Before the FIFA match day at the end of August and early September, Millwall's group draw for the new season's Champions League was released.:3w.
Their luck is pretty good.
The opponents in the same group are: Porto, Inter Milan, and Glasgow Rangers.
Given Millwall's height and status in the Champions League, in fact, according to the current split draw principle, no matter how they are grouped, Millwall cannot be placed in the group of death.
Death is only relative to the opponent.
Even if they were drawn into the second, third, and last pots, they were all considered to be the strongest teams. Originally, such a grouping would be an absolute death group.
But in front of Millwall, qualifying should not be a big problem.
It's just that this grouping situation is based on Millwall showing 100% of its strength and leaving no stone unturned. In the unreserved campaign, Millwall will qualify without any suspense.
After returning from the FIFA match day, Millwall will immediately play in the fifth round of the Premier League. They will go to Old Trafford to challenge Manchester United.
Manchester United, which has won four consecutive games, leads the standings together with Chelsea.
During the summer transfer period, Manchester United fell into turmoil due to the club's change of ownership. The actions in the transfer market seemed to confirm the outside world's speculation about the Glazer family.
Manchester United only introduced one veteran goalkeeper, Edwin van der Sar, and an Asian player who is very unfamiliar to English fans: Park Ji-sung.
Ferguson was very clear-headed and was not dazzled by the temporary advantage in the standings.
Before the game, he was full of rhetoric inside and outside, talking about Millwall's recent poor league record in an understanding tone, and insisted that Millwall should not be underestimated. Until the dust settles at the last minute, don't think that Millwall has already.
Got kicked out.
But when he said this, he seemed to be trying to smooth things over for Millwall, talking about Millwall going to the Far East to dig for gold in the summer.
To put it bluntly, it is a satire on Millwall for sacrificing summer preparations and having a poor record in the early stages of the league. They deserve it!
Aldrich ignored Ferguson's words and instead made a comment.
"Millwall has not been at its best before. This is obvious to all. I will not quibble. If I say that Millwall has tried its best and then we have not won three games in the league, it is simply self-deprecating! I can confirm it.
One thing is: Millwall will get better and better, and we are on the road to getting back on track! And one thing I am not sure about is, how long can Manchester United and Chelsea maintain their lead?"
In the game at Old Trafford, Aldridge still did not send the strongest lineup. He allowed players such as Kaká and Ronaldinho, who traveled halfway around the world from South America, to rest and prepare for the Champions League game.
At the same time, veterans Nedvěd and Larsson Schneider, who fought hard for the national team, also sat on the bench in case of emergencies.
A relatively strong offensive and defensive starting lineup appeared at Old Trafford.
The offensive power is impressive.
With Ronaldo, Henry, and Messi as the trident, Villa lurks behind Henry, and the midfield combination remains unchanged, with Alonso and De Rossi.
There are worries on the back line, with Silva and Nesta having a truce, Barzagli starting with Neal, and Ramos also replacing Schneider and Lahm as the two full-backs.
Manchester United is waiting for work at home. The Red Devils, who have won four consecutive league victories, are full of momentum.
The whole team was holding back a breath of bad breath, and it was hard to say that it was all aimed at Millwall. Even though they had been suppressed by Millwall all year round, they still felt unwilling to lose the FA Cup last season.
Among Manchester United's starting lineup, the one with the most energy and fighting spirit is veteran Keane.
However, in the eyes of outsiders, his fighting spirit has become distorted and turned violent and out of control!
Ferguson and Aldridge shook hands before the game. Today's confrontation will definitely not be a tit-for-tat confrontation.
For a long time, Manchester United has not been a team that absolutely limits its opponents to tactical footholds, and they are not an extremely offensive team. Therefore, after Ferguson retires in the future, when people who don't like Manchester United slander Ferguson's achievements, they will
The old Scottish man has been portrayed as the big devil of the Premier League, as if he is the dark boss of the Premier League, covering the sky with one hand, only in this way can he achieve glory.
In fact, it's just that Manchester United did not take an extreme route, unlike the crazy and aggressive teams that hold high the banner of offensive football, and unlike the utilitarians who are completely defensive to the end.
Most people don't think that the tactics and extended changes that Ferguson coached the team are so remarkable. In fact, this kind of thinking is too narrow-minded. Only when you rise to the spiritual temperament can you understand why Ferguson is the king of the Red Devils. He gave
Manchester United has injected an unusual temperament.
This temperament made Aldrich envious, and he also expressed his shame in private.
If we want to visualize this temperament, rather than generally speaking of it as the spirit inherited by the Red Devils for hundreds of years, then it is difficult to see it now, and we have to think about the future.
As times change, what is the biggest feature of Manchester United in terms of its lineup?
That is, when players come to Manchester United and when they leave Manchester United, they seem to become two different types of players.
