The Young Lion

Wenger has been isolated and criticized by the media and peers since he came to England. Some people think that his elegance is more like a maverick. Among the Premier League coaches, he is also the most out of gregarious. Outsiders interpret him as showing his uniqueness If it is different, this will naturally attract criticism from the outside world. .

At the Lion's Den Stadium, Wenger and Aldridge, two old friends, old and young, reunited on the battlefield. Before the start of the game, Aldridge has habitually appeared on the sidelines early, especially on home game days, he will always go first. Go to the VIP stand and chat with Puskas, Arthur, and Ivan for a while, or chat with the live reporters in the press box.

Five minutes before the start of the game, Aldridge stepped down from the stands, and Wenger stood up when he passed the coaching bench of the visiting team, and the two exchanged short greetings on the sidelines.

Life in London is harder than I thought.

Wenger sighed in a low voice with emotion.

Aldridge laughed: Yes, the head coach has many enemies here, and the media and the public are one of them.

Wenger frowned and said, It's strange why everyone seems to be hostile to me.

No way. In this environment, there are deeply rooted forces. They hope that outsiders will be assimilated by the tradition here. If you don't cooperate, you will become a target of public criticism.

My job is to lead the team to victory. It's not my job to drink and chat with other coaches. Will you also invite me to have a small gathering after the game?

Yes, but I can understand if you don't want to come.

forget it.

Aldridge and Wenger patted each other's arms before returning to the coach's bench.

Arsenal, a traditional giant, will be a guest at the Lion's Den tonight and challenge the league leader Millwall. If time goes back, I don't think anyone will believe that the gap between Millwall and Arsenal in the current standings is 29 points. Even if someone believes it, I must also think that Arsenal is the leader, but the reality is so cruel, Millwall is likely to win the Premier League title 6 to 8 rounds ahead of schedule this season, as long as they continue to perform so well.

Hall has absorbed the experience of last season's failure to hit the championship this season. He has allowed young players to appear on the cup stage for training this season, and the stabilized main lineup will go all out for the league. Today's starting lineup In the 22 appearances of the lineup in the Premier League, they have achieved a proud record of 20 wins and 2 draws. The quartet of Nedved, Larsson, Trezeguet and Shevchenko has been crowned as the magic four kings by the outside world. Title, as long as the four of them play at the same time, Millwall's offensive performance in the frontcourt is simply magical, but I think the more important thing is the Italian boy behind Nedved,

Pirlo, whether he plays directly affects the offensive efficiency of Millwall. Neither Ballack nor Lampard can replace his role in the offense. Of course, the former two contribute more to the defensive end than Pirlo. Obvious.

Arsenal's ranking is actually not much different from last year, and they remain in the second group. However, under the leadership of the Frenchman Arsene Wenger, the team's style of play has begun to undergo a fundamental change, although it still focuses on counterattacks. The Lord, but abandoned the traditional English long pass, but used European ground to advance, which is very similar to the Millwall built by Hall. The sudden rise of Millwall has set off a storm in the Premier League and quietly changed England. Football, because more and more teams imitate them. For example, the newly promoted Leicester City, which has performed amazingly this season, Martin O'Neill's team also defends and counterattacks, but they like to play on the ground and play on the wing. Middlesbrough also In the process of reform, they have introduced many skilled stars, but Robson seems to have encountered trouble in the transformation. Middlesbrough's strength has been greatly enhanced, but their performance has dropped sharply compared with the previous year, and now they are struggling to keep relegation.

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Players from both sides appeared on the stage, and many fans in the stands held signs. Many people were angry at the transfer of Pires and Vieira to Arsenal in the summer.

Fans tend to be emotionally selfish, it's human.

They believe that the two betrayed Millwall and went to the rivals in the same city, but it was just to express their dissatisfaction a little bit. If a player went to Chelsea or West Ham United, it would be completely different. Now, the fans are even more It's more of a gloating mentality.

You two are going to Arsenal, are you crazy? !

Pires has spent more time on the bench at Arsenal this season.

Vieira, although you are the main player, if you stay at Millwall, you will have a championship trophy to win this season.

The staff at Millwall is relatively well-organized. Shevchenko felt a little unwell in the last game and recovered after two days of rest. If there is discomfort, he will not force players to play, so as to avoid a small symptom from becoming a catastrophe.

Goalkeeper Bout, defensive line Schneider, Stam, Southgate, Capdevila, three midfielders Makelele, Pirlo, Nedved, striker trident Larsson, Trey Zege, Shevchenko.

On Arsenal's side, although Wenger has taken over Arsenal, their basic formation remains the same as in the past two years.

Goalkeeper Seaman, five defenders Dixon, Boulder, Adams, Keown, Winterburn, three midfielders Vieira, Pratt, Mason, striker Wright partner Bergkamp.

At the beginning of the game, Arsenal retreated across the board. All fronts were compressed in the second half, but a clear sense of hierarchy was maintained. Vieira and Pratt protected the midfield. Running and intercepting, Wright and Bergkamp one after the other, the latter's role on the field is more like a nine and a half, with a significant role in organizing and scoring in offense.

