The atmosphere at today's post-match press conference was a bit strange.
The full-time score was a dazzling 1:0.
Millwall lost as a guest, and no one can change that fact.
In the replay of the game, Schneider and Helguera were distracted when defending. The former made a mistake in the steal, leaving a gap behind him, and the latter recklessly bumped into Irving with the ball in the penalty area, giving Liverpool the winning penalty.
But since the game is lost, the responsibility lies with the head coach.
Aldrich looked unhappy, but he never thought about passing the responsibility to others. He had already figured out how to deal with the media.
As he sat down to prepare for the media's verbal abuse, David Miller asked a question that stunned him.
"Mr. Hall, do you have any comment on Liverpool's conservative tactics today? For most of the game, Liverpool stayed in the second half at Anfield. You can often see six Liverpool defensive players in the penalty area, plus
Outside the penalty area, within the 40 yards in front of the goal, Liverpool had nine players defending for almost more than 70 minutes. Is this a negative anti-football tactic?"
Um?
Well!
Aldrich looked around the audience. The reporters in the audience were staring at him intently. Most of them had sad expressions on their faces, as if they were worried about something.
This atmosphere seems not to denounce him, nor to watch his jokes.
"I don't quite understand what you are asking. Liverpool won today."
Aldrich suspected that he had heard wrongly.
David Miller said seriously: "Yes, they won, and they won in a very ugly way. If Liverpool continues to use the tactics of this game in the future, then even if they keep winning, they will be worse than before."
Arsenal, which is named a library, is even less interesting to watch. I don’t think fans want to see this kind of football. Although Millwall lost today, you still had an overwhelming advantage most of the time. Thirty-one
Not scoring a goal in every shooting opportunity only shows that Millwall was unlucky today."
When David Miller elaborated on his point of view, other reporters also nodded. Only the media reporters from Merseyside looked indignant. They felt that these reporters from London were too shameless. It was clear that Millwall lost.
Ball, but they still licked their faces and praised Millwall.
Aldrich roughly understood what these reporters were thinking.
From a public point of view, the focus of the battle between Millwall and Liverpool cannot be said to be unspectacular, because Millwall turned against the away team and pressed Liverpool indiscriminately, mobilizing the passion of the audience all the time, and it just made the audience feel passionate.
One side lost the game, and this contrast was unacceptable.
"I know Mr. Hall is unwilling to evaluate his peers, but Roy Evans defeated you in this way. Can you really accept it calmly?"
asked the Daily Mail's Richard indignantly.
He has followed and reported on Millwall for more than three years. He has almost become a die-hard fan of Millwall, and the articles he publishes tend to be professional and objective, rather than just booing without meaning.
Ahem
Aldridge coughed twice, and then said solemnly: "I can't accept it calmly because Millwall lost. I am disappointed with the result and the team. You said that the goal was due to lack of luck. I think that
It's a matter of strength. Luck will only be on the side of strength on the court, so no matter what kind of miracle
, are all created by teams with a strong foundation. Millwall is not strong enough yet, and it becomes very difficult to score goals when facing dense defense, but I firmly believe that the team still has room for improvement. We will do better in the future.
As for Liverpool, they won the game, which is more important than anything else, more important than the so-called spectacle."
"But you once sneered at Arsenal in the Graham era."
"No, I have never denied Arsenal during the Graham era. I just explained from a neutral perspective that Arsenal during that period played boring games. But I don't think Arsenal's tactics were wrong, nor do you think that Arsenal's tactics were wrong.
It is said to be anti-football. Football only has rules, no points for viewing, and victory or defeat is reflected by the score. I have seen the materials for coach training courses in many European countries, and there is no such thing.
One book is to define the standard of football strength based on whether the football game is good or not. As a head coach, regardless of whether he has his own style or not, I think the first thing is to help the team win. Winning the game is the most basic goal. If
Being able to make the game beautiful on this basis is an ideal, so when the basic goal cannot be achieved, you cannot ask all head coaches to pursue the ideal."
Aldridge's words won unanimous approval from the Merseyside media.
They felt that this young marshal was really a respectable figure.
Although they were also dissatisfied with Evans' conservative tactics in this game, they were happy that they won the game.
If they don't play like this, there is no guarantee that Liverpool will not face another spectacular defeat.
Everyone knows how strong Millwall is, and Liverpool's lineup is no longer as strong as the Lions. It makes sense to be more conservative in tactics.
Those neutral people, those who don't care about Liverpool's league ranking, certainly want to see the two teams playing offensive football, but that would be a recipe for death for Liverpool.
If Evans dares to lose six games in a row against Millwall, he may not even be able to keep his job. So in this case, don't talk about ideal football, beautiful football, it is more practical to keep his job.
Herrera, the godfather of Inter Milan at that time, initially made the team play extremely well, but failed to win the championship. Old Moratti directly issued an ultimatum, and Herrera had to reform the team in order to gain a job.
The combination of defensive style and unscrupulous means for victory created the great international era that flourished for a while.
"If all opponents adopt this kind of negative tactics against Millwall, how should Millwall respond?"
"We will have our own methods. I will not criticize how the opponent will arrange their formation. Even if the opponent has 11 players standing in front of the goal to defend the goal, I don't care, because the opponent has not violated the rules of football. They can do this
Just as we have seven players attacking the opponent's half, the opponent can of course send nine players back to defend."
