The Young Lion

Thank you Thieves for your reward!

As luck would have it, Millwall, who has won every battle since the new season, was touting this seemingly impossible-to-beat team in the two days after the eight-ball massacre of Leeds United.

But just two days later, Millwall's first defeat of the new season came head-on.

In the fourth round of the League Cup, Millwall was a bit unlucky and drew Arsenal, and it was still an away game.

Going to Highbury, Millwall played lightly and came off the bench.

Arsenal put on the strongest lineup at home.

Aldridge felt incredible when he got Arsenal's starting list.

He guessed wrong, totally wrong.

Arsenal were tied by the Magpies in the last round and lost points again. The league points gap with Millwall has reached a desperate level, but they still have to guarantee the top four. Four days later, they will play the London derby , as a guest at White Hart Lane to fight against rivals Tottenham. Seven days later, they will also play a life-and-death battle in the Champions League. Barcelona and Fiorentina in the same group are ranked above Arsenal. Arsenal will have two fierce battles in the next seven days. Aldridge predicts When Wenger lined up, he believed that the opponent should underestimate the League Cup. This is not to give up the game, but to avoid serious loss of the team and use substitutes to fight.

Millwall also has a London derby four days later. Coincidentally, they are also visiting rivals and visiting Milan.

Originally, the League Cup was used for training, and until the finals, Aldridge was generally not the main force. Unless it's a game you have to win. Such as drawing West Ham United or Chelsea.

before the game starts. Aldridge walked to the coach's bench, frowned and asked Klinsmann: I said before the game that Millwall will be on the bench, and we are indeed on the full bench. Arsenal will have two key battles in the next week. , but they used all the main players, what was Wenger thinking?

Aldridge is not a god, but he is used to controlling the situation, according to the general thinking. Under such circumstances, is it necessary for Arsenal to face Millwall in the League Cup?

Klinsmann and Jenson shook their heads after looking at each other.

What if I declare before the game that Millwall will play all the main players? Will Arsenal use a substitute lineup?

Aldridge is a bit of a dead end, especially when psychological warfare is ineffective or counterproductive, and he will reflect for a long time.

Klinsmann sighed and said: I think this has nothing to do with Arsenal's future schedule. In the FA Cup last season, Arsenal's main force lost to Millwall's substitute lineup. A month ago, we played again. He beat Arsenal 5-0 in the league, Aldridge. If you were Wenger, would you still think so much? The most important thing at the moment is not the nature of the game. Whether it is the League Cup or the league, even if it is a friendly match Wenger probably doesn't want to continue losing to Millwall, and now, for Arsenal fans, losing to Millwall may hurt more than losing to Tottenham!

Aldridge fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

Klinsmann was right. It wasn't that his psychological warfare failed, but that he still didn't consider everything before the game, and only considered external factors.

Perhaps Millwall has always won more than Arsenal under his command, and he did not put Arsenal in a completely hostile position, and most of the fans' psychology is the same, but Arsenal is different, Millwall is better than them Won the Premier League title a year earlier, and also owned the Champions League title that they, a traditional giant in England, did not have. Just like Arsenal despising Tottenham, Millwall does not take Arsenal seriously now, but Arsenal does. Millwall has been listed as the biggest enemy in London, and even the number one enemy in English football.

When Aldridge was talking with the coaching staff, the game had already started. He was thinking with his back to the field, and suddenly saw the coaching staff members and substitute players in front of him standing up and applauding, and he turned his head to look.

What the hell!

Millwall scored from the start!

Klose was running to the sidelines to celebrate. Aldridge asked others to know that after the opening, Lampard, Lamour, Klose and Van der Meyer made a consecutive triangle pass and Klose scored.

The team took the lead, of course he was happy, and he also left behind the depression of failing to succeed in the psychological warfare before the game.

However, the next game completely entered the rhythm mastered by Arsenal.

Arsenal's loss to Millwall's substitutes last season was entirely because they underestimated their opponents' initiative to attack and were counterattacked continuously. Today, they played with all their main players. Even at home, they also put on a low profile.

Ten minutes later, Overmars put on an astonishing performance. He abused Ashley Cole first, and then made Metzelder turn around and fail to keep up. Bu pushes successfully to equalize the score.

The Arsenal players did not celebrate after the goal. On the contrary, they seemed to be preoccupied and looked unhappy.

The same goes for the fans in the stands.

Probably, they feel aggrieved about playing against such a team at home, especially Millwall whose average age of the defense is only 19 years old.

After reaching a certain level of strength, abuse of vegetables will not give you a sense of accomplishment, but you must win. If you lose, you will become the laughing stock of the world.

For this conceded goal, Aldridge was a little helpless.

Metzelder's speed is relatively slow, the important thing is Ashley Cole's part, if he can't hinder or harass the opponent's super winger, one-on-one, Metzelder is completely blown by Overmars without any suspense.

