Millwall's third meeting with Manchester United this season kicked off at the Lion's Den.
We have reached the semifinals, and neither side has any reason to give up strategically.
Aldridge chose to play with all the main players, and so did Manchester United.
But because both teams are lagging behind Newcastle United in the league, their strategies for the game will change.
Ferguson obviously didn't want to spend too much time in the FA Cup, and Manchester United was playing away from home. Manchester United played a little conservatively after the start, trying to control the rhythm of the game and find space for counterattacks to take away the victory.
Aldridge's team now has hopes of winning the FA Cup and the league. The players' continuous battle relies on willpower and they can rush with one breath.
Therefore, Millwall played extremely ferociously from the start.
Aldridge was pacing back and forth on the sidelines. At this point in the game this season, he could only rush forward, without any retreat or rest.
He realized that he had been a little naive before. Those teams that fought on multiple fronts and had the possibility of winning the championship, whether they were the head coach or the players, were actually helpless. They would feel regretful if they gave up any line of competition, so they could only fight hard.
Every game ends up being a failure, and it's hard to have a rational reason to explain it.
At this point, all I can do is work hard.
Manchester United is still Manchester United with the temperament of a king. Judging from the expressions of their players, Aldrich saw no signs of anxiety. He wanted to go up to Ferguson and ask: How can you keep the players calm at this time?
Yes, Millwall's players have lost their composure on the court and are approaching madness.
They don't look like crazy lions now, but like a crazy pack of wolves.
He spared no effort to run, attack and pass, which was exciting and at the same time increased the pace of the game to an unimaginable speed.
Bruce is still on the court today, and Millwall's offense is still focused on his side.
Naturally, studying the opponent means attacking the weak points. Manchester United has two central defenders, one is Pallister and the other is Bruce. It is obvious which side should be attacked.
"Manchester United tried to control the tempo of the game, but they were confused by Millwall's crazy pressing. Now they are exhausted on the defensive line. Cantona couldn't get the ball at all today. Makelele marked him very well. The two
The French confrontation is one of the highlights of this game."
Millwall once again successfully defused Manchester United's attack. Today, Cole and Cantona on the front line had no room to play. The biggest reason is that Manchester United's midfield configuration is more defensive, and the creativity on the offensive end is obviously insufficient.
Even though Keane is a strong man with both offense and defense, his main focus is on defense. When switching from defense to offense, Nedved will immediately entangle him, limiting his performance on the offensive end.
Pires took the ball and passed it to the center. Larsson, who retreated, caught the ball and kept the ball in place. Then he ran into the penalty area. This made Pallister instinctively follow Larson, but he was shocked
Unexpectedly, he discovered that the ball was in front of him. Bruce wanted to rush forward to clear the ball, but Pires got to the ball one step ahead of him and flicked his ankle. The ball went straight into the penalty area and hit Bruce behind. Trezeguet succeeded in countering offside and passed the ball in the penalty area.
Inside ball.
According to Trezeguet's technical characteristics in the past, he would shoot without hesitation, but today Pallister obviously took care of his side. When Trezeguet moved his leg to pretend to shoot, Pallister made a sliding tackle.
He went out to block his shooting space, but Trezeguet just made a fake move and controlled the ball on the spot. The goal of Manchester United's penalty area was already wide open.
Schmeichel abandoned the goal and Trezeguet passed the ball towards the goal. Larsson rushed forward and shot the ball into the net.
"Millwall scored! This offensive launched by Pires is wonderful. This season we have seen Trezeguet's great progress. He is now more and more confident in controlling the ball. He just went from running to false
Action assists to Larsson all show that his threat in the penalty area is increasing day by day. Larsson has scored 38 goals in all competitions this season. Although there is still 5 goals behind Shearer on the Premier League scorer list,
His performance in his first season in the Premier League has been impeccable."
When Ferguson saw the missed ball, he closed his eyes and frowned, his face not looking good.
In the first round of the season, Millwall defeated Manchester United five times in an away game. Ferguson realized that Bruce could no longer reach the level of Manchester United, so he began to use David May as a central defender. In the second half of the league, Manchester United performed steadily and surged forward.
It has something to do with the tacit understanding between David May and Pallister. If it were not for the sake of retaining strength for the league, he probably would not use Bruce in this semi-final. David May is an injury-prone player, and Ferguson wants to do better.
to protect him.
After being annoyed that he had conceded the goal, Ferguson glanced at Aldridge again and thought: This game is so hard, is the FA Cup more important than the league?
Aldridge is really helpless. He can't tell the boys: Hey, let's save some energy in the FA Cup and go for the league championship.
What if both sides fail?
Aldridge should shoulder this responsibility, but he cannot bear it too obviously. Not only that the players cannot bear such a failure, but he is also worried that it will create a gap with the players.
All he can do is trust the players and encourage them instead of discouraging them.
The Millwall players played really hard today.
Especially in the defense, the forwards and the two full-backs, Pires and Schneider retreated very deep in the second half, not just in the opposite defense, Larsson and Trezeguet also returned to participate in the half.
Harassment on site.
When attacking, they all rushed forward together.
Before the end of the first half, Thuram unexpectedly ran to the penalty area and took a long shot that once again penetrated the goal guarded by Schmeichel.
Millwall returned to the dressing room with a two-goal lead.
Aldridge was the last to enter the locker room and saw the players panting and sweating. They were obviously very tired.
In the past half month, they have played three games, two league games and one FA Cup match with Newcastle United. Today is the fourth game.
But they don't want to stop, they don't want to be rotated. They just want to sprint towards the championship with all their strength.
The fighting spirit displayed by the players made it impossible to implement the rotation Aldridge originally planned.
He is worried about losing points in the league after the rotation. So what will the main players who are rotated think?
