Thanks to "The Thief", "Ice Fire Fengchen" and "Love Movies Love Life" for the rewards!
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To deal with a player like Henry who has already won the World Cup, Aldridge must be very patient and show enough sincerity, so he goes to the door in person and communicates with the other party openly and honestly. He never puts himself in a position to override the players.
Position and the authority of the head coach are one thing, but communication between generals is another.
Aldridge was also very candid when Henry asked about his status in the team.
If Millwall uses a three-forward tactic in the new season, the only forwards over the age of 20 are Ruud van Nistelrooy, Larsson, Klose, plus Grenjaer, that is four people, Ronaldinho, Duff, and Van der Meyde.
Not yet twenty years old, both in terms of physical fitness and ball protection
From a player's perspective, Aldridge will not play more than 30 times for them. Of course, there will be priorities. Like Ronaldinho, Aldridge will let him appear in more important games, while Van der Meyde and
Duff is still a regular player on the bench.
How many games do Millwall have to play in the new season?
The Champions League, the League, the League Cup, the FA Cup, four fronts, plus the European Super Cup and Toyota Cup. If the cup competition does not fail as soon as it starts, then the game density in a season is likely to be close to 60 games.
This does not include the games that the players themselves have to travel to play for the national team in a season.
Moreover, players' condition itself has its own ups and downs. When the condition is not good, they should stop and rest. Wait until they recover before playing the game.
Aldridge said frankly: "If you are worried about the number of appearances, I can at least guarantee you that you will get a fair chance to compete. As long as you are in good condition and perform well, I cannot put you on the bench.
Sometimes, too many games are not a good thing for a player of your age. You need to balance work and rest, and you need to calmly adjust yourself when your state fluctuates. Instead of stubbornly insisting on playing games."
Henry thought about it in his mind.
Millwall's forwards, Larsson and Ruud van Nistelrooy, should be the main regulars. Grenjaer's characteristics make him limited in his performance. Van der Meyde, Duff, and Ronaldinho are all younger than him, and their own abilities are limited.
Yan, doesn’t Henry think he is worse than these people and competes for the main force?
When there is competition, there is pressure, and when there are better competitors, one can better stimulate one's potential.
After three hours of in-depth talks, Henry nodded and agreed to join Millwall. The rest is about the contract details. Millwall is not short of money now, and its finances are very loose. If we introduce players like Henry, we will directly give them the second level.
There will be no dispute over his salary within the team. After all, Henry is a World Cup winner, not a nobody.
Aldridge returned to London with Henry. Henry stayed in a hotel first, and the club was looking for him a residence that met his needs. The small community of Millwall was a bit shabby for a player of Henry's level. Of course, he
A larger residence is needed to live a more pleasant and comfortable life.
The next day, Henry received a physical examination from the Millwall Medical Department. The feedback from the medical department to Aldrich was that minor injuries would be cured in as little as two months and as slowly as three months.
Another day passed, with less than three days left before the Premier League kicked off, Millwall held a press conference to announce the signing of new players.
Henry wore casual clothes and attended the press conference with Aldridge to show off the new jersey.
Fleet Street were really caught off guard by Millwall.
Just the day before, they were doing pre-season tours for the new season's Premier League teams. Other teams may still have recruitment work in progress, and the media will also use speculation or uncertain remarks to make evaluations when making predictions.
But for Millwall, Fleet Street's analysis is extremely detailed, and the basis of the analysis is based on the fact that Millwall has absolutely no new players joining.
As soon as the prospecting work of various media ended, Millwall announced the signing of new players, which was indeed a big news.
Henry, a World Cup champion and young winger who scored three goals for the French team, joined Millwall from Monaco for a transfer fee of 10 million pounds!
"The Sun" reporter Thomson smiled and said: "Congratulations, Mr. Hall, Millwall has set a new signing record."
Aldrich was in a good mood, and Henry sat next to him and smiled.
"Haha, yes, this is the most expensive signing in the history of the club, but I think it is well worth the money. I will not look at Thierry with the eyes of Mr. Ten Million. He needs a bigger challenge and more.
Millwall can give him a good stage. At the same time, with his joining, Millwall's competitiveness will be even higher. I am full of confidence in the new season."
It actually sounds a little shabby.
The Champions League champion's single record transfer expenditure is 10 million pounds, which is too unworthy of a strong team.
With the overall recovery of the Premier League teams, their competitiveness in Europe has rapidly improved. Last season, they won the two most influential cup championships in Europe. Many foreign media also sent reporters to follow up and report on the Premier League and pay attention to the performance of the English teams.
Giancarlo of Gazzetta dello Sport is one of them.
He does not use money to measure Millwall's transfer operations. On the contrary, he believes that Italian clubs should learn from Millwall's business model.
Don’t buy expensive ones, just buy the right ones!
Giancarlo asked Aldridge in English with an Italian accent: "In the past two seasons, Millwall has won a league championship, a Champions League championship, and also won two important domestic cups in England. In the past two years, there is no doubt that
It was successful, so what are Millwall's pursuits in the future? What are the realistic goals for this season? Henry is an excellent striker, but it is obvious to all that Millwall's overall strength has declined."
