At the post-match press conference, Aldrich showed up very late. He summarized the game with the players in the locker room, and also encouraged them with words to try to erase the mental shock of losing the ball before the end.
It’s not that the score of 2:1 was unacceptable to the whole team, but that they were more motivated than in any previous game and played extremely seriously. Seeing that a good game of 2:0 turned into 2:1, there was a psychological gap.
A matter of course.
2:0 and 2:1, those are two completely different situations.
The Italian media wanted Aldridge to talk about Juventus' performance. They found fault with this result, which was considered a good result for Juventus, and believed that Juventus did not show the momentum of a Serie A giant.
"If Juventus has to win or draw then it's disrespectful to Millwall, we gave everything we had to win and Millwall deserved it, Juventus played well and got the win
An away goal was scored, and the difference in the total score was only one goal. This is the reality.
Juventus will not easily take away more here. On this basis, I think the probability of Millwall advancing against Juventus in the next round is still 50%. Although we are ahead in the score,
But Juventus has home advantage in the next round, so both sides have equal chances."
The Italian media actually still have a sense of superiority. Even though they feel that Millwall is not a small player, Juventus represents Serie A and the Serie A champions play against the Premier League champions, so they should have a clear advantage.
The mood in Fleet Street is very mixed.
Before the end, they were all ready to sing praises for Millwall. If they could win Juventus 2:0 at home, the next round would be very easy to play, but the goal conceded before the end caused the situation to be reversed.
The Fleet Street reporter frowned and asked: "When the team took a 2:0 lead, why did you choose two defensive midfielders to passively defend? If the team keeps pressing, maybe they won't lose the last unlucky one.
The ball may even kill the suspense when Juventus attacks aggressively."
Aldridge said solemnly: "I don't think my choice was wrong. I don't want to argue about this because there is no need. I am the coach and I am responsible for the team. The opinions of the outside world have nothing to do with me. But I
One thing I want to point out is that in normal games, the average running distance of the Millwall team in 90 minutes is between 10,000 meters and 12,000 meters. Today’s ball
Based on this, the running distance of the members should have increased by about two to three thousand meters. When you look back at the process based on the results, there will always be different voices, and no one can give a correct answer.
Maybe if I continue to let the team press and attack, I will score goals, maybe I will concede more goals, who knows? God, but you and I are not God."
Fleet Street reporters stopped making things difficult for Aldridge and instead pointed the finger at Juventus.
"Nedvěd was violated by Torricelli when he scored. He was injured at the time, and the opponent's action was obviously worthy of a red card, but the referee only showed a yellow card. What do you think of this? Will I complain to UEFA?
?”
Aldrich pondered for a moment and did not answer immediately.
In fact, the situation at that time was a bit delicate.
Assuming that Nedvěd did not score the goal, Aldrich believed that the referee would be inclined to issue a red card.
But the ball was scored, Juventus was behind, and the whole team was interceding for Torricelli, and there was no excessive conflict between the two parties. The referee gave a yellow card, and the Millwall players did not protest.
This is probably due to Aldrich's style.
It's hard to say whether this style is right or wrong.
Aldridge just resents the fact that teams really care about the role of the referee.
Originally, a qualified or excellent referee should be "invisible" during a game.
If the players are used to putting pressure on referees and protesting to referees, this in itself will not give the team an advantage, because the referee also has thoughts and law enforcement authority, and he will be disgusted with the protesters, and may even cause a psychological tilt, but on the contrary
The protesting side will impose harsher penalties. Once this happens, the players' psychology will fluctuate greatly and they will focus part of their attention on the referee, which is very detrimental to the development of the game.
It may be fine in normal games, but if this happens in a key battle, the team is likely to collapse.
The person who should protest is the coach. Aldridge also communicated with the fourth official after Nedved returned to the court, but the penalty can never be changed. This is a fact.
"The referee has his own standards for sentencing. The yellow card given to Torricelli did make Millwall feel that the sentence was too light. But apart from this controversy, the referee performed well today. Millwall will not report this matter to the European Union."
The Football Association complained. Torricelli apologized to Nedved again immediately after the game. Nedved also accepted the apology. They exchanged jerseys. That foul was indeed dangerous.
But on the football field, you can't make this phenomenon disappear. I remember a long time ago, I called on the FA to increase penalties for dangerous actions, but the FA and British football media practitioners scoffed at my views at the time.
, Millwall survives in England, if even the local football circle is condoning this dangerous behavior, Millwall still has to complain to UEFA? This is a sad joke."
In England's traditional football concept, football matches need to be filled with fierce physical confrontations, rather than entertaining passes back and forth to tear apart the opponent's defense. One-on-one confrontation is the mainstream, and bravery and tenacity are the embodiment of the inner spirit. However, once bravery changes,
Becoming barbaric is another matter, but there is no clear definition. Therefore, Aldrich is helpless, but there is nothing he can do.
