Millwall came and went in a hurry. They flew to Amsterdam in the morning, played a friendly match with Ajax at the Arena in the afternoon, and flew back to London after the game. The team disbanded at 8 p.m.
This friendly match ended with a resounding victory for Millwall, who swept Ajax 5:2 away from home without giving any face to the Dutch giants.
Originally, Aldrich had a relaxed attitude and allowed the players to play freely, but Ajax was too serious. Their attitude was to win this friendly match. Olson had just taken office and was eager to prove himself, so he completely ignored it.
This reflects his control over the team and the shortcomings in the tactical system caused by the departure of many core players in the team. In addition, Ajax has always played 433 offensive football. This kind of opponent Millwall is not afraid of the most. They can hit you accurately every time they counterattack.
, he scored five goals against the rebuilding Ajax like a kid.
The Dutch media lamented that the rapid decline of the former giants was depressing. Just two years ago, Ajax was the king of Europe. Now, at home, Millwall, a newbie in the Champions League who has not played a single game, can humiliate them.
Fleet Street applauded Millwall. Some people thought this was a milestone for Millwall to tear off the label of "England's Ajax". Among Millwall's first-team coaching staff, except for coach Aldrich and Benitez,
In addition, other coaches are from Ajax, and Millwall's style of play has also become its own, starting to make "Millwall" a special pronoun. When this word is mentioned, not only will this team be thought of,
A passionate style of football also comes to mind.
Five days later, Millwall will participate in the last warm-up match before the start of the Premier League: the Community Shield.
Aldridge, who returned to London after defeating Ajax, did not rush home. Instead, he came to the training base, where he has an office of his own and is shared with other members of the coaching staff.
Craig did not go to the Netherlands with the team, but stayed at the club to study the information sent by Andrew's agency.
There will be a trial for a forgotten young player tomorrow.
Aldridge crossed his arms across his chest in the coaching staff's office and stared at the game video on the TV with his head slightly tilted.
Craig was holding the remote control next to him, fast forwarding the video from time to time, and only when the players they were going to try out tomorrow appeared in the camera. Craig would slow down, and do it in slow motion.
Let them analyze player performance.
"Judging from his running position, his ability to read the game is still very strong. However, as a forward, he consciously avoids physical contact with the opponent's defender and struggles to grab the ball. According to statistics for half a season.
, he succeeded only 7 times with more than 100 equal opportunities! This is also the reason why he was abandoned, but I think he should not have been used like this."
Aldrich listened to Craig's explanation and nodded from time to time.
Through the long-range shots in the game video and slow playback, the coach can more accurately analyze every movement choice and personal performance of the player in the game, which intuitively reflects the player's ability, unlike many agents' promotions
"Highlights of outstanding performance video" sent to the club as a player.
Aldridge shook his head and said: "Liverpool makes people speechless. David Larmour received more technical instruction in the youth team, and the Liverpool youth team also played continental-style tactics. After Larmour was seriously injured,
It is reasonable to avoid physical confrontation. Even if it leaves a shadow in the heart, it can be improved through the guidance of a psychologist. Loaning him to Doncaster is a disastrous decision. Players need the most support.
While the club was taking care of him, he was asked to go out for training alone. Moreover, Doncaster played the most traditional English football. In this tactical system of holding high, playing long, passing and rushing, Larmore served as a pillar center.
The problem is not that he performed poorly. It's that the level of the team is too low. There are no teammates around him who can play at the same pace as him. He is obviously a piano player, but he is asked to clean the toilet...
"
Liverpool's youth training concept is different from that of traditional England. The rookies who emerged during this period, such as Owen, Gerard Carragher, Thompson, etc., although among the top players, they do not appear to have outstanding skills. But in
In English football, they are better than more than 99% of their peers at the same time, and they also have outstanding advantages in special training, such as Owen's combination of speed and shooting skills, Carragher's body and balance.
In such a youth training environment, David Larmour can suppress Irving. Although age is a very important factor, it cannot deny his potential and the level of ability he has achieved.
Last May, Owen came on as a substitute for Larmour. Then Larmour was seriously injured in training. After recovering from the injury, Owen has entered the first team. Larmour went to Doncaster on loan in the second half of the season, scoring one goal in 20 games.
There was no ball, but Owen scored on his debut, rewriting the record for the youngest goalscorer in the Premier League.
Before Irving became famous with one goal, Larmore was a more dazzling prodigy than Irving. A year later, the fate of the two took an earth-shaking turn.
Perhaps it was Larmour's poor performance at Doncaster without scoring a goal for half a season that finally made Liverpool decide to give up on this once highly anticipated "star of tomorrow".
Looking at it from the most superficial perspective is this: He was unable to score goals in the low-level leagues in Doncaster. Can he still be expected to make a difference in Liverpool?
But Aldridge didn't see it that way. Larmour encountered difficulties. The physical and psychological effects of the serious injury must have severely impacted his career.
But his technical ability is still there, especially the invisible quality "game reading ability", which is particularly critical. There are many players with excellent personal abilities who are very poor in this aspect. They show a kind of "myself" on the court.
It has the effect of "playing extremely gorgeously", but it does not contribute anything to the team, and may even harm the interests of the team.
Aldridge decided to give Larmour a chance. The forward, who was about to turn 20, could no longer play football in the UK.
