As the battle for the European Cup Winners' Cup final raged, Aldridge glanced at Barcelona's starting lineup and felt a little miscalculated in his heart.
It was not surprising that there were some changes in the lineup, but the formation caught him by surprise.
After Cruyff came to a sad end, Robson coached Barcelona this season and changed the team's formation from 433 to 442. Today, the usual formation was obviously changed for Millwall, such as Popes in the midfielder position.
Library is to use defenders to play midfielders. On the one hand, it strengthens the defense in front of the penalty area, and on the other hand, it also liberates Guardiola.
Barcelona's young lineup is really star-studded. As Aldrich emphasized, Ronaldo is Barcelona's superstar this season, but without so many outstanding teammates behind him, he would never have been able to rise to superstar status in just three months.
high.
It's just that among the players who started this game, behind Ronaldo, Figo's ability is needless to say. Enrique was the absolute main force at Real Madrid before. If he hadn't fallen out with the club over the contract extension, I'm afraid he wouldn't have come to Barcelona.
, Enrique is not only diligent on the court, but also
He is also a team player with a very obvious role, and he is also the type of player that Aldrich admires very much. He is hard-working and has been working tirelessly in the frontcourt: counter-attacking, linking up, and involving in this kind of work. No coach does not like this type of player.
, seems simple and unpretentious, but in fact it is very important.
As for Dela Pena, who is in the attacking midfielder position, his reputation in the future will be lower than it is now, because he is now the Spanish golden boy as famous as Raul. His ability to pass the fatal pass is simply a master class. Ronaldo has scored goals this season.
Rumah is directly related to de la Pena's first pass.
Going forward, Guardiola is the hub of offensive and defensive transitions. The defensive players are all unknowns. After all, which player in Spain's giant team does not have special skills?
Among the players who did not appear, Pizzi, Giovanni, Stoichkov, Blanco... There are always a group of players on the bench of the giants who are the absolute main players of the first team.
Although Barcelona used a 4231 formation to restrict Millwall, Aldridge did not make any changes in his tactical play.
Unlike the older lineup against Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona is young, and the game is decided in 90 minutes.
If we compare the abilities of 11 players from both sides individually, Barcelona's offensive ability is absolutely superior, and defensively, everyone may be evenly matched.
Therefore, the outside world is more optimistic about Barcelona.
But there is one word that Americans like to emphasize very much, and Aldrich believes it is the key point of the game: team chemistry!
The personal ability value of the Barcelona team exceeds that of Millwall.
But in terms of team chemistry, Aldridge thinks Millwall is better.
Although Barcelona now plays as a team, it has never reached a particularly unusual level. Especially when looking at both team offense and defense together.
Not to mention Ronaldo, Dela Pena made very little contribution to the defensive end.
It is not surprising that Barcelona has more firepower than Real Madrid this season. They have scored nearly 20 more league goals than Real Madrid, but they are still catching up with Real Madrid. Their defense is not particularly good. They have conceded the most goals among the top four in La Liga.
Aldridge believes that Millwall only has a chance of winning this game if they play their own style. If they think about how to limit the opponent's personal performance from the beginning, the game will be difficult to win.
Millwall's main players have been resting for almost half a month. Today's game is full of energy and high morale. After the game started, the whole team quickly entered the game state, running in a wide area while focusing on the game, highly concentrated, and handling the ball.
Never hesitate.
Pirlo is still the midfield commander. When he gets the ball, at least three teammates move around to let him choose the route of the ball. However, he calmly releases the ball during De La Pena's symbolic press, decisive and correct.
.
Schneider picked up the ball from the wing and moved forward. Guardiola assisted the defender to press the ball. Schneider passed the ball across the middle. Nedvěd, who pulled back, stopped the ball at his feet and then left the ball where it was.
Rushing forward, this way of playing the ball made Barcelona feel strange, because it seemed that Millwall lost the ball, but in fact it was just Nedved who made sure that Pirlo, who was inserted into the attack, could hold the ball and avoid passing the ball back.
Pirlo's speed in stopping the ball stagnated.
They have dazzling technical displays in training, although it is not a combination of man-ball and fancy foot movements, but a combination of playing time difference and challenging the defensive players' nerves and judgment.
For example, with this ball, Popescu hesitated for a second and took a step forward to grab the ball. However, it was impossible for him to catch the ball in front of Pirlo. The ball just stopped there. In the blink of an eye, his instinct
His thinking surpassed his rationality, so he took a wrong step. Just as he retracted his body, Nedved had already ran past him three meters away. Pirlo rushed forward and passed the ball directly, and Nedved took it.
While catching the ball, it also broke through Barcelona's defensive line.
In front of Abelardo, Nedvěd passed the ball across to Shevchenko on the right. The latter passed the ball to the penalty area without stopping. After Nedvěd got the ball, it was already a semi-one-on-one opportunity. He forced
He kicked off and fired a volley.
Baiya had no reaction, bang!
The ball hit the outside of the goal post and bounced out of the baseline!
This wave of attacks was so smooth that Barcelona's players couldn't even touch the ball. The spectators in the stands were stunned, especially the neutral fans. This was a beauty they couldn't experience through the full-field view in front of the TV.
football.
Millwall launched the attack from the backcourt, combined with the midfield and then played deep through the middle, passing the ball continuously, and the players passed and moved like a ruthless knife tore through Barcelona's defense.
There was applause in the stands, but Nedvěd ran back expressionlessly. He ran two meters in front of Guardiola and made a defensive posture.
Guardiola felt strange that when he was off the ball, there was Nedvěd standing in front of him, and there was a French young man Trezeguet next to him who was eyeing him. This is the rhythm of staring at a forward!
