The Young Lion

This year's Christmas War is not held on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but on the 27th.

As the last league game in the first half of the league, Millwall will go away to challenge the newly promoted Milton Keynes who are also struggling in the relegation whirlpool.

Due to the obvious gap between strength and weakness, in the pre-match press conference, Fleet Street paid more attention to the recent Golden Globe selection. Not surprisingly, the World Footballer will also be included in Nedved's bag.

When Aldridge was asked about Nedved’s impression of winning the award, he replied with a smile: “In the past few years, there have always been people who have picked faults, saying that Nedved is not as good as a certain player, and that seems to be a little worse. , I have been saying that such a comparison does not make any sense, because no player is absolutely perfect, no player is decathlon, but Nedved has become a phenomenon-level player, and at the same time, will also be the next fifteen years For the template of the front midfielder, the club will use Nedved as a standard to require players in the same position, physical fitness, defensive awareness, interspersed running in a wide range of activities, serial attacks, and the threat of scoring when the time is right, etc. I am very happy that his hard work has paid off, and I am honored to have a player with such exemplary professionalism. I hope that every Millwall player, especially the young players, can follow Nedved's example. In this way, Millwall I will become stronger and stronger.

Now that Aldrich said these words, the media naturally couldn't refute them.

But for a long time in the past, people always liked to criticize Nedved's lack of talent.

It's an ignorant bias, indeed, on the field. There are too many attacking midfielders who look full of aura when they play football. The style of play is pleasing to the eye.

But that's all. Playing good-looking does not mean playing practically, nor does it mean that it has a positive effect on the entire team. This is not a fancy performance. Doing a few moves to win applause will not rewrite the score.

Because of this, Aldridge often has only one way to respond: Find me a player who can replace Nedved!

Then this kind of verbal battle will end without a problem.

On the one hand, some people are talking about who is better than Nedved, but on the other hand, they cannot find someone who can really replace Nedved at Millwall. This situation makes the media crazy, and the situation is so delicate. He obviously looks like a slightly ordinary star, but he just can't find a suitable candidate who can absolutely replace him.

When Nedved started scoring goals, all the media shut their mouths. After a period of silence, they changed their tone and began to sing praises for Nedved.

On the 27th match day, several players who participated in the Golden Globe Awards returned to the team on time. They only missed two days of training during Christmas, but they returned to the team and still did not enter the squad for the game.

In the away game, the lively substitute players are full of energy. Beat Milton Keynes 3:1 away.

Millwall finished the first half of the league with a record of 19 victories.

This is no longer news, and Manchester United have won the last two rounds. The gap between the two teams is still 15 points, and the hope of reversibility is extremely slim.

Two days later, the Premier League drove fast, Millwall returned to London for an away game, and played a London derby with Graham's Tottenham.

Graham used the old-fashioned defense and successfully sniped Millwall at White Hart Lane, ending in a 0-0 draw.

Millwall's winning streak is fixed at 19 consecutive victories in a single season and 23 consecutive victories across seasons.

In this regard, Aldridge said with a smile after the game: Well, it may be a good thing that we stopped the pace of creating records. It can reduce the pressure on the players and help our next performance.

Setting records and creating new history is bound to be an exciting process. However, in this process, forces will gradually accumulate. The new record has been rewritten. At this time, the pressure should be relieved, and the timing should be pretty good. Playing a few league games, but it is almost time for the European competition to start in February. At that time, the mental state was not as relaxed as it is now.

Nedved won the Ballon d'Or, which is a positive stimulus to the spirit of his teammates.

Players like Henry, Larson, and Ronaldinho called for the fight immediately after arriving in January.

For them, in order to obtain more personal honors, there is no doubt that they must rely on field data for support.

Forwards do not have a good number of goals as their capital, so why should they compete for personal honor?

Their desire to fight is strong, but Aldridge still needs to make adjustments to the whole team.

Therefore, in the league, he started the strategy of using the main force in the offensive team and using the substitute in the midfield.

In the newly opened FA Cup, the strategy of using the offensive team as a substitute and the defense as the main force is adopted.

January 4th

Nedved held the Golden Globe in his hand and showed it to the fans at the Lion's Den Stadium. The whole team took a group photo, and the fans also applauded the steel giant. Fans of the Wild Lions believed that Nedved deserved the award , Just like the club’s declaration of rejecting other clubs’ bids to buy Nedved every summer: Even if we pay 100 million pounds, we will not sell it!

The visiting Liverpool players looked at the Millwall starting players taking a group photo, especially the Golden Globe in the hands of Nedved standing in the middle. It would be deceiving to say that they are not envious, but so what? I can only envy it.

Aldrich chatted with Hollier for a few more words, and the other party congratulated Aldrich for training another Mr. Golden Globe, and the reputation of King Maker is now shocking the world.

Aldridge had no choice but to be humble.

When the match started, the positions of the two instantly became hostile.

Millwall played six absolute main players today.

The striker trident Gary Nedved, the backcourt Southgate and goalkeeper Bute.

Pirlo rested on the bench, with Lampard starting in midfield.

