Millwall's starting line-up for this game is exactly the same as the starting line-up against Chelsea at the weekend.
After the game started, Millwall's offense was very rigid, with more than enough composure and lack of passion.
When attacking, the ball is passed forward one by one, and the range of movement of the players is not large. Often, before receiving the ball, there are PSV players around to mark the ball, and then they can catch the ball, or complete the breakthrough through personal ability.
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PSV also played 433 today. When defending against each other, the three midfielders retreated to resist Millwall's midfielders. The wings shrank back to the half-court. It would not be easy for Millwall's full-backs to set up assists.
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Nedvěd used his body to squeeze away Cocu, and then passed the ball to Trezeguet, who was retreating on the front line to take the ball with his back. Trezeguet kept hitting the ball across the left wing, and Larsson took the ball horizontally and took it again.
Take advantage of the situation and take a long shot.
This long-range shot made all the players in PSV break out in a cold sweat. The ball flew into the stands while grazing the crossbar. If it had been lower, the goalkeeper would have been unable to do anything but look at the ball and sigh.
Larsson is no stranger to PSV. He played for Feyenoord for two years, and he still has memories of several veterans in the PSV team.
Those players in the Eindhoven team who had played against Larsson in the Eredivisie were impressed by Larsson. Although Larsson played as a winger at Feyenoord at the time, he performed well, but he was definitely not a terrifying striker.
Killer.
Unexpectedly, he moved to England, started playing in League One, and became a top scorer in just three years. The heavy European Golden Boot Award in his hand is the best proof.
Although Eindhoven also adopted a posture of defending first after the opening, it is two different things from putting up an iron barrel formation.
It’s not just that all 11 players return to the half court just to set up the bus. As Aldrich said to reporters, when one side has seven or eight players rushing across the half court to participate in the offense, the defense naturally has reason to use more people.
to set up a line of defense.
Whether the defensive players intensively shrink the penalty area does not mean that they are setting up a bus.
Aldridge believes that the criticized negative tactic of setting up a bus is more about the choice after successful defense.
If the defender is organizing an offense, then their defense is for a better offense. Even if 11 people are defending in the penalty area, there is no blame for this.
But if after a successful defense, you do not choose to organize an offense, but directly clear the ball, and no offensive player rushes to fight for the offensive opportunity, then this situation is called a bus. Negative football, because it is obvious that there is no intention to attack, which is the same as
Giving up the fight for victory is anti-football, a utilitarian football that is purely for points or a draw.
Therefore, when PSV defended, almost all personnel retreated. But after the defense was successful, their formation immediately spread out and pressed forward, attacking in an organized and planned manner. Although not many troops were invested, they were just executing
The most normal tactic, rather than setting up a bus.
PSV pursued a steady attack after the opening. They never rushed forward when passing the ball and tried to ensure that they did not concede the ball. However, this also slowed down their offensive speed because the forward passing route was often blocked by Millwall.
The player returning to defense blocks the ball consciously.
If Millwall fails to attack, they will immediately organize a counter-attack. The counter-attack of the frontcourt players will give the backcourt players who assisted them time to return to defense. If they cannot grab the ball at the first time, the frontcourt players will also attack after the backcourt defense has been arranged.
Withdraw.
The two teams played more cautiously in the first twenty minutes. After all, it was the first game of the group stage, so be careful and make no big mistakes. Teams that often get too excited and play wildly from the start end up miserable in the end.
The Champions League is a stage that tests patience and experience more. The more mature the team, the more opportunities it has.
Aldrich watched it for more than 20 minutes, and he couldn't say he was disappointed, but his feeling about this PSV team was: just mediocre.
He wanted to see the Netherlands' full attack and defense, which is almost impossible in this era.
Total offense and total defense tactics not only literally mean that all players participate in offense and defense, but the essence lies in role switching.
For example, if a defender dribbles the ball forward and attacks, he can do the work of a midfielder or complete the work of a forward, achieving unexpected tactical effects. The more difficult part of this third-line offensive role switch is the defense. The defender rushes forward.
Now, who will fill the gap behind him? If the midfielder rushes to the goal to pose a threat but is met with a counterattack by his opponent, the forward in the back position needs to complete the role change immediately to fill the defensive hole in the midfield. The principle is the same for other positions.
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This is too demanding for players. How high is it?
Michels, the father of Total Offense and Total Defense, said personally: In order for the Dutch Total Offense and Total Defense tactics to be fully utilized, at least seven world-class players are needed in the team!
Seven world-class players, that's at least!
Players without a certain ability level cannot understand it, or even if they can understand it consciously, they cannot meet the requirements of total offense and total defense in terms of ability.
Unfortunately, the requirements for this tactical concept are so high that no one can carry forward Dutch football after its glory. Even the Dutch giants cannot afford this kind of forward who can play as a defender and a defender who can play as a forward.
Freedom tactics, as for the Dutch national team
, I have also insisted on such a style of play, but without an absolute number of world-class players to execute it, the scene can be played smoothly, but the results are always unsatisfactory, because this kind of tactic that gives players a high degree of freedom, once something goes wrong in a certain link
, may trigger a major collapse.
The total attack and total defense tactical concept is ideal, but it is difficult to survive. Its most original tactical concept will first be resisted by players: if you let a world-class forward suddenly become a midfielder during the game,
How many people would be happy?
