The Young Lion

At the beginning of the night, Aldrich drove to a hotel near the Lion's Den Stadium in the dark.

It is also Millwall's property. When he took over the team, he rented, bought and then remodeled the hotel. It was originally a place for Millwall's indoor training, and later it became a place similar to the club's internal leisure club.

He used to swim regularly indoors here for two years and had long Monday night beer nights with coaches here.

In the past two years, I have come less often, because I want to stay at home and accompany my family when I have free time.

He parked his car in the parking lot outside the hotel, walked into the hotel alone, and took the elevator to the fifth floor. This floor was a small bar, and the staff had already left work. At this time, there was a person sitting at the bar drinking.

When Aldridge sat down beside him, he pushed a glass of wine to Aldrich's front together with an envelope.

Klinsmann, who was already slightly drunk, looked depressed and frustrated. When he found that Aldrich hadn't picked up his glass, he said in a dismayed way: Inside the envelope is my letter of resignation.

Aldridge put his hand on his wrist, stopped him from drinking.

Klinsmann suddenly laughed nervously.

Smiling, he lowered his head and rested his forehead on his other arm.

Aldrich, sorry, I failed to meet your expectations, I...

Jurgen, it's not over yet. Even if this season is all empty, you still have another season. At least in the past three months, your coaching achievements are obvious to all. It is developing in a good direction.

In fact, this is indeed the case. Just looking at the efficiency of grabbing points in the past three months, Millwall is the first in the league. It just fell off the chain in December.

There are still 5 rounds in the league, even if the defense fails, the gap from the championship will not be obvious.

Klinsmann lowered his head and smiled bitterly: Aldridge, no more, I don't have time, I can feel it, in the locker room. Many players don't want to talk to me anymore, even face to face. It's just a kind of respect for remembering the feelings of working together in the past , What I say, no one is willing to listen, and I. I also want to thank them. If I change to another team, I am afraid that I will have turned against me long ago. No one stabs me in the back, which is the greatest respect for me. Odry Odd, this job, I can't do it, really can't do it, I'm not you. Not many people in the Millwall dressing room really convince me, no, I ask myself now. What can I convince these glorious players? ?still none.

Klinsmann's tone was rather pathetic.

Aldrich closed his eyes, and suddenly remembered a mocking report by the Fleet Street tabloid two months ago.

After Klinsmann abandoned Larson, Larson has been silent, trained hard, and did not make any remarks outside the team. It's more like isolating myself and rarely communicating with teammates.

Over time. The reporters outside also learned about the situation.

Larsson obviously had a cold war with Klinsmann. The core is actually: if the coach doesn't use me, I will ignore the coach.

But Larson didn't make any troubles, not once, he was like a transparent man who didn't play and only trained in Millwall.

In order to exaggerate the contradictions in the Millwall team, Fleet Street used tabloids to make use of it.

Roughly speaking, the dialogue between Larson and Klinsmann is virtualized.

Klinsmann: Obey me!

Larson: Why?

Klinsmann: I am the World Cup champion! European Championship!

Larson: We are a club, unable to participate in the World Cup and the European Cup. I have 5 league titles and 4 Champions League titles. Why?

Klinsmann: I also have a league champion! I still have a UEFA Cup! Plus, I conquered the Premier League as a German!

Larsson: I conquered Europe as a Swede!

The intention of the unscrupulous tabloid must be to fan the flames, because Larson himself is not resisting Klinsmann. If Klinsmann reuses him, Larson will immediately go into battle without saying a word, showing the fighting spirit to die on the battlefield.

This idea is crooked, but the content of this virtual conversation has a certain practical significance.

There are many honored players in the Millwall team. If you want to convince them, the head coach must have very high capital.

This is also the biggest problem for Aldridge's resignation last summer. Please ask outsiders, what coach in today's football is as honorable as this group of players? Once outsiders lead the team with a decline in record and cannot balance the intricate relationship network in the locker room, I am afraid that there will be countless swords and swords immediately. Just like what Klinsmann said, the players will stab their knives in the back! Immediately there will be a bloody picture.

It is to borrow Klinsmann's past work in Millwall to carry out a certain relaxation.

So Millwall was calm, but too quiet, dead still.

If you don't explode in silence, you die in silence.

The Millwall dressing room did not erupt, and now it is dying in silence.

Klinsmann even had difficulty communicating with the players normally.

What's the use of listening to him?

After all, can communication and communication make the team win?

What's more, Klinsmann's insistence on trusting Klose and abandoning Larson's approach has indeed hurt many people's hearts.

This kind of confidence in continuing victory and rebuilding glory cannot be seen in Klinsmann in the locker room, and he has also reached a fork in the road that feels like a stranger.

As for these big-name players, Klinsmann has a fearful psychology that cannot be provoked.

