The Young Lion

On the evening of May 11, at Rotterdam Airport, six kilometers northwest of Rotterdam, a group of people in blue jerseys were looking forward to the exit hall of the airport. They looked at the exit with eager eyes.

The plane from London landed at Rotterdam Airport, and soon, a person walked out at the exit.

Wearing a slim black suit, Aldrich put his left hand in his pocket and pulled the suitcase with his right. He walked out with his head held high and his chest held high.

Behind him, the coaches of the coaching staff and all the players of the Millwall team were all neatly dressed in suits, and all of them were heroic and unrestrained.

The fans who had been waiting there for a long time suddenly burst into cheers!

Look! Millwall is coming!

Aldrich Hall! It's really him! The most famous young marshal in Europe! He's much more handsome than he looks on TV!

Larson! Nedved! Shevchenko! Schneider! It's them!

Larson! Larson!

 …

The scene suddenly became chaotic. Hundreds of fans in the airport surrounded the entire Millwall team. Some asked for autographs, some sent flowers, and some fanatical female fans boldly hugged their favorite players and gave them sweet kisses.

Aldridge led the team to fight in England, and has never experienced such a scene, because the local fans are no strangers to Millwall, whether it is TV exposure or going to the scene to watch the game, they can be seen.

Even if they led the team to play in Europe, in Paris, they did not meet many fanatical fans, because they were not a popular team.

But today is very different.

Millwall won the Premier League title, entered the European Cup Winners' Cup final, and eliminated Paris Saint-Germain in two rounds, allowing their reputation in Europe to grow rapidly.

When outside fans became curious about this team, they quickly became fans of Millwall, or fans of a certain player in the process of getting to know them in depth.

Aldrich alone already has a popularity no less than that of an entertainment star.

He is young and handsome. His tactical command is resourceful, he is calm on the sidelines, and sometimes shows the wildness of a young man. He attracts everyone's attention. He is the pride of England.

This is the Times evaluation of the young coach who has rapidly become popular in the Premier League in the past three years.

And Aldridge's high-light shots are no less than any star, especially in the last two minutes of the Premier League final game, he raised his right hand on the sidelines and unswervingly let the goalkeeper and central defenders attack, and turned to his opponent Lao Lei. The invitation action of going out of the empty door without defense, after the team lore the opponent and drove the mortal enemy into the abyss of relegation, he left the field early with a charming and evil smile. The whole process was repeatedly broadcast by major TV stations in England. Let Aldrich's popularity explode directly. Become one of the idols of the new generation!

However, Aldridge himself does not have the consciousness of a star. He only felt the enthusiasm of the fans here after he came to Rotterdam. Among the staff accompanying the team, there are not many security guards. Therefore, with the help of airport security to maintain order, the Millwall team walked out of the airport smoothly.

Aldridge boarded the bus first, and then turned back to the players who calmed down after being shocked and said: If you want, you can sign autographs and take photos with these fans, and we can wait for half an hour before leaving.

There were more fans outside the airport, surrounded by the gate of the bus under the maintenance of security personnel.

The Millwall players are used to local fans outside the training ground, and they didn't expect to be so popular abroad. The fans naturally waited for a long time, which moved the players very much, so they took photos and signed some fans outside the bus, which made many fans ecstatic.

Overnight at a five-star hotel in Rotterdam. Aldridge did not issue martial law to the players. The players can go out for a stroll, but they must return to the hotel to rest before 11 pm.

Before the start of the game, they have three days, the 12th, 13th, and 14th. For these three days, Millwall's plan is to rest on the first day, enter training on the second day, step on the field on the third day, and then play on the 15th.

Players have different preferences. Some don’t like stepping on the field to train, thinking it’s a waste of time, while others don’t want to rest too much and want to use exercise to maintain their physical condition. This is different from person to person, but Aldridge started As for the whole team, you can’t make plans according to the likes and dislikes of the players. Whether you like it or not, this is a collective, and individual will must obey the collective will. Overly thoughtful and consider the big picture.

As a famous port city in Europe, Rotterdam has its own unique beautiful scenery. On the second day, the Millwall team, the players traveled together to enjoy the wonderful scenery of foreign countries.

Also on this day, the Barcelona team arrived in Rotterdam, which caused a bigger sensation than when Millwall arrived!

Major mainstream media teams across Europe also arrived here one after another, tracking and reporting the situation of the two teams since before the game.

This game was called by the media as the future peak decisive battle!

The future here has two meanings, one means that the game will be played in the future, and the other means that both Millwall and Barcelona are young teams, and there are many supernovas in the two teams, they are the fresh blood of European football , and will definitely be an enduring figure in the top arena in the future.

The good news, The Sun, ran the headline England's Civil War!

The coaches of the two teams are the young coach Aldridge on one side, and Sir Bobby Robson, who is over sixty years old, on the other.

Both are from England, which makes the British media very proud.

