The Young Lion

→Whether it is as a coach or as a club owner, Aldridge likes to make friends widely, which not only expands the communication and contacts in the football circle, but also expands the cooperation space for the development of the club. .

What will a group of coaches talk about when they get together? Football of course.

Aldridge is not the kind of person who would nod his head as the truth when the old man told him that one plus one equals two.

He would retort and tell the seniors: Discussing the problem of one plus one from the perspective of chemistry or physics may not really equal two!

It is also his mentality that he does not regard himself as a student to listen to teachings, so that he can communicate with his colleagues without difficulty.

Wenger told everyone in public how he met Aldridge.

Monaco had a bad away record when he was in charge. Aldridge, who was still a young man, said bluntly when he first met Wenger: Your players are not good enough to play football with the same efficiency at home and away under the same tactics. .

At home, the fans are shouting towards the home team, putting pressure on the visiting team.

The area of ​​the court, the turf of the court, and the friction of the ball rolling directly affect the player's ball feel. The visiting team is obviously not as favorable as the home team.

The home team has the advantage of waiting for work.

vice versa.

Wenger is full of romanticism, so no matter home or away, the focus is to highlight his own tactical style. Therefore, when the players cannot overcome the unfavorable factors of being a guest in an away game, they will naturally perform poorly.

After the acquaintance joke was told by Wenger himself, everyone smiled knowingly.

And Wenger pointed at Aldrich and said with a smile: He is a skywalker, he always has a lot of whimsical ideas, and his achievements in the past two years have proved the feasibility of his theory in practice.

Aldridge didn't like to be flattered, and felt his face was on fire, so he waved his hand to tell Wenger not to flatter himself.

But then, while watching the opening game of the European Cup, while chatting, Aldridge and many coaches present had a verbal battle.

 …

Harry Hodzic: Why do you love young players?

Aldridge: Because of my age and background that has never played football is the Achilles' heel.

Imagine that I tell a 26 or 7-year-old striker how to run. If he has a good temper, he will laugh it off. If he has a bad temper, he will say or scold in his mouth: You are fine. Bar? What do you know? go away.

 …

Whether it is a full-back or a winger, they should retreat and participate in the defense. It is not required that they achieve the ability of the defensive player, but that they at least need to compress the offensive space and cut the opponent's offensive formation through reasonable positioning and defensive posture. , blocking the passing lanes of the ball holder.”

 …

Louis, yes, you are right. If you have two full-backs with super assist ability, you may directly oppress the opponent and dare not invest too much force in the offense, so your offensive players may not have so much defensive pressure. However, then you need at least a defensive midfielder with a strong defensive awareness to protect the space, just like what Dunga did in the Brazilian team. Such a player requires both defensive skills and defensive awareness and experience. .”

 …

Mr. Guy Roux, I don't agree with you. I'm not arguing that talented star players rely on their individual abilities to create threats and change the team. However, we now often see players with excellent skills at their feet dribbling the ball. Take the ball, pass the ball when you bring the ball to a bunch of defensive players in front of you, this directly leads to a problem: that is, it gives the opponent time to set up the defensive formation. What I advocate is fast and concise, and the players can directly accelerate and start the breakthrough If the defender is dropped, then it is reasonable to do so, but if a player holds the ball and plays on the spot, then two foot skills, two step on the bicycle, no forward dribbling in order to pass others, two circles on the spot, etc. , the visual sense is very exciting and elegant, and the audience will applaud, but how long will it take? 2 seconds? 5 seconds? How many seconds does it take for a player to rush from the second half to the frontcourt to attack? 10 seconds In other words, maybe a player gives the opponent enough time to set up a defensive formation in order to pass, and at the same time marks your offensive player, so that your overall offensive threat plummets.

 …

Oh, this is unreliable. If it is a double midfielder formation, both midfielders are very offensive players. It is indeed more threatening to go up together than one person, but once the ball is lost and counterattacked, the center is The door is wide open and the defense will be crumbling.

 …

Aldrich was arguing with these coaches, his face was red, and he even took turns to take turns, but the onlookers watched with gusto.

Especially Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein, he seems to have seen the scene when he first met Wenger, very similar.

Almost ** years ago, Wenger met David Dayne for the first time at a social gathering. At that dinner, Wenger performed A Midsummer Night's Dream vividly, which became David Dayne. The deepest memory also made him move the idea of ​​asking Wenger to coach Arsenal since then. He felt that this romantic Frenchman fit everything for Arsenal.

Everyone said that they were tired, and the game was over. England was tied 1:1 by Switzerland in the first game at home.

Drinking and chatting about anecdotes in the football circle, some complained about the players, complained about the Bosman law implemented by UEFA, especially for small coaching clubs like Guy Roux who rely on selling players to earn transfer fees The coach was even more furious.

It is difficult to say whether the Bosman Act is right or wrong. This is a topic left to football history researchers to delve into, but the most intuitive thing is that after the Bosman Act, not only the Eredivisie and Ligue 1 rely on training players to survive Most of the teams in the world were struggling. Hundreds of small teams in the middle and lower reaches of major European leagues went bankrupt in the following ten years. Later, a rich Russian man entered the investment of Chelsea, but directly or indirectly saved many clubs from going bankrupt. on the road to bankruptcy.

Aldrich was slightly drunk and returned to the hotel with Melanie's arm. For several days, he and a group of coaches watched the football game with gusto and shared his views, and he and Melanie went sightseeing in France. When I returned to the hotel, it was raining and the clouds were turning, and I was living a carefree life, and I almost couldn't think of leaving.

