The Young Lion

After the game against Leicester City, Aldridge invited O'Neill to chat in the office.

He opened a bottle of good wine, and the two sat on the sofa with a lot of emotion.

The idea before the season is still naive. The capital of Leicester City wants to make a difference in the Premier League. made up for.

O'Neill drank wine, full of bitterness.

Aldrich nodded in agreement. Leicester City's performance in the new season is polarized. They have a good record against strong teams and basically do not fall behind, but they will be unlucky against weak teams. It is extremely difficult to win.

When weak teams face Leicester City and pay more attention to defense, even if Leicester City has the combination of Tony + Gudjohnsen, it is still weak.

Once counterattacked by the opponent, Leicester City's overall defensive strength is not as good as the opponent's striker.

Yeah, you want to bring Leicester City into the first group of the Premier League. To be honest, it is basically impossible. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, even Leeds United have a better lineup than Leicester. The city is stronger. The strength of a team depends first on the individual abilities of the players. Although it is not absolute, like Tottenham and Everton in the past two years, the lineups are not bad, but it is a pity that the team cannot be kneaded together. Lecce As far as Manchester City is concerned, the forward line is not bad. It is no problem to settle down in the Premier League. If you can score enough goals and limit the offense in the middle and lower reaches, it is basically no problem. But the further you go to the top of the standings, the defense is the most important. Yes, the team that can rank in the forefront must have no problem in offense, and the rest will have better defense than anyone else. Who can suppress competitors in key battles.

O'Neill was thoughtful, suddenly became interested, asked Aldridge for a tactics book, and began to discuss tactics with him.

Aldridge was also very happy, the game was over, and he didn't want to go home yet, so he could have someone to chat with for a while to pass the time. He should accompany him.

O'Neill mainly discussed with Aldridge the attacking midfielder.

There is no doubt about this man's coaching ability. When Ferguson announced his retirement several times in history, O'Neal was the favorite to succeed him. However, the first time he chose to go to the Scottish giants Celtic, the second time he was still in The Celtics are handsome. Ferguson himself backed out again.

O'Neill specifically mentioned two teams, one is Arsenal and the other is the new World Cup champion France.

One of these two teams has an attacking midfielder and the other does not have an attacking midfielder.

Aldridge told O'Neill very calmly that the only difference between the tactics of the two teams is that Arsenal weakened the attack in the middle.

Quick break from the side. The French team weakened the striker.

The same point is the same, double back waist.

The purpose is clear at a glance: to strengthen the defense.

And this is also the trend of the future, not that people are unwilling to see talented midfielders performing magical football skills. But in the context of football becoming more and more utilitarian, the defense of a single midfielder is really not reassuring. If you think about it the other way around, it will be clear if the opponent has a super midfielder. How high is the one-on-one success rate against your own single midfielder? The barrier in front of the back line is simply useless.

Arsenal don't want a forward midfielder, they mainly attack the wing, and someone will support them in the center.

The French team has weakened the striker. It can be said that they are 4231, 433, or 451. The double midfielder is to escort Zidane, who is not born in the world.

O'Neill's tactics used to not have an attacking midfielder, and he would attack from the side when he was fighting a counterattack, but now he is playing a positional battle, and he has deployed an attacking midfielder, but the effect is very unsatisfactory, especially because he does not have a good attacking midfielder. Lose the ball when organizing an offense, and your own defense is shaky.

Aldridge gave him an idea, considering using the unilateral flying wing that is common in Italy, that is to say, the double midfielder remains the same, plus a front midfielder and a wide midfielder. The attack focuses on one side. To defend against sideways retreat, at least the system is relatively balanced.

For a small team, if you can't afford to fly with both wings and don't have good players, then you can only wait and see. The offensive power is weaker, but at least they won't cry when they are counterattacked.

He and O'Neill discussed until 9 p.m., and then the two went out to dinner together, still discussing tactics at the table.

After the league, it ushered in a week of double matches. Millwall went to the European war and ushered in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage at Wembley. The opponent was the Austrian champion Graz in back-to-back games.

The last round of 7 balls slaughtered the opponent. When they played against each other again, Aldridge dispatched many young players. He said lightly at the pre-match press conference: As long as Millwall wins this game again, they can declare the success of the group. Yes, the game is not difficult, I will send many young players to let them get exercise.

Aldridge did what he said, and directly announced the starting list.

Goalkeeper: Keller.

Defenders: Ferreira, Neil, Ferdinand, Ashley Cole.

Defenders: Pedretti, Gattuso, Lampard.

Wing Midfielders: Van der Meyde, Glenciel.

Forward: Klose.

This is no longer a substitute lineup, and three more unfamiliar names have entered the media's attention.

The two full-backs, Ferreira and Cole, appeared in the Champions League at a young age, and Pedretti already had the title of little Maclele.

Fleet Street reporters who are familiar with Millwall held back their laughter.

Hall is so bad!

Scorning opponents, and indeed fielding a young roster, looks like a harbinger of arrogance and underestimation.

But look at his starting lineup.

This he-mother is 451!