Because Arsenal was in a defensive posture from the beginning, there were a lot of people in the midfield, which made Pirlo's forward space narrow, so he sat in the midfield area and did the commander's job lightly.

In Millwall's formation, Pirlo is not a particularly outstanding figure. It is rare to see him assist and score directly, but without him, the quality of Millwall's overall offensive is significantly different.

Seeing all directions, he often shifts the ball inadvertently, which will make Millwall's offensive shift to the weakest opponent's defense.

Nedved ran back and forth in front to get involved, attracting the attention of Vieira and Pratt. Mason pressed Pirlo. , he was holding the ball on the right side of the center field, and he suddenly passed the ball directly from the ground to the left half. Afterwards, he dribbled forward at high speed. At the same time, Larson drew Dixon's attention, Nedved came to meet him, Capdevila sent the ball, Nedved's ankle flicked, and the ball was like a hand The sharp knife penetrated the space between Arsenal's full-backs and centre-backs.

Larson launched a diagonal shot at the right time, Boulder rushed to defend, Larson stopped and dunked in the hole, and then took advantage of the opportunity to shoot with one foot. The movement was coherent and the ball flew inward. Towards the upper right corner of the Arsenal gate.

Seaman, who had returned from injury, flew up and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one hand.

World-class saves! Larson has a great shot and Seaman makes a great save!

There was a loud sigh from the stands, followed by applause like a tidal wave.

Millwall's attack has been a real pleasure to watch.

Aldridge crossed his arms around his chest on the sidelines. This attack embodies the role of Pirlo. His transfer of the ball to instigate the offensive is an insight into the weak link of the opponent's defense. At the same time, the lateral transfer makes the opponent's formation move in a wide range. With another midfielder, the success rate of the ball is no problem, but it is hard to say whether you can directly see the space on the left from the right and pass the ball again.

The slow Pirlo trotted to take a corner kick. Set kicks are indispensable in his training session. Now Millwall's frontcourt free kick, if it is a passing tactic, it will be handed over to Schneider. The shot is given to Pirlo, and the corner kick is also given to Pirlo.

Pirlo did not hang the ball directly to the goal, but took a tactical corner kick. He passed the ball to Schneider who came up from the right side of the road, and the latter stopped the ball and then made a pass. Changes can disrupt the opponent's defense.

This pass was extremely threatening. The ball circled around and went to the back point. Arsenal’s defense pressed forward after the corner kick was taken. A beat.

Capdevila, who shot from the back point, sent the ball into Arsenal's gate with a header.

Just as he was about to celebrate, the linesman signaled offside first.

Capdevila shook his head and ran towards the backcourt.

Offside, no doubt, but it was not Capdevila who was offside, but Trezeguet, who did not keep up with the forward pressure of Arsenal's defense. When Schneider passed the ball, he obviously protruded, As for Capdevila's goal but not offside, but in this era, the offside rule is like this.

Aldridge didn't complain. This is a rule that everyone is following, and it is not discriminatory. It is indisputable.

Arsenal switched from defense to offense, the ball was passed forward from the backcourt, and the forward movement of the players also had a visual sense of wearing flowers and butterflies.

Pratt gave the ball to Vieira who was in the middle, and Vieira passed the ball to the foot of Dixon on the wing. In front of Bergkampra, Capdevila has returned to the defense, and Wright is sandwiched Between Makelele and the defense, Mason was blocked by Makelele's position to pass the pass.

Dixon dribbled the ball forward, Nedved helped defend the wing, Dixon did not try to use speed to break through Nedved's defense, but passed the ball to the center, Vieira was already defended by Larsson and Larsson. Trezeguet double-teamed, but there was someone in the middle, Adams!

Just when Adams was about to catch the ball, someone in front of him stretched out his foot and broke the ball, and he was about to take the ball forward to counterattack, so Adams knocked that person down with his body.

Wow, Pirlo actually completed a defensive block! This doesn't seem to be the defense he would make, but through the slow motion, we can see that he, who seems to have no retreat in the midfield, is consciously staring forward. Adams, when the ball was passed out, he took the initiative to step forward and break the ball, an excellent steal, it seems that Hall had special instructions to Pirlo in the pre-match deployment.

However, Pirlo's physical fitness is still a bit disadvantaged, and he fell to the ground when he was hit by the tall Adams.

After Pirlo fell to the ground, the referee blew his whistle to indicate that Adams had fouled. In this level of collision, Pirlo was not absolutely ahead of Adams, so it was impossible to talk about playing cards. Pirlo got up and was about to take a free kick. Adams even He kicked the ball skillfully, then turned and ran towards the backcourt.

Pirlo was very depressed, so he had to obediently go to pick up the ball and come back and re-send the free kick.

However, he has greater confidence psychologically. Defense is his weakness, and he must improve his defensive ability and awareness in the midfield position, so of course Aldridge will help him, every game he starts , Aldridge will explain the opponent's offensive characteristics to him alone, and tell him what he should pay attention to when defending.

Today, Arsenal's offensive routine is in Pirlo's mind, and his defense just now was not a mistake. This is very important for his defensive awareness and adds valuable experience. (To be continued. (m)