The Young Lion

On Christmas Day, Millwall's big list of players and coaching staff took the bus north to Seven Sisters Street.

Today, Millwall played lightly, and the team administrators in Pingli have given him a holiday in advance to let him go home for the holidays.

The Highbury Stadium was full of seats, and the atmosphere of Christmas lingered in the stands of the stadium. Many fans dressed up as Santa Claus to watch the game.

The atmosphere of this London derby was suddenly different from what it had been before.

Two or three years ago when Arsenal fell and Millwall rose, even if there was no hatred between Arsenal and Millwall, there was a little hostility between the Gunners fans and the Wild Lions fans. Now, the two teams are due to the same city. The animosity in the derby relationship is very weak, it can be said that there is no such thing as rivalry.

Rivalry and hatred are two different things, just like the hatred between Millwall and West Ham United and Chelsea, it does not change because of the opponent or your own league ranking or team strength, if you compete, it is more like the relationship between Manchester United and Millwall The relationship between the fans of the two teams is almost non-existent, but no one wants to bow to the other in the stands. The war between the fans in the stands is more than passionate, not hot enough.

Aldridge didn't chat with Wenger today. He sat on the coach's bench early and waited for the game to start.

Wenger was rather depressed. Arsenal maintained the initiative in defending the title in the league, but they were eliminated in the Champions League after being ranked third in the group. No. 2 in the group won't win.

My friends, Merry Christmas. Today at Highbury, we will see defending champions Arsenal and Millwall in the same city derby. The difference between the two teams is only one point, Arsenal in front, Millwall At the end, Manchester United is one point more than Arsenal, and Chelsea is one point less than Millwall. The top four teams are only one point away from first to fourth. There is a saying in the media that now it is London The team is besieging the Manchester team, in fact it seems to be the same, the focus of English football is now undoubtedly from Manchester to London, Millwall, Arsenal, Chelsea, this is the backbone of the London power.

Martin, don't you want to talk about today's game?

I just don't want to give the audience too high expectations. Although the two teams are ranked second and third, Millwall is short of major generals today, and Arsenal's offensive firepower has also dropped slightly this season. Therefore, this game I think it's definitely not as good as the Christmas game Millwall played in the previous two years.

Both teams are defensive teams. The league is about to finish halfway. The number of goals conceded by Arsenal is actually in single digits, only 8, while Millwall conceded 13 goals. The defense of the two teams is in the middle. The Premier League ranks the top two, and in terms of offensive firepower, the two teams are not much different, but compared to last season, both teams have dropped significantly. Arsenal's French teenager Anelka began to partner with Bergkamp to attack.

The golden trident of Millwall last season completely disappeared in the first half of this season, and Ronaldinho and Nedved, who performed the best in the first half of the season, are not in the squad. I think this game will be very exciting. Will be greatly discounted.

Hehe, Wenger's contest with Hall last season was evenly divided. Last season, he beat Millwall and scored 3 points. It was one of the key battles for Arsenal to win the championship. Coupled with the away game against Manchester United, I think Wenger If you want to defend the title in the league, you must win the game against Millwall at home. I can't predict what Hall thinks. He is behind in points. According to common sense, he should also take the initiative to attack, but in the He doesn't have many options when the team is clearly missing key players.

Arsenal's defense this season is simply against the rhythm. The average age of the five veterans in the defense is over 32 years old, but they radiate unrivaled energy. , but considering that it was the ultimate anti-counterattack tactic with 5 backs back then, and now it is a regular defensive counterattack with 4 backs, Arsenal's defense under Wenger has reached another level.

Millwall's lineup today gives people a feeling that they can't beat Arsenal.

Goalkeeper: Bout.

Defenders: Schneider, Materazzi, Ferdinand, Zambrotta.

Midfield: Van der Meyde, Gattuso, Lampard, Makelele, Glenciel.

Forward: Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Aldridge put up two defensive midfielders, and invested four people in the attack, two full-backs Galampard and Ruud van Nistelrooy, and the attacking formation was a diamond-shaped four-man team.

Wenger came to the sidelines fifteen minutes before the start of the game, and he was also sitting on the coach's bench. After learning about Millwall's starting lineup, he frowned, feeling like he had made a mistake.

According to the experience of last season, Millwall should play 433 or 442 even if they play away games. They never expected to play 451. The midfielder obviously focuses on defense.

Now it's troublesome.

Arsenal's offensive firepower has declined in the new season. Although Anelka is also known as a genius, but the number of goals has not yet reached the level of a world-class striker, but judging by his age, he can average two games. One goal is really amazing. Thinking about Alan Smith scoring one goal in four or five games, he is called a genius killer. It is not an exaggeration that Anelka is expected to be a world-class killer in the future.

When Aldridge summed up the reasons for his failure in the league last season, he also conducted a self-examination.

Millwall lost both of their key games, one away to Manchester United and one away to Arsenal.

