Wenger has been isolated and criticized by the media and colleagues since he came to England. Some people think that his elegance is more like a maverick. Among the Premier League coaches, he is also the most unsociable. Outsiders interpret him as a sign of his uniqueness.
Different, this will naturally attract criticism from the outside world.
At the Lion's Den Stadium, Wenger and Aldridge, two old friends, old and young, reunited on the battlefield. Before the game started, Aldridge had habitually appeared on the sidelines early. Especially on home game days, he would always show up first.
Go to the VIP stand and have a chat with Puskas, Arthur, and Ivan, or chat with the reporters watching the game in the press box.
With five minutes left in the game, Aldridge walked down the stands and when passing by the visiting team's coaching bench, Wenger stood up and the two exchanged brief greetings on the sidelines.
"Life in London is harder than I thought."
Wenger sighed with emotion.
Aldrich smiled and said: "Yes, the head coach has many enemies here, and the media and the public are one of them."
Wenger frowned and said: "Why does everyone seem to be hostile to me? It's really strange."
"There is no way. In this environment, there are deep-rooted forces. They hope that outsiders will be assimilated into the traditions here. If you don't cooperate, you will become the target of public criticism."
"My job is to lead the team to victory, and it is not to drink and chat with other coaches. Will you also invite me to get together after the game?"
"Yes, but if you don't want to come, I can understand."
"Let's forget it."
Aldridge and Wenger patted each other's arms and then returned to the coaching bench.
"Arsenal, a traditional giant, will visit the Lion's Den tonight to challenge the league leader Millwall. If we could turn back time, I don't think anyone would believe that the gap between Millwall and Arsenal in the standings is 29 points. Even if some people believe it,
I must think that Arsenal is the leader, but the reality is so cruel, Millwall is likely to win the Premier League crown 6 to 8 games ahead of schedule this season, as long as they continue to perform so well."
"Hall has absorbed the experience of last season's failure to win the championship this season. He has allowed young players to appear more on the cup stage this season for training. The stabilized main lineup is going all out in the league. Today's starting lineup
In the 22 appearances of the lineup in the Premier League, they have achieved an impressive record of 20 wins and 2 draws. The quartet of Nedved, Larsson, Trezeguet, and Shevchenko has been crowned the Four Magic Kings by the outside world.
As long as the four of them play at the same time, Millwall's offensive performance in the frontcourt is simply magical. But I think the more critical thing is the Italian young man behind Nedved, Pirlo. Whether he plays or not directly affects
Millwall's offensive efficiency. Neither Ballack nor Lampard can replace his role in the offense. Of course, the first two's contribution on the defensive end is greater than Pirlo, which is also obvious."
"Arsenal's ranking is actually not much different from last year. They remain in the second group area, but under the leadership of Frenchman Arsene Wenger, the team's style of play has begun to undergo a fundamental change, although they still rely on counterattacks.
The main player, however, abandoned the traditional British long pass and instead used European ground advancement. This is very similar to the Millwall built by Hall. Millwall's sudden rise has set off a storm in the Premier League and quietly changed England.
Lan's football, because more and more teams are imitating them, such as the newly promoted Leicester City who performed amazingly this season. Martin O'Neill's team also defends and counterattacks, but likes to play on the ground and play on the wing. Middles
Middlesbrough are also changing. They have introduced many technical stars, but Robson's transformation seems to be in trouble. Middlesbrough's strength has been greatly enhanced, but its performance has dropped significantly compared with the previous year. Now it is struggling to avoid relegation.
."
...
Players from both sides appeared on the stage, and many fans in the stands held signs. Many people were angry that Pires and Vieira left for Arsenal in the summer.
Fans are naturally emotionally selfish, and this is human nature.
They believe that these two people betrayed Millwall and went to their city rivals, but they just vented their dissatisfaction a little. If any of the players went to Chelsea or West Ham United, it would be completely different. Now, there are more fans
It's a kind of gloating mentality.
You two go to Arsenal, isn't it a big deal?!
Pires has spent more time on the bench at Arsenal this season.
Vieira, although you are the main player, if you stay at Millwall, you will have the championship trophy to win this season.
Millwall's staff is relatively neat. Shevchenko felt a little unwell in the last game and recovered after two days of rest. It's not a big problem. This is Aldrich's approach to protecting players. As long as there is even a trace of discomfort in the players' training.
Even if they feel uncomfortable, he will not force the players to play, lest a small symptom turn into a catastrophe.
Goalkeeper Bute, defense Schneider, Stam, Southgate, Capdevila, midfield three Makelele, Pirlo, Nedved, striker trio Larsson, Tre
Zegay, Shevchenko.
On Arsenal's side, even though Wenger took over Arsenal, their basic formation is the same as in the past two years.
Goalkeeper Seaman, back five Dixon, Balder, Adams, Keown, Winterburn, midfield three Vieira, Platt, Mason, forward Wright partnered with Bergkamp.
At the beginning of the game, Arsenal retreated across the board, compressing all fronts in the second half, but maintaining a clear sense of hierarchy. Vieira and Platt protected the penalty area, and the five defenders made the penalty area airtight. Mason ran in a wide range.
In the interception, Wright and Bergkamp worked in tandem. The latter's role on the field was more like a nine-and-a-half, playing a significant role in organization and scoring in the offense.
Because Arsenal had a defensive posture from the beginning and there were a lot of people in the midfield and backfield, this made Pirlo's forward space narrow, so he sat in the midfield area and did the work of a commander lightly.
