The Young Lion

The second game after entering the New Year is the third round of the FA Cup. Millwall went away to challenge the underdog Port Vale. wheel.

On the second day after returning to London, Phillips and Andrew came to Aldridge's office together.

Seeing these two people coming together, Aldridge understood what was going on.

Phillips has been a substitute since the first day he came to the team. Two and a half years later, he is still a substitute, but he will be 24 years old in half a year.

In other teams, maybe it's nothing, but his strength has improved by leaps and bounds, and he is older than many forwards in the team, but his forward ranking has always been at the bottom.

It’s not that Aldridge didn’t give him a chance, it’s that his performance on the court was unsatisfactory. In the first season, Millwall played 442. He performed well as one of the double forwards. Last season, Millwall’s tactics Switching between 442 and 4231, he can still only play one of the double forwards.

Let him play a single arrow, then the tactical system of the whole team must revolve around him and create opportunities for him. Other teammates attract defense through running positions, and after he gets the ball, he will shoot the goal whenever he has the opportunity.

Playing 433 this season, Aldridge let him try the winger, and the effect was very bad. He is different from Larsson and Shevchenko who see the right time to insert the gun after completing the support. He will instinctively lean towards the side on the field In the middle, the center forward's activity area is squeezed.

As a striker, is Phillips good? Excellent, can you score a goal? Can score!

But he was increasingly out of place at Millwall.

This is probably the typical conflict between team tactics and player characteristics.

It has nothing to do with Phillips' personal ability.

Because playing opportunities are becoming rare, he maintained his form in the reserve team in the first half of the season and scored 23 goals in 12 games. This performance made the media marvel: Phillips is such a waste in Millwall!

Phillips himself felt that his life in Millwall was more difficult, because the gap between him and his teammates was getting bigger and bigger, and they couldn't play together on the football field. It seemed that everyone's thinking was not in the same world.

When his teammates worked hard to create opportunities and waited for him to play a role in tandem or cover, he directly chose to end the attack by himself. Teammates with better positions and better opportunities were helpless. Due to the seniority in the team For this reason, you can only keep your complaints in your stomach.

After discussing with Andrew, Phillips

Decided to have a showdown with Aldrich.

The atmosphere in the office is relatively harmonious. Phillips was brought back by Aldrich from the team in the regional league. Phillips also admires the young coach. If the young coach still has the magic power to make him shine in Millwall, then He is determined not to leave.

But Aldridge is not a god. Probably due to the age of Phillips when he came to the team, it is difficult to change his playing habits. It is very difficult to reform, and if he does not change well, he may be abolished. Use him as a surprise player, or when training a young lineup, let the team stand on defense and Phillips rush in front, and the effect has always been passable.

Facing Phillips, who was separated from each other, the two parties did not break up with each other, but communicated calmly.

Aldridge patiently analyzed for him his playing characteristics, his position on the field, the most threatening areas, what kind of tactical environment he needs to be based on, and so on.

Phillips is more like a pure shooter, just like Owen, but this kind of pure shooter player is not the mainstream of the future football forward template. Therefore, in the British 442, Phillips is more suitable for one tall, one short and one clumsy One of Yiqiao's forwards, he needs a partner to cover him, and he plays the role of killer.

After Aldridge finished the analysis patiently, he said to him earnestly: Kevin, I can understand that you want to leave, and I also think that with your strength, you can be a main shooter in other clubs and stay in Milwaukee. Well, it will delay your future, but I hope you can follow my arrangement in terms of transfers. What I can promise you is that I will not try to sell you to the club with the highest bid, but send you to The club that is most suitable for your career development, I don't want you to go to a team that is not suitable for your characteristics, which will cause you to sink there.

Phillips was greatly moved and solemnly nodded in agreement.

In any case, what Aldridge did this time was for his own good. As for the personal treatment after the transfer, that was what Andrew should help him fight for, and the transfer fee had nothing to do with him.

Aldridge's behavior seems to be salty eating radish and light heart.

Player transfers, they leave as soon as they leave, what does it have to do with you?

Furthermore, the transfer fee should not be high, isn't this a brainwashing?

On the contrary, Aldridge believes that every player who transfers and leaves has a lot to do with him and Millwall, not just the transfer fee.

Like the four players who transferred and left last summer, except for Pires who was in a bad situation at Arsenal, the other three players performed well, which directly affected the brand of Millwall. They all came from Millwall. Wall walks out of the players.

Thuram may have already become famous in Ligue 1, which is nothing.

But the excellence of Solskjaer and Vieira both bring the color of Millwall's cultivation.

Aldridge needs Millwall to cultivate the image of a ng hero, and he also needs a good reputation. Just like Ajax, when people hear this name, they will not only think of it as a top Dutch club, but also think of it. To: This is a breeding ground for geniuses to be born.

Therefore, for every transfer, he can't just focus on the transfer fee. He should also pay attention to the continuation of the career of the players who leave here.

