The Young Lion

Who is the biggest name at the Millwall club?

Even when Aldridge faces the public, he will push the achievements of the team to the players and put himself in the position of a humble beneficiary.

But all fans who love Millwall think that the most important person in the team is none other than the young coach.

This probably has something to do with the team's rebuilding policy since two and a half years ago. Millwall has never brought in famous stars, and they were not that attractive at first, but under the careful training of Aldridge, the team became a star. Gathered together, they come from different countries, and they play football like mercury, which is full of rhythmic beauty like poetry.

Aldridge has to take the trouble to reject a series of attractive advertisements and commercial contracts on the phone with Andrew almost every month.

Luxury goods, fashion brands, from high-end cars to watches and mobile phones, sportswear to video games, etc., Aldridge's loyalty to Armani is beyond the imagination of all commercial companies that are interested in working with him.

In fact, Aldrich just doesn't want to appear excessively in commercial promotions. How can he be full of money if he has not accomplished his great career?

He regretted even the Armani contract, but he felt that work required it. He wanted to wear a suit anyway. There was nothing wrong with wearing something decent, but what followed was the persuasion of the advertiser: Brother, you can wear a famous watch, Wear a pair of our brand leather shoes, a belt, a tie, and glasses!

Aldridge rejected all the contracts, at least he feels that he should focus all his attention on the court now, and he can't guide the players to think in other directions.

If his whole body is full of advertising endorsement signs, then his players will follow suit after seeing it, and Aldridge is not even qualified to preach.

However, he has no objection to the players accepting the advertising contracts. As long as they don’t violate team discipline, be late for training, or not be serious about training, then the club would like to see players gain some off-court income through their achievements on the field. Players like Ersen, Nedved, and Schneider are favored by advertisers in their respective countries, so part of his commercial influence will also be passed on to Millwall's influence.

The reason why Aldridge is more popular than the players is also because he has a singer girlfriend.

The Spice Girls have become popular in Europe and are about to hit the North American market. They will set off a storm of entertainment wherever they go. It is against this background that once Melanie has a topic with Aldridge in an interview or performance, he will make Aldrich The popularity of Delici and her has increased suddenly. This mutual influence effect is exactly what the couple Victoria and Beckham imitated, especially after Beckham was promoted by England coach Hoddle.

As a newly promoted England international, and because Victoria and Melanie are in the same group, and Beckham and Aldridge are in the Premier League, although the four will not appear in public together, the subtle relationship between them The entertainment chemistry is really earth-shattering, which undoubtedly made the popularity of the four soar.

But Aldridge didn’t care about things other than football, and declined all entertainment interviews. When he appeared in the press conference, he responded with silence to any topic other than football. Because of this, he and Melanie There are fewer and fewer topics that can be created, and more and more stories between Beckham and Victoria.

Compared with Aldridge's success, Millwall's next match-up opponent, their coach's life in London is not very good, and it is even difficult to describe.

A cross-city derby in the Millwall League was rescheduled due to the Cup before, and the opponent was North London neighbors Arsenal.

The make-up match was on the night of the middle of the week, and Aldridge attended the press conference the evening before. He finished training the players and held a pre-match meeting in the tactical meeting room of the hotel without changing his clothes. He arrived at the scene wearing a blue sportswear.

Now every time Millwall holds a press conference, the scene is full of seats, and the attention they have received has even faintly surpassed that of Manchester United. Of course, this is only limited to the Premier League.

After sitting down, drink saliva to moisturize your throat. Aldridge talked a lot to the players in the meeting just now, because he attaches great importance to this make-up match against Arsenal, which is different from other teams whose main players change their tactics. Nothing has changed. Arsenal can be said to be the only team in Aldrich’s study of the Premier League opponents whose main structure has not changed much, but the style of play has been turned upside down. Therefore, he must let the players realize that Arsenal is no longer what they thought The boring Arsenal.

The reporters in the audience stared at Aldridge with piercing eyes. After he finished drinking the water, some people raised their hands to ask questions.

The Sun columnist Steve Howard, who likes to create eyeball topics, raised his hand and asked: Mr. Hall, what do you think about whether the FA Cup tie requires a rematch? Have you asked the FA? What about the proposed reforms?

When the journalists heard his question, they suddenly showed a tacit smirk.

Aldridge sighed lightly, and said lightly: If you are here today to mock Arsene Wenger, then the press conference is over. I am not interested in commenting on the comments of my colleagues. After all, they are not aimed at Millwall. Respect the right of other managers to express their opinions.

Steve Howard shrugged uninterestedly and stopped asking.

