The Young Lion

Thank you Thieves for your reward!

In the same league round as Millwall beat Newcastle United 4-0, Manchester United beat Everton at home, Arsenal beat Coventry at home, and Chelsea beat Aston Villa away. With eight rounds remaining, the four teams in the championship group have widened the gap with the teams behind. The Premier League has maintained an exciting competitive atmosphere from the beginning of the season to the final sprint. Now Millwall takes the lead machine.

Millwall is fighting on three fronts, and the calls for winning the championship on all fronts are very high. It is obviously the biggest focus of English football.

The quarter-finals of the FA Cup kicked off, and Millwall was going to Highbury to challenge Arsenal.

At the pre-match press conference, Aldridge made no secret of the fact that he announced the roster and starting lineup in advance.

He still uses substitutes in cup games, even against Arsenal.

David Miller was very puzzled. He asked directly in front of Aldridge: What is Millwall worried about? You have a two-goal advantage in the second round of the Champions League quarter-finals in the middle of next week, leading the league by 4. If you win the FA Cup away game against Arsenal, you will be able to enter the semi-finals, and the third line has a chance to win the championship. Why don't you play the main team now? Half of the main players are also fine.

Aldrich had a good relationship with Miller, so he answered each other's questions candidly.

I pay more attention to the long-term construction of the team and give young players opportunities to practice in important games. Maybe you will say that these substitute players usually play a lot of games, but the intensity and importance of the game. There are differences in the strength of opponents. .Tomorrow against Arsenal. It's a test for them and I choose to trust them.

What if we lose?

Winning or losing is normal. I can accept any result of the game. The key is the process of the game. The law in the football world is that the winner is stronger than the strong. Tomorrow's game, we are the weak side. It doesn't matter, the players' impromptu performance The effect is what I care most about, as long as we play well, we also have a chance to win.

The next day, Millwall went to Highbury.

The stadium, which can accommodate 30,000 people, was packed, and even the newly appointed chairman of the FA came to the scene to watch the FA Cup strong dialogue.

After Wiseman took the blame and resigned last year, the position of the chairman of the FA was left vacant. Thompson, who was born in a local league, became the acting chairman half a year later and officially became the chairman of the FA.

Thompson from the local league naturally has the support of the local league forces, while the Premier League's forces in the FA oppose his election.

However, in the official election, some opponents within the FA got cold feet. Contributed to Thompson's big win.

On the day that Thompson was successfully elected, Andrew invited Aldridge to eat out, and talked about it lightly, vaguely hinting at the effectiveness of his activities with the FA.

Aldrich doesn't care much about this kind of thing, especially who the chairman of the FA is, he doesn't even care. Before the establishment of the Premier League, the position of the chairman of the FA has been almost the same as the iron rice bowl, and it has been more than 70 or 80 years. , the chairman has been in office for an average of more than ten years, but after the establishment of the Premier League, the chairman of the FA has changed more and more frequently. Due to the conflict of interests between the Premier League and the local leagues, the FA has also faced fierce internal struggles. The position of chairman is not only a simple honor in the circle, but also a hot potato, and the incumbent feels like sitting on pins and needles.

No matter who you go to curry favor with, or who you intend to support, I am afraid that this person will not sit in this position for a long time. In this case, why should Aldrich waste his time?

Wenger looked serious when he appeared at Highbury. Arsenal fell behind Millwall and Manchester United in the league, and only the FA Cup was left in the cup competition to challenge for the championship. He attached great importance to today's game.

In contrast, Aldridge seemed relaxed, sitting on the coach's bench when he appeared on the sidelines, chatting and laughing with Klinsmann and Jansen.

The English FA Cup quarter-final match between Arsenal and Millwall at home is about to begin. Players from both sides enter the field. Arsenal's main force is out, but Millwall has sent a full substitute lineup. It seems that Arsenal have a better chance of winning. Bigger.

Millwall really dispatched all substitutes today.

Goalkeeper: Keller.

Defenders: Ferreira, Mills, Neal, Cole.

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

Forwards: Klose, Ruud van Nistelrooy.

442 against Arsenal's 442.

The tactics between the two are basically the same, but Arsenal seems to be significantly stronger on paper.

When the game started, Millwall retreated across the board to compress the space in the backcourt. When the opponent's offense advanced to the dangerous area, he used the zone defense to force the opponent. After the steal was successful, he launched a quick counterattack from the side. This is consistent with Arsenal's usual style of play. basically the same.

Wenger is depressed, Arsenal sits at home and the opponent is on the bench, his team must be pushed out from the momentum!

But in positional warfare, their team creativity is really limited, and the frontal attack can't achieve good results. Instead, Millwall counterattacks, and the defense frequently sounds the alarm.

In the 17th minute of the game, Bergkamp's shot was successfully saved by Keller. Keller threw the ball and launched a counterattack. Paulo Ferreira passed it directly to Van der Meyde in front. Pires defended Van der Meyde closely. The ball turned and turned away from Pires, then used his speed advantage to open the distance, and made a 45-degree diagonal pass from the side to find the two forwards in the penalty area.

Klose came out from the back point, ran to the front and headed the goal. Seaman was caught off guard by the header. The distance was too close. He didn't make a save, and the ball went into the net.

Millwall took the lead in the away game, Klose scored with a header, and Van der Meyde's assist was really beautiful. Now Millwall is really scary. Not only does their main lineup kill the Quartet, but their substitute lineup is also amazing.

