Wimbledon is a strange flower in the Premier League. It is obviously the poorest club in the Premier League. It even rents the stadium from Crystal Palace. However, they watch other clubs that are richer than them get relegated every year. They rarely get into relegation battles.
The same is true for the season. They are firmly in the upper middle of the standings, ranked ninth, 7 points away from Leicester City, which is ranked tenth, and they are like a team.
The situation of the sub-table is a watershed, because in theory, Wimbledon has no worries about relegation, but the ten teams behind Leicester City, except for Nottingham Forest, which has almost no hope of relegation, the other nine teams are all in danger of being relegated.
It is possible that Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers, West Ham United, Everton, etc. may be involved, which does not sound like the name of a relegation team.
The suspense of this season's Premier League championship has become slim since Christmas, but after mid-to-late March, which three teams will be relegated has become the biggest suspense, because there are too many teams that may be relegated. The Premier League
A new broadcast contract will be signed in the summer, and there are rumors that it will be at least double the contract five years ago, which will further stimulate the fierceness of the relegation battle.
Wimbledon, the favorite for relegation every year, has been able to rest easy and now begins to fight for the FA Cup.
This is probably related to their tough and rough British style of play. It is not uncommon for teams to stick to one style for one season and two seasons, but a team that can continue to play like this for ten years without seeking changes,
It is really rare in the world. Perhaps it is this kind of unswerving determination that allows Wimbledon to be proud of the other players in the Premier League even though they are unable to take the throne.
The FA Cup quarter-finals kick off at the Lion's Den Stadium.
Less than a minute into the game, Wimbledon leader Vinnie Jones came up and knocked over Lampard. The referee blew the whistle to indicate a foul. Jones was given a verbal warning, but no card was given.
Jones' evil face was still chattering dissatisfied. He spat on the way back, seeming to despise Lampard for being a little soft.
Aldridge spread his palms on the sidelines in protest, but intellectually he didn't think there was anything wrong with Wimbledon's style of play.
You can accuse them of not wanting to make progress and playing old-fashioned long passes.
You can also laugh at them for being low-level people on the court and unable to perform as bright as the snow.
But there is no fixed style standard on the football field. Some players are arrogant and some are just reckless.
No matter whether Wimbledon's group of blue-collar warriors play well or not, they have a place in the Premier League. No one can easily take advantage of them.
It is this fearless and fierce energy that allows them to violate the laws of the capital game of football, and they can still enjoy themselves in the top league despite being poor.
Aldrich was a little wary of dealing with this group of muscular warriors. He did not dare to let the main players fight with the opponent. He was afraid that it would scar his team. Moreover, their passing and cutting coordination was not the case at Wimbledon.
Not necessarily the best choice.
The opponent played long passes and Millwall also played long passes today.
There are powerful central midfielders with both offensive and defensive capabilities in the middle. Ballack and Lampard can play up and down. They will intervene when attacking and participate in fierce strangleholds when defending.
Three forwards. Toni is the bridgehead, and Ruud van Nistelrooy is the fishermen in the penalty area. Behind the two of them is Phillips, who plays unconventionally and occasionally has a stroke of genius. In addition to organizing and advancing in the middle, the two full-backs frequently control the attack.
The ball rushed into the penalty area.
Throughout the first half, the rhythm of the game was confrontation, fall, confrontation, fall. There was a chaotic battle in the penalty area of Wimbledon, and Aldridge could not look straight at it.
It gave people the feeling that their opponents were not normal thinking players, but a group of reckless rhinos. It was difficult for you to see their defensive routines from the dense crowd, but you were intimidated by the rampant momentum.
Wimbledon has a very high degree of tactical execution. In the away game, we must defend to the letter.
It's a tie, let's find time to play another game. Anyway, we are short of money, so playing one more game to earn more tickets and broadcast fees is just what we want.
This is a game that tests the will. First of all, Millwall's players must not be afraid, and secondly, they must maintain faith in victory. Otherwise, their opponents may succeed.
The offensive battle was extremely brutal. Wimbledon implemented foul tactics outside the penalty area and used their bodies to block long-range shots. Millwall lobbed and bombed outside the penalty area. Taking advantage of opportunities, they took long-range shots from the penalty area. Most of Millwall's players
Most of the time, players at Wimbledon were hit by a football and fell to the ground in pain.
The fans in the stands enjoyed it very much. The Lions fans were not hostile to the fans of the Kuang Gang. On the contrary, they admired the spirit of the Kuang Gang. They didn’t care whether you played rough or not, as long as you played like a
Man, we respect you.
Wimbledon had six players receive yellow cards in the first half, but they held on to a draw.
Aldridge returned to the locker room at halftime and looked at the dissatisfied players who were cursing and swearing. After the locker room fell silent, he looked at Lampard and asked: "Are you angry?"
Lampard said of course: "Why not? They simply don't look like football players."
He was knocked over at least three times in the first half, and he had the urge to fight directly with the opponent.
Aldridge looked at the other players and asked Materazzi: "What about you? Are you angry?"
Materazzi shrugged and said: "There's nothing to be angry about, it's normal."
When he was playing in the Italian regional leagues, he saw many such scenes.
In fact, there is no "dirty or not" in the stadium. As long as there is no black whistle and the opponent commits a foul, then a card will be given. Two yellows will become one red, or a direct red card. There are rules to restrict the player's behavior.
