After Aldridge announced the list of transferred players, the scene exploded.
Reporters raised their hands to ask questions.
The focus of the question is twofold: How will the transfer revenue Millwall receive be spent? Who will fill the vacancies left by these five players?
Aldridge looked calm and composed, not like he was feeling aggrieved after nearly half of the team's main players were poached, as if the sky was falling.
"We have obtained a large amount of transfer revenue through the departure of these players. Part of this money will be invested in the club's operating costs, part of it will be used to repay the debt of the new stadium, part of it is the budget for summer transfer signings, and the rest,
We will build a new youth football academy next to the Leo training base."
In the past, the youth team stayed in the youth training base, which was specialized training. Now Millwall wants to build a more comprehensive youth football academy to provide young players from all over the world with a more humane environment and help them not only play football
growth, and also provide guidance for them should the situation arise where they are unable to become professional players.
Last year, the Leo training base was expanded and the first team moved into it. With the expansion of the youth team, the growth during the same period made the space for the youth team smaller than before. Aldrich built a new youth football academy based on actual development needs.
Plans made.
Reporters are more concerned about Millwall's lineup next season.
"As the Champions League champion last season, Millwall has let go of at least four main players in the new season. Although it has ample financial income, is the team's competitiveness next season a cause for concern?"
Aldridge said: "It is true that Millwall's strength has declined after these five players transferred and left, but I don't think the team fell from heaven to hell all of a sudden, with Shevchenko and Shevchenko on the front line gone.
Trezeguet, but we have enough talent in reserve to replace them
Ruud van Nistelrooy's performance last season proved that he can take over Trezeguet's position. Ronaldinho will also get more opportunities. We also have Duff, Van der Meyde, and Grenjaer Goode.
Johansen, including last season's signings, joined the team and adapted to English football.
Klose last season, at least, I am not worried about the striker, and at the back, Materazzi can completely replace Helgra. If Zambrotta had not been affected by injuries last season, he might have been the team's leading player.
As the main left back, the only thing worth worrying about is the depth of the team's bench. Of course, as I said, Millwall has a rich talent reserve. We have invested heavily in youth training for many years in a row. Of course, we hope that the young men in the youth team can improve their strength.
After reaching a certain level, you can join the first team and become a part of the team's journey."
After listening to Aldrich's words, the reporters at the scene lowered their heads and thought deeply.
At first glance, it seems that Millwall sold away five important players, which seems to be a very cruel reality.
But then I thought about it, and it seemed that there were capable enough replacements for every position.
Ruud takes on Trezeguet.
Ronaldinho takes on Shevchenko.
Materazzi picks up Helguera.
Gianluca Zambrotta meets Capdevila.
Ballack was originally competing with Pirlo for the main position, and the main structure of the three midfielders remained unchanged.
Just like Aldridge said, Millwall's team strength has dropped slightly in the new season, but it is definitely not a significant drop. The only thing that is worrying is the depth of the bench.
"So according to you, Millwall won't make any big signings in the summer? What I mean is to directly buy strong players to supplement the first team."
Reporters probably thought the same thing. Based on Aldridge's style in the past few years, Millwall fans may be in tears again this summer.
It is probably unrealistic to expect the team to buy big-name stars to boost morale.
Aldridge is now the Champions League champion coach, and his level has suddenly improved a lot. In the past, he might have been worried about buying famous stars, but now. He is not worried about this problem at all, but he has talent reserves at home, so he does not need to waste money.
Go gamble.
"No, our signing work is in progress. What I want to emphasize is that Millwall is a rational club. We will not sign for the sake of signing. We will only make decisions based on the actual situation of the club."
After this press conference, the news published in Fleet Street the next day created a sensation.
Millwall's top five stars have gone their separate ways!
The response from the Lions fans was relatively muted. The experience of the past few years tells them: Millwall doesn't care which player comes or leaves, as long as one person remains unchanged, and that person is Aldridge.
It's not so much numbness as it is the fans' absolute trust in Aldridge.
"The Times" columnist David Miller published an article: The second generation of crazy lions is in the ascendant.
Marked by winning the Premier League and Champions League, in the past four years at Millwall, Aldridge has created the first generation of Wild Lions to successfully reach Europe.
After announcing the transfer and departure of five of the team's meritorious players, coupled with the early departure of Stam, the absolute main contributor to last year's league championship, half of the first-generation Lions' main standing lineup has taken off their dark blue jerseys.