Wenger recently became the focus of news in the Premier League, because he complained about the schedule of the Premier League and criticized the FA Cup replay system, which made him a target of public criticism. Ferguson sneered mercilessly, thinking that he was a foreigner When I came here, my buttocks were still hot, and I started to criticize the traditions here.

The media's relentless pursuit made Wenger deeply realize that Fleet Street is not easy to deal with. He naturally became cautious in his words and deeds, and even this excessive caution made Fleet Street dissatisfied with him.

The more professional Times reporter David Miller is not here for lace news, he is here to hear Aldrich's insights, so he calmly raised his hand and asked: Mr. You have a good personal relationship with Wenger? Are you still vacationing in France together in summer?

Probably his way of asking is ambiguous. What does it mean that Aldridge and Wenger are on vacation together?

The strange smiles on the faces of the other reporters did not diminish in the slightest.

Aldrich nodded and said: Yes, I went to France in the summer, but I got to know many excellent coaches in France through the introduction of Mr. Wenger there. We watched football games together and discussed football topics. I Don't think it's worth your weird smiles.

David Miller looked at some tabloid colleagues around him in disgust. What he wanted to know was news about football, not extra-topic lace, and he continued to ask: If this is the case, then according to your Knowing Wenger, can we make an objective evaluation of him?

Aldridge rubbed his nose and smiled, and said: Evaluation? What qualifications do I have to judge others? Besides, he is one of my seniors, so I judge him? It would be rude. But I can simply say some facts , Ten years ago, Graham entered Arsenal. Although Arsenal has achieved a period of glory in the past ten years, what do the fans think of Arsenal? Library. It took only one month for Wenger to enter Arsenal. Nana's football style has changed, and he pays attention to what you call European ground coordination. He has changed Arsenal's training management, and the team's mental outlook has taken on a new look. In the past, they were like a pool of stagnant water, playing static football on the pitch. Now, Their football is more dynamic, beautiful and entertaining. Wenger is a head coach with profound football knowledge. Do you know? He spent 25 years researching and experimenting with football concepts, and he was successful in Monaco. There is no one in England qualified to judge him, to judge him.

The reporters looked at each other, listening to Aldrich's words, something was wrong, there was always a taste of auditory hallucinations.

David Miller nodded earnestly. He was quite satisfied with Aldridge's statement, but Richard, a reporter from the Daily Mail sitting behind, frowned and asked: Mr. Hall, how do you treat Wenger so well? High evaluation, oh, it’s admiration, at least that’s how I understand it, have you ever thought about it, he is your opponent, the team he coaches is called Arsenal, it’s Millwall’s derby opponent, you shouldn’t be judged by you His personal relationship influenced the opinion of him.

Aldridge's expression remained unchanged, and he replied: It is because I have not been affected by personal relationships that I will say this. Arsenal has already started rebuilding and will soon return to the ranks of the favorites. If I, and my players, can't clearly recognize the potential and changes of Arsenal, so, in the end, it will make Millwall swallow the bitter pill of underestimating the enemy. I like to seek truth from facts, and you don't think my belittling of West Ham United is It's my own selfishness, I'm just telling the truth, I didn't say a word about Arsenal today.

Favorites? This season?

A reporter from the Star broke in with a question.

How far is Arsenal from Millwall? The difference is close to 30 points!

Unless Millwall lose all their remaining games, there is no chance of Arsenal winning the title.

Aldridge scratched his head and said with a smile: In this season's Premier League, Arsenal must have no chance. Even if Millwoulken gave up the leading position, Manchester United would not agree, Newcastle United would not agree, and Liverpool would not agree. I will agree, but Arsenal still has the FA Cup to fight for. Vieira and Pires, who went to their team in the summer, and Anelka who recently moved to Arsenal, Arsenal's squad structure is very reasonable, which is enough to lay a good foundation for their future.

Talk about Millwall. With such a huge lead in the league, will Millwall's focus shift in the next few months? For example, defending the FA Cup and striving for the European Cup Winners' Cup?

I think the only thing Millwall lacks is experience. Our lineup structure is very young. Although many players have reached their peak age, such as Larson, Nedved and Southgate, our overall They are still very young, so the pressure and tasks on the shoulders of these players will be very heavy. I hope they can set an example for young players and help young players grow. This is the most important thing. Therefore, in the next few months, I will try to give more young people the opportunity to exercise. As for the trophy, step by step, we have only entered the quarterfinals of the European Cup Winners Cup. To enter the finals, we must first defeat the strong team in Norway in two months Bran, as for the FA Cup, of course we will try our best, but it doesn't mean we didn't try our best, because sometimes the price of losing a game is that my players gain experience and get the game Exercise improves, it is the only way to build the club in the long term.

(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come (this site) to subscribe and reward. Your support is my biggest motivation.) (m)