In mid-June, Aldrich first sent Melanie back to China to continue working, while he stayed in France.

However, on the day when the semi-finals were over, Aldridge decided to return home early.

Because, Millwall's captain, Southgate, has become England's new sinner.

He has to go back to London to protect his players.

In fact, he thought that history would shift, but when he saw Southgate kicking a penalty kick into the goalkeeper's arms in front of the TV, his face became very worried.

Sorry guys, I'm going back to London.

After greeting the coaches, Aldridge walked out.

But Wenger and Dane followed him.

Dane was the driver, and Wenger and Aldrich were sitting in the back seat of the car. The car drove a little slowly, which made Aldrich realize that the two people had bad intentions.

I originally planned to talk to you about this matter after the European Cup is over, but now you want to go back, then I will talk about it now. Aldrich, I will go to London to take up the post after I have settled the matter in Japan. , but I want two Millwall players.

Wenger's words made Aldrich turn his head and stare at him, and asked: Why didn't you say it earlier? If you want to poach my people, I will definitely not come.

That's why I'm saying it now. Do you think back to what you told me two years ago?

Aldrich laughed, quite self-deprecating.

Heaven reincarnates, retribution is not good.

Two years ago, he asked Wenger to sell Thuram to him, and today Wenger wants to dig him back, with interest attached.

But this is in line with Wenger's style. He got involved in the club's transfer operations before he officially took office at Arsenal, which is exactly the same as before he switched to Monaco.

Who?

Vieira and Pires.

One is my main force, and the other is my main substitute, Arsene, isn't it a bit ruthless?

Aldridge laughed angrily.

Dane, who was driving, kept observing the expressions of the two in the rearview mirror, and he was a little nervous.

When he hired Wenger, he naturally wanted to bring him the players he wanted, but if other people from Arsenal came forward, it would probably fail.

Millwall is also a London team anyway, and it is a team that stands up and proclaims itself the king of London. How can they sell the main force to Arsenal!

Wenger also knew that asking Dane to come forward in this matter would probably be scandalous, so he came as a lobbyist himself.

How many years will Vieira have to play as a substitute at Millwall before you give him the main force? The Italian lad you helped up at the end of last season should be the main midfielder in your future plan? As for Pires, indeed, I let you Selling him to me would have been difficult, but Millwall has no shortage of replacements?

Aldridge turned his head and stared at Wenger, and asked without answering, Have you already contacted my players in private?

Dane, who was driving, immediately clarified: No! Really! We won't do such dirty things!

Aldridge rolled his eyes and said lightly: I have always respected my players. I will try to keep them and persuade them to stay, but I will pass on the conditions offered by Arsenal to them through their agent. If they want to leave, then Just give me a satisfactory offer.

Ten million pounds, pack two people.

Wenger smiled.

Aldrich shook his head and said, Impossible. They still have a four-year contract with Millwall. One is 23 years old and the other is 20 years old. What you want to buy is the backbone of the Arsenal for ten years and £10 million? Arsene, I'm not alarmist. , The rules of the money game in the transfer market have changed, if you don’t believe us, we’ll just wait, just this summer, you’ll see what the top players are worth, and this is just the beginning.”

Since the end of the league in May, rumors in the transfer market have been flying everywhere.

As for the Premier League, because Manchester United won the championship, they will compete in the Champions League next season, and their income will naturally be higher than last year, which also makes them richer.

Solskjaer was not satisfied with Ferguson's finalization in advance, and in mid-May he secretly submitted an offer of 10 million pounds to Aldridge: buy Larson.

Fortunately, Larson was not interested in the transfer and refused directly.

But Manchester United is still tirelessly looking for a super striker, after all, Cantona will be 31 years old next season.

It is rumored that the Brazilian genius Ronaldo is close to Manchester United. Manchester United and Barcelona simultaneously offered 20 million US dollars to Eredivisie Eindhoven to buy the Brazilian striker.

This is not far from the 13 million pounds that Milan bought Lentini when it set a world football transfer value record.

Ronaldo was in Eindhoven for two seasons. In the first season, he performed amazingly and scored more than 30 goals. In the second season, he spent most of the time recovering from his injuries. The rest of the time he was in conflict with the club's head coach. His performance last season was not worth mentioning, so in fact such a transfer value is not a reflection of his peak value, and the sensation he created is self-evident.

After failing to buy Ronaldo, Manchester United turned their target to Alan Shearer, who has performed top-notch in the Premier League for several years. Judging from the current process, Manchester United will only announce Shearer's joining after the European Cup is over, and the two parties only need to sign the contract.

In a few days, there will be a turning point in this transfer. Kevin Keegan's intervention will make Ferguson once again pass by England's talented players. The last time it was Gascoigne, this time it will be Alan Shearer , and Shearer's transfer value will set a new world football transfer record: 15 million pounds!

Against this background, even though Pires and Vieira cannot catch up with Shearer in terms of popularity and public opinion, if Wenger thinks that the two are only worth 10 million pounds, then Aldridge will not Thinking of the old relationship, he chose to let him go, even if he fell out with the players.

If Wenger dares to ask these two people, he must be confident enough to persuade them to join Arsenal. After all, they are both French, and Wenger has been coaching in France for a long time. Pires and Vieira have long heard of Wenger. The big name, coupled with Arsenal's wealthy background, Millwall is still a small temple that can't keep the great god.

In any case, Aldridge and Wenger deal, the position is different.

He bought Thuram with real money from his own pocket.

Wenger wanted to buy Aldridge's players and spent the money of the Arsenal club. (To be continued.) (m)