On the wing, Larsson and Shevchenko also retreated to the half-court, linking up with the full-backs to compress the space for Figo and Enrique.
Pirlo and Makelele flanked Dela Pena. If Dela Pena retreated, Makelele would not move. Pirlo retreated deeper, because Makelele also had to flank Ronaldo with the back line to compress the alien.
activity space.
This scene cannot be seen in the close-up shots of live TV, but it can be seen clearly on the sidelines and in the stands, as well as the head coach and fans.
Not to mention Robson's frown, even Mourinho looked solemn.
It can be seen from the position and movement of the players on the field that Millwall purposefully connects the three lines closely together when defending. Cut Barcelona's formation, but never risk it. If Barcelona's ball possession returns to the defender
If the line is blocked, Millwall's forwards will not fight for the ball.
If Barcelona's central defender has the organizational ability to move forward, then Millwall will only choose to compress the backcourt space.
Due to the intensity of La Liga games and the fact that they had just played a national derby a few days ago, Barcelona's players did not enter the state after the start of the game. Popescu got the ball in the midfield and passed the ball to the front man who came back to respond.
de la pena.
This new generation Spanish star who is good at passing the ball is not particularly fast. He seems to be particularly confident in his ability with his feet. On the premise that Figo and Enrique did not run out of space, he chose to turn around and pass.
He wanted to get past Pirlo, but Pirlo easily stretched out his foot and poked his ball away.
The ball rolled to the left wing. Larsson caught the ball before Enrique and passed it directly to the center. Before Makelele received the ball, De La Pena pounced on him and the former easily kicked the ball.
Moving forward, Pirlo stepped forward to get the ball, and then directly lobbed a long pass into the opponent's penalty area.
When Pirlo succeeded in his first steal, Trezeguet began to run forward. At this time, he happened to be pressing the flat line of Cotto, the last man in Barcelona's defense. Barcelona's offense came to an abrupt end in the midfield.
This was something none of their players expected. When Pirlo made a long pass, the defenders were walking forward. Suddenly the ball came back, and Cotto immediately ran backwards.
Baia gave up the goal decisively, and Trezeguet took the lead with a header just past the penalty area line.
Baiya jumped up and reached out to block the ball, but his fingertips actually touched the ball!
Trezeguet shook his head with regret, then immediately turned around and ran back to find Guardiola.
The blocked ball fell next to Abelardo, who made a big-footed clearance and went to the frontcourt. He was actually a little panicked.
The ball fell to the wing. Figo took the ball, turned around and had no choice of ball, so he dribbled forward. Today he faced Schneider and immediately showed his deft dribbling skills.
Schneider never blindly steps to steal, he knows that it will only allow the opponent to easily break through and then get rid of him.
He was stuck in the inside position. Figo chose to go down to the bottom. Schneider still guarded the inside and pressed closely. Wingers like Figo do not rely on speed, but mainly rely on skills with their feet. The combination of man and ball is a master level.
As long as Ned doesn't lose his position and can keep up with Figo in terms of speed, he won't be completely defeated.
Slowing down the opponent's rhythm, allowing his teammates to set up defensive formations and compressing the opponent's space, Schneider's confidence is getting stronger and stronger.
Figo deceived Schneider with a fake move at the baseline, trying to force his way inside, but he just pulled the ball on the spot, pulled the ball out of the way, and made a pass.
In the penalty area, Helguera defeated Ronaldo with a header to clear the ball. Makelele, who was protecting at two points near the penalty area, did not wait for the ball to land and made a header relay, and consciously headed the ball to the left.
After receiving the ball, Capdevila passed the ball diagonally to the center. Nedvěd took the ball, and Millwall's counterattack swept towards Barcelona's door again...
Although Nedvěd's shot hit the post before, and Trezeguet's header was successfully saved by goalkeeper Baia, Aldrich did not feel regret at all.
This is just one of the most normal manifestations of football matches. Not every good opportunity will turn into a goal.
Moreover, the game has not yet completely entered the winning track for the Millwall team.
He is waiting and observing.
Barcelona's offense was seriously hindered, and the midfield was completely passive. Guardiola, as the core of the midfield and backfield transition, the number of ball possessions plummeted. Trezeguet and Nedvěd sandwiched him in the middle, which made Barcelona's
His teammates didn't dare pass the ball to him.
And Dela Pena was also restricted by Pirlo and Makelele and had no room to play.
Ronaldo was also isolated in the frontcourt.
Before the game, all the British media were trying to support Millwall and put forward various theories to restrict Ronaldo.
But Aldridge's focus in arranging the team's defense is not Ronaldo at all, but the teammates behind Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is a top shooter and the most famous great figure in football history, but he is not omnipotent! He needs his teammates to help him with the ball, needs teammates to help him, and needs a strong team!
This is true whether you are in a wealthy club or in the national team.
If Ronaldo gets the ball, even if he gets the ball with his back, the threat will be full, but if Ronaldo can't get the ball, how can he be a threat? This kind of thinking is similar to the ball control advocated by Cruyff, except that
One is for offense and the other is for defense.
Firstly, it reduces Ronaldo's chances of getting the ball, and secondly, it compresses his space to get the ball. Even if he gets the ball, he cannot get a chance to shoot in the dangerous area!
The game lasted for more than 20 minutes. Barcelona's offense became monotonous. The midfielder could not stop the attack. Personal breakthroughs from the wing became a common method to reverse the situation. However, Millwall's defense was very successful.
Gradually, Barcelona's backcourt players had to press up to increase the ball outlet, giving them more options when attacking.
Observing the starting conditions of Barcelona's back line, the cold-looking Aldridge's eyes flickered, revealing a hint of fanaticism. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature, the novel is better and updated faster!