The 442 formation that has been honed since the beginning of the season has matured and formed more than half a year later, especially the power of the wing attack has been shown.

Aldridge felt gratified in his heart and worked hard for most of the season, seeing that there were fewer and fewer games left in this season. He can watch the team get stronger. Young players have improved significantly. He has a special sense of accomplishment in his heart.

Especially when the strength of many main teams was lost last summer.

Arsenal kicked off in the middle circle, and the players also looked depressed. Against the Millwall substitute lineup, if they can't get it down, it will obviously be embarrassing.

Anelka gave the ball to Bergkamp, ​​who passed back to Vieira, Klose and Ruud van Nistelrooy stepped forward to press wildly, and Vieira passed the ball straight to Bergkamp.

But Bergkamp is moving forward. I didn't expect Vieira to pass the ball to him so quickly. According to the past situation, it should be given to the wide player.

But Van der Meyer and Glenciel faced Pires and Overmars at the beginning of the game. Vieira had to pass back or forward. He chose the latter, but was successfully intercepted by Lampard.

After Lampard steals, Van der Meyde runs out of space, and Lampard will give the ball to the opponent knowingly.

After Van der Meyde stopped the ball, he made another through ball on the spot.

Klose was on the way to receive the ball, but he suddenly leaked his foot, shaking the Arsenal defender, and the missed ball directly penetrated the entire defense line. Ruud van Nistelrooy successfully met the ball against offside and went to the meeting single-handedly.

Seaman did not abandon the goal, Van Nistelrooy dribbled the ball into the penalty area and then safely pushed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal.

Adams yelled at Vieira angrily!

The midfielder was intercepted and quickly counterattacked. The defenders suddenly faced the opponent's through ball, and Klose's flash of a leaked ball deceived everyone. To put it bluntly, Arsenal had to blame for this missed ball!

Millwall lead by two goals in less than 20 minutes! They scored twice in one minute, Arsenal's second goal came from Vieira's pass error, Van der Meyde set up his team-mate again to score, Kloe Ze used running positions and leaked balls to cover for Ruud van Nistelrooy, the Dutch striker is in really good form, and he scored the goal calmly with a one-handed goal. Are Arsenal giving up the FA Cup?

Seeing the Millwall players celebrating, the Arsenal players looked a little frustrated, and Wenger hated it!

Aldridge cornered him today.

If Millwall is on the full bench, Arsenal can play a defensive counterattack, which is their most powerful game routine, but Millwall is on the full bench, is Arsenal ashamed not to be the main attacker?

But in this way of fighting, Arsenal's advantages cannot be brought into play, the positional warfare lacks creativity, and they can only rely on the individual ability of the players to create opportunities.

He went to the sidelines and let Overmars and Pires focus on the opponent's two full-backs.

Paul Ferreira and Ashley Cole are both real recruits. It makes no sense not to squeeze this kind of soft persimmon when it comes to your door!

Not to mention, Wenger's adjustment and the individual performance of the wide players immediately helped Arsenal gain the upper hand in the positional battle.

Overmars faced Ashley Cole on the right side of the road, and made two consecutive emergency stops, one 90-degree turn and one 180-degree turn, Ashley Cole followed suit, and waited for the second 180-degree turn After finishing, Ashley Cole was dizzy, and he couldn't see Overmars and the ball in front of him. When he recovered, the opponent had already dribbled the ball and cut behind him.

He was shaken so badly that Overmars cut inside to attract the attention of the defense, then knocked back near the penalty area line, followed by Pettit with a burst shot to help Arsenal get back a goal.

Pettit's long-range shot blasted Millwall's goal. Arsenal narrowed the gap in the 28th minute of the game. Millwall's goal came from Ashley Cole's defensive error. He is not Overmar. Adams' opponent, but considering his age, that responsibility should fall to Hall.

Indeed, no matter what the team's problems are, the head coach cannot absolve himself of the blame.

Even if the ball was lost, Aldridge still sat motionless on the coach's bench, and even held his chin with a hint of a smile on his face.

Ashley Cole spat after the ball was conceded, then cast a veiled glance at the dugout, lest Aldridge would be displeased with his performance.

Peter Pan of the Netherlands is fast on his feet, quick to turn around, and his body is ridiculously flexible. Ashley Cole is still in the growth stage in terms of technical ability and physical fitness. Is it any surprise that he was played by Overmars?

Since Aldridge chose to play Ashley Cole and Paul Ferreira, he can naturally foresee such a situation happening, but this is a necessary stage.

For defenders, it is normal to be abused in the early stage. As long as they don’t get psychologically shadowed by the abuse, and can face setbacks with a normal heart, this can accelerate their growth and improvement.

Arsenal took advantage of their power and determined to torture Ashley Cole to death, forcing Glenshire to almost become a full-back, double-teaming and defending Overmars.

But Arsenal's offense was already very flexible. Overmars' side failed to make persistent efforts. They quickly turned their offense to the left. Pires' advantage over Ferreira was not as obvious as Overmars' crushing Cole, but Pires stopped the ball and got rid of the inside cut smoothly. After an inside cut, the world wave on the edge of the penalty area helped Arsenal equalize the score.

In the 40th minute of the first half, Arsenal equalized the score! It seems that they have found their form. Pires can even shoot such a world wave, which is too surprising. (To be continued...) ()