There are many famous coaches in the history of England, such as Calvo, Nicholson, Sir Ramsey in the past, Clough, Paisley, Levy, etc. in the past 20 or 30 years, and they are still active in the public eye in the contemporary era. There are not many former England coaches. Sir Bobby Robson must be one. He created England’s best national team World Cup record after winning the World Cup at home, and because he traveled around Europe to coach, he is still one A cancer fighter, so he is admired throughout England.

Even though Aldridge is in the limelight at this time and is very popular in England, objectively speaking, he is not as good as Robson.

In terms of popularity, Aldridge may be better, but in terms of achievements, Aldridge can only be held up.

This duel between the young and the old is being exaggerated. Is it the inheritance of the times or the newcomers, is it Aldridge who is not afraid of tigers when he is a newborn calf, or is Robson more spicy? There are so many things to watch in this matchup.

The two most outstanding forwards in Europe's five major leagues face off. Larson and Ronaldo.

There is no shortage of highlights in the comprehensive contest between the capable fighters in their respective formations.

When Aldridge attended UEFA's final press conference one day before the game, there were more than a hundred reporters in the audience, from different countries around the world.

The attractiveness of this final is faintly comparable to that of Dortmund and Juventus in the Champions League final!

Under the control of the press officer, Aldridge paid tribute to Sir Bobby Robson and waited for questions from reporters.

At first, some mainstream media in Europe were asking about the game.

For example, team status, player list, game tactics and so on.

But at the end of the press conference, it turned into a war of words between Aldridge and the reporters.

Mundo Deportivo and Daily Sporting Daily two Barcelona Queen's media mouthpieces fired at Aldridge with hostility.

Six months ago, you once said that Ronaldo was not worthy of the second place in the Ballon d'Or. He was not worthy of the World Footballer. But he has scored more than 40 goals this season. Do you still insist on your original remarks?

The scene suddenly became silent, and all the reporters knew one thing in their hearts: the good show has begun.

After a moment of silence, Aldridge said lightly: Yes, I still insist.

Don't you think it's your ridiculous stubbornness that you're deceiving yourself?

No. I don't think so. First of all, let me reiterate that neither the Ballon d'Or nor the World Player of the Year is a selection of future superstars. Please tell me, what honor did Ronaldo win in the 95-96 season? I don't think he is better than my players in Barcelona for half a season. Of course. If he can win some heavyweight honors this season, such as the league championship, then he will become a popular candidate for the Ballon d'Or in this year's selection. I will agree, but. Before there is no team honor, please don't over-pursue the individual and ignore the team.

You said Ronaldo is not as good as your player, please tell me who is better than Ronaldo!

Aldrich chuckled and said, That's not interesting, but if you want to know, then I will say that although Larson and Ronaldo are two different types of forwards, but just to compare results, Larson was better than Ronaldo last season. Ronaldo has won more championship trophies, scored more goals and assisted more. This season, Larsson still scored more goals and assists than Ronaldo, and we have already won the league championship. Larsson helped the team create A lot of great records, 18 league games in a row is one of them, home win streak, away win streak record, consecutive goals scored, etc., I don't want to talk about it.

What a joke! Are the Premier League and La Liga comparable? If Millwall came to La Liga, you might not even be able to make it to the top three! How much gold does the record created in that kind of league have? Ronaldo scored A lot of great goals, a hundred years later people will talk about this great striker's goals!

Heh heh heh heh heh heh, that's interesting. Well, you let Barcelona play in the Premier League. It's a stupid discussion. I never denied that Ronaldo's goals were entertaining, nor did I deny him. The talent and ability of a player, but the comprehensive value of a player is not only whether he can do his job well, but also to improve the team and help the team achieve honor. If only the individual ability of the player is evaluated, what is the significance of the team? Where is the collective sense of honor of the players? You are chasing Ronaldo here, have you ever thought about the value of those who help him by his side? Figo, Giovanni, de la Pena, Enrique, Guardiola Wait, where is their value? Is it to serve Ronaldo? If so, then I am disappointed by Barcelona's football values, but in fact, no! You are misinterpreting all this, Ronaldo is good because Barcelona has a great team and they are working together to win for the team, not for individuals! When you highlight Ronaldo's contribution, please give some respect to the other Barcelona players, without them, Ronaldo is nothing, just like Larsson Similarly, without Nedved, Trezeguet, Makelele, Southgate and other teammates, he would not have achieved what he is now.

We're only talking about the strikers, not the whole team!

It's hopelessly stupid! Do you think that Ronaldo of Barcelona went to Vallecano, Sporting Gijon, Celta Vigo and other teams in the middle and lower reaches of La Liga, and he can still perform the same? He can still score so many goals. Is there a great goal in your mouth? Similarly, if Larsson is not in Millwall, but in other mid-lower teams in the Premier League, he must not be able to play so well! This topic is over, Millwall Already proved himself in the Premier League, Larson also used the Premier League Golden Boot to keep himself in the history of the Premier League, Ronaldo's personal record is very good, but Barcelona is still behind Real Madrid in La Liga, this is Facts, goodbye. (m)