw someone standing by the pool. Aldrich saw Najib from a distance, and couldn't see the other person's expression clearly. He knew that the other party must have something to ask for him, but he Still shouted: Wait a minute, there are two laps.

After swimming two laps back, Aldrich left the swimming pool and walked up to Najib for a closer look. He was startled. Najib's eyes were bloodshot and he looked worried.

What's wrong?

I have something very important to talk to you about!

About the players?

No, it's the team, it's the future of Millwall!

Aldridge's face became serious instantly. Najib, an academic, has a personality that determines that he will not joke, and his words are always well-balanced, neither exaggerated nor conservative.

After a brief wash and change of clothes, Aldrich, led by Najib, went to the meeting room in the hotel, where they usually hold meetings with their coaches.

Aldridge sat down and said, Go ahead.

Najib first went to turn on the large TV in the conference room, put an edited video tape into the video recorder and started playing it.

He turned around and said, Look first.

Aldridge sat upright, staring at the TV, and found that the picture was the League Cup final, some clips of Millwall playing Aston Villa.

There are many angles in the video, and the combined clips played on the screen are all Millwall players attacking, Aston Villa players defending, and offensive players and defensive players one-on-one.

Larsson, Trezeguet, Pires, Schneider, Nedved, most of them are in the camera.

After reading it, Aldrich spread his hands and expressed that he did not understand Najib's intention.

Najib played back the video again, and then pressed the remote control to freeze the frame. He pointed to Larson who was holding the ball in the screen, and said, Henrik holds the ball in this position. How many options does he have?

Aldrich looked shocked, looked solemnly, and his mind began to run rapidly. He said in a deep voice: There is not much room for passing the ball. Breaking through is the best choice, because the benefits are higher.

In the screen, Larson is facing Taylor's defense. He has room to break through, and at that moment, the trailing central defender Simeka did not approach. A good kicking opportunity, and this is what Millwall is after, a direct scoring opportunity!

Nagy continued to play the video, which showed Larsson opting for a pass, which, despite not conceding the ball, gave Aston Villa more time to get into shape.

In the next frame, Trezeguet was holding the ball with his back, and Nagy pressed the pause button again, asking: What should he do?

Aldridge observed that his teammates were stared to death, and the players who inserted behind were not in place. Trezeguet had to pass back or rely on himself, and because Exiogu did not post it, Trezeguet had room to turn around.

Turning around and shooting directly is the best option, Aldridge said.

Najib played the latter clip,

Trezeguet took the ball and turned around to try to make a frontal breakthrough, but the ball was intercepted.

Najib said in a deep voice: David made the right choice, but he didn't do his best. He only needs to take a step with the ball laterally, adjust the shooting action and the shooting space in one step, and he can shoot directly instead of taking the ball with him. The ball continues to break forward. It's clear from the camera angles that there is space around him for him to make his best moves.

Najib continued to play the other clips that followed. Although the action figures were different, the issues Najib wanted to address were the same.

The players' thinking on how to handle the ball is generally okay, but the details of how to handle the ball are not top-notch.

After turning off the TV, Aldridge said solemnly, Najib, let's get to the point.

Najib won the championship yesterday, instead of going to celebrate, he returned to the club and asked the staff to send the video of each scene to his office. He immersed himself in the research all night and has not closed his eyes until now.

He sat down and stared into Aldridge's eyes, and said in a deep voice: Aldridge, yesterday's victory was not determined by how well the players played, but by your tactics. Millwall won the Premier League this season. The outstanding performance is not due to the top players, but three reasons, first, team harmony, second, tactics, and third, physical fitness.

Aldridge asked rhetorically: Being able to cooperate with teammates tacitly and implement the tactics arranged by the coach, coupled with the physical advantage of serious training and strengthening, doesn't this prove the excellence of the players?

Najib slapped the table a little excitedly, and said loudly: No! If this continues, Millwall's integrity will indeed be strong, but there will be great limitations, because these players are just the product of Millwall's team tactics , They can only adapt to this kind of football, and they will not be particularly outstanding. In other words, they are good players, but they will never become top stars! When our opponents adapt to our tactics and our physical fitness no longer has the advantage, then , we will be overtaken by the opponent immediately, we need to strengthen the rational use of players' talents, let them turn their talents into strength, let players make the most correct decision in handling the ball in an instant, and have the ability to do it most!

Aldridge was astonished when he heard the words, and Najib said sadly: Did Larson score fewer goals than Shearer? No, but what is the source of most of Larson's goals? It comes from the overall cooperation of the team, and Shearer What about the goals? There are many because he can send the ball into the goal in the most reasonable way when there is no absolute chance.

Aldrich was a little confused, and asked: Doesn't this make us stronger? We don't emphasize the individual, but the whole.

You're wrong, Aldridge! It's not an individual versus team debate. Rather, if you give you a Shearer, give you a Shearer who's integrated into Millwall team football, he'll do better than Larsson Or bad?