Aldridge put his hand on Klinsmann's shoulder, and comforted softly: To be honest, now I feel that I didn't think thoroughly last year. What you are carrying is heavier than I expected.

On the surface, last summer was almost the same situation as the summer of 1998. In the summer of 1998, half of the main players of the team left.

But the actual situation is still very different.

In 1998, there were not many big-name players left in the Millwall team.

In 1998. The foundation of the rise of the second generation of wild lions, Nedved, Larson. The three of Southgate are still between 25 and 28 years old, which is the golden age. They can definitely carry the team forward. In addition, rising stars such as Pirlo and Ronaldinho are ambitious. The dynasty created by the second generation of Wild Lions is not accidental. There is a certain inevitability.

And last summer, let alone Southgate 32. Larson is over 30 years old, and even Nedved is still seriously injured. At this age, maintaining the state of the players themselves has become the main focus of energy. Not to mention more dedication, even if it can take into account the overall situation of the team, it is very limited.

Aldrich miscalculated the background of the team's construction last summer. It should not be a simple replacement. It is by no means normal, but a new king must be promoted to the top!

There is no rule without rules, and it is the same within the team!

In this time period when Southgate, Larson, and Nedved started to call the curtain down. The invisible competition within Millwall has already quietly kicked off.

Just like the front line, no one can shake the team, no one can question it. The iconic figure carrying the banner of the king, of course, should be Henry!

But Klinsmann made Henry make some sacrifices and supported Klose's leadership.

And the competition in the midfield is also very cruel, Alonso, Lampard, Nedved. There is also Kaka, even if it is impossible to right a new king at once. But at least there must be a clear attitude. When Aldridge was still in the position of head coach two years ago, Kaka was the new king after Nedved. Of course, Kaka is not qualified to be stable now. The starter and the main force, but you must give him a signal to let him understand that if he wants to stand in Nedved's position and succeed Millwall's iconic midfielder, he must pay more, work hard, and fight hard!

However, the midfield competition in the Millwall team was extremely chaotic. Even in the post-Gattuso era, defensive midfielders were directly kicked out of the stage of competition for the top position. There were too many changes that had to be made on the spot, but this also laid the groundwork for his betrayal today.

The same is true of the back line. Nesta is very strong, but Nesta is not an iconic figure in Millwall. If he stays in Millwall for ten years, with his ability, he will become an incredible player in the history of Millwall. A forgotten character, but Nesta is now 27, and the king of the next generation of defenders has still not surfaced.

There needs to be a clear order within a team, and this kind of control has even higher requirements for the head coach. Before last summer, Aldridge did not consider this aspect until Klinsmann led the team for nearly a season. During this time, he figured out the reason bit by bit through the problems that erupted in Millwall. This is what a bystander can only see when he sees the problem and then thinks about it.

Inside Millwall, which is invisible to the outside world, in fact, this kind of disordered internal consumption and open and secret fighting are the reasons for the obvious decline in the team's combat power. No matter how the team and formation play change, it is impossible for there to be a gap of heaven and earth.

Aldridge, I also love Millwall and everything here, so I resign. I can't accept the fact that I have destroyed Millwall bit by bit with my own hands.

Klinsmann raised his head and turned to look at Aldrich for the first time. There were two obvious tear stains on his face.

Aldrich suddenly felt a little guilty. He was always bold and reckless, and it was easy to ignore many objective facts. Klinsmann's words pierced his heart.

It can't be blamed that Klinsmann dared to take over the coaching position of Millwall, a super strong team. Aldridge threw that kind of temptation to Klinsmann.

Aldrich shook his head slightly, lowered his gaze, and fixed his eyes on the glass of wine, and said in a harsh voice, I don't accept your resignation. Tomorrow, Millwall will officially announce that you will be fired.

Klinsmann stood up, said two words softly, and walked out.

Thanks.

Thanks for what?

Did Millwall sack him and give him contract compensation?

of course not.

It was Aldridge who maintained his dignity.

If Klinsmann takes the blame and resigns, it proves that he is afraid, shrinks back, and has no confidence to continue. In the eyes of the outside world, this is a cowardly and even self-denying behavior.

Just like, Keegan, who voluntarily resigned after leading England to lose to Germany, admitted his lack of ability.

Being a head coach is not an indisputable job. The first thing is to make others obey you!

You don't even have confidence in yourself, so who do you expect to convince?

If Millwall fired Klinsmann, it would more or less cover up Klinsmann's failure in coaching this time.

Looking up to drink the wine in the glass, Aldrich took out the lighter to light a cigarette, and then burned the letter.

Five minutes later, Aldrich took out his mobile phone and called Jenson, saying only one sentence.

Come back to Wild Lion with me tomorrow. (To be continued) ()