Although they won the opponent at home, they lost three points to the opponent in the away game, which is particularly conspicuous on the premise that they are only one point away from winning the championship at the end of the season.

Where did Millwall lose?

Aldrich thought it was his problem.

In the first half of the league, Millwall fell behind in points, but they took the initiative to attack in the away game, increasing the risk of conceding goals, and finally lost the game.

If Millwall can stabilize his mentality, or if Aldridge can stabilize himself, forget about the point gap and face it with a normal heart, maybe Millwall will have better results in those two games.

Today he made it very clear to the players: Our goal in the game is not to lose.

It sounds a bit unambitious, but this is the reality. Millwall has not yet been arrogant enough to come to Highbury to face the league's top defensive Arsenal and still be sure of the game.

Nowadays, the Premier League is no longer relying on passion and bravery to break out of the world. With the influx of foreign players, the strength of each team has steadily improved, and the overall level of the Premier League has risen significantly.

It would be naive to crush opponents only by fighting with blood. The strikers of more than half of the Premier League teams have completely kneeled in front of Arsenal's five defensemen.

Aldrich believes that winning the league is not only about hard power, but also requires a very high level of coaching. He can't be like before, instilling the team with the idea of ​​​​passion and rushing when he hits the pole. When the time is right, he must learn to brake. Forbearance, maintain morale on the basis of not losing, and avoid large fluctuations in the state of the team. After all, the league is more stable than anyone else.

When the game started, the posture of the two teams was almost the same, with six defending and four attacking, and even Millwall was defending, and Lampard put more effort into it.

Ten minutes passed, and commentator Martin Taylor was depressed.

Ten minutes after the start of the game, the two teams had a brutal strangle in the midfield. No one had a better chance to advance the offense to the dangerous area, and there was not a single shot.

Wait, I think the coaches of the two teams want to win the game. They were cautious in the first half. As the game time goes by, they will definitely give it a go later.

Wenger looked at the situation on the field with pessimism.

This group of Arsenal players has almost reached the strongest state in his hands. The offensive and defensive transitions are very smooth, and the team's offensive and defensive system is difficult to be demanding. .

Positional warfare is not what they are good at. Therefore, in the Champions League, when other teams are more patient and conservative, Arsenal’s mentality and experience are not as good as their opponents. The reason why Dynamo Kyiv won the top spot in the group is because of experience .

If Wenger wants to change this situation, he needs to change the midfield. Vieira + Pettit's combination is good for defense, but offense, especially positional warfare, is lacking in talent, just like Aldridge vs. Lampard The usage preferences between Pirlo and Pirlo are the same.

Although there is Bergkamp in Arsenal's lineup, there is really no traditional No. 10 player in the starting lineup.

Wenger believes that this is what Arsenal lacks. When the opponent also plays a defensive counterattack, Arsenal does not have many opportunities for positional warfare. The lack of team creativity is the fatal reason that restricts the team's richer style of play.

In the 17th minute of the first half, the first goal of the game finally appeared. It came from Pires who cut inside and faced the defensive double-team hastily kicked the long shot.

Bout pocketed the ball with ease, and then Millwall counterattacked. After breaking through Pettit's defense in the frontcourt, Glenshire also hit a long shot, and the ball slid out of the goal. .

The two teams could not create good opportunities in the positional battle, and almost all relied on the personal abilities of the offensive players to try to rewrite the score, but the effect was not good, after all, the two teams paid great attention to defense.

The atmosphere in the stands at Highbury was warm, it didn't matter if the game was boring, the fans were entertaining themselves, Christmas, don't they cry?

Aldridge sat motionless, watching the game with his chin resting on his hands.

A strong team beats a weak team, and the offense can be extremely powerful.

The strong dialogue is sometimes a bit dull, and the defense level is different.

Especially in today's Arsenal, the outside world appreciates Arsenal's style of play. To put it bluntly, they are particularly passionate when they counterattack.

As long as the opponent attacks, the offense is frustrated, and when the defense turns to the offense, Arsenal will have a lot of space in the offense. The midfielders take advantage of their speed to pass and cut, and tear the opponent's defense layer by layer in the advancing space of 40-50 yards. , and then scored a goal. This way of scoring, Millwall still played handily, but when facing a top team that pays attention to defense and does not press forward, such an offense is difficult to play.

The rhythm of the game in the first half was fouls, interceptions, long shots, star players broke through with the ball and were blocked...

The two sides did not have an absolute chance to score, and then the first half ended.

Before entering the locker room, Wenger deliberately observed Aldrich's expression and found that the other party's expression was indifferent. Wenger felt a little cold in his heart for some reason.

This feeling, just like Aldridge saw Lippi smoking a cigar in Turin.

Wenger would prefer to see Aldridge disappointed or worried, even if he is happy, so that he can guess Aldridge's intentions.

But seeing Aldridge with his usual calm expression, Wenger could not figure out the opponent, but also thought that Aldridge was invulnerable. (To be continued.) ()