The Young Lion

The third round of the FA Cup, Millwall vs. Arsenal officially started!

The Lions Den was packed and Graham was booed by the fans when he entered the stadium because of today's publication of The Times!

For the fifty-year-old head coach, returning to the Lion's Den is by no means a home, he is just a passing here.

On the other hand, when Aldridge entered the field, the audience cheered.

Now there is only one owner of this stadium: Aldridge.

Through half a season of coaching performance, Aldridge quickly became the darling here.

As usual, he signed autographs for the fans in the nearby stands when he played, and then walked to the coach of the home team calmly.

The South Stand has now been completely occupied by the Lion Roar fan organization. Today they ingeniously printed an extra-large English letter on the back of the jersey, turned around and formed a striking sentence.

We only love Aldridge!

George Graham glanced at the cheering stands. In his memory, Millwall's stands should not be like this now, and all these changes came from the young boy not far away.

Seeing Aldridge out of the corner of his eye, George Graham couldn't help feeling angry.

Is it because the other party is young?

In the limelight?

Or is it because of the unexpected words and deeds of the other party?

In other words, Aldridge's attire when directing the game makes people uncomfortable.

In the fall, Aldridge looks dapper in a tailored, stand-up collar suit.

It is cold winter now, and the thermal coat Aldridge is wearing feels particularly stylish, and in the upper left corner of the coat, there is the Millwall team logo, which is a bright blue lion.

The same goes for the other members of the coaching staff. They are dressed in the same uniform, with a touch of elegance. If you say that they are male models on the catwalk, no one would doubt it.

From all indications, Aldridge is an alternative in football and is also rejected by traditional England.

Other coaches don’t like Aldridge, but fans do, especially neutral fans. Like football and star chasing are combined. If you like a certain club, you will definitely like the star players or coaches in the club.

Aldrich can tolerate other things, but he can't bear the clothes.

He has the aesthetics of twenty years later, like the current English football. Big-name coaches such as Ferguson wear the club's thermal clothing, no matter how they look, they look like Glasgow dock workers.

Not to mention Kevin Keegan, when he was a guest at Newcastle United in the Carling Cup, Kevin Keegan, who was still young in the coaching industry, had curly long hair and a large crimson suit. He was described as a country bumpkin Never exaggerate.

The suits that Aldridge wore before were all custom-made by him after communicating with the tailor. Before the winter came, he directly ordered a suitable slim coat for each of the club's coaching staff. After printing the team logo, it looked energetic no matter what. A hundred times, but also chic style.

It is also this kind of slanting approach that Aldridge can attract the frequent attention of the broadcast camera just by standing on the side of the court.

There are reasons why other coaches hate Aldridge. He can overshadow others by standing without shining a word, which is really annoying!

While Graham was thinking,

Aldridge glanced at Arsenal's lineup with regretful eyes.

In this game, Graham is really bound to win.

Almost all the main players played!

Goalkeeper: David Seaman.

Defenders: Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn.

Midfielders: Paul Mason, Paul Davies, John Jensen.

Forwards: Ian Wright, Kevin Campbell.

In this lineup, except for the 34-year-old Paul Davis, a veteran who has played for the Gunners for 15 years, the other players are still in their prime.

Twenty-seven-year-old Tony Adams, twenty-eight-year-old Martin Keown, twenty-six-year-old Paul Mason, twenty-nine-year-old John Jensen, even Ian Wright is only thirty age.

Aldrich really wanted to grab Graham's clothes and ask: What the hell are you doing? !

When he became the gunman, how could the group of young and handsome people under him be defeated?

Andy Cole was released for £500,000. In less than three years, Andy Cole joined Manchester United half a month ago. Ferguson was slaughtered by Kevin Keegan for £6 million. Newcastle United The team earned more than four million pounds!

A player who set a new transfer record in English football was let go by the Gunners three years ago.

In Graham's eight years, this Arsenal, which could have created greater brilliance, only won two league titles, a League Cup, an FA Cup, plus last year's European Cup Winners' Cup, and then , quickly fell.

In this season's Premier League, Arsenal can't even raise their head in London, let alone hit the championship.

Aldridge shook his head. The ups and downs of this team are a typical coach's responsibility, because after the arrival of the Frenchman who created a new generation of Gunners, most of the players on the field were activated again. This is a question of the level of the coach.

Graham's conservative tactics suppressed the talent and fighting spirit of the players, and because of his negligence in management, he degenerated these prematurely famous stars. Alcohol and women, squandering and indulgence, wasted their youth. By this season, the team The hearts of the players have long been scattered, and many players are bored here and have the idea of ​​​​leaving the team.

The referee's whistle brought Aldridge back to his senses.