Aldridge told the truth again today. Although his remarks made Fleet Street complain: We are on your side!
But the Merseyside media praised Aldridge highly.
Young Marshal is a real man.
Winning is winning, losing is losing.
I won’t complain if I lose today, and I will be determined to win again next time we play again.
Isn't this football?
You can't make mistakes and you can't afford to lose, and you can't blame heaven and earth.
What's more, when Aldridge first took charge of the team, his tactics were very conservative, and his defensive counterattacks made all teams in the English League dizzy. The media also mocked Millwall as a track and field team on the football field.
Liverpool's home victory over Millwall seemed to silently tell other teams: when we play Millwall, we have to play like we do!
Four days later, Aldrich really lost his temper.
Millwall played Wimbledon away. Not only did they not win the game, but the two sides did not score a single goal and the game was tied. The tactics adopted by the Mad Gang were similar to those of Liverpool. They were just shrinking anyway, and they also used killing tactics.
Pirlo and Capdevila left the field with injuries, and Lampard suffered a calf fracture due to a tackle in the Community Shield. Less than a month into the new season, Millwall suffered three consecutive injuries.
Aldridge protested against the referee during the game and was sent off with a straight red card. Even if he appealed after the game, the FA ignored it and directly dismissed it and suspended him for three games.
In the last league game at the end of August, Millwall faced Leicester City led by Martin O'Neill at home.
Aldrich sat in the stands and watched the game calmly.
O'Neal is a head coach with pragmatic tactics, so he led the team to the Lion's Den Stadium and also started to shrink.
Millwall still had a strong dominance over the game, but they were unable to score goals against a dense defense.
"Son, is the team okay? Why are you so unlucky recently?"
Arthur, who was sitting next to Aldrich, looked worried.
Millwall was in a strong position and could not score. Leicester City set up a dense defensive formation and used static positions to compress the space. This directly led to Millwall's players having no space to move, making it difficult to get the ball in the threat area, and it was also difficult to escape from the spot.
Unexpectedly, the long-range shot was either blocked or missed, and it seemed that scoring the goal would depend on luck.
"We were the champions last season, and all the teams are in great spirits when they meet us in the new season. This has nothing to do with luck."
Aldrich's mind was racing.
If Millwall were to play Arsenal, a team like Newcastle United that dares to attack, even if they attack more with less, Millwall would have both space and the ability to penetrate the opponent's defense.
But when faced with Liverpool who are not weak and are determined to defend and counterattack to the end, or Wimbledon's hand-to-hand tactics, Millwall's advantage is reduced to the minimum. Today's Leicester City play is different from Liverpool's
Almost the same.
O'Neal has been coaching the team for a year and a half. Looking at the defense of this team from Aldridge's perspective, if it were not for the limitations of the players' ability, they could become a top defense line, which reflects O'Neal's coaching ability. Give him a second-rate
The defensive players, creating a near-first-class defense, pale in comparison to Kevin Keegan, who has first-class defensive players, but fiddles around, and the team's defense becomes a football.
Leicester City's counterattack is also very simple. There is Tony as the bridgehead in front. After the defense is successful, the ball will be handed to Ruud van Nistelrooy who runs out of space. Then someone from one of the two wings will intervene at high speed, and Tony will distribute the ball to the wing.
, no more than three troops were invested in the entire attack.
Makelele completed eight interceptions in the game, and Tony successfully passed the ball to the wing twice. If Schneider and Gianluca Zambrotta hadn't quickly chased back and successfully destroyed the opponent's offense, Millwall's defense would have been stretched again.
Sound the alarm.
When the full-time whistle sounded, the live camera focused on Aldridge in the stands. Next to him, Arthur covered his face and looked very frustrated, while Aldridge looked expressionless.
After two big wins at the start of the new league season, the defending champion suffered two draws and one loss in three games without a win and only scored two points, while Aldridge's suspension continues.
"The test for Hall has come again. This is probably the problem that all Premier League teams have given him. How to break the dense defense? When the opponent's defense is stationary in the backcourt in a static manner for ninety minutes, you will feel that the opponent
They have no pursuit and do not want to win the game, but this reflects their fear of Millwall. Yes, they may not have any expectation of winning, but they are even less willing to accept defeat or be beaten by Millwall.
Bloodbath, many Premier League teams were beaten by Millwall last season
Hall was unable to fight back. Even the three traditional giants were double-killed. Who can blame the mid-to-lower teams for choosing to maintain a draw? Can Hall return Millwall, who is now the target of public criticism?
What is the trajectory of victory? This is his challenge, and it is also Millwall's challenge. Perhaps, this is a war between the Mad Lions and passionate football against all the Premier League teams. We are disappointed with today's game, but we should look forward to it
The final outcome of this war in the future.”
Martin Taylor made a poetic statement at the end of the game.
Aldridge is indeed planning a new round of plans to transform the team. In fact, he is unwilling to do so because the team will play in the Champions League this year. Although it is not a big change that will break the muscles and bones, there are requirements for the players.
It will be higher. If the team cannot adapt to the changes in a short period of time, the season will be over in advance.
Just as Aldridge was about to leave for the UEFA Champions League group draw ceremony, a piece of bad news shocked the UK and even the world.
On August 31, 1997, Princess Diana passed away in a car accident in Paris, France!