After achieving great success, it is normal for some players to choose to leave. In order to continue the glory, the time has come for the Lions to test Aldridge. Starting from the summer of 1998, he will start to build the second generation
Mad Lion, although we will still see iconic figures like Larsson, Nedved, and Southgate, the entire team will inevitably undergo major changes, and different player compositions will inevitably require
Although Aldridge's tactical transformation will not be a earth-shaking change, if it remains unchanged, it may be difficult to replicate the miracle of reaching the top of the Champions League in 1998. Therefore, fans of the Wild Lions can look forward to the growth of the second generation of Wild Lions. Millwall
Competitors must seize the opportunity during this period, otherwise, once Hall's team becomes extremely powerful again, Hall will use actions to prove his nickname: Trophy Reaper!
Aldridge's work before the new season has officially begun. He first has to say goodbye to some people, not the players, but the coaches.
Benitez is going back to Spain. Tolop used to be a player in Belgium and was spotted by Ajax. Unfortunately, he did not play at Ajax and became a coach. The 30-year-old Tolop serves as Mir
A member of Wall's first team coaching staff, Millwall's success is also due to him. At the same time, the Belgian second division club Saint-Truden sent him an invitation. Tolop got the other boss's promise to give him sufficient time and a long-term contract.
Under the circumstances, he submitted his resignation to Aldridge.
In Sander's bar, Aldridge and members of the coaching staff practiced for Benitez and Tolop. All night long, they recalled the difficult efforts together in the past, and also enjoyed the joy of success. In the end
, several drunk people spent the night in the bar.
Millwall directly reached a termination agreement with Tolopda and Benitez, letting them leave freely to avoid the new owner spending money to buy out their contracts, which would not cost much in the first place.
At the same time, Tolop brought the experience he learned and summed up at Millwall back to Belgium. It is necessary to implement a new management model and construction plan at the St. Trueden Club. Although the club there is a bit crude, Tolop is very motivated.
, so he loaned players to Millwall. Aldridge suppressed the loan application. He didn’t really want to loan out players who had reached his age because the level was too low compared to the second level. Millwall’s youth team had players like Paulson and Cahill.
18-year-old young players can only improve to a limited extent if they go there to train.
Millwall's recruitment work is now much easier than before.
In the past, players would come to the team asking for them to join. Now, not only has the team's level improved, but Aldridge's halo has also shone brightly.
Especially for young players, Millwall's appeal far exceeds that of world-class giants!
The reason is simple. If you go to a wealthy hotel, the space will be almost zero.
But Millwall is different. Aldridge vigorously promotes young players and dares to use them. And he uses them well, which is proven by his record.
Among the 14 players from Millwall who won the Champions League, in addition to being young, most of them were unknown before joining the team, but they became European champions under Aldrich!
The recruitment work has become easier. Aldridge does not need to come to the door in person, as long as he makes a phone call in person, young players are basically willing to come to Millwall. Even if there is no guarantee that they will be successful in Millwall in the future, they will receive training here.
At least he can become a good player.
In addition to Millwall itself, Moyes has also become Millwall's advertising promoter!
Moyes, who took over Preston midway through last season, had an amazing debut. When he took over the team, the team was ranked in the relegation zone. At the end of the season, he led the team to the play-off final and finally led the team to defeat the opponent for promotion.
success.
Although he was only promoted from League Two to League One, he has attracted enough attention. Among them, the four players he loaned from Millwall have made great contributions to the team. Robinson, Cahill, Bresciano, Fee
Leila, the performance of these four players at Preston also quickly attracted the attention of other teams. The outside world believed that this was a reflection of the success of Millwall's youth training, plus the players they had sold before were extremely valuable.
, Millwall’s youth training brand has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and its reputation is particularly good.
In the summer of 1998, the Millwall youth team continued to recruit players. Within the local area, the youth team introduced 17-year-old Crouch, and London locals came to try out 14-year-old Darren Bent and 16-year-old Jermaine Defoe.
, 17-year-old goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, signed 16-year-old Kevin Nolan, 16-year-old Matthew Taylor, and 16-year-old Lescott before Birmingham offered professional contracts.
After the youth team recruited eight promising local young players from England last year, Millwall once again introduced seven potential local young players this season.
Of course, this is the list Aldridge has in mind. In fact, they have recruited close to 20 English players, but others will not become famous in future history or may not even set foot in the top league.
Millwall's reserve team also sold many players in the summer. Those players' names were not famous, but they were favored by English League One teams. A total of 6 players provided Millwall with an income of nearly 3 million pounds.
This is a virtuous cycle phenomenon. Mediocre players play together with many excellent players. As long as they are enterprising, their achievements will at least be higher than playing with a group of mediocre players.
After the recruitment of new players for England's domestic youth team, Aldridge set his sights on other European countries.
This year he does not plan to go out and wander around, but will let the club staff go to activities. If necessary, he will communicate with the players in person on the phone.
Because he is busy preparing for the team's trip to Asia for the new season.
