For this first league game, the Millwall coaching staff had some communication before the game in preparation, and the goal for the entire game was not high: not to lose.
Aldridge's expectation for the team is to maintain the tie in the first half, and then wait and see whether Newcastle United will attack impatiently in the second half, thus giving Millwall a chance to counterattack and succeed.
Unexpectedly, at the end of the first half, Millwall had already taken a two-goal lead. This made Aldrich particularly happy, but what he was most satisfied with was the team's performance on the defensive end.
Before entering the locker room, Aldridge greeted each player coming off the court, patted them on the shoulder and was the last one to walk into the tunnel.
When the half-time whistle blew, Peter walked sullenly to the visiting team's locker room, while his players walked off the field looking dejected.
The fans in the stands chatted and laughed easily with each other. The emotions caused by the club's turmoil before the season have disappeared. From the performance of the pre-season warm-up match to the 45 minutes of the official game, Aldrich's team has gradually won the favor of the fans.
.
In the home team's locker room, the players' faces were filled with joy, and they did not feel tired. They had been defensive in the first half and performed with ease. On the contrary, the Xiu Allian players, who were aggressive in attacking, were exhausted and panting.
Conceding two goals was a huge blow.
Before Aldridge walked into the locker room, he suddenly heard a sound coming from the visiting team's locker room. The Lion's Den stadium was small and crude, and the sound insulation effect of the locker room was not good. Therefore, after the angry scolding sounds from the visiting team's locker room, Aldridge
Although he couldn't hear clearly, he knew that someone in that room was furious.
Aldridge smiled knowingly, and then opened the door to the home team's locker room with a look of ecstasy. After opening the door, Aldridge kept smiling and looked at the players.
The players who were sitting down to rest in the locker room saw Aldridge standing at the door without closing the door. He seemed to be very happy and stayed there. They all stared at Aldridge intently.
Aldrich pointed to his ear and whispered: "Listen carefully."
The players kept quiet and started to listen. Faintly, they could hear the roar coming from the visiting team's locker room.
Then every player seemed to be infected by Aldridge, with a knowing smile on their face.
Aldridge gently closed the locker room door like a thief, which made the coaches on the coaching staff laugh.
Janson frowned, trying to remind Aldrich not to get carried away.
But Aldrich's next words made Jensenby worried.
I saw Aldridge spread his arms and smiled: "You guys performed perfectly in the first half! Look what your opponents did? They didn't even have a shot that hit the goal! I just saw their players come off the field with faces.
The expression on his face is like it’s the end of the world, OMG! You are the devil in the hearts of your opponents! So, in the second half, we will make them go home crying! Who starts to sympathize with them and is ready to show off in the second half?”
The players were all stunned, looked at each other and shook their heads involuntarily.
Release water?
joke!
Aldrich laughed and said: "That's right! We are going to send them to hell! We will continue to beat them in the second half! However, in terms of tactics, we need to make some changes to speed up their death!"
The players braced themselves and watched with rapt attention as Aldridge came to the tactical board. He picked up a pen and drew the position of the opponent's defense on the court pattern, and then used numbers to indicate the positions of Millwall players.
Aldridge said solemnly: "We did a good job defensively in the first half, and we must continue to work hard in the second half. My request is very simple. Since we did not concede a goal in the first half, there is no reason to let them steal any goals in the second half.
But, Bernd, Robert, you two, listen up."
Pires and Schneider raised their chests and stared directly at Aldrich.
I saw Aldridge draw a large area on the left and right wings. This area is the frontcourt wing and the position near the center, and does not include the area where the opponent's penalty area extends to the sideline.
"In the second half, the opponent will fight back hard and use more offensive players than in the first half. Robert, your and Bernd's activity area can be closer to the center. During the offense, Pavel is responsible for distributing the ball, attacking from the left and right.
It's up to him to decide, and after you receive the ball, your passing route is like this."
Aldrich drew a large arc from the left and right sides on the tactical board, which was the trajectory he indicated for the ball to fly.
"In the first half, Henrik opened the scoring by receiving Robert's through ball by countering offside. In the second half, the opponent will definitely learn a lesson and be wary of our through ball from the same side. If we continue to play like the first half, it will be difficult, so
, Robert and Bernd, your pass in the second half was to pass the ball diagonally from the opponent's center back and full back to the far end of the other side. Our forward has a
The obvious advantage is speed. David and Henrik, I hope to see your cooperation in running positions in the second half, so when such an opportunity arises, you can make a cross move, so that you can lead
Can you do that by driving the defender instead of racing the defender in a straight line, trying to be a smart player instead of just relying on talent to play football?"
The two forwards who both scored goals in the first half nodded solemnly. Aldrich clapped his hands with satisfaction and asked a few more defensive questions. For example, Nedvěd should pay more attention to the defense on the left side and pass up the ball.
In the 45-minute half of the game, even a fool would have been able to see that Millwall's defense on the left was weaker than on the right. After all, it was the young Lucas Neal who guarded the left, not the black man on the right.