It seems that Millwall's starting strength has declined, but this situation has thrown Houllier with a problem.

Millwall is obviously strong offensively and weak defensively. Of course, this is a comparison based on their starting full strength.

What about Liverpool?

Is it offensive or defensive?

If it is guarded, isn't that letting the opponent's gorgeous attack group wreak havoc?

If you attack, what should you do if you get hit back?

Offense and defense are a whole. Whatever the choice. Risks cannot be avoided.

This game really gave Houllier a heart attack. he does have a heart attack

Liverpool played a defensive counterattack at the beginning.

But the counterattack dare not invest too much force, just relying on two or three players to counterattack, the effect is very small.

So Liverpool increased their counterattack force input.

In the fast pace, Liverpool's counterattack failed, turned around, and was counterattacked by a counterattack. Carragher, who was serving as a full-back, was dizzy by Ronaldinho's abuse. He was not a full-back in the first place. Coupled with the lack of experience in the top arena, he was about to collapse after being teased by Ronaldinho.

Almost none of Carragher's defensive predictions were correct.

He blocked the inside cut, Ronaldinho went to the bottom, he blocked the bottom line, Ronaldinho easily broke through him.

If it weren't for the 3h defensive combination having a better tacit understanding than at the beginning of the season, Liverpool probably would have been sieved in the first half.

At the end of the first half, the score was 2:1.

Ronaldinho and Henry each scored a goal.

In the second half, it turned into Millwall playing a defensive counterattack. Liverpool was not reconciled to not getting a point in the away game, so they must attack. In this attack, the 3h defense combination couldn't stop Millwall's sharp and quick counterattack.

Larson scored twice in the second half. Help the team beat Liverpool 4:1.

The league with Manchester United, and this league with Liverpool became the two case games for Fleet Street comparison after the game.

Football commentators agree that if they face Millwall like Liverpool, timidly, and choose conservative tactics from the beginning, then the result will inevitably be the bitter fruit of defeat. The reason is very simple. There is no defense line of any team in the Premier League. It can withstand the super attack group of Millwall!

Although Manchester United lost, they have seen the hope of victory! If luck is better, for example, Lampard's final long-range shot missed, or Van der Gut successfully saved the ball, even if it was blocked out of bounds, Millwall may not be able to win in the end.

Public opinion from the outside world believes that in order to score points from Millwall, one must attack boldly and attack vigorously and in a targeted manner.

As for whether they can set up an iron bucket formation like Tottenham and rush to a draw from the beginning to the end, the risks and benefits are not directly proportional.

This is an arithmetic problem.

If you keep the tie uselessly, you get 1 point or 0 points.

Boldly attack, 3, 1, 0 points are all possible.

And what about Tottenham's draw?

On the contrary, the fans' support for Graham has dropped, and White Hart Lane fans calling for him to leave can be seen everywhere. Why? Because such a draw makes fans look down even more than a defeat!

In the following month, Millwall scored two wins and two draws in four league games, scored a lot of goals, and conceded more goals. The reason was that apart from the decline in their own starting strength, they did not send all the main players to fight. It's really about starting to aggressively attack.

In the same period, Manchester United only achieved 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in the second half of the six league games. In February, Manchester United lost to Newcastle United led by Robson. The gap has widened again.

From a gap of 15 points to 16 points.

There are still 13 rounds left in the Premier League, and major European bookmakers have made adjustments. Betting on the Premier League title, Millwall’s option to win the title is closed. times.

There are still three months before the end of the Premier League season. The time is very long. The 13 rounds of the league seem to have room for miracles, but now only fools would bet on Manchester United or Arsenal to win the championship.

Don't look at Millwall's shift of focus and slight contempt for the league, but Aldridge is understanding. Ronaldinho, Nedved, and Pirlo may not be in the league, but Henry and Larson are Inevitably, these two are scoring goals in the league against each other!

Even Phillips, who is against the heavens, is behind Larson and Henry in league goals, and Phillips has opened up a gap of 7 goals with the fourth-ranked player in the scorer list. There is no doubt that the Premier League Golden Boot, Even comparing the scorer list data of other European leagues, the European Golden Boot winner this season is very likely to be born among these three.

Henry has two more goals than Larson, and his evaluation this season is rising all the way, starting to surpass Larson, because most of Henry's goals are scored in open play, and a few sporadic ones are set kicks The goal was scored in response, and Larson scored with five penalty kicks.

In mid-February, the Champions League was rekindled, much earlier than in previous years, after all, there were more matches.

After Millwall won two consecutive FA Cup games and advanced, they began to hit the Champions League with all their strength.

But just as the start of the Champions League was imminent, Aldridge was caught in the vortex of public opinion outside the court.

Just after attending the press conference before the UEFA Champions League, Aldridge drove away from the club in the evening. A high-end car stopped in front of the door, just blocking Aldridge's way.

When Aldridge pressed the horn, the window of the car opposite fell down, and the face of an old man whom he had not seen for a long time came into view.

Aldrich, get in my car, let's talk, it's important. (To be continued...) ()