The Young Lion

After the warm-up matches of Millwall’s Asian tour were all over, the team left Shanghai that night and went directly back to London. Only Aldridge stayed to prepare for an exclusive interview the next morning. In fact, he just canceled his one-day vacation. The players returned to London for a day's rest.

In the early morning of the next day, he got up early, dressed up, put on a suit, and asked the hotel waiter to prepare coffee. At 8:30 on time, someone knocked on the door of his hotel suite.

Interviews will take place in the living room of the suite.

And this time the host of the interview is Huang Jianxiang.

Aldrich is not surprised. The past few years have been the period when Huang Jianxiang is determined to forge ahead in his career. It cannot be said that he is very popular, but it is a fact that he is in the limelight. He just went to the scene to explain the European Cup, and he will soon go to explain the Olympic Games. The best sports host selected by many media in China.

Mr. Hall, hello, let me introduce myself when we meet for the first time, I...

Over the years, Aldrich's value and reputation have skyrocketed, and he can refuse the biggest hosts. After accepting an interview, he has already calmed down and is used to the respect others show in front of him.

After the film crew set up the equipment, Huang Jianxiang took the initiative to chat with Aldrich about the main content of the interview, so that Aldrich had a bottom line.

At first, the other party was also worried about whether Aldrich's Chinese language was as well-integrated as advertised by the outside world.

What he was most afraid of was the media hype. Aldrich would say one, two, three, and the media would praise him wildly, saying that Aldrich could recite ancient Chinese ancient Chinese proficiently.

After a brief contact, he suppressed his doubts. At least the communication was fine, which allowed him to ask some in-depth questions.

After the opening remarks, Huang Jianxiang's interview officially began.

The content of this interview is divided into topics. The first topic, the focus of discussion is naturally Millwall.

The question that Aldridge has been asked countless times has been asked again.

What's the secret to Millwall's success? Is it the success of youth training?

I've answered this question many times and my answer remains the same: there's no set path to success. As others comment on Millwall's changing tactics, I've used 442, 433, 4231, 4321 and so on. People will say Millwall Wall's 433 is the strongest, so the question is, since 433 is the strongest. Why does Millwall still play 442? Will he play 4231? The success of the club is the same as the game.

There is no one-size-fits-all tactic that can ensure that you will always win and achieve success steadily. Only by recognizing yourself, observing the situation, and being flexible according to the situation can you ensure that you have an advantage. Closer to home, I don't think it's fair, especially for Henry, to attribute Millwall's success to youth success. Players such as Larson, Nedved, Southgate, etc., in a strict sense, they cannot be included in the Millwall youth training players. Well, according to the outside world, they are not an important part of Millwall's success, in fact, quite the opposite.

Aldridge's words are realistic. Basically, players who came to Millwall before the age of 18 can be included in the team's youth training players after staying in the team for three years. In the Millwall first team, like Pirlo, Gattuso, Glenshire, Ronaldinho, Zambrotta. Players such as Materazzi can already be attributed to Millwall's youth players.

But if Millwall's success is simply attributed to the definition of youth training, Nedved and the others will become a secondary role.

Huang Jianxiang was surprised by Aldrich's explanation, and rolled his eyes, as if he hadn't delved into this issue.

Probably the outside world feels like Nedved followed Aldridge when he was penniless. Of course, he is a part of Millwall, directly erasing his past history of playing in the Czech League, as if he was born from Millwall.

Then what is your opinion on youth training?

I think youth training is an important part of a club's success. For example, Barcelona had a period of time when the team was built mainly by buying stars. Real Madrid emerged five eagles at the same time. During that period, Real Madrid suppressed Barcelona. You can say Real Madrid used youth training to beat Barcelona's Jinyuan, but Real Madrid did not achieve glory in the Champions League at that time, while the Milan Dynasty, with Baresi, Costacurta, Maldini and other youth training players as the basis, They were very strong in that era, very strong, but could they create a Milan dynasty with only youth training? I don’t think so, because at that time, it was the Dutch Three Musketeers who shone in Europe. With their participation, Milan had The capital to create a dynasty. The pinnacle of success in youth training is Ajax created by Van Gaal. However, in the post-Bosman era, I think this successful model can no longer be replicated. Players transfer frequently and are famous. Teams with financial resources will become stronger and stronger, there will be more and more teams with big names, and their competitiveness will rise sharply. In this era, youth training alone can maintain the survival of a club, but if you want to It’s not enough to create great things.”

Aldrich's words made Huang Jianxiang a little confused.

Aldridge is very happy to talk about this with people in the Chinese football circle. Talking about it is better than nothing. The voice that can be spread through the media is definitely much stronger than that of ordinary people.

His attitude towards youth training is not particularly dependent, but youth training is very important. He is trying to engage in youth training now, which is actually a sign, so that Millwall will not be able to tap the star of hope in advance ten years later. After appearing, star seedlings from all over the world are willing to throw themselves into the arms of Millwall.

But when a youth player cannot become the ideal candidate for the club, it is the best choice to decisively find a more suitable replacement.

For example, the arrival of Henry and the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has played for five years and is definitely a Millwall youth player, is an example, and there are countless examples of this in Real Madrid now and in the future, and there are also major giants.

