The Young Lion

The immaturity of the team is often reflected in two aspects. One is the immaturity of the tactical system, that is, the team's offense and defense are disorganized, and the other is the team's mentality, which is not stable and calm enough in big scenes or key games.

Millwall had both today.

It was the immaturity of the mentality that caused the collapse of the tactical system.

The team practiced pass and run teamwork, paying attention to one kick, simple and fast.

But while playing the ball with one kick, while pursuing a fast pace, it must also be within the tolerance of the players.

For example, if the pass is too big, the players cannot catch up, if the pass is too early, the players are not in place, all of which are closely related to the maturity of a team.

The Millwall players want to swallow their opponents in one bite, so they want to destroy Leeds United in a devastating way, passing the ball faster and faster, needing to think when taking the ball, but subconsciously pass it When the ball pursues speed, often the thinking cannot keep up with this rhythm, and the ball passed is not satisfactory.

Because of this, in the first half it seemed that Millwall was attacking wildly, but the offense was actually played in a mess, which made Aldridge feel like his heart was bleeding.

There is nothing wrong with pursuing speed, but there is a saying that goes half a step ahead is a genius, and one step ahead is a madman.

As long as Millwall controls the rhythm in an appropriate high-speed state, they can control it themselves, but Leeds United can't keep up, half a step away, Millwall's advantages will gradually be manifested, but it is meaningless to pursue more Faster and faster, but self-destructing the Great Wall.

This is not a matter of technical ability, but of mentality.

Aldridge did not criticize the team, but still encouraged them.

After the start of the second half, Millwall seemed to have returned to the state it had been in before a few league rounds.

Offensive and defensive balance, the players will not deliberately pursue a fast pace, but change the rhythm appropriately, from fast to slow.

Just when the team's performance is getting better and better. Bad things happened, and that was what Aldrich was most worried about.

After receiving the ball, Pires suddenly speeded up and kicked the ball out of the sideline halfway through his breakthrough. He touched the back of his thigh and walked slowly towards the sideline.

Obviously. He strained.

It is easy to strain when doing explosive starts in a state of extreme fatigue.

Aldridge asked Shevchenko to warm up, and then comforted Pires who was off. He was able to walk down by himself, at least it meant that he was not seriously strained, otherwise he would have just lay on the ground.

He called Thuram and Schneider over again and asked them to clarify their responsibilities in the offense on the field.

Originally, Schneider should have an internal offensive function, but he did not perform well in dense defense. Aldridge made him only responsible for the cross and series effect in the offense. And Thuram assists up and down, instead cruising in front of the penalty area, looking for long-range opportunities.

This is an impossible solution, and it is not Aldrich's ideal tactical implementation plan. Because Schneider is already on the front line, if he just passes the ball when he is always marked, there is no surprise effect at all.

Shevchenko doesn't need to remind him too much when he is on the court, although in training he always plays right winger, and his duty is to support and advance into the penalty area to become a scorer. Letting him play on the left is also a last resort choice, but the reason is the same. After Zambrotta assists, Shevchenko still has to insert into the penalty area to pose a threat of scoring.

After the substitution, Shevchenko came on and immediately created a chance. Compared with Pires, he is better at cutting inside with the ball, and his running inside cut made Leeds United's defense not even expect it.

Schneider's cross came to the back of the goal, and Shevchenko grabbed a point at the back post and bounced the ball off the crossbar.

There was a huge sigh at the Lion's Den Stadium, followed by warm applause.

The young Shevchenko touched his face, feeling guilty as if he had let someone down, but he saw that none of his teammates showed him a look of blame, so he took a deep breath, and then ran back to prepare to participate defense.

Time passed by every minute and every second. The news of the match between Newcastle United and Manchester United has come. Both teams are leading their respective opponents. Manchester United has already led Nottingham Forest by four goals. There is no suspense that they will get three points. .

Shevchenko's advance put tremendous pressure on Leeds United's defense, and Larson began to retreat actively to help Nedved share the offensive pressure.

When the 74th minute of the game came, Nedved returned the ball to Makelele, and Makelele, who dribbled the ball across the half court, passed the ball straight to Larson on the right front of the penalty area.

Before receiving the ball, Larson had already begun to observe the surrounding situation.

As Aldridge told him during the halftime break, calm down!

Schneider's run to the bottom took away the full-back, Trezeguet pulled in the penalty area to attract the back line, Shevchenko and Nedved's forward penetration also made Leeds United's defensive players Immediately close guard.

Larson was not caught in the siege except for a midfielder who wanted to come up to press him, and he was very grateful to Trezeguet. The central defender on the right side.

The moment the ball rolled over, Larson's right foot, which was about to catch the ball, suddenly lifted up, allowing the ball to roll past his feet. At the same time, he turned and ran forward. rolled between his legs.

A beautiful and smart leaker!

Larsson turned around to face the penalty area and dribbled the ball. After Trezeguet drove away the right central defender, there was a gap in Leeds United's final defense in a short moment. Larsson dribbled the ball. Already formed a single-handed trend.