If Phillips does not perform well after leaving, he will definitely be labeled as a parallel importer. If he performs well, it will naturally benefit Millwall's reputation.

Phillips will not leave in the winter, because the thickness of the lineup is needed. At the same time, he also wants to leave with a championship title, even if he is not the main force. The rotation will be more frequent, and when the time comes to deal with injuries and suspensions, he will have more opportunities than in the first half of the season.

Compared with Phillips, Tony is in a state of bewilderment, and Aldrich hopes that he will stay calm.

On the training ground preparing for the weekend league, Tony and Aldridge communicated on the sidelines.

He told Aldridge all about the problems he encountered.

He was in the youth team, and the reserve team scored a lot, but in the few appearances of the first team, he was far less eye-catching than Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Because he has a fatal shortcoming: speed.

Millwall's offense was very fast, with three passes and two downs. The ball rolled around. He was the center forward.

He can't keep up with the rhythm of his teammates, like Larson and Shevchenko, these are the roles that reach the ball like lightning, and the threatening ball with a deadly pass appears on the field between lightning and flint. , Tony couldn't keep up with the speed, couldn't outflank, and missed opportunities repeatedly.

He worked very hard, and the coaches and teammates could see it, but speed is not something that can be improved significantly by hard training.

Fortunately, Tony is still under 20 years old, and Aldridge told him patiently: When your talent restricts your performance, then you need to work harder than others to play football with your brain.

Are you calling him stupid?

Of course not, Aldridge explained to him in detail, asking him to calmly observe the situation on the court and use more reasonable running positions to make up for the short board of speed.

Players who play with their brains are more promising. Some players are in good health, but they are like headless chickens on the court. They run a lot of distance, but most of them are useless.

What's more, Tony's physical advantage allows him to become a powerful center forward within **. When Millwall fights a tough battle, Tony will play a huge role, but this is also his limitation. You expect him to retreat in a wide range to interfere with the opponent's offense or It is too unrealistic to advance all the way from the outside to cooperate with teammates in mobile warfare. He just has to be at the forefront, either to complete the final blow or to be a bridgehead.

Tony accepted Aldridge's suggestion: first, play football with your brain, and second, sharpen your skills with your feet.

He has the ability to hold the ball in the center, but whether it is shooting or making the ball, he still needs to further improve his ability to handle the ball.

Over the weekend, sitting at the Lions Den Stadium, Millwall ushered in an old rival, who is also a point boy in the eyes of fans: Liverpool.

In one and a half years, Aldridge led the team to face Liverpool four times, three times in the league and once in the FA Cup final, which left very good memories for Millwall fans, and Liverpool history must have left Millwall name.

The 0:8 fiasco is still fresh in my memory. At the beginning of the new season, Millwall defeated their determination to revenge with a 4:2 at Anfield.

The outside world didn't understand it very much, and even privately speculated that Aldridge had an enmity with Liverpool. Millwall played Liverpool with great enthusiasm, but it happened that Liverpool couldn't find their way.

In fact, it is mostly due to tactical reasons. Aldridge is least afraid of encountering a team that wants to play against him. When Millwall defends, his formation shrinks. When he switches from defense to offense, he releases huge forward pressure. A wave of offense often With the power of destruction, it doesn't matter if Liverpool attack, after the attack, the empty space in the backcourt is Millwall's avenue of victory.

When players from both sides entered the field, there was a little confusion.

Players from both sides stood at the exit of the player tunnel and were about to go on stage, but in front of them, a dozen ng-love toys fell from the sky, which were imitation female ng**** for men.

The referee's face turned green, and the stadium staff immediately ran to pick it up, and at the same time warned the fans in the nearby stands, of course they couldn't find who dropped it.

Southgate, who was wearing the captain's armband at the front, closed his eyes and smiled helplessly, while the other players poked their heads out and looked around curiously.

At the same time, loud slogans sounded from the stands on this side.

Collymore! Can you shee today?

The faces of the Liverpool players collectively became extremely ugly.

Little Redknapp, who had a verbal confrontation with Aldridge at Anfield the year before, dared not raise his head anymore. Liverpool was beaten all over by Millwall, and his father, Ray, couldn't raise his head in East London.

And Collymore, the protagonist of the vortex, the striker who was once hailed as a genius, although he was gradually depressed at Anfield, he was still a different man off the field.

Working as a nun in a monastery, there are many people-p, not married, but playing the game of changing partners, and fighting with porn stars on TV shows.

The weirdest thing is that he sold these to newspapers publicly.

The outside world is discussing whether he is mentally ill, or to put it simply, he is just an idiot.

The hot Liverpool buddies with erosive private lives can't stand this teammate anymore. It is reported that Collymore will leave Anfield soon and switch to his next home.

As the person involved, Collymore has a bad temper. He even beat his girlfriend. He couldn't bear the bird-like anger, and immediately rushed out and roared towards the stands, but only attracted loud and wanton ridicule from the fans in the stands. (To be continued.) (m)