The Young Lion

Millwall's start for this game is exactly the same as it was for Chelsea at the weekend.

After the start of the game, Millwall's offense was stern, with more than composure and lack of passion.

When attacking, the ball is passed forward one by one, and the player's running range is not large. Often before the ball is caught, there are PSV players around him to mark it, and then catch the ball and make a breakthrough, or complete a breakthrough through personal ability .

Eindhoven also played 433 today. When defending against each other, the three midfielders retreated to withstand Millwall's midfielders, and the wing shrank back to the half. Millwall's full-backs would not be too easy. .

Nedved used his body to squeeze Cocu away, and then passed the ball to Trezeguet who retreated and took the ball with his back. Take advantage of the momentum and take a long shot.

This long-range shot made all the PSV players break out in a cold sweat. The ball rubbed against the crossbar and flew into the stands.

Eindhoven, Larsson is no stranger. He played for Feyenoord for two years before, and now he still has a few veteran players in Eindhoven.

Those players in the Eindhoven team who had played against Larsson in the Eredivisie looked at Larsson with admiration. Although Larsson played as a winger in Feyenoord at the time, he performed well, but he was definitely not a terrifying striker. killer.

Unexpectedly, he moved to England and became a top scorer in only three years from League One. The heavy European Golden Boot in his hand is the best proof.

Although Eindhoven also put on a defensive posture after the opening, it is different from putting on an iron bucket.

It’s not that all 11 players take back the half court to set up the bus, just like Aldridge said to the reporter, when one side has seven or eight players rushing across the half court to participate in the offense, the defense naturally has a reason to use more numbers To lay out the defense line.

Whether the defensive players shrink the penalty area intensively does not mean that they are busting.

Aldrich believes that the negative tactics of laying the bus that have been criticized by others pay more attention to the choice after the defense is successful.

If the defensive side has an organized offense, then their defense is for a better offense. Even if 11 people are defending in the penalty area, this is beyond reproach.

But if the defense is successful, they don't choose to organize the offense, but clear the ball directly. If there are no offensive players rushing forward to fight for offensive opportunities, then this situation is called bustling and negative football, because obviously, if there is no willingness to attack, it is equivalent to giving up the fight for victory. This is anti-football.

Utilitarian football for points or a favorable draw through and through.

Therefore, almost all of Eindhoven retreated when defending, but after a successful defense. Their formation immediately spread out and pressed forward. Attack in an organized and planned manner. Although not many troops were invested, they were only implementing the most normal tactics, rather than placing buses.

Eindhoven's offensive pursuit after the opening was prudent, and they never rushed forward when passing the ball. Trying to ensure that the ball is not lost, but this also slows down their offensive speed virtually, because the forward pass route is often consciously blocked by Millwall's returning players.

If Millwall fails to attack, it will immediately organize a counterattack. The counterattack of the frontcourt players is to give the backcourt players time to return to the defense. Withdraw back.

The two teams played more cautiously in the first 20 minutes. After all, it was the first game of the group stage. Be careful, and there is no big mistake. The team is often over-excited and plays extremely unrestrained. They all ended up dying miserably.

The Champions League is a stage that tests patience and experience. The more mature the team, the more opportunities it has.

Aldridge watched it for more than 20 minutes, not disappointed in his heart, but his feeling for this PSV Eindhoven team is: just mediocre.

He wanted to see Holland's Total Defense. It's almost impossible in this day and age.

Total Offensive and Total Defense tactics not only literally understand that all players participate in offense and defense, but the essence lies in the role reversal.

For example, a defender dribbles the ball forward to attack, can do the work of a midfielder, and may also complete the work of a striker, achieving a surprise effect tactically, and the more difficult part of this three-line offensive role conversion is defense, and the defender rushes up. Now, who will fill the gap behind? If the midfielder rushes to the goal to pose a threat but encounters a counterattack by the opponent, the forward at the back position needs to complete the role change immediately to fill the defensive loopholes in the midfield. The principle of other positions is the same.

This is too high a requirement for players, how high is it?

Michels, the father of Total Defense, said in person: To fully utilize the tactics of Total Defense in the Netherlands, at least seven world-class players are needed in the team!

Seven world-class players, that's at least!

Players without a certain level of ability cannot understand or even if they can understand it consciously, they cannot meet the requirements of total attack and defense in terms of ability.

It is a pity that the requirements of this tactical concept are too high, so that no one can carry forward Dutch football after its glory. Freedom tactics, as for the Dutch national team, have also insisted on this style of play, but there is no absolute number of world-class players to implement it. The scene can be played smoothly, but the results are always unsatisfactory, because this kind of freedom is given to players. Tactics, once something goes wrong in a certain link, it may cause a big collapse.

The tactical concept of total attack and total defense is idealized, but it is difficult to survive. Its most primitive tactical concept will be resisted by the players first: you let the world-class striker suddenly become a midfielder in the game, How many people would be happy?