This kind of spiritual temperament will make players who play for Manchester United, if they are observed and analyzed individually, they will feel that this player is very ordinary. If he is so ordinary, as long as he is a wealthy club, if he goes around in the transfer market, he dare not say that he can buy a dozen, at least.
Three or five is not a problem, but when multiple such ordinary players are combined and put on the Red Devils jersey, the team power shown has a qualitative leap and improvement.
For example, Park Ji-sung was introduced this summer. No matter how good he is, most other wealthy clubs will definitely not be interested. However, at Manchester United, he will not only have a place, but also make obvious contributions to the team.
Aldridge does not have this kind of magic, and he would like to have it, but after many years, he feels that Millwall cannot create this kind of spirit. It can be said that Millwall is hardworking, brave, strong, and never retreats, but it really wants to rise.
When a second-rate player comes to the team and polishes for a period of time, he can play the role of a first-rate player in the team. Aldridge thinks he can't do that.
This may be closely related to the club's heritage, era background, team tradition, etc.
This may be why Ferguson's tactics don't seem to be great, but they can make this team never be looked down upon in Europe. It has already improved the team's combat capabilities. If we pursue unique technical and tactical play,
Well, this could collapse the team.
Because anyone who can be ahead of others on the ultimate path and lead the trend of the times has very strict requirements for the composition of the team's lineup.
After fighting Aldridge for so many years, Ferguson has naturally summed up experience.
You can't really compete with Aldrich in a tactical duel.
That will only gradually turn into a disadvantage in the changes in competition, because the characteristics of Millwall's players are too rich. In terms of flexibility and changeability, Millwall is the best in the world. If you want to fight with them, you can't compete in the areas they are good at.
Internal strife.
Secondly, they cannot compete with Millwall for rhythm. Manchester United's offensive speed has always been their magic weapon to defeat the enemy. However, in the rapid back and forth impact, Manchester United's success rate seems to never be better than Millwall's. The reason is also Millwall's offense.
The speed of advancement is also very fast, and it seems faster than Manchester United!
If they impact each other in enough space, Manchester United will lose to Millwall in terms of sustainability and success rate.
Standing on the sidelines, Ferguson did not know whether he could bring Manchester United back to the throne of the Premier League king or even the European king in his lifetime, because he was not sure whether he could successfully reach the end of the road to explore the way to restrain Millwall.
But he still has the ambition to defeat his opponent and return to the throne.
Manchester United, which has ushered in a new owner, can be said to be roughly in a bygone era, because the Glazer family will not have any influence on the team's competitive affairs other than paying money. Ferguson still covers it with one hand.
sky.
In today's confrontation, Manchester United played a game that made Aldridge wary.
Manchester United is making progress, which is mainly reflected in the fact that when they faced Millwall on the field, they were more calm, controlled the ball stably in the midfield and backfield, and would not rush to attack, especially when switching from defense to offense. They would not blindly pursue speed as before.
, but will ensure the success rate of the offense. Only when teammates are absolutely free and can continue the offense, will they send forward direct passes from the backcourt.
The first element of Millwall's defense is counter-attacking!
Crazy counterattack!
In the past, most teams would have been panicked by them!
Even Manchester United is no exception. When the backcourt players pass the ball in a panic when being counterattacked, they may not necessarily make a mistake at that time. However, the passing choice may not be the best, especially the passing route may be in the counterattack.
The goal was predicted correctly by Millwall in advance, and it was exactly what they wanted!
Thereby curbing the opponent's offensive.
Aldridge's vigilance is here. Manchester United is smart. At least they are the first to make the most correct changes among the opponents they have encountered.
The midfield and backfield control the ball stably, and the backline must not panic. If Millwall dares to rush forward to grab it, they don't mind pulling back the backline. In this way, Millwall's frontcourt players will be embarrassed and they will step forward again.
, the distance between the three lines will be out of touch, the frontcourt pressure will be too deep, and the space will be expanded invisibly. Then, the opponent will launch a forward speed impact, and the efficiency will be higher!
Manchester United attacked in a targeted manner and achieved results in the early stages of the game.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Henry, and Messi suddenly rushed too far forward during the counterattack.
Henry is the defensive player, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi are the forward defenders.
But none of them noticed that Manchester United's back line retreated when they were in possession of the ball, waiting for them to move forward, and then suddenly launched a wave of forward fast breaks when the space in the midfield became larger!
Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Rooney, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and Joaquin made a series of quick and effective passes and cuts near the center circle. Finally, Ruud van Nistelrooy received Giggs' diagonal pass from a small angle in the penalty area.
Scored a volley.
Old Trafford was erupting in cheers.
There was no smile on Ferguson's face, he just clapped normally.
He knew that this was just a new beginning.
A prelude to the war between him and Aldrich. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