Not to mention Millwall's historical status in England, even the traditional giants cannot change the status quo on their own. If the Football Association really adopts Aldridge's suggestion, that will be a big problem, and there will be criticism from the outside world.
There will be a flood of people accusing the FA of favoring Millwall and making rules more in line with their style.
Therefore, if nothing remains the same, the various forces will remain at peace with each other as long as the convention remains the same. If anything is changed rashly, it will often lead to a war of interests that affects the whole body.
It was almost midnight when he got home, and Aldrich couldn't sleep. He kept sitting on the sofa in the living room and meditated.
2:1.
Going to Turin in the second round, what tactics should the team use?
All he could think about was the Champions League.
This is understandable. In fact, this season, Millwall's main players are focusing most of their energy on the Champions League.
Even though they are currently ranked third in the league, it seems that no one thinks there is a big problem. The first is confidence, they think they will not fall behind, and the second is attraction. The main players already won the Premier League championship last season and are first in the league this season.
This is the first time he has competed in the Champions League. Naturally, he pays more attention to the results in the Champions League.
It's like tasting a cream cake, and suddenly there is a chocolate cake in front of you that you haven't eaten before, and you will naturally focus on the chocolate cake.
Maybe their performance in the same period in the league is not as good as last season, but they are definitely better and more stable than they were in the previous season. No one thinks that the gap with Manchester United is too difficult to catch up.
However, when players have to concentrate on playing a game well, their preparation before the game and the state after the energy is consumed during the game will affect at least two league games.
Aldridge is quite clear in his heart. If we want to talk about priorities, this season the Champions League must be more important than the league! Not to mention the players, even he thinks the Champions League is more important!
Millwall's lineup determines that they cannot be at 100% on both fronts. Since the Champions League is not eliminated, of course the Champions League will be the main one.
2:1 is a tangled score.
This is a situation that makes the head coach unable to make up his mind to take the extreme route.
It is impossible to choose between being determined and guarding against counterattacks to the end, or taking great risks and sinking the boat, with a total score of 2:1.
Ding dong
While Aldrich was deep in thought, the doorbell rang.
He looked at the time and saw that it was already 11 o'clock in the evening. He didn't know who was coming to the door.
I walked to the door and took a look, and found that it was my neighbor across the street, so I opened the door and asked curiously: "Yiwen, is something wrong?"
Yi Wen has obviously taken a shower. His usual hair style is a ponytail. His long golden hair is now draped behind his shoulders. He is wearing home casual clothes and exudes a fresh fragrance.
She held a plate with waffles and smiled: "You can't sleep, can you?"
Aldrich invited her into the house. He smiled and sighed: "Yeah, uh, I'm thinking about the team."
Yiwen put the plate on the coffee table and said, "Usually if you haven't gone to bed at this time, I know you are worried about the team."
"Why?"
"Because often when the team loses or performs poorly, you stay up very late. I live across from you."
"Peeping Tom, I'm going to sue you."
"Whatever. I made some waffles, whether they are delicious or not, I have to eat them anyway, haha."
Aldrich picked up a piece and tasted it. In fact, the taste was not unique, but he still showed an exaggerated expression of enjoyment and praised: "Well, whoever marries you will be really lucky."
Yiwen smiled nonchalantly, sat down and asked, "When do you plan to go to bed?"
Aldrich poured her a cup of tea, then sat on the sofa with his legs crossed and said, "I don't know, I'm always thinking about things in my mind, so I feel very energetic."
"It just so happens that I can't sleep either, so I'll stay with you here."
"Then you should find something to do, right? Why don't you help me clean up? Haha."
"It's a beautiful idea, let's find a movie to watch."
After that, she got up and looked through the DVD shelf next to the TV, and found a movie that she hadn't seen in less than half a year since its release.
When the credits of the film appeared on TV, Aldrich lamented: "Well, if I watch this movie twice, I guess it will be too late."
Yiwen sat down on the sofa next to him, watching the movie with a soft and calm face.
"Titanic"
A new movie that has been very popular in the past few months.
Aldrich didn't go to the cinema to watch it. If he watched a movie with the players, he wouldn't watch this kind of movie. Most of them would be hot-blooded action movies or science fiction movies. And Melanie didn't have time, so he missed the movie when it was released.
When I went to the cinema to watch it, I just bought the DVD and kept it at home.
Aldrich continued to think about the team. There was a beautiful woman watching a movie next to him. He really calmed down and thought about it. Perhaps subconsciously, he regarded Yiwen as a family member and didn't see anyone outside, so he didn't take it seriously.