The big teams are not interested in him, and even the small teams at Doncaster level seem to have little interest in him. After all, the data of zero goals in half a season is too disastrous.
Lower-level clubs sent him invitations, but Larmore himself couldn't accept it. The contract he received when he joined Liverpool at the age of 16 was higher than the asking price of these small teams.
Millwall is not stingy with young players. Even if they give a contract with a weekly salary of 500, the salary expenditure is less than 30,000 pounds a year, and a salary budget of 1 million can train nearly 40 rookies, and Aldridge gives the youth team
The annual budget is four million, which includes salary and daily expenses.
Millwall is the only company in England that dares to spend more than 10% of its operating income on youth training.
The next day, Aldridge did not personally host Larmore's trial training, leaving it to the youth team.
The Millwall youth team has a lot of young players with better talent than Larmore. However, Larmore left an impression on Aldridge last year, so he paid special attention to whether Larmore can play in Millwall in the future.
Wall has made a name for himself. Aldridge's expectations are not too high, we'll see.
The new season is about to begin, and the players have gradually improved their condition at the training ground. Everyone has very high expectations for the new season, and they can't wait to step onto the stage of the UEFA Champions League as soon as possible.
Even though the Champions League has gone through a new round of expansion, with the number of participating teams rising from 16 to 24. However, the level of the competition has not declined. On the contrary, the competitiveness has improved, because the league champions and runners-up from powerful countries have the opportunity to participate, which can make the competition more competitive.
Some more competitive runner-up teams have also stepped onto this stage, such as Serie A, and Barcelona, which scored more than 100 goals in the league last season but had no choice but to lag behind Real Madrid.
Stimulated by stepping onto the Champions League stage, the players' fighting spirit is even stronger than last season.
The day's training was over. Aldridge and the coaches went to pick up the balls scattered around the court.
At this moment, a Mercedes-Benz drove into the training base and stopped in front of the office building. Andrew, who had not seen him for a long time, got out of the car and showed up. Then, he opened the rear door and took two short boys about ten years old with a smile.
came out.
The three of them came to the side of the training ground, and the two teenagers looked at the surrounding environment curiously. Andrew gently stroked the top of their heads with one hand on each side.
After Aldridge finished picking up the ball, he looked back and saw Andrew, and at the same time saw the two teenagers looking around, and he felt a sense of excitement in his heart.
With a smile on his face, Aldrich walked up to Andrew, first bent down to greet the boy on the left formally, and extended his right hand to shake hands with him.
"Hi. You like people to call you KUN, right? Hello, my name is Aldrich Hall. If you like it here, you can play football here. There are many young people here who are very good at football."
Aldrich spoke Spanish, and although it was different from the Spanish spoken in Argentina, there was generally no problem with communication.
The young man raised his head and stared at Aldrich, and said seriously: "Boss, I will play football well here."
After he finished speaking, he reached out to shake Aldrich's hand, but he couldn't hold Aldrich's hand with one hand, so he used both hands.
Aldrich looked surprised. He glared at Andrew, knowing that he must have taught him this.
Moving to the other side, Aldrich looked at the delicate-looking young man and smiled: "Leo, I know you are sick, but don't be depressed. Everyone will get sick. You will recover soon here. I hope
You are here to enjoy football."
The two teenagers who Andrew caressed their heads with both hands, the first one was 9-year-old Aguero, and now Aldridge is facing 10-year-old Messi.
Messi has been diagnosed with developmental hormone deficiency. Treatment is only the most basic aspect. What is more important is his future growth. Aldrich will let him get the best medical care here, and at the same time, in order to help him grow
, a coaching team must also be set up to make special plans for his situation.
The 10-year-old Messi's eyes are now shrouded in darkness and there is no brilliance in sight.
Unlike Cristiano Ronaldo, who shouldered the hopes of his family since childhood, Messi's growing pressure came more from mental and physical sources.
Even in the original history, the 11-year-old Messi was diagnosed with a disease and had to undergo several years of treatment and daily unremitting special training. He also looked thin among his peers because of his short stature. His road to success
It is also an admirable inspirational history.
When he met Aldridge for the first time, Messi just nodded lightly and said nothing.
Aldridge is not surprised. Due to his personality, even when Messi becomes a football superstar in the future, he still shows an introverted side.
He personally took the two teenagers to report to the youth team, and Aldrich gave them the same dormitory.
Millwall's dormitories for young players are family-style apartments. Everyone has a shared large living room and dining room, two people per room, and there are indoor small courts, gyms, swimming pools and other facilities on the first floor of the dormitory building.
When he walked into the dormitory building, it was almost time to eat, but Aldridge stopped. Messi and Aguero, like him, looked at the open indoor small court, where there was only one man with a heavy face.
A young boy like water, he faced the wall three meters away and repeatedly kicked the ball towards the wall with his left foot.
Kick the ball, catch the ball, kick the ball, catch the ball...all done with the left foot.
Finding someone at the door, the young man stepped on the ball and turned to look around, saying hello to Aldrich. Then he glanced at Aguero and Messi, his expression unwavering, and then continued to kick the ball against the wall with his left foot.
Aldridge said to Messi and Aguero: "His name is Cristiano Ronaldo, he is 12 years old, and you will be teammates."