However, Total Attack, known as the third tactical revolution in football, still provides new tactical ideas for latecomers, removes the idealized elements, and draws on practical and feasible characteristics to build a team. Many coaches study Total Attack All purpose.

Aldridge can generously admit that many players in Millwall's offense change positions and change positions, and the roles are blurred and diversified, which comes from the concept of total attack and total defense tactics.

The subsequent cosmic team Barcelona also has the shadow of total defense in its tactical essence.

Eindhoven can't play total defense. The apparent 11-man offense and 11-man defense have nothing to do with the real Dutch total defense.

So Aldridge was disappointed that he didn't even see one, one PSV player switch roles in formation.

A striker is a striker, a midfielder is a midfielder, and a defender is a defender, whether defending or attacking. Each perform their duties step by step.

Thirty minutes passed.

Eindhoven withstood the threat of Millwall's six-footed shot, and they also had two shots, but they didn't invest much in attacking troops before, one midfielder plus three forwards.

After half an hour, Eindhoven began to invest more troops in the attack, and an extra midfielder went forward during the attack!

When Cocu kicked the ball behind Millwall's wide defense and gave the ball to Zenden, Southgate predicted the opponent's pass in advance, blocked the ball with a precise tackle, and consciously The ball was blocked to Larson who retreated from the wing.

Larson faces the rolling ball. He crossed without hesitation. Then turn around and move forward quickly.

Aldridge's eyes suddenly became hot on the sidelines: it's now!

The rhythm of the field changed suddenly.

Millwall, who had passed the ball with a single eye when attacking before, began to throw the ball continuously when he switched from defense to offense at this moment. And most of them play through balls.

After receiving a pass from Larsson, Makelele passed the ball to Nedved running ahead.

The opponent's midfielder immediately stuck up to prevent Nedved from stopping the ball and turning around, but Nedved lightly knocked the ball across again, and Ballack stepped forward with the ball and took a big step, breaking through the opponent's midfield defense line. When Shevchenko made an inward cut, which attracted the opponent's full-back, Ballack passed a diagonal pass, and the ball rolled to the wing, which was inserted at the foot of Schneider at high speed.

The opponent's full-back immediately turned around to block Schneider, but the German still kept the ball and stuffed the ball straight into the penalty area. Shevchenko rushed to the bottom line and half-turned to sweep the ball back to the penalty spot.

Trezeguet rushed forward to grab the spot and took away PSV's defenders. Just behind them, Larsson came in diagonally from the penalty spot to take advantage of the trend and then pushed the ball with his foot.

The ball rolled into the goal from between the goalkeeper's legs.

The big and small gates were announced to be lost at the same time!

Millwall lead by one goal!

Wembley roared with cheers.

With his eyes closed, Aldridge gritted his teeth and swung his right fist heavily in front of him.

That's it!

Millwall played conservatively in the first 30 minutes. This is a tactical requirement. Firstly, it is based on defense, not to be too unrestrained and cause the defense to be attacked and counterattacked. Second, it is also paralyzing the opponent.

Originally, the Dutch team is not afraid of fast teams. The Netherlands takes 433 offensive football as the mainstream. In the league, the civil war is fought back and forth, and the fast team is not afraid. There is no need for Millwall to speed up the pace as soon as it comes up.

Furthermore, according to Aldridge's request before the game, taking advantage of the opponent's psychology of wanting to win, although PSV did not attack aggressively, but the increase in the number of troops invested was not as easy as before when switching from offense to defense. Er suddenly speeds up the tempo, playing what they are best at, and advancing quickly, and during the advancing process, the ball shifts from one side to the other, shifting the opponent's defensive focus, and at the final blow, the attack is returned to the other side, making the opponent Caught off guard!

Aldridge called Ballack and Nedved to the front after the players celebrated, telling them to unify their thinking and not to take it lightly or change the established tactics just because they took the lead.

The two midfielders nodded solemnly in agreement.

Millwall took the lead but did not pursue it after the re-kick-off.

Eindhoven had to calm down after the city gate fell, so there was no massive counterattack, and the offensive and defensive rhythms of the two teams became as unhurried as before.

Aldrich folded his arms and chest, not daring to be careless for a moment, and kept observing the situation on the field, especially the performance of his disciples.

Millwall's tactics today are very simple. If you are caught in a positional battle, then play more traditionally, point-to-point passing, strikers can move more and intersperse, but midfielders focus on stability.

When Eindhoven is attacking, Millwall must pay attention. Defense is only the basic work they should do. More importantly, when the defense successfully switches from offense to defense, at that time the aiming time suddenly speeds up the pace of the game to put pressure on the opponent's goal.

It's a bit like a boxing match where the most threatening blow is hidden behind a series of probing attacks.

In terms of personal ability, Millwall's players are not inferior to their opponents. In addition, in the London game, Millwall formed a more powerful rule of the game after scoring a goal.

The first half ended in Trezeguet's header which went wide of the post and the two teams walked back to the dressing room. ()