Najib's voice became louder and louder. Aldrich usually didn't like this, but today, his mind was clear.

Yes, give him a Shearer who can score goals whether he has an absolute chance, so how many goals can Shearer score?

Although this is an impossible fantasy, intellectually, Aldridge favors Shearer's undisputed victory over Larson.

This is not a judgment of ability, but a hypothetical substitution of subjective impressions.

Because there is a feeling in my heart, Hiller is more threatening.

What went wrong?

Aldrich took out a cigarette and lit one, took a few puffs and said softly: Naji, no matter what you want to say, calm down first, and then we will have a good talk. I will listen to whatever you want to say. You first Tell me what you find to be the nature of the problem.

Najib sighed, lit a cigarette, and said with a sad face, It's the Brazilian boy you sent.

Ronaldinho? What happened to him?

He's so talented, I can't teach him.

What do you mean? He doesn't listen to you?

Aldridge frowned. From a coach's point of view, players who disobey discipline are always rejected in their hearts, no matter how famous the player is, let alone Ronaldinho, who is not yet an adult.

Najib waved his hand and said: No, it's not his reason. It's me. It's the problem of the youth training coach. We instilled in him the concept of team thinking and overall football. He is learning and performing very well. However, he can To do more, you know, he has an incredible thinking and technique, but the problem is, when he starts to pass on the court, we don't have a coach who can tell him how to pass, in different environments. The choice of the angle of the person, and what kind of footwork skills to serve the team after the most reasonable passing action. This does not conflict with our tactical philosophy. Players do not have to only pass the ball and run. Technical requirements that are not going away.”

Aldrich rubbed his temples to make himself understand what Najib was saying.

Aldridge, assuming that the player takes the ball in the offense, there are three choices: shooting, passing, and passing. When not in the shooting area, naturally the latter two are left, and our tactics emphasize the whole, with teammates running. And when there is a reasonable passing route, the player's choice should be to pass the ball. However, when the player has no space to pass the ball and cannot shoot, then he can only make a breakthrough. Millwall is playing smoothly in the league now. Because of our advanced tactics, full-backs and midfielders take turns to insert assists, we can always penetrate the opponent with a short-term numerical advantage in some areas, but when the opponents catch up with us and we do not have an advantage in some areas, When our players want to use their skills to change the situation of the game, will they still do it? Do they still have this ability? We won the game yesterday, but it also exposed our biggest problem, individual one-on-one, which one? Do the players have the absolute upper hand? Larsson relies on speed to dribble the ball in the counterattack, and Nedved also relies on speed to break through. The only players who barely have the upper hand are Pires and Schneider.

Najib's words made Aldrich's face a little ugly.

Perhaps, the person who should need a basin of cold water is himself.

He recalled yesterday's game. Indeed, in the case of equal numbers, no player in Millwall could stand up and change the situation through his personal ability. It was he who broke the deadlock by storming the middle to create a numerical advantage.

After all, Aston Villa is not a top team. The two full-backs in the back line were at a loss after being left alone, but if they were replaced by other top teams, they might be able to adapt easily.

Aldridge looked up at Najib and asked, Why did you realize this problem today after you have been here for so many months?

Najib smiled bitterly and said: When I took over the youth team, the players in the team were like that. The arrival of Ronaldinho surprised me for a while, probably because his talent is so outstanding, so I let him know. I suddenly realized this problem, and, as you know, I used to work in the national team, and the focus of my work was not to teach players skills. I checked the training videos of several players in the first team, and after comparing them, I found that one would say that you would Unhappy fact.

Aldridge nodded in understanding. The coach of the national team is not responsible for cultivating players, but for adjusting the status of the players and bringing the existing players together. The focus of work and the club are two concepts.

Let's say, if there are hidden dangers in the team's construction, I will be very happy if you propose to help me correct them. I will not be happy if the problems are fully exposed in the future.

Take Glenshire as an example. For more than a year, his physical indicators have improved, his team awareness has increased, and his passing and running positions have become more and more mature. However, his foot skills have hardly improved. Especially the passing technique. A year ago, he could only smash the ball inside his foot to accelerate passing people. A year later, he still only knows this trick. Fortunately, he is still young. If he is now twenty-four or five years old, then he will Get eliminated, or stay at Millwall to play a specific position as a substitute player, and the limitations are very large. Aldridge, skills are all practiced, not born, our players in the team can pass a kick For strikes, Pirlo is not only good at short passes, but also long passes are becoming more and more accurate. This is all practiced. However, in our training program, there is no targeted training for passing people. It sounds like a fantasy, yes. , other clubs will not spend time every week to arrange dribbling training sessions, dribbling skills seem to be the patent of dexterous players, but dribbling skills are an important part of connecting the ball, dribbling, and shooting!