However, Total Attack, which is known as the third tactical revolution in football, still provides new tactical ideas for latecomers. It removes the idealistic elements and draws on practical and feasible characteristics to build a team. This is why many coaches study Total Attack.
The purpose of full protection.
Aldridge can freely admit that Millwall's attack has many players moving and changing positions, and the roles are blurred and diversified, which comes from the Total Attack and Total Defense tactical concept.
The subsequent "Cosmic Team" Barcelona also had shadows of Total Attack and Total Defense in their tactical essence.
PSV cannot afford total offense and defense. It looks like 11 people attacking and 11 people defending. This is basically not related to the real Dutch total offense and total defense.
So Aldrich was disappointed that he didn't even see a single role change among PSV players in the formation.
The forward is a forward, the midfielder is a midfielder, and the defender is a defender. Whether defensive or offensive, each performs his or her duties step by step.
Thirty minutes have passed.
PSV withstood the threat posed by Millwall's six shots, and they also had two shots. However, they did not invest many offensive forces before, one midfielder and three forwards.
After half an hour, PSV began to invest more troops in the attack, adding an extra midfielder to advance forward during the attack!
When Cocu tried to penetrate Millwall's wing defense with a kick from behind and handed the ball to Zenden, Southgate anticipated the opponent's pass in advance and blocked the ball with a precise tackle. And consciously
Blocked the ball to Larsson who was retreating from the wing.
Facing the rolling ball, Larsson passed the ball across the ball without hesitation, then turned around and sprinted forward quickly.
Aldridge's eyes suddenly became intense on the sidelines: Now!
The rhythm on the court suddenly changed.
Millwall, who had passed the ball neatly during the previous attack, started to play the ball constantly when switching from defense to attack at this moment, and most of them were through balls.
Makelele received Larsson's pass and passed the ball to Nedved who was running in front.
The opponent's midfielder immediately moved up to prevent Nedvěd from stopping the ball and turning around, but Nedvěd easily knocked the ball horizontally again. Ballack stepped forward with the ball and took a long step. He broke through the opponent's midfield defense line and wasted no time.
When Vchenko made a move to cut inside, he attracted the opponent's full-back. Ballack made a diagonal pass. The ball rolled to the wing and inserted at the foot of Schneider at high speed.
The opposing full-back immediately turned around to block Schneider. However, the German kept pushing the ball straight into the penalty area. Shevchenko rushed to the baseline and half-turned to sweep the ball back near the penalty spot.
Trezeguet took away the PSV defenders as he rushed forward to grab the spot. Just behind them, Larsson diagonally stepped in from the penalty spot, took the ball along the way, and then pushed the ball with his foot.
The ball rolled between the goalkeeper's legs and into the goal.
The large and small gates were declared fallen at the same time!
Millwall leads by one goal!
There were loud cheers at Wembley.
Aldrich closed his eyes tightly, gritted his teeth, and waved his right fist heavily in front of him.
That’s it!
In the first thirty minutes, Millwall played conservatively. This was a tactical requirement. Firstly, it was based on defense and not to be too unrestrained, which would cause the defense to be hit by counterattacks. Secondly, it was also to paralyze the opponent.
Originally, the Dutch team was not afraid of fast teams. The Netherlands mainly played 433 offensive football and fought back and forth in the league. They were not afraid of fast teams. Millwall did not need to speed up the pace as soon as they started.
Furthermore, according to Aldrich's request before the game, taking advantage of the opponent's desire to win, although PSV did not attack aggressively, the increase in troops invested meant that the transition from offense to defense was not as easy as before. Millwall
Er then suddenly quickened the tempo and pushed forward quickly, which is what they are best at. During the advancement process, the ball moved from one side to the other, causing the opponent's defensive focus to shift. In the final blow, the attack was returned to the other side, causing the opponent to
Caught off guard!
Aldridge called Ballack and Nedvěd in front of the players after their celebration and told them to unite their minds and never take it lightly or change their established tactics just because they took the lead.
The two midfielders nodded solemnly and agreed.
Millwall took the lead, but after the restart, they did not pursue the victory.
After the Eindhoven city gate was lost, they had to calm down first, so they did not launch a massive counterattack. The offensive and defensive rhythm of the two teams became as leisurely as before.
Aldrich crossed his arms across his chest and did not dare to be careless for a moment, always observing the situation on the field, especially the performance of his disciples.
Millwall's tactics today are very simple. If they are caught in a positional battle, they will play more traditional, with point-to-point passing. The forward players can make more moves to intersperse, but the midfielders and backfielders should focus on stability.
When Eindhoven attacks, Millwall must pay attention. Defense is only the basic work they should do. What is more important is that when the defense successfully switches between offense and defense, at that time, they will take advantage of the opportunity to suddenly accelerate the pace of the game and put pressure on the opponent's goal.
It's a bit like hiding the most threatening fatal blow behind a series of tentative attacks in a boxing match.
In terms of personal ability, Millwall's players are not inferior to their opponents in any way. In addition to playing in London, Millwall formed a more powerful dominance over the game after scoring goals.
The first half of the game ended with Trezeguet's header missing the goal post, and the two teams walked back to the locker room.