The first half begins.

Millwall played very calmly from the very beginning of the game. He was not in a hurry to push the ball forward, and calmly and orderly reversed his feet back and forth in the midfield, constantly transitioning the ball back and forth vertically.

The biggest change for Millwall today is in the midfield.

The configuration of two midfielders in the past has become three midfielders today.

The fans in the stands accidentally discovered a new face on the pitch, Gattuso, who is not tall but strong!

What can he do on the court?

After observing for a period of time, the fans found that unless it was absolutely safe, the two midfielders, Vieira and Ballack, would never hand the ball to Gattuso. Get the ball to safety quickly.

His characteristics and functions do not seem to be obvious at all, more like a dispensable person.

But some signs can be seen in the position.

Ballack is further forward, Vieira is around the center circle, and Gattuso is trailing behind.

Glenshire, Beckham, and Solskjaer all recovered to participate in the team's offensive. Millwall played very patiently, often after a dozen passes before shooting long shots from a good angle.

Ballack and Solskjaer's long shots from outside the penalty area did not threaten Seaman. Arsenal's counterattack was very simple, quickly passing through the midfield, widening the wing, and then allowing the striker to score through his personal ability.

But in their counterattack, the ball will be intercepted accurately and effectively by Millwall when it passes through the midfield.

When Gattuso broke the ball from John Jensen for the second time, the Millwall fans in the stands discovered excitedly: This is the second Makelele!

In normal training, Gattuso often exchanges defensive experience with Makelele. The defensive characteristics of the two are somewhat similar, but it is impossible to completely copy them. Makelele's concise and clear ball after stealing the ball is not something ordinary people can do. What I have learned is almost a subconscious reaction of the brain and making correct judgments.

Vieira, who has been tempered for most of the season, is getting better and better. Coupled with Ballack, who is always fighting, Millwall has cast a steel barrier in the midfield!

This directly caused Arsenal's ground passes to be unable to find their forwards at all, so Arsenal returned to the British long pass, and the ball wanted to cross the sky in the midfield to directly find the forwards in front of the penalty area.

But Richards and Materazzi are not easy people. They fight their bodies to grab positions, and Arsenal's forwards do not have an advantage at all.

After playing for 30 minutes in the first half, Millwall played more energetically and vigorously, and the midfield cooperation was very smooth. On the contrary, Arsenal veteran Davis was out of breath.

Frequent long-range shots annoyed Arsenal's defense. Adams and Keown commanded the team's defense to press forward. Annoyed, they also have a housekeeping skill, which is to make offsides!

The tacit understanding of this line of defense is difficult for other teams to replicate, and therefore, their repeated successful offsides are their proud skills.

In the 40th minute of the first half, Tony Adams saw Ballack distribute the ball to Beckham on the right. Seeing that Beckham had no intention of dribbling, he took a quick step forward and put Solsk in front of him. Ya placed behind him in an offside position.

The other two central defenders tacitly let Solskjaer fall into the offside trap, and Beckham's diagonal long pass came as expected.

Tony Adams raised his hand to signal Solskjaer was offside!

But the linesman did not raise the flag.

With a strong rotation, the ball landed on the left side of the penalty area. There, the fast horse Glenshire sprinted and hit the middle directly. Solskjaer met the ball and pushed the far corner lightly to score!

Tony Adams is mad!

He rushed to the linesman and roared: The boy in the middle is offside! This goal should be disallowed!

At this time, the offside rule has not been further modified, so if Solskjaer is offside, then even if Glenciel is not offside when receiving the ball at the far end, he will be penalized for offside!

Only after the revision of the new offside rules in 2003, players who are offside but not involved in the offense will be ignored under the premise of encouraging offense.

The linesman said without changing his face: That player is not offside.

The slow motion of the TV broadcast showed that Arsenal's offside defense had a hole. , Dixon dragged at the back, parallel to Solskjaer in the middle, when Adams raised his hand, Dixon was misled, and there was a second of stagnation, allowing Glenshire to leave him behind.

After Solskjaer's goal, the Millwall players ran to the sidelines to celebrate collectively, and the familiar rhythm of the fans also sounded in the stands.

Ole, ole, ole oh ole, ole, ole, ole oh ole...

Graham's face was livid, and he roared on the sidelines to make the players press on the offense!

Aldridge looked very calm. He mentioned the goal just now in terms of tactics. Arsenal's defense is used to creating offsides. In fact, thanks to the current offside rules, as long as one person is offside, he will be penalized for offside. , Therefore, there is a large space behind their defense line.

Arsenal, who are used to playing defensively, are behind!

Graham, what can you do?

This is just the Millwall bench lineup.