Aldridge calmly replied: "We lost several very important players in the summer. This is a fact. The outside world is saying that Millwall's strength has declined. I don't think it is particularly correct because everyone has ignored one thing. My ball
The team is on the rise. Van Nistelrooy scored 11 league goals last season, and he can score at least 15 this season. Last season, Ruud scored 11 league goals.
Nardinho has 7 assists and 5 goals. He will also perform better this season. There are also improvements in players such as Van der Meyde, Duff, Lampard, etc., which makes the team's overall strength not serious.
The decline, coupled with the fact that we now have Henry, you want to know what Millwall is pursuing this season? It is very simple, the league championship is the first goal!"
The calm confidence that Aldridge showed in his conversation was not a pretense. This is what he should have said: Millwall is the favorite team to win the league!
Giancarlo was deep in thought. Aldrich's confidence made it impossible to believe that he was just being tough.
Ajax also faced poaching after winning the Champions League, but the team could only sell players bit by bit, rather than directly shorting out the team's main players. In order to maintain competitiveness, they forced many players to stay, which later led to the players being separated.
He left as a free agent. After Millwall won the Champions League, they sold five important players and one substitute who performed well. In addition to the fact that the team was burdened with debt and made huge profits through the transfer market, the team's foundation
It is also one of the important factors.
In the past few years, Millwall has always been said to be young, but no one would ever say that Millwall's lineup is thin. A large number of their young players are constantly growing, and their age structure is also very reasonable. There is an obvious ladder sorting, so that even if they
If a star in his prime is sold, a successor will immediately take his place, and there will be no personnel gaps.
The more Giancarlo thought about it, the more he felt that Aldridge was unfathomable. It was not difficult to build a pyramid-style team. What was difficult was that every brick in the pyramid was of high quality. If a young player was embarrassed by a big task, he would not be able to do it.
If you inherit the mantle left by your predecessors, this pyramid will collapse in an instant.
"Millwall aims to regain the league title, so who do you think are the biggest competitors this season?"
Aldridge's first focus this season is indeed the league. There are too many uncertainties in the Champions League. First of all, the time span is very long, and the intervals between games are also long. No one can say what accidents will happen during the interval. Furthermore, the team's departure
The league is the foundation for the club's survival. Millwall must first let the new generation of crazy lions take shape in the league.
The most important reason is: to measure whether a team is dominant, we must first look at the league. It is true that Millwall has won the league championship, but if they cannot win the league championship continuously, no matter how good their performance in the European competition is, they will not be able to win the league championship.
It is also not very persuasive to improve the team's influence and dominance. The first league is Blackburn Rovers, the Premier League champions three years ago. Who cares about them now?
If Millwall cannot regain the league title in the next two years, the impression of their success will be greatly reduced.
"The biggest competitors are Manchester United first and Arsenal second."
Aldrich replied bluntly.
Richard from the "Daily Mail" asked strangely: "Why was last season's league champion Arsenal not ranked first, but Manchester United, who was beaten by Millwall with a substitute lineup at the end of last season, was the biggest threat?
?”
Aldridge smiled and said: "It's very simple. Arsenal will compete in the Champions League this year. They have been away from the Champions League for many years, but their team lineup is not thick enough to support two-front operations. Even if they are eliminated in the group stage, it will affect their entire league.
Half a season of games. Maybe many people think that there are only six games in the Champions League group
Games? How much impact can playing six more games have? In fact, if you regard each of the six group stage games as a game that cannot be missed, then these six games will affect 12 league games one after another! Especially
When they played away games in the middle of the week in the group stage, it was a great test for the team. In the previous season, a new generation of young people
Manchester United plays in the Champions League. How did it perform in the league in October and November? Millwall failed to defend the title last season because it suffered too many draws in the first half of the league due to the impact of the European war. I believe the same problem will also apply to Arsenal.
Happened to Na. Manchester United is ranked first because their lineup is not as good as Milwall
Well, if Keane hadn't been injured last season, they might have won the championship early. Although they also have to play in the Champions League, their experiences in the Champions League semi-finals and the Champions League quarter-finals in the past two years have allowed them to deal with it calmly, so Millwall
My biggest opponent for the league title is Manchester United, not Arsenal."
"What about Liverpool and Chelsea?"
"I don't know about Liverpool, but Chelsea, yes, they spent a lot of money to buy people, and I don't know how much debt they already have, but it doesn't matter. In the championship game between Millwall and Manchester United and Arsenal, Chelsea is not enough.
You are qualified to play with us."
After Aldrich finished speaking, the reporters in the audience laughed.
This young marshal really stands firm and shows contempt for his mortal enemy to the end!
After the press conference, Aldridge took Henry to the training ground to formally meet with the team, and asked him to put on his jersey and take photos with the team.
After the Millwall family photoshoot for the 1998/99 season was completed, they were just waiting for the gong to start in the new season.
Attached is the Millwall lineup for the new season.