Boss, if we are on the court, we will win the game and we will not lose the championship.
And what kind of pressure will the young players in the rotation feel? The responsibility of failure will overwhelm their psychological defenses.
After weighing the balance, Aldrich could only let the main force fight.
The physiotherapists were massaging the players' muscles. The physiotherapists who were familiar with the players all had solemn expressions on their faces, and a few of them even gave Aldridge a covert wink.
The players' mental state is very exciting, but their physical state is approaching the edge of the limit.
We shouldn't let them work so hard anymore. Otherwise, they may suffer from cramps or injuries.
Aldridge was writing on the tactical board, telling the players to play smarter and more controlled in the second half and not to pounce too much to avoid being counterattacked by Manchester United.
The players took note of his remarks carefully.
Aldrich actually lied.
A two-goal lead is not safe at all. Before Manchester United counterattacks in the second half, as long as Millwall scores another goal, Manchester United will completely give up and focus on the league.
But he couldn't let his players continue to charge like this at the risk of injury.
In the second half, Aldrich removed Schneider and replaced him with Vieira. This was also a strategy to strengthen the control of the midfield and backcourt.
To Aldridge's surprise, Manchester United removed Cantona and replaced him with Silkes. After all, the king was already thirty years old and had a very intensive league schedule. Manchester United still needed to rely on his performance.
Aldridge also replaced Larsson and Pires ten minutes into the second half, allowing Solskjaer and Shevchenko to take their place.
The second half of the game was a fierce confrontation in the midfield. The duel between Kion Gabutt, Nedved and Vieira was evenly matched, but Manchester United's central organization could not penetrate into the hinterland of the frontcourt and could only rely on
There are two wide sides, but once Giggs and Beckham are restricted, Manchester United's offense will be helpless.
Aldridge looked calm on the sidelines. He was praying in his heart that the players would not be injured, and at the same time he was reviewing Manchester United's tactical system.
Ferguson has not yet found the most suitable offensive code for Manchester United. It can be said that after Paul Ince left, Ferguson has been experimenting with Manchester United's midfield configuration. This season, Buttagakien's configuration focuses on defense and light attack, until the basic configuration is determined in the future.
After the configuration of Ern and Scholes, one defense and one offense, Manchester United completely solved the problem of offensive and defensive balance in the midfield. With the mature wings flying together, Manchester United had the capital to compete for the Champions League based in Europe.
Then there’s the pseudo-strong team that can’t even qualify for the Champions League group stage.
The FA Cup semi-final ended with Millwall defeating Manchester United 2:0.
Ferguson did not rush back to Manchester after the game, but had a small gathering with Aldridge in the office.
The two inevitably talked about the situation of the Premier League championship. It was not known whether Ferguson was sincere or hypocritical, but his expression was very sincere and he told Aldridge: If Manchester United cannot win the championship, then he hopes that Millwall will eventually win the championship.
.
Obviously, this was mixed with Ferguson's selfish motives. He and Keegan did not want to deal with each other. Moreover, after months of war of words, if Kevin Keegan finally won the championship, then Ferguson would definitely lose face in the end.
Aldridge didn't proudly beat his chest to confirm, he only said that we will see the results in the next half month.
He cannot be optimistic. The main players in the team must rest, but he cannot be easily rotated. This makes every game full of unpredictability, rather than the disparity in strength as it seems on paper.
Before leaving, Ferguson put down the wine glass, shook his head and said: "Aldrich, this wine is really terrible. Next time I will give you a few bottles of wine and put them here. Every time we play against each other, you can use them to entertain me, so as not to
I'm going to drink this shit out of etiquette."
Aldrich shrugged and said indifferently: "Okay, you can send me a few more boxes."
"Stam, Solskjaer, and Nedved, these three people, you make a price."
Aldrich almost blurted out and cursed him as a human being.
Why are you poaching again!
Aldrich spread his hands and said: "Not for sale."
Ferguson shook his head and said: "If Manchester United really launches an offensive against these three people, can Millwall keep them?"
Aldrich fell silent.
Ferguson regretted it half a season ago. He made an offer to Millwall before the season to introduce Larsson or Trezeguet. If he promised the other party's main position in the offer, then at least one of the two people must have already
Put on the Red Devils jersey, but at that time he was still talking about Andy Coe
Cole had great confidence, but he didn't expect that Cole's performance this season was so bad. As of today, his number of goals is not as high as the number of goals he scored in the first half of the season after joining midway through last season. It was only 10 goals.
Cole played 18 games for Manchester United this season and scored 12 goals.
Ferguson continued: "Millwall has a lot of reserves at the centre-back. Without Stam, you still have the Spaniard. The Italian boy performed well too. Isn't there Richards? Nedved is Millwall's
I will send you an offer that will definitely satisfy you. That young man from Solskjaer, it’s a waste to stay with you. You don’t give him a chance at all. Why has that Ukrainian young man gotten more chances than him recently?
How much? Maybe it’s a tactical reason, but I think the Norwegian guy can play the main role at Manchester United.”
Aldrich closed his eyes and smiled bitterly.
Old man, I have never denied Babyface's ability, but you don't know how amazing the power of Ukraine's nuclear warhead is after it explodes.
"I will talk to these three players and give you an answer later."
Aldrich raised his hand to see the guest off.
As Ferguson said, Millwall has a lot of central defender reserves, and if Manchester United wants to dig out, they will dig out outstanding central defenders who have been trained and grown. Manchester United's Class of 92 has begun to take the lead, and now Ferguson has no patience to slowly train new players.
After all, the price is cruel. Manchester United's defense is in urgent need of first-class stars who can compete, so Stam is naturally the first choice.
The season is not over yet. Aldridge not only has huge pressure on his shoulders, but also has troubles one after another. What head coach can be happy when he is poached as the main player?
