The Young Lion

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In the first half of this season, Newcastle United's performance was magical, but in the second half of the league, Hollywood on Tyne seems to have started to produce bad movies repeatedly.

Newcastle United's advantage was only three points from the halfway point of Manchester United to the penultimate round of the league. Once this three-point advantage does not exist, then they will immediately be overtaken by Manchester United, because their goal difference, their The disadvantage is very obvious.

Aldridge led the team to visit St. James' Park, and the fans of the Magpies seemed a little anxious in the stands. They hoped that the team could win this strong dialogue, because the lineup sent by Millwall is not particularly strong.

However, in the first half of the league match, Millwall relied on half of the main lineup to send away the visiting Newcastle United with two goals.

The state of Newcastle United is worrying. They lost to Manchester United in March and Liverpool in April. The ups and downs of the state are not reassuring.

There is a tendency that the pundits have concluded: whenever Newcastle United look like they are stabilizing, they lose out in the big-team conversations, knocking down their buoyant morale.

If they can beat Manchester United or Liverpool, I am afraid they can win the championship directly in advance, because the continuity of the state and the impact of morale will have completely different effects.

After Aldridge entered the field, he sat on the coach's bench and waited quietly for the game to start.

Kevin Keegan walked over to greet him as a landlord, and chatted with him about the FA Cup final early next month with a hidden smile.

Talking about Liverpool is not easy to deal with.

He seemed to be cheering for his old club, but actually reminded Aldridge to stop competing for the championship and go for the FA Cup.

Aldrich flirted with him, exchanged a few words of greeting with a smile, and the two separated after the other party had nothing to say.

What is there to talk to him about?

Jansen whispered contemptuously.

Aldridge said helplessly, I don't want to say anything to him either.

Players from both sides play. Millwall's lineup is obviously very young, while Newcastle United's lineup has changed significantly compared to the first half of the league.

Welcome to St James' Park.

I'm Martin Taylor, if we say that today's match in the 37th round of the Premier League will determine the championship. Then this is definitely not an exaggeration. If Newcastle United beat Millwall, then Keegan's team is likely to win the championship early. Even if Manchester United wins, at least the initiative is still in the hands of Newcastle United. As for Millwall, unfortunately, this has been a solid season for them. But they lost the initiative to compete for the championship at the last moment. Next, my partner Andy Gray will introduce the starting list of both sides.

Kegan realized that the team's defense had problems, so he brought David Batty from Blackburn in the winter. This defensive midfielder can increase the hardness and interception ability of Newcastle United's defense. On the front line, Keegan also found a reliable partner for Ferdinand, the Asprilla who ended the myth of Milan's 58 unbeaten games. Newcastle United's starting lineup today is 442 with midfielder one in front and one behind. Goalkeeper: S Ernicek. Defenders: Watson, Button. Albert, Beresford. Midfielders: Beardsley, Batty, Ginola, Clarke. Forwards: Ferdinand. Asprilla. Millwall All the players here today are substitute players. The audience who hope to see the star matchup may be disappointed. In the Wild Lions lineup, we can hardly find any particularly familiar figures. They are playing in a 433 formation today. Goalkeeper: Bout. Defenders: Zambrotta, Materazzi, Herguera, Capdevila. Midfielders: Gattuso, Vieira, Ballack. Forwards: Solskjaer, Ruud van Nistelroo Yi, Shevchenko. I don't know if Hall will play the defensive counterattack that defeated the enemy in the last match today, let us wait and see.

Aldridge is relatively relaxed today. He just wants to train the team and play his own style.

Kevin Keegan, on the other hand, was very nervous, and he was only pretending to be calm.

In his view, Millwall is playing defensive counterattacks at home with half of the main force, so when they come to the away game, and there is no main force to play, they will definitely shrink back.

Therefore, he did not use the 4141 formation in the last confrontation, but used 442, which is not too radical. In a one-on-one contest, Ferdinand and Asprilla vs. Materazzi and Elguera, there is no reason to be at a disadvantage.

When the game started, in order to keep the championship advantage, Newcastle United naturally went all out and did not intend to test their opponents at all.

Beardsley easily broke through Capdevila and made a cross from the bottom, and Materazzi also easily overwhelmed Asprilla with a header to clear the siege.

Their dominance in midfield was immediately apparent when the ball started to roll at Millwall's feet.

After Vieira and Gattuso dragged on, Ballack ran in a wide range in the midfield to respond, plus two wings, Zambrotta and Capdevila assisted up, Solskjaer and Shevchen Ke retreated to respond, and they quickly advanced forward after forming a numerical advantage in the midfield.

Unlike many teams who play positional battles and stand dead, Millwall's players use more back-up and interspersed moves to confuse the opponent's sight, and the offense is so smooth that it dazzles the audience.

Aldridge did not stand on the sidelines to supervise the battle. Firstly, he did not want to put pressure on the boys. Now he is standing on the sidelines as if he must win every battle. This is an incentive for the main players, but for the younger players For the players, it will be a huge pressure virtually.

Another reason is that he can't stand the enthusiasm of the Magpies fans.

It's not that the fans mocked and abused him.

After all, Millwall is 5 points behind Newcastle United, and Magpie fans don't care about Wild Lions at all now.

