The Young Lion

Millwall has had an excellent record in the past two years, and this season has skyrocketed, which has kept the enthusiasm of the fans undiminished. Even in the FA Youth Cup, the small Lion's Den stadium has an attendance rate of over 70%. Not expensive either, only £5.

Melanie has been well-dressed today, her long dark brown hair is coiled up, and she is wearing a red slim dress, which obviously has the color of the Red Army.

She held Aldrich's hand and sat beside him, with a smile on her face, her head tilted, and she leaned into Aldrich's ear and said, A bet?

Aldrich, who was a spectator in a suit and leather shoes, raised his eyebrows, and said slightly, Millwall wins, I win, Liverpool wins, you win. What's the bet?

As usual, but you have to cook yourself.

Can you cook?

Learning.

That's still my fault.

gentleman!

make a deal.

Just after Aldrich finished speaking, Andrew, who was sitting in the row below, turned his head and smiled and said, Can I have a meal?

He also brought his new model girlfriend here to watch the football match today. The slender girl with exquisite facial features is said to be a French supermodel. She was obviously sitting beside Andrew absent-mindedly, not interested in these children playing football.

Aldridge smiled and said, Gentleman demeanor.

Andrew smiled ambiguously, nodded and said, Well, okay, I won't disturb the world of the two of you.

As an agent, Andrew must of course pay attention to the performance of the players.

Millwall's starting lineup for the FA Youth Cup today includes Glenshire and Lampard, who were under 18 before the start of the league last year. Ferdinand. Capdevila. Pirlo, Richard Wright.

From the goalkeeper to the midfielder, there are stars of hope on all fronts, but the striker is a little thin, and Glenshall is a winger.

Players from both sides played, and the coaches on both sides were Najib and Macaulay.

Shankly, the godfather of Liverpool, said: Merseyside has two best teams, the first is Liverpool, and the second is the Liverpool reserve team.

At first glance, I think this person is crazy.

It is estimated that 99% of people think he is bragging.

In fact, the current Liverpool coach Roy Evans was the head coach of the Liverpool reserve team. At that time, the reserve team was no different from the youth team. The main task was to train players. The Liverpool reserve team coached by Evans at the time, He has set a series of records that are beyond the reach of latecomers. Although it is the record of the reserve team, it should not be underestimated. That generation of Liverpool reserve team players who later became famous and entered the first team was also a member of Shankly's successor, Paisley, who won three European titles. From this point of view, Shankly's rhetoric is not aimless.

Now the head coach of the Liverpool youth team, Macaulay, has a lot of background. He is a player introduced by Shankly, but his strength is not good, so he puts his mind on the study of training and tactics. After retiring, he concentrates on hard work for a few years Returned to Liverpool and was appointed by Dalglish as the coach of the youth academy to continue to train rookies for Liverpool.

The Liverpool 1996 generation that debuted today was also carefully trained by Macaulay.

Aldridge once also extended an invitation to him, that is, when he dug out Liverpool's three outstanding players last year, but he was flatly rejected by the other party.

Aldridge appreciates Macaulay. The opponent's train of thought is completely different from England's mainstream. He does not overemphasize confrontation, but focuses on training players' skills and attaches great importance to the moral character of players. Once he believes that the player's conduct is problematic , No matter how talented he is, he will not sign this player.

A glance at Liverpool's lineup made Aldridge doubtful.

Among this group of talented players, he saw Carragher and David Thompson, and other players did not become popular later on, just as in the class of 92, not all of them became famous in the end, but only a few top players appeared. It is already impossible to copy.

Aldridge bent down to get close to Andrew's head, and asked suspiciously, Why didn't you see Gerrard and Owen in Liverpool's starting lineup?

Andrew usually does not have fun all day long. He is different from Aldridge. Aldridge trains the team and studies opponents. His job is to observe and discover good seedlings, and then establish a good relationship in advance, and sign when he can sign. , If you can’t sign, it’s also good to be a good friend, which will help build a larger network of relationships.

Therefore, Aldridge's doubts were really the right ones for Andrew, who sent people around the youth teams of various teams all day long.

Andrew pointed to the visiting team's bench and said: Look, Thompson has taken up the starting spot, and Gerrard can only be a substitute. Irving boy, you said how talented he is. I believed it before, but I think you read it away. Look, David Lamour, one of Liverpool's starting forwards, is more famous than Irving, and Irving is substituting for him.

Aldridge was a little dizzy, frowned and said: Thompson, I know, Gerrard is on the bench because his characteristics are not obvious. In other words, Gerrard is too comprehensive, and his offense and defense are not particularly outstanding. To shine. You tell me about that David Lamour.

Andrew said in detail, it seems that he also focused on this talented boy.

David Lamour is a prodigy that Macaulay took a lot of effort to sign. If it was a step later, Lamour would have been taken away by the Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers.

In terms of speed, Irving is a bit faster than Lamore. However, Lamore's ability to read the game can also be said to be significantly better than Irving in terms of football intelligence. Therefore, Irving was pressed to death on the bench.

Aldridge stared at the prodigy from Northern Ireland. After careful recollection for a long time, he never thought that there would be a striker named Lamour in European football in the future, and he could not find such a person at all.