Big Thuram.
In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again.
After the players came on the field, Aldridge continued to stand on the sidelines with his hands in his pockets, while Peter on the other side looked gloomy and said nothing.
At this moment, Aldrich no longer wanted to have any conflicts with Peter, and he was not interested in verbal provocation. On the contrary, he wandered around and put himself in Peter's shoes. He expected that the two people's situations would be reversed. What should he do?
?
What if an opponent's head coach provokes him before the game?
Or his team?
How should he cope?
Aldridge at least learned a lesson from Peter: he must not lose his cool under any circumstances, let alone impose personal emotions in the team's tactics.
Just when Aldrich was lost in thought, a cry of surprise from the stands brought him back to his senses.
Bang
The goal crossbar on one side of the pitch made a loud noise, and even Aldrich could hear the trembling aftertaste.
I saw the ball hit the crossbar of Millwall's goal and bounced out!
Millwall almost conceded a goal at the start of the second half!
Aldrich secretly blamed himself for his random thoughts just now. He knew that he was actually a little relaxed. After all, the 2:0 good game in the first half made him feel that he had a chance to win. This kind of complacency before the game is over should be warned.
Of course he knew it, but the pride grew uncontrollably from within.
Fortunately, the dangerous situation just now sounded the alarm for him.
Aldrich turned around and waved to Janson. Janson just breathed a sigh of relief and walked up to Aldrich, thinking he was going to change people. Unexpectedly, he heard Aldrich ask in a low voice: "What happened just now?"
"What's going on?"
"That ball just now."
"Aren't you just standing here? Didn't you see?"
"I was just thinking about substitutions and didn't pay attention."
Jenson reluctantly described the situation to Aldrich.
After saying that, he returned to the coaching bench and sat down.
Aldridge couldn't help but glance at Peter Dawson not far away, who was covering his face in regret because the ball just hit the crossbar.
The old guy has two brushes!
Peter decisively adjusted Millwall's offense. Although it still focused on long passes and high balls into the penalty area to create threats, he significantly increased the number of offensive players, allowing the full midfielders and central midfielders to take turns advancing into the penalty area to compete for the top.
Break the door.
Just now, the left midfielder lobbed the ball into the penalty area. The forwards were all marked by Stam and Southgate. The central midfielder who advanced into the penalty area was also closely guarded by Makelele. Only the right midfielder penetrated into the penalty area and got away.
Lucas Neal's defense almost allowed his header to hit the goal without anyone interfering with it, but he was unlucky and hit the crossbar.
After understanding the situation, Aldridge observed the situation on the court again, but did not make any changes or shout to the players because Nedvěd had already dropped deep to help Lucas defend.
After Xiu'an's joint attack for ten minutes, except for the initial header that hit the crossbar, Millwall's self-adjusted defense soon became watertight again.
At this moment, Makélélé intercepted a ground pass that the opponent was trying to make in order to change the attack, and then passed the ball to Schneider who was retreating from the right to get the ball.
When he took the ball and turned around, he found that there was a large unmanned area in the midfield. There were many players in Xiu'an United's frontcourt attacking, but the remaining midfielder also retreated to increase defensive manpower.
Schneider passed a ground ball diagonally and kicked the ball to the left side of the center circle. Nedved, who happened to be involved in the attack after defending, ran into position and easily caught the ball. There were players from Xiu'an United behind him.
Coming up, Nedvěd did not bother and passed the ball directly to Pires in front.
Millwall counterattacks, three against five!
Larsson is on the left and Trezeguet is on the right. Both of them have Allianz defenders following them closely, but they are both far away from the penalty area.
The two strikers understood and started running. They did not run straight into the penalty area. Larsson went to the right and Trezeguet went to the left, like two sharp knives changing positions and piercing the enemy's ribs!
The Allianz United center back guarding the two men was shocked, especially since Trezeguet was running in an area where Pires could pass through. There was no one there, and the full-back had already moved up to interfere with Pires' dribbling.
The two central defenders exchanged defensive targets after hesitation, but their speed was obviously a step slower.
Pires kicked a right-swinging curve ball with his left foot before the opponent's full-back came up to defend closely.
The ball passed through the space between the Allianz full-back and center back, and quickly rolled towards the back of the penalty area.
The Allianz United defenders did not expect that Trezeguet's running forward to receive the ball was a cover, and at the back point of the penalty area, Larsson was chasing the collision with the football in front of him. Behind him, the central defender wanted to fly from behind.
Tackle, but he keenly realized that he had stepped into the penalty area, so he could only watch Larson getting further and further away from him.
Just as the ball passed the top of the small penalty area, a dark blue figure glided close to the ground and kicked the ball towards the near corner of the goal with a shovel!
The Xiu'an United goalkeeper lowered his center of gravity, but after Larsson's shovel shot, he was about to pounce, and then helplessly spread his palms. When he reacted, the football had already flown into a tricky corner and rolled into the goal post.