In Millwall's formation, Pirlo is not a particularly outstanding figure, and it is rare to see him assist and score directly, but without him, there is a significant difference in the quality of Millwall's overall offensive.
With his eyes wide open, he would often transfer the ball inadvertently, causing Millwall's offense to move to the weakest part of the opponent's defense.
Nedvěd was running back and forth in front, attracting the attention of Vieira and Pratt. Mason pressed Pirlo. Pirlo did not stick to the ball and played a two-on-one with Makelele to create space for organization.
, he picked up the ball on the right side of the midfield, and suddenly made a direct pass from the ground and transferred the ball to the left half. The ball passed through the narrow gap.
Penetrating the lateral interception surface, Capdevila, who came up with an assist, took the ball and dribbled forward at high speed. At the same time, Larson caught Dixon's attention. Nedvěd came to respond, and Capdevila
Pulling the ball out, Nedvěd flicked his ankle, and the ball penetrated the space between Arsenal's full-back and center back like a sharp knife.
Larson started diagonally into the penalty area at the right time. Bould rushed to defend. Larson stopped and dunked in the penalty area and then took advantage of the situation and kicked the shot. The movements were coherent and in one go. The ball flew towards the center in an inward arc.
The upper right corner of the Arsenal gate.
Seaman, who was back from injury, flew up and lifted the ball over the crossbar with one hand.
"World-class save! Larsson shot brilliantly and Seaman made a great save!"
There was a huge sigh in the stands, followed by waves of applause.
Millwall's attack is a real joy to watch.
Aldridge crossed his arms over his chest on the sidelines. This attack reflected Pirlo's role. His transfer of the ball instigated the attack. It was an insight into the weak points of the opponent's defense. It was also a lateral transfer that allowed the opponent's formation to move in a wide range and create gaps.
If another midfielder is replaced, the success rate of the ball is no problem, but it is hard to say whether he can directly see the space on the left from the right and pass the ball over.
The slow Pirlo trotted to take the corner kick. Set kicks are indispensable in his training sessions. Now Millwall's frontcourt free kicks, if it is a passing tactic, leave it to Schneider. If it is a direct
The shot is given to Pirlo, and the corner kick is also given to Pirlo.
Pirlo did not hang the ball directly in front of the goal, but took a tactical corner kick. He passed the ball to Schneider who came up from the right wing. The latter stopped the ball and then passed it in. This rhythm
The changes will disrupt the opponent's defense.
This pass was extremely threatening. The ball made an arc and went to the back point. Arsenal's defense pressed forward after the corner kick was taken. At this time, the ball came back and they had to turn back and run backwards. Obviously, they were slow.
One shot.
Capdevila came out from behind and sent the ball into Arsenal's goal with a header.
Just as he was about to celebrate, the linesman signaled it was offside.
Capdevila shook his head and ran toward the backcourt.
Offside, no doubt, but it was not Capdevila who was offside, but Trezeguet. He did not keep up with the pace of Arsenal's defense. When Schneider passed the ball, he clearly stood out.
As for Capdevila's late goal but it was not offside, but in this era, the offside rule is like this.
Aldrich did not complain. This is a rule that everyone abides by. It is not a differential treatment and is indisputable.
Arsenal switched from defense to offense, the ball was passed forward from the backcourt, and the players' forward movement also had the visual sense of butterflies in flowers.
Platt distributed the ball to Vieira who was inserted, and Vieira passed the ball to the foot of Dixon on the wing. In front of Bergkamp, Capdevila had already returned to defend, and Wright was sandwiched between
Between Makelele and the defense, Mason was blocked by Makelele's position to block the passing route.
Dixon dribbled the ball forward, and Nedved helped defend the wing. Dixon did not try to break through Nedved's defense with speed, but passed the ball to the center. Vieira had already been defended by Larsson and
Trezeguet was double-teamed, but there was someone in the middle to help him, Adams!
Just when Adams was about to catch the ball, someone in front of him stretched out his foot to intercept the ball, and moved forward to counterattack with the ball. Adams knocked the person down with his body.
"Wow, Pirlo actually completed a defensive block! This doesn't seem like a defense he would do, but through slow motion, we can see that he seemed to be staring forward without retreating in the midfield.
Adams, when the ball was passed, he took the initiative to step forward and intercept the ball with his feet. It was an excellent interception. It seems that Hall had special instructions for Pirlo in the pre-match arrangement."
However, Pirlo's physical fitness was still at a disadvantage. He fell to the ground as soon as he was hit by the tall Adams.
After Pirlo fell to the ground, the referee blew the whistle to indicate a foul on Adams. In this level of collision, Pirlo was not absolutely ahead of Adams, so it was impossible to talk about playing cards. Pirlo got up and quickly took a free kick, and Adams was even more
He kicked the ball expertly, then turned around and ran towards the backcourt.
Pirlo was very depressed and had to pick up the ball and take the free kick again.
However, he has greater psychological confidence. Defense is his weakness, and in the midfield position, he must improve his defensive ability and awareness, so of course Aldrich will help him in every game he starts.
, Aldrich will explain to him the opponent's offensive characteristics alone and tell him what he should pay attention to when defending.
Today, Arsenal's offensive routine is in Pirlo's mind, and his defense just now was not an accident. This is very important for improving his defensive awareness and adds valuable experience.