He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

It is normal for many talents to be unable to play. The success rate of professional football is astonishingly low. What’s more, the growth of talented players also needs proper soil. The external environment and internal potential are important conditions that affect the ultimate success.

Some players gave up, some players were ruined by injuries, and some players were wasted by the coach. Some are buried in teams that completely conflict with their own characteristics...

Just a few steps at the critical moment. Effort alone is not enough. Going forward, the future is bright, but if you can't make it past this step, the genius will fall.

After the start of the game, the two teams played very well. Both teams are teams that pay attention to technical and tactical characteristics. They run counter to the mainstream of English football. Therefore, the confrontation is not particularly fierce, and there are many bright spots in team cooperation and individual technical performance. .

Millwall's double midfielder is Lampard and Pirlo. Lampard is defensive, Pirlo is the core of the midfield playmaker, the former has a wide range of running, can attack and defend, Pirlo is assisted by Lampard in defense, and the attack is also covered by the front midfielder and Lampard running, firmly controlling With the ball.

However, Millwall has no reliable forwards. Apart from Glenshire's speed and skill, the other two forwards and attacking midfielders on the front line have average talents. It's more about playing a team, without too much personal technical display.

This made Millwall's offense impossible to score.

Liverpool is also playing well here. The rapid advance in the counterattack is quite lethal, and Thompson can attack and defend with a wide range of running, and his performance is impressive.

Aldridge not only pays attention to observe Thompson, but also pays attention to the performance of Lamore on the front line.

He wanted to see what the prodigy who could put Irving on the bench was capable of.

Soon, La Moore let Aldridge get his wish.

His off-ball movement is very active, and he will never let defenders mark him dead.

In a wing attack, Lamour first pressed into the penalty area, then suddenly withdrew, received the ball as expected, and knocked the ball very skillfully at his feet, before the ball passed between Ferdinand's legs At the same time, Lamour walked past him, and then blasted the ball, and the ball was blasted into the gate guarded by Wright.

Liverpool lead 1:0 away.

The ball left Aldrich stunned.

This is not only based on skills, but his previous awareness of running without the ball, combined with the rhythm of the center of gravity when the defender retreats and then goes up, completed this personal performance.

Hehe, as I said, he is a genius. That kid Owen just runs a little faster than him.

Andrew looked back and laughed.

Melanie smiled like a flower, and laughed in Aldridge's ear: I'm sure I'll win!

Aldridge shrugged and said, There's a lot of game time.

Millwall conceded and Liverpool scored, but neither manager celebrated or was upset.

As the head coaches of the youth team, Macaulay and Najib understand better than anyone else that this kind of insignificant game means nothing at all.

The meaning of training players is more important than championships and victories.

Most of the youth training concepts in European football are also like this, so many national teams of all ages have repeatedly scored big scores when participating in international competitions. But there are also a lot of goals conceded, which is not worth watching.

In fact, it is caused by the completely different concept of youth training from that of the adult team. The adult team wants records, but the youth team does not need it!

Because the youth team is for cultivating talents, not for championships.

The head coach's requirements for young players are not too harsh. The important thing is to let them display their talents. Their creativity and casualness are higher than those of professional players. Therefore, it is not surprising that they often score big.

Winning or losing the competition for the youth echelon is not so important. It is the same as taking the first place in the primary school exam, middle school, and college entrance examination. The real test is after entering the society.

Millwall quickly equalized the score. Glenshire's progress in the past few months has been obvious, especially after he has made great progress in his skills after holding the ball. The angle is not tricky, but the Liverpool goalkeeper panicked and let the ball slip under the arm.

In the second half, Lampard used a long shot to help the team overtake. Before the end, Pirlo dribbled the ball forward and then used a wonderful pass to tear apart Liverpool's defense. On 3:1.

Millwall won the FA Youth Cup this season.

At the end of the game, Aldridge stood up like the rest of the audience to applaud the performance of these young players.

He leaned forward and said to Andrew: What is the status of Larmer's contract, do you know?

I know, he still has a one-year contract with Liverpool, but Liverpool is considering signing him a new contract. How can they let this kind of prodigy go?

Looking at his contract, if given the chance, I would like to bring him to Millwall, this kind of player is a waste at Liverpool.

Well, I'll follow.

In this game, in addition to scoring goals, Larmore also created many opportunities for his teammates. He is a player in the Liverpool team who performed as well as Thompson, but his teammates seem to be unable to keep up with his thinking. Always take a step back.

But this kind of player is Aldridge's favorite striker. He has excellent ability to read the game, has the awareness of playing the ball, and has good explosive power and speed. He can pass and shoot. It is not an exaggeration to call him a prodigy.

Walking out of the Lion's Den after the game, Aldridge smiled and said to Melanie, Are you learning to cook? I hope you don't give me diarrhea.

Melanie also looked at him with a smile, and said in surprise, What does it have to do with me? You won.

Yeah, I won, you should treat me to dinner.

No, no, no, whoever wins, please, Chef Aldrich, you will show your skills again tonight.

Aldrich was stunned, then shook his head with a wry smile and got into his old BMW. (To be continued..) (m)