Cultivating youth players, in addition to sending blood to the first team, reducing team building costs, and players' sense of loyalty and belonging, there is also a very important point, that is, their own youth players can bring long-term stability to the team. Stability, regardless of success or failure, the cycle of rebuilding the team, etc., Milan is the best example. Several generations of veteran Paolo Maldini did not simply contribute to the competitive arena in Milan.

At the end of this topic, Aldridge expressed Villa, Ronaldinho and Joe Cole. Pedretti, Barzagli and others came to the team at a young age, and they are already the team's youth training players. They believe that they have been trained in Millwall since they were young. Cultivating their sense of belonging, responsibility, honor, etc. is extremely important for the long-term stability of the team, but there is a major premise, that is, their personal strength must be able to maintain a level that matches Millwall's football status The degree of excellence, excellent youth training results, and the cycle of benefiting the club are often more than ten years!

After the topic about Millwall ended, Huang Jianxiang asked about Aldrich himself. Discuss his life.

From the perspective of outsiders, Aldrich's life seems to be the prelude to a legend since he was 10 years old and determined to be a coach and traveled around to study. It is unimaginable to others, but perhaps it is because ordinary people do not do this. Aldrich did it, and finally succeeded, but it felt logical.

Coming to this part, except for things that have nothing to do with lace and football in his love life, Aldridge talked freely, including some of his dumbfounding experiences in Europe.

Foreign football personalities do interviews in China, eventually. Can't get around a topic.

Huang Jianxiang was silent for a moment before the third topic was unveiled, and then asked softly: Mr. Hall, do you know Chinese football?

Aldrich shook his head with a smile, and said: Please don't understand me as disrespect for Chinese football. Let's put it this way, the Chinese badminton team and table tennis team. I will go to understand the level of competition in South Africa, Norway, Iceland and other places. ?

Huang Jianxiang couldn't help laughing, obviously he was slapped by Aldrich, but you have to admire him so that you can't get angry.

Yes. Europe is the center of world football. At best, they will care about South American football, the former competitor. They used to fight over who is the boss, but who cares about football in other regions?

Just like table tennis, badminton and other competitive sports in which China is unique in the world, China is the center. It not only produces excellent players, but also exports players and coaches overseas to perform or give advice to other countries.

Huang Jianxiang said with a wry smile: In recent years, we have a few players in China who have played in Europe. Have you heard of it?

Aldridge smiled and said: Yang Chen and Xie Hui who play in the German League, and two players from Crystal Palace who are neighbors in Millwall and are also enemies of our club, Fan Zhiyi and Sun Jihai.

When Huang Jianxiang heard it, the foreigner knew a lot!

Have you seen their games?

No, just heard that, if I'm being honest, Chinese fans might not be happy.

There are too many things that make us unhappy, just a few words from you.

Hehe, I am the champion of the Premier League and the head coach of the Champions League champion. I don't care about the games of the League One team Crystal Palace, nor do I care about the Bundesliga Bundesliga and the relegation teams of the Bundesliga. So of course I haven't watched it. From the perspective of work, their games are worthless. Even if we want to study Bayern Munich, but to study Bayern Munich’s games in the Bundesliga, we will often select game videos that do not have too much difference in strength for research. Scouts go to the scene to observe wait.

Your truth hurts, but this is the reality. The current situation of Chinese players living in Europe is still far away from the sight of top clubs. What about the future? You said in an interview a few days ago before the game that you are optimistic. For the future of Chinese football, I think there is a huge population base here, and the probability of breeding football talents will be high. Millwall has opened a football school in Japan this year. I heard that the football school project in mainland China is also in progress. I have ideas. Will there be Chinese players playing for Millwall in the future?

Aldrich raised his head and closed his eyes and smiled.

The football school is part of the club's brand promotion, regardless of whether it has a competitive effect, the club will do so, because the attached commercial value itself is very rich, and the football school also makes money, just like they open a club souvenir shop in Hong Kong.

I think it will be difficult to achieve in the short term. First of all, due to the labor certification system, it will be very difficult for non-European players to join the Premier League. Secondly, if Millwall invests in a player, or trains, then the upper age limit will be 20, 21. At the age of 23, the technical ability of the player is completely finalized. Before that, we need to shape the player, give him time to integrate into the club, and instill tactical concepts, football philosophy, etc., and the older the player, such The lower the work effect, Millwall is now at this level. If we introduce players over 20 years old, we will be very cautious. Once an agreement is reached, it may be an important deal, such as Henry, Klose, etc., although it is not that Players must come in and contribute immediately like Thierry Henry, but at least like Miroslav Klose has a huge potential that we firmly believe.

Huang Jianxiang asked curiously: Is there no Chinese player recommended to Millwall?

Hahaha, there are clubs all over the world recommending players to our club. Of course there are in China, but I am very sorry. Maybe the players who have performed very well in the Chinese league are still far from our recruitment standards.

Huang Jianxiang said rather helplessly: This is a very sad situation. Chinese football is not paid attention to by Europe, and the excellent players we cultivated locally are famous. When they have fame and can attract the outside world, they have reached the age you said. The technical ability is finalized and there is no room for cultivation. Then, even if he is a good seedling, he may not be tapped to the maximum potential and get the best training in the most critical growth stage. How to describe it, it is like a primary school. The top students failed to go to prestigious schools, and then they were pulled out of the gap in middle school. Although they showed certain abilities when they graduated from university, there was a big gap compared to the height they could have achieved.

Aldrich thought for a while, and felt that the other party's analogy made some sense, so he nodded with a smile.