The goalkeeper nervously moved forward, lowered his center of gravity and spread his arms to expand the defensive area, while the defenders also rushed towards Larsson.

At this moment, Larsson knocked the ball across the left side, and the unmarked Trezeguet scored the ball into the empty goal!

Seventy-five minutes, Millwall finally scored! They pulled one back, two goals to keep the title alive, fifteen minutes to go, can they do it? Oh, oh wait, Wait, oops, Trezeguet went to pick the ball in the goal after scoring a goal, but he sprained his foot, it's weird, today Millwall players hurt themselves all the time without confrontation, maybe they are too tired.

Trezeguet had been tense before, but after scoring this goal, he suddenly relaxed a little, and as a result, he sprained his foot when he was anxious to pick up the ball. This is caused by the extreme fatigue of the body and the inability to synchronize movements and thoughts.

His injury is not serious, but he will definitely not be able to continue the game. He walked directly from the bottom line with annoyed face, and faced Nedved who came up to ask him. He said frustrated and guilty: Don't worry about me, let the boss change quickly, we still have time, the boss said we can win, we will definitely win!

Nedved patted his head to give him some reassurance before running back to half-time.

Aldridge had to replace Trezeguet with Solskjaer.

Although Babyface is sure that summer will leave, Aldridge still gives him a chance. Because he feels that he and these players are friends for life, and the minute Solskjaer stays at the club, it is his responsibility to give him a fair treatment and a chance to play him. Aldridge will not hide him just because he wants to transfer.

Before changing to the field, Aldridge specially arranged some tactical requirements for Solskjaer. Solskjaer listened carefully. Even though he was about to leave, he always thought that every word Aldridge said to him was great. hidden wealth. It will last him a lifetime.

In the second half, Leeds United still kept two players in the frontcourt looking for opportunities to counterattack, but after 80 minutes, they retreated across the board and no longer had illusions about counterattacks, as long as they did not concede the ball. They were still able to take away three points at the Lion's Den.

Solskjaer did not replace Trezeguet after he came on the field. Instead, he pulled out of the penalty area with Larsson and cooperated in a small area at the front of the penalty area. After the chance of a long-range shot, Leeds United's defense suddenly became alert, although the long-range shot slipped out.

The back line presses out before the start, avoiding the chance of long-range shots from players like Nedved and Thuram who come in behind, and it is also reducing the space for cooperation between Larsson and Solskjaer.

When the game progressed to the second minute of stoppage time, Thuram, who had completed three long-range shots, finally did not take another long-range shot, but made a pass to the left side of the penalty area.

The defenders of Leeds United were dumbfounded. Larson, Solskjaer, and Nedved were all in front of them, and they didn't rush forward, but the ball passed behind them. Who was it for?

Of course someone answered.

Shevchenko slanted into the penalty area from the left, and the timing of the pass was not particularly tacit. He started after watching the ball come out, but Thuram's pass was a bit surprising. They thought he could shoot from long distances, and they all stared at the opponents at the front of the penalty area.

I didn't expect that Shevchenko, who quickly charged into the penalty area from the wing, would complete such a cooperation with right back Thuram.

The goalkeeper made an attack, and Shevchenko unloaded the ball before the opponent took off. The goalkeeper jumped too hard, and the ball bounced from his legs to behind him. Shevchenko.

The nuclear warhead fell in the penalty area, and the Wild Lions fans at the Lion's Den stood up angrily, and frantically denounced the opponent's goalkeeper for deliberately fouling!

Oh shit!

If he didn't foul, Shevchenko would definitely be able to hit the ball directly.

Now it's a penalty, especially since it's going to waste a lot of time.

The referee stopped the game and then sent off the Leeds United goalkeeper and awarded Millwall a penalty.

Larson stood on the penalty spot, and everyone knew the importance of this penalty.

But the good news is that the opponent's substitute goalkeeper came up before warming up.

Larson withstood the pressure and lightly pushed the lower right corner of the goal, and the opponent's goalkeeper jumped directly in the wrong direction.

Millwall equalized!

After Larsson scored a goal, he immediately went to the goal to pick up the ball and run back. No Millwall player would waste time, but the Leeds United players were not very cooperative. They walked slowly towards the center circle.

Nedved reminded the referee that the opponent was delaying time and they should be given some stoppage time.

All the fans stood up.

The three minutes of stoppage time had passed long ago.

No one knows when the referee will blow the whistle to end the game.

Leeds United kicked off, they passed the ball back, Millwall's players rushed up to press, and the opposing defender kicked the ball towards Millwall's backcourt with a big kick.

The kick was really powerful, high and slow, and when the ball hit the ground, the referee's whistle sounded.

The game is over.

Leeds United, aiming to avoid relegation, retreated at the Lion's Den.

Strictly speaking, it was Millwall who drew with Leeds United as a guest.

After losing two points in this round, Millwall is two points behind Manchester United, which blew Nottingham Forest 5-0, and five points behind Newcastle United, which beat Southampton by one goal. With two rounds left in the league, There is only a theoretical possibility for Millwall to win the title.