The Young Lion

After Millwall finished the fifth round of the Champions League first stage group stage, he set off for Tokyo, Japan to participate in the Toyota Cup.

For this trip, Millwall declined all business activities, and there was only one thing to do when he went to Tokyo: to play games.

Business development and competitive competitions are supplementary and contradictory phenomena for clubs. If the two cannot be coordinated well, it may lead to a decrease in business and competition.

Millwall is still behind Manchester United in the league. Now is not the time to spend energy on showing off. Aldridge is still clear-headed. The club earns money based on competitive achievements. There is no guarantee of performance on the field. If you want to make money, it is impossible. .

In Tokyo, the arrival of Millwall still caused a huge sensation. In addition to the positive impact of the club's development of the Far East market over the years, the club's field record and Aldridge's concurrent role in the England national team also contributed.

But this time Millwall was very shameless and did not attend any commercial activities, even if the invitations piled up, and did not accept training interviews, it was completely closed training to prepare for the Toyota Cup.

This year's opponent in the Toyota Cup is Boca Juniors from Argentina.

The strength gap between European and South American teams is constantly widening, because the number of excellent players exported from South America to Europe is increasing year by year. Millwall has a lot of masters, and the team is very mature. Facing such a strange opponent, they have to do What I have come to is to give full play to my own strength and characteristics and take the initiative to control the game.

Specific to the tactical arrangement of this game, Aldridge asked the team to make a quick decision to avoid excessive consumption, which requires the players to cheer up and do their best from the beginning. Strive for 60 minutes. Or a shorter half-time to lock the game.

at the Tokyo National Stadium. The Japanese fans at the scene were a little disappointed.

Millwall did not send Ronaldinho, but replaced it with Larmore. Larmor played the attacking midfielder, Klose, Henry, Larson, and the striker trident.

Aldridge has carefully considered such an arrangement.

The most critical consideration is the characteristics of South American players and European players.

Rise to progress in European football. South American players have made an unparalleled contribution.

Their delicate and dexterous skills have an absolute impact on European football, making European football defensive players improve their skills at the same time.

Some South American players who have been mixed in Europe can show their power in front of European defenders. The opponents who play with their feet can't find the North, but in the South American arena,

This may not work. South American players, in training and competition, encounter opponents with dazzling skills at their feet every day, and they are more flexible in one-on-one defense.

but. European players also have their own advantages, that is, tactical discipline. Integrity, teamwork, etc.

Ronaldinho's characteristic is to tear apart the opponent's defense by building advantages from one point to the other. There is no doubt about his ability to combine the ball with others, but in today's match against the South American team of the Libertadores Cup Champions, his power will actually be weakened. In layman's terms, he can pass his opponent by stepping on two bicycles and changing directions in the Premier League, but in the Brazilian League, he may need to step on four bicycles and change directions twice to pass his opponent.

Furthermore, in the UEFA Champions League before coming to Tokyo, Ronaldinho played the whole game, so let him take a rest.

In this game, Aldridge's targeted deployment was to limit a Boca Juniors player in the midfield.

The only remaining classical midfielder in the future: Riquelme!

As for the lunatic Palermo on Boca Youth's front line, Aldridge didn't care. Whoever wins the midfield wins the world. No matter how powerful the striker is, he must rely on a strong midfielder to deliver the shells.

The most impressive thing about Boca Juniors in this period is that in the original history of this Toyota Cup, they defeated Real Madrid. Riquelme had a master-level performance, and made Makelele embarrassed. endlessly.

Of course, this cannot rule out the problem of Real Madrid's own tactical emphasis on offense rather than defense. There are a bunch of piano players in the frontcourt, but there are not many people who carry the piano.

Aldridge stood on the sidelines with his hands behind his back. The person who played against him today was the master Bianchi, who also stood in front of the coach's bench and observed the game seriously.

Soon, he frowned.

The playmaker Riquelme has only touched the ball twice in the frontcourt since the opening ten minutes!

Millwall's targeted restrictions on Riquelme are clear at a glance. Larmor and Pirlo double-team Riquelme back and forth, and Riquelme touches the ball twice, and Larmer is brave from behind. Knocked down to the ground, another time he easily broke through Pirlo, but was followed by Gattuso to destroy.

Millwall came prepared!

After 10 minutes, the whole Millwall team fully entered the game state, and began to pull up the rhythm of the game and give full play to their strengths.

Physical fitness and team advantages began to become more and more obvious.

Aldridge raised his chin slightly. South America is gradually being separated by Europe. There is another very important factor: physical fitness.

Many players who thrive in South America will always be accused of poor physical fitness when they come to Europe. This has nothing to do with confrontation. It is the most intuitive. In the increasingly fast-paced game rhythm, the physical fitness of South American players follows the game. But the decline is very fast, and the endless football news is accusing a certain South American player of walking on the field. Sometimes, this is not a disciplinary problem of the player itself, but a rapid decline in physical fitness, and he really can't run when it is time to run.

Physical fitness is not necessarily a problem only as the game time goes on.

Today, Millwall, dubbed the strongest in Europe, is in the Toyota Cup and dragged down Boca Juniors.

In the non-stop running, Millwall's rhythm did not drop, and Boca Juniors followed this rhythm for 3 minutes, 5 minutes, without even a chance to breathe, and then, they couldn't keep up!