Six minutes later, Bergkamp responded to Vieira's pass and hit Pires with his back. After passing the ball, he turned around and turned offside.

It was Barzagli who defended Bergkamp, ​​and he was completely defeated by Bergkamp in this defense.

Since the new season, Aldridge showed a helpless expression on the sidelines for the first time.

Barzagli + Metzelder, these two central defenders were blown out by the opponent's striker.

At this time, the commentator said in the commentary: If it is the central defender combination of Ferdinand + Neal, Millwall will never be pierced through the last line of defense so easily.

For Aldridge this season. The main lineup is to hit new glory. But the growth of the bench lineup, especially a large number of young players, is also crucial. No team can ignore the issue of bench thickness. He could have used Barzagli or Metzelder and Neil to play the central defender combination today. Neil's experience and ability will definitely play a positive role in the defense at a glance.

But he didn't expect Arsenal to play Millwall's substitute lineup and also send all the main players. In less than 20 minutes, did they change to a central defender? How big will this blow to the confidence of the players?

After thinking for a while, Aldrich was relieved again. It was originally a military training, and the defense was abused, but he wanted to ensure that Barzagli and Metzelder would not be beaten down by Arsenal.

He began to adjust his tactics, allowing Lampard to retreat deeper and parallel to Gattuso's position to strengthen the interception of the midfielder. At the same time, he also kept the distance between the midfielder and the defender more compact, and the full-backs also moved inward.

Uh, it's a bit like building a city wall to block the goal, it doesn't matter, Aldridge's face is not red at all. Millwall is still Millwall, but the players on the field are obviously much weaker than Arsenal.

Arsenal went step by step to break through Millwall's defense layer by layer. Aldridge made the midfield line closely connected with the back line. He didn't believe that Arsenal could penetrate Millwall's defense by relying on double forwards and bilateral forwards.

After his adjustment, although Arsenal has the advantage on the field, the number of opportunities created in the dangerous area has dropped significantly.

In today's battle, the Arsenal players were full of fighting spirit, only they were caught off guard in the opening stage. In the following time, Millwall even had few chances to counterattack.

The score remained unchanged until the middle of the second half when Millwall scored twice with a header from a set-piece assisted by Lampard and Klose.

However, as the defense shrinks, counterattacks move forward, running back and forth in a large area and the scene is at a disadvantage, it will take more physical energy to defend. Although Millwall dragged the game into overtime, in overtime, Ottoman Delici replaced Joe Cole, Alonso, and Neil, which did not make the offense more effective. Instead, Arsenal took the lead again through a corner kick in extra time, and then Millwall pressed the offense and was defeated. Played a wave of counterattacks and lost the fourth ball.

At the end of the 120-minute game, although Arsenal eliminated Millwall 4:2, Wenger was not happy.

In this game, he not only played the main force, but also played 30 minutes more. Thinking of the two fierce battles in the next week, Wenger's heart sank to the bottom.

Millwall's first defeat of the new season was born at Highbury. Although the boys on the field were lost, they did not feel the heavy blow.

Winning or losing is a common matter in military affairs. If there is no game, you will definitely win, and if there is no game, you will definitely lose. Keep a normal mind and face the future positively. This is the football philosophy that Aldridge instilled in the players.

Especially for young players, to prevent them from having psychological pressure, to face defeat from a positive perspective, to see their own shortcomings through the game, to know how to improve themselves in the future, and to confront opponents who are stronger than themselves, they must learn to look in the mirror and face up to their own strengths. Its own shortcomings will make up for the shortcomings in the future and further improve.

Aldridge has almost no sense of loss for the team's exit from the League Cup. It can only be said that there are no surprises.

If you want to train soldiers and achieve results, you can eat and eat, so you can't be too greedy.

So when asked after the game how he felt about Millwall's tragic first defeat in the new season, Aldridge looked calm and could smile at the camera.

In the past few seasons, the result of this game will not attract much attention. Millwall was eliminated by Arsenal. On the stage of the League Cup, what is so strange about it? The League Cup has been strong every year. The team was upset, not to mention that I am not disappointed with this loss. We scored a lightning goal in the beginning, but then the defense performed very badly. I am satisfied that after the players self-adjusted and stabilized, they played 70 minutes They are still young, just like when I led Nedved and Larson in their early 20s to play games. Is anyone surprised that we lost at that time? They just need to maintain a stable mentality, step by step Improve and learn from the game experience, and you will definitely become an excellent player and an excellent team in the future. We are Millwall, and the fans and the team are united. For us, winning becomes a hero, and losing becomes an orphan. The scene will not appear, so please don’t put too much pressure on my players from the media. Yes, we lost, but I will not blame the players, the outside world, and no one has the right to criticize my players. That’s it. Goodbye. (to be continued...) ()