The Young Lion

The atmosphere at today's post-match press conference was a bit weird.

The score was a dazzling 1:0.

As a guest, Millwall lost, and no one can change the fact.

In the rematch, Schneider and Elguera lost their minds while defending. The former made a steal and made a mistake, leaving space behind. The latter recklessly bumped into Owen who was dribbling the ball in the penalty area and gave Liverpool the winning penalty.

But since the game is lost, the responsibility lies with the head coach.

Aldridge had a bad face, but he didn't think about shifting the responsibility to others, and he had already figured out how to deal with the media.

As he sat down to face the media's criticism, David Miller asked a question that left him stunned.

Mr. Hall, do you have any comments on Liverpool's conservative tactics today? For most of the game, Liverpool huddled in the second half at Anfield, and you could often see six Liverpool defensive players in the penalty area, plus Outside the penalty area, within 40 yards of the goal, Liverpool had nine players defending for almost 70 minutes, is this a passive anti-football tactic?

Ok?

Uh!

Aldridge looked around the audience, and the reporters in the audience stared at him intently. Most of them had sad looks on their faces, as if they were worried about something.

The atmosphere didn't seem to come to denounce him, nor was it to see his jokes.

I don't really understand what you're asking. Liverpool won today.

Aldridge suspected that he had heard wrong.

David Miller said solemnly: Yes, they won, and they won in a very ugly way. If Liverpool continue to use the tactics of this game in the future, then even if they keep winning, it will be worse than ever. Arsenal, dubbed the library, is even more unwatchable. I don’t think the fans want to see this kind of football. Although Millwall lost today, you still have an overwhelming advantage most of the time. Thirty-one times she Goal chances and no goals, it just shows that Millwall was unlucky today.

When David Miller expounded his point of view, other reporters nodded one after another. Only the Merseyside media reporters looked indignant, feeling that these reporters from London were too shameless. Obviously Millwall lost. The ball, but they still lick their faces and praise Millwall.

Aldrich roughly understood the thoughts of these reporters.

From the public's point of view, the focus battle between Millwall and Liverpool can't be said to be unwatchable, because Millwall's anti-customer is mainly suppressing Liverpool's indiscriminate bombing, mobilizing the audience's passion all the time, and it just makes the audience feel passionate One side lost the ball, this contrast is unacceptable.

I know that Mr. Hall is unwilling to judge his peers, but Roy Evans defeated you in this way. Can you really accept it calmly?

asked Richard of the Daily Mail indignantly.

After tracking and reporting Millwall for more than three years, he has almost become a die-hard fan of Millwall, and the articles he publishes tend to be professional and objective, rather than just booing and meaningless.

cough cough

Aldridge coughed twice, and then solemnly said: I can't accept it calmly, because Millwall lost, I am disappointed with the result, disappointed with the team, you said that scoring lacked luck, I think that It is a matter of strength. Luck on the court will only stand on the side with strength. Therefore, no matter what kind of miracle, it is created by a team with strength. Millwall is not strong enough. It was very difficult, but I firmly believe that the team still has room for improvement and we will do better in the future. As for Liverpool, they won the game, which is more important than anything else, more important than the so-called spectator.

But you used to sneer at Arsenal in the Graham era.

No, I have never denied the Arsenal of Graham's era, I just explained from a neutral point of view, Arsenal played boring games in that era, but I don't think Arsenal's tactics are wrong, nor are you guys The anti-football in the mouth. There are only rules in football. There are no points for viewing. Standard. As a head coach, no matter whether he has his own style or not, I think the first thing to do is to help the team win. Winning the game is the most basic goal. If you can make the game look good on this basis, that is An ideal, so you can't ask all coaches to pursue an ideal when the basic goal cannot be achieved.

Aldrich's words won the unanimous approval of the media in Merseyside.

They felt that this young marshal was really a respectable figure.

Although they were also dissatisfied with Evans' conservative tactics in this game, they were happy to win the game.

If you don't play like this, it is difficult to guarantee that Liverpool will not usher in another vigorous defeat.

Everyone knows that Millwall is strong, and Liverpool's lineup is no longer as strong as the Wild Lions. It is reasonable to be conservative in tactics.

Those who are neutral, who don't care about Liverpool's league position, of course want to see two teams play attacking football, but that would be a dead end for Liverpool.

If Evans dares to lose six games in a row against Millwall, he may not even be able to keep his job. So in this case, don't talk about ideal football, beautiful football, it is more practical to keep his job.

The godfather of Inter Milan, Herrera, also made the team play very beautifully at first, but they couldn't win the championship. The old Moratti directly issued an ultimatum. Herrera had to reform the team in order to get a job. This style of defense, coupled with unscrupulous means for victory, created the era of great internationals that flourished for a while.

If all the opponents play this passive game against Millwall, how will Millwall react?

We will have our own way. I will not criticize how the opponent will line up. Even if the opponent's 11 players stand in front of the goal to defend the goal, I don't care, because the opponent has not violated the rules of football. They can do that. Do, just as we have seven players in the opponent's half, of course the opponent can send nine players back to defend.