"I have an illusion that you are beginning to regard football as a gentleman's game. You may think that playing football should be like our tactical style, pursuing teamwork and showing individual skills. You are like an orchestra composed of a group of singers.
Come together to compose a gorgeous and beautiful movement.”
After Aldridge finished speaking in an understatement, the other players stared at him, and many of them had a look of reflection in their eyes.
"That's right, this is our pursuit, but we can't impose our pursuit on others as a standard. We can't just complain when we encounter opponents who run counter to our pursuit. You can't say that Wimbledon is not playing football.
.They are also working hard and showing their unique style. Although this style is completely different from ours, we should not complain. We should face this kind of opponent squarely, then stay calm and defeat the opponent. At least, I don't
I despise them. I even respect the opponent's head coach very much. Why? Because I am luckier than the opponent. I can coach talented players like you. You are strong together. In terms of football talent, Wimbledon players are not as good as you, but
Look at their ranking in the standings, and then think about it, who was eliminated by Manchester United? They unite and play their own style of football, which also makes them stronger. This is commendable."
The players showed thoughtful expressions, and after about two minutes, Aldridge smiled and asked: "Is anyone else angry?"
Lampard was the first to shake his head, and other players followed suit.
Aldrich went on to ask, "What should we do in the second half?"
"Beat them!"
"Very good, now let's talk about the adjustments for the second half."
It only took Aldridge three minutes to complete the midfield adjustments and then let the players go out to play.
In fact, there are not many adjustments he can make. It is nothing more than Lampard and Ballack taking turns to insert into the penalty area, disrupting the opponent's defense, and then adjusting the way the ball is played from the wing.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
Wimbledon still looks like they are united in defense. Their offensive methods are relatively monotonous, and they can only start from set pieces. In positional battle counterattacks, they have no fast forwards and they dare not press heavily. Therefore, even the opportunity to attack from set pieces is limited.
Very few.
The game still remained deadlocked. Aldridge was pacing back and forth on the sidelines. Seeing that the time had reached 75 minutes, he planned to replace him with another midfielder to strengthen the coverage of the two-point attack.
The penalty area is overcrowded, and going forward won't have much effect.
Just as he was about to go back to let Nedvěd warm up, the situation on the field suddenly changed. Zambrotta made a long diagonal pass from the left into the penalty area. Toni moved to the back point to grab the landing spot and headed the ball back to the goal.
, Ballack jumped high and hit the goal with a header.
The Wimbledon goalkeeper made a subconscious save and the ball was miraculously blocked by him!
However, there were too many people in front of the penalty area. After the ball bounced out, it hit someone's body and bounced back into the goal.
"The goal has been scored! Millwall has been attacking for seventy-six minutes and finally scored! Oh, oh, it was not a Millwall player who scored the ball, it was an own goal by a Wimbledon player! The goalkeeper made a world-class save.
He blocked the ball, but his teammates couldn't avoid it, and used their bodies to block the ball back into the goal. Wimbledon saw that there were still fifteen minutes to go, but they didn't expect that they made a mistake. Millwall led 1:0.
!They have one foot in the FA Cup semi-finals."
Aldrich breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the goal on the sidelines and signaled to the players on the court. The players celebrated and passed the coach's tactical instructions to each other.
Next, they need to balance the formation.
Wimbledon was unwilling to lose and naturally wanted to counterattack wildly. However, Millwall's defensive players in the midfield and backfield today were really not afraid of powerful impact. Ferdinand made a header from the long ball to clear the ball during the confrontation, faintly showing his ability as a general.
the wind.
When Wimbledon broke out, their defensive area in the backcourt shrank rapidly, and the gaps exposed became wider and wider. In the last five minutes of the game, another pass was blocked by Millwall. Then, Lampard
A long pass from the midfield to the frontcourt.
Tony was at the front, blocking the Wimbledon defender with his back. The two bodies were fighting fiercely. However, after the ball fell, neither of them actually touched the ball. They saw the ball bounce in front of Tony and then jump up.
It went directly over the heads of the two people. At that time, Phillips rushed past the two people intelligently. When the ball hit the ground again, he stopped the ball steadily, and then rushed towards the opponent's goal alone with the ball.
Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Phillips calmly pushed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, helping Millwall secure the victory.
The Millwall players went to celebrate, while the Wimbledon players lowered their heads feebly and stood there with their hands on their hips, looking very unwilling.
Aldridge applauded from the sidelines, and half of the applause was given to Wimbledon.
At least, this team with a rough playing style has its own unique temperament. Although they are not strong, a team that can give a club a special temperament is worthy of admiration.
When people mention many famous teams, they can think of the spiritual temperament of this team. There may not be many famous Wimbledon players, but when they mention the name of the club, people all know what they symbolize, even though most of them
Most people don't appreciate them, but considering the situation their club is in, this is commendable.
The 2:0 score remained until the end. Millwall was fighting on three fronts: the league, the FA Cup, and the European Cup Winners' Cup, and entered the sprint stage of the three-front championship.
The opponent for the FA Cup semi-finals was announced the next day. It was Middlesbrough who ended Millwall's two-year unbeaten home game at the beginning of the season. However, they had already avenged this revenge in the second half of the league, at the Riverside Stadium.
In the confrontation, Millwall won with three goals. Now, the two teams will meet again in the FA Cup semi-finals. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