The three midfielders can fight and grab, this nima is just trying to lure the opponent to take the bait and attack.

Anyway, Graz has no hope of qualifying, losing three games in a row in the group stage, and suffered a disgraceful defeat at home. Going to the away game was a bit of a routine.

But they came to London to prepare for the war, can they keep their ears shut?

The London media played up that Millwall was determined to win, and they used a lineup of 2 teams + 3 teams contemptuously.

A soldier can be killed but not humiliated!

Grass-you-family, Millwall!

The Austrian champion was furious.

At Wembley, the offense was mainly against the guest, and the offense was played vigorously.

pity. This is what Millwall wants to see most, and it is also the purpose of Aldridge's pre-match remarks and announcement of the starting lineup.

He sat on the coach's bench and dragged his chin to watch the game. Four minutes into the first half, Graz, who was extremely aggressive, was crushed by Millwall's side counterattack.

Pedretti succeeded in stealing the ball in front of the penalty area, splitting the ball and counterattacking. Ferreira didn't ink, and kicked the ball to Van der Meyde in front.

Van der Meyde stopped and passed the opponent's full-back handsomely and unrestrainedly. Then a through ball was handed over to Klose who succeeded in countering offside.

Klose did not live up to the expectations of his teammates. He calmly pushed the ball into the far corner with a single goal. The score was rewritten and Millwall led 1:0.

The number of fans in the stadium has dropped today.

After all, Graz was slaughtered with 7 goals in the last round, and Wild Lions fans almost unanimously believed that the second round of the match was just abuse.

The process of the game also looked like abuse. But this is inseparable from Aldrich's conspiracy and psychological warfare.

If Graz doesn't take the initiative to attack, it will take a lot of trouble to fight tough battles. After all, they are the champion team of the second-tier league, and they are really determined to defend. Millwall is not half of the main force. Can the game be sure?

Graz was not discouraged after conceding the ball. Go on the offensive.

Thirteen minutes later, Gronkshall broke through the two in the counterattack alone, made a one-two with Klose in front of the penalty area, and then turned offside with a single-handed shot and sent the ball into the goal.

Glenshire also scored! Millwall led by two goals in less than 20 minutes. This looks like it will be another massacre. Millwall's youth storm continues to be staged, even the familiar grid Renshire is only 21 years old now! Will Pedretti, Ferreira, Cole, and Millwall's three debut young players become the mainstay of the Wild Lions in the future?

When Grenshall and Klose hugged, Aldridge stood up. He walked to the sidelines and called Lampard over, asking him to play a b2b (box to box) role in the counterattack.

A few words of confession are enough. Aldridge turned his head to search for Ashley Cole and Paul Ferreira, but he didn't see them in the backcourt until he turned his eyes to the celebrating crowd.

Good boy, Gronkshall scored in the opposition box, both full-backs rushed up from their own box to join in the celebration...  

When they walked back, Aldrich pointed to the two of them, and then waved.

Get the two in front of you and tell them to go forward and play aggressively in the next game, just like they did in training.

Graz's players and coach almost burst into tears. Seeing Aldridge's posture, he still doesn't plan to give up.

Graz began to be a little timid. The two goals behind reminded them of the match half a month ago. It was a nightmare. Will it happen again today?

They started shrinking, putting up fences, consciously focusing on Gronkjaer, Van der Meyde, and Klose who scored.

Aldridge foresaw this, so he allowed players with midfielders on the side and the center to step forward to support.

Before the end of the first half, Lampard inserted a long shot and was saved by the goalkeeper. Klose followed up with a supplementary shot to expand the score to 3:0.

In the second half, Aldridge used Duff to remove Glenshire, and Henry also came on as a substitute for Van der Meyer.

However, in the second half, the opponent defended more resolutely. There were constant dangers in front of the gate, but they relied on the human wall to keep the gate intact. The final score was fixed at 3:0.

At the end of the game, Aldridge took the initiative to shake hands with the opponent's coach, but the opponent became furious, thinking that Aldridge was humiliating him, and walked away.

Aldridge showed a very helpless expression, so he had to shake hands with the assistants of the opponent's coaching staff, then turned and walked into the player tunnel.

The defending champion of the Champions League Millwall is unstoppable. They have won all four games in the group stage. They have two games left. The next round will go to Moscow to challenge Spartak Moscow. The last game will be Inter Milan at Wembley. Millwall, with 12 points, has basically announced that they have advanced to the knockout round. Unless they lose the next two games, they may miss the knockout round, but the probability is not very high. Considering the points of other groups, 12 points should be the best. The second place in the group, especially their goal difference advantage is too big.

In an interview after the game, Aldridge changed his pre-match attitude again, and highly praised the Austrian champion Graz. Yes, the game is over, and at least it is impossible to meet again in the next six months. Aldridge will of course give The opponent respected enough, as for the contemptuous gesture before the game, it was nothing more than for the victory of the game.

The reason why Aldridge did not send the main force in this Champions League game is very obvious. Fleet Street knows it without asking: recharge your batteries for the London derby!

Just three days later, Millwall will head to West London to challenge Premier League leader Chelsea at Stamford Bridge! ()