Aldridge told the truth again today, although his remarks made Fleet Street complain: We are on your side!

But the media in Merseyside highly praised Aldridge.

Young handsome is a real man.

A win is a win, and a loss is a loss.

I have no complaints when I lose today, and I am determined to win back when I fight next time.

Isn't this football?

Can't afford to lose and can't afford to complain.

What's more, when Aldridge first took charge of the team, he played very conservative tactics. The defensive counterattack made all the teams dizzy in League One. The media also laughed at Millwall as the track and field team on the football field.

Liverpool's victory over Millwall at home seemed to silently tell other teams: To play Millwall, you have to play like us!

Four days later, Aldrich really lost his temper.

Millwall played Wimbledon away. Not only did they fail to win the game, but the two sides failed to score a goal. The tactics adopted by the Crazy Gang are similar to those of Liverpool.

Pirlo and Capdevila were injured and left the field. In addition, Lampard's community shield was shoveled and his calf fractured. Less than a month after the start of the new season, Millwall injured three people in a row.

Aldridge protested during the game that the referee was directly sent off with a red card. Even if he appealed after the game, the FA ignored it and directly dismissed it, and fined him a three-match suspension.

In the last league game at the end of August, Millwall hosted Leicester City led by Martin O'Neill.

Aldridge sat in the stands and watched the battle calmly.

O'Neill was originally a head coach with a pragmatic style of play, so he led the team to the Lion's Den Stadium, and he also started to retreat.

Millwall still has a strong dominance over the game, but they seem to be unable to score goals in the face of dense defense.

Son, is the team okay? Why is luck so bad recently?

Arthur, who was sitting next to Aldrich, looked worried.

Millwall won't score, and Leicester City set up a dense defensive formation and use static positions to compress the space. This directly caused Millwall's players to have no room to run, and it was difficult to get the ball in the threat area. Extravagant hope, the distant she is either blocked or sent flying. It seems that if you want to break through, you have to rely on luck.

We were the champions last season, and all the teams are amazing when they meet us in the new season. This has nothing to do with luck.

Aldrich's mind was spinning fast.

If Millwall is allowed to play Arsenal, a team like Newcastle United that dares to attack, even if they play less and more in offense, Millwall has both the space and the ability to penetrate the opponent's defense.

However, when encountering Liverpool, which is not weak and determined to defend and counterattack to the end, or Wimbledon's hand-to-hand tactics, Millwall's advantage is minimized. Today's Leicester City play is not as good as Liverpool. Almost the same.

O'Neal has been coaching the team for a year and a half. From Aldrich's point of view, the team's defense, if it is not limited by the ability of the players, they can become a top defense line, which reflects O'Neal's coaching ability, give him second-rate Defensive players, building a close-to-first-class defense line, makes people think of Kevin Keegan in comparison. With first-class defensive players, but tinkering around, the team's defense line has become rugby.

Leicester City's counterattack is also very simple. There is Tony the bridgehead in front. After the defense is successful, the ball is given to Ruud van Nistelrooy who ran out of space. , No more than three troops should be invested in the entire attack.

Makelele completed eight interceptions, and two of them were successfully diverted to the wing by Tony. If it weren't for Schneider and Zambrotta's quick pursuit to disrupt the opponent's attack, Millwall's defense would have been stretched again. Bulletin.

When the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the live broadcast camera was aimed at Aldridge in the stands. Arthur next to him covered his face and looked very frustrated, while Aldridge was expressionless.

The defending champion suffered two draws, one loss and three rounds without a win after two big wins at the beginning of the new season. He only scored two points, and Aldridge's suspension is still continuing.

The test for Hall is coming again. This is probably the problem that the entire Premier League team has posed to him. How to break through the dense defense? When the opponent's defense line is static in the backcourt within 90 minutes, you will feel that the opponent They have no pursuit and don't want to win the game, but this just reflects their fear of Millwall. Yes, they may not have expectations of winning, but they are even more unwilling to accept failure, or be defeated by Millwall. Bloodbath. Last season, many teams in the Premier League were beaten helplessly by Millwall. Even the traditional three giants were double-killed. Who can blame them for the choice of the mid-lower teams to ensure a draw? Can Millwall, who is now the target of public criticism, return to the winning track? This is his challenge, and it is also Millwall's challenge. Perhaps, this is a battle where the Wild Lions fight against the entire Premier League team with passionate football , we are disappointed with today's game, but we should look forward to the final outcome of this war in the future.

Martin Taylor made a poetic statement at the end of the game.

Aldridge is indeed planning a new round of team transformation plans. In fact, he is unwilling to do so, because the team is going to play in the Champions League this year. It will be even higher. If the team cannot adapt to the changes in a short period of time, the collapse will end early this season.

Just when Aldridge was about to leave to participate in the UEFA Champions League group draw ceremony, a bad news shocked the UK and even the whole world.

In August 1997, Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris, France! ()