Today, Millwall pays attention to strict teamwork, one kick out, the rhythm is maintained at a very fast speed, and then the opponent is forced to follow this rhythm in the game.

In the 27th minute, Millwall launched an attack. Zambrotta went to the side to respond to Pirlo's diagonal pass. After Zambrotta-Lamor-Klose, Klose wanted to pass to Henry, but the opposing defender Take the first step back to defend and successfully intercept.

Henry immediately pounced on the defender with the ball at his feet, while Larsson, Klose and Larmor also blocked his front by running. The ball routes on the left and right sides. then. He can only make a big kick to clear the siege.

Southgate rushed forward and headed the ball to Pirlo in front of him. Pirlo then knocked the ball across to Schneider who came from the right. Lamore, who passed forward, passed the ball straight to the left side of the penalty area. Klose failed to get the ball and was successfully intercepted by the opposing defender.

Millwall once again used the same defensive tactics as before, forcing the opponent to clear with a big foot. Don't even dare to pass back to the goalkeeper.

This time, the landing point of the clearance ball was controlled by Gattuso. He passed the ball to Zambrotta. Zambrotta observed it and passed the ball to Klose who retreated to respond. Moore, Lamor lightly crosses the front right, and Pirlo, who advances forward, stops the ball and makes a pick pass.

In the penalty area, Larson and Henry crossed positions to confuse the opponent's back line. Pirlo's pass seemed to be for Henry, but Henry covered Larson after attracting the attention of the defensive players. Larson obliquely inserted into the middle of the penalty area and took a step forward to the left along the direction of the ball rolling, and then passed the ball back to the other side when the goalkeeper attacked. Henry, who ran a roundabout, was unmarked and easily pushed the ball to the empty goal.

Millwall's attack was successful this time. From the offensive segment, it was actually three waves of attack with the same rhythm without giving the opponent time to breathe and adjust. The first two offensive routines were point-to-point. In the last fatal blow, both Pirlo The forward penetration provided changes, and he was also credited with cleverly picking a pass to cooperate with the two forwards' running positions. Boca Juniors still failed to withstand the heavy pressure and announced that the city gate had fallen.

Bianchi saw the team lose the ball on the sidelines and suddenly felt powerless.

Millwall took advantage of his strengths and avoided his weaknesses. Today, he hit the ball with a kick and used teamwork to tear apart Boca Juniors' defense. Excellent awareness of off-ball running and response, coupled with players' physical advantages, this is their strength, and they deliberately avoided it. One-on-one with Boca Juniors.

One-on-one, European players are obviously not superior to South American players, especially in the case of offensive and defensive confrontations. Skills are good, this kind of simple frontal defense, they are not only used to it, but also tempered stronger skills, but the defense is not only relying on technology, but the key anticipation and supplementary defense awareness, teamwork, in this respect, they are different from the top players in Europe Defensive players still have a big gap.

Millwall broke the deadlock and scored.

Aldridge gestured to the players from the sidelines.

Tactics, change.

After Boca Juniors kicked off again, they found that Millwall stopped pressing them, the defense line retreated, and the positions of Klose and Henry also changed.

What is this for?

Shameless defensive counterattack!

Bianchi, who had the nickname of the governor, turned his head and looked at Aldrich who put his hands in his pockets.

Europeans never tire of saying that South Americans are treacherous and cunning.

But in front of him, the Lions marshal with an outstanding record in European football, he has perfectly used his cunning and cunning in his game tactics!

Aldrich inadvertently felt Bianchi's gaze, he didn't look at him, he lowered his head slightly, the corners of his mouth raised, the arc was not obvious.

Boca Juniors are behind and must increase their offensive strength. Millwall is not afraid of the opponent's attack. Due to Riquelme's own positional relationship, even if Millwall is playing a defensive counterattack, he can still exert more pressure on Riquelme. Great defensive pressure.

Eight minutes later, Millwall made a whirlwind and quickly expanded the score.

Klose received Schneider's long pass in the middle circle, and without turning around, he hit Henry on the left. Henry took the ball and sprinted on the left. In the middle, Klose, Lamour, and the right Larson sped into action.

However, during the halftime rush, Klose was obviously being watched closely, so he consciously took away the defenders. Henry was not reckless when he came to the penalty area, and crossed the center to Larmore, who was completely unmarked. After stopping the ball, he went straight to the front right. Larson successfully caught the ball in the penalty area against offside. He didn't even stop the ball, and directly crossed the ball to the other side of the goal. Henry hit it and easily pushed the ball into the goal.

The two shooters completed a pass and a shot to each other.

In fact, playing a defensive counterattack, Millwall's offense is more powerful.

But there is a premise, that is, the opponent must attack and give them space to counterattack. Like Henry and Larson, there are only a handful of defensive players who can catch up with them.

So Aldridge switched tactics when the score was leading, Boca Juniors had to attack, and now, instead conceded the second goal.

Aldridge looked at the time, turned around and walked to the coach's bench, and said to Ronaldo and Villa who were placed on the bench today: You don't need to go into the locker room during the intermission, warm up outside.

Ronaldo rushed out immediately after hearing this, but was grabbed by Villa, and smiled bitterly at him: The boss said to warm up during the intermission, not now. (To be continued...)