The enthusiasm of the Magpies fans was reflected in their support for Keegan, and they shouted a name in the stadium to make Aldridge feel chills.

King Keegan! King Keegan!

Keegan was regarded as a savior by Magpies fans, which is understandable, Aldridge just didn't want to hear it.

Just as other fans can't stand the worship of Aldridge by Millwall fans.

Keegan stands, fists clenched, watching the situation in disbelief.

What are you doing?

Does Millwall want three points in an away game?

He got one thing wrong.

If it is not defense, it is a negative attitude towards victory, and if it is not offense, it must despise defense.

Today, Millwall firmly controlled the rhythm of the game through the strong control of the midfielder.

Newcastle United only made two attacks in the opening game, and then they fell into a passive defense, and their disadvantages became more and more obvious.

The old Beardsley and the handsome Frenchman Ginola cannot retreat to defend in a wide range. Millwall's midfield was too easy.

Vieira, Gattuso, and Ballack almost occupied the turf between the two restricted areas by running. They pass the ball smoothly and quickly, and the offense is hit and miss. Time left and right.

Seeing Millwall's advantage off the field, Aldridge turned his head and said to Jenson lightly: The tactical concept of the guy next door has begun to fall behind. If he still has the defensive concept on the field, then he will never be able to win the championship. The future trend is that every inch of turf will be contested.”

While they were talking, Ballack and Ruud van Nistelrooy quickly stepped forward to disrupt Newcastle United's defense, and Vieira attacked. Before Batty intercepted him, he passed the ball diagonally to the ribs of the penalty area. Solskjaer went forward and was unmarked. He volleyed the ball into the near corner of the goal.

Millwall took the lead! The super substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored the goal. He started today. And he played as a winger, but we saw that Millwall's two wingers frequently played in the 20 minutes of the first half. Slanting into the penalty area, making Newcastle United hard to defend, Hall is showing his amazing tactical change again. But I have to say that Newcastle United still has not solved a core question: Will they defend? They are at a disadvantage when attacking established teams, Manchester United at home, Liverpool away, and now they are dominated by Millwall.

Solskjaer smiled after scoring a goal, and hugged and celebrated with every teammate, looking a little calm, more like a last-minute goodbye.

Except for Aldridge, no one on the team knew he would leave in the summer.

Magpies fans like Keegan, and liking often means being blinded by objective facts.

Pundits have been talking about Newcastle United's poor defense for months.

It is even ironic that Newcastle United's defense is an American football defense. The players will only rush to the offensive player who has the ball, and they don't understand what a defensive system is.

Kevin Keegan also has a headache. It is reported that he has started looking for a defensive coach to make up for this shortcoming.

This made the outside world even more absurd.

If you hire a defensive coach, you can only teach players defensive skills, but the problem with Newcastle United is not that players don't know defensive skills. Can you say that Barton, who was bought for 4 million pounds last summer, doesn't understand what defense is? Otherwise why would you buy him! What Keegan should do is to teach the defensive players to make parts into wholes, but he went to ask the defensive coach, obviously not aware of his own problems.

Keegan's face was livid, and he couldn't understand why the midfielder Batty was so far away from the opponent when Vieira passed the ball, why Button and Albert let Solskjaer enter the penalty area easily, why Watson didn't Keep an eye on Solskjaer...

Too many whys filled Keegan's mind.

Aldridge just clapped his hands and continued to watch the game with his chin in his hands.

The interspersed running of offensive players distracts the attention of defensive players all the time, and the slightest disturbance will make them feel anxious.

You can't blame Batty for following Ballack until the opponent is in the penalty area and then going back to mark Vieira is wrong, and you can't ask Watson to be able to play on the wing after being attracted by Capdevila. Keep up with Solskjaer's speed while turning around and chasing back.

It can only be said that Newcastle United's defense is terrible.

Keegan should have looked at how Aston Villa defended and minimized Millwall's attacking power.

The game was a bit one-sided, with the ball running in Newcastle United's half. Not only were they exhausted defensively, but they also struggled when transitioning from defense to attack, as the Millwall strikers frantically counterattacked and the midfielders quickly retreated. Intercepting the passing route and defending after losing the ball is very good.

If Ruud Ruud hadn't wasted two chances, I'm afraid the score would have been rewritten before halftime.

In the second half Kevin Keegan put on Gillespie and took off a defender just to attack, attack, he-fuck it for me!

He felt that it would be impossible not to attack. If they lost the game at home, they would lose their top position.

At least a draw is needed.

Aldridge replaced Ballack in the 60th minute of the game and asked Pirlo to play as a midfielder.

Originally, Aldridge was not going to let him play in that position, but Newcastle United is top-heavy, unlike in Italy, where every team will defend tightly in the backcourt. Pirlo has a lot of space in front of him, and he can tear it apart with a pass. The opponent's defense, especially the opponent also removed a defender.

Kevin Keegan finally lost on the defensive end. Pirlo made a wonderful pass to Shevchenko as soon as he came on the field. The routine was basically the same. Hit the central defender by surprise.

A beautiful volley made the Magpie gate fall again.

This goal directly kicked Newcastle United from the top position.

Manchester United scored an early goal and led Leeds United 1-0. Although the score has not changed, when the news from here passes, Manchester United may choose a more conservative approach to keep the top position.