As fate would have it, Millwall, which has been determined to win every game since the new season, in the two days after the eight-goal massacre of Leeds United, the whole of England was praising this seemingly impossible team to beat.
But just two days later, Millwall suffered its first defeat of the new season.
In the fourth round of the League Cup, Millwall was a bit unlucky, being drawn against Arsenal, and it was an away game.
Going into the game at Highbury, Millwall went into battle lightly and used all substitutes.
Arsenal put out their strongest lineup at home.
Aldridge felt incredible when he got Arsenal's starting lineup.
He guessed wrong, totally wrong.
Arsenal was tied by the Magpies in the last round and lost points again. The league points gap with Millwall has reached a level that makes them desperate, but they must ensure the top four. Four days later, they will play the London Derby.
, visiting White Hart Lane and fighting against their arch-rivals Tottenham. Seven days later, they will play in the Champions League.
In a life-or-death battle, Barcelona and Fiorentina in the same group are ranked above Arsenal. Arsenal will have two fierce battles in the next seven days. When Aldrich predicted Wenger's formation, he thought that the opponent should despise the League Cup. This
It's not to give up the game, but to avoid serious losses in the team and use substitutes to fight.
Millwall will also have a London derby four days later. Coincidentally, it is also a guest with a mortal enemy. They will go to Stamford Bridge at that time, and seven days later they will be a guest at Milan.
Originally, the League Cup was used for training. Until the finals, Aldridge was generally not in the main team. Unless there was a game that he had to win. For example, he was drawn against West Ham United or Chelsea.
Before the game started, Aldridge walked to the coach's bench and asked Klinsmann with a frown: "I said before the game that Millwall would be on the bench, and we did have a full bench lineup. Arsenal will have a full bench in the next week."
There were two key battles, but they used all their main players. What on earth was Wenger thinking?"
Aldridge is not a god, but he is used to controlling situations. According to general thinking. In such a situation, is it necessary for Arsenal to fight Millwall in the League Cup?
Klinsmann and Janson looked at each other and shook their heads.
"What if I announced before the game that Millwall would have all the starting lineup? Will Arsenal use the substitutes?"
Aldrich is a bit of a thorn in the side, especially when psychological warfare has no effect or has the opposite effect, he will reflect for a long time.
Klinsmann sighed and said: "I think this has nothing to do with Arsenal's future schedule. Last season in the FA Cup, Arsenal's main team lost to Millwall's substitute team. A month ago, we lost again."
In the league, Arsenal was beaten 5:0 by Aldridge. If you were Wenger, what would you do?
Will he be calculating so much? The most important thing at the moment is not the nature of the game. Whether it is the League Cup or the league, even if it is a friendly match, Wenger probably doesn’t want to lose to Millwall again. Now for Arsenal fans, maybe
Losing to Millwall again will hurt more than losing to Tottenham!"
Aldrich fell into deep thought after hearing this.
Klinsmann is right. It's not that his psychological warfare failed, but that he still didn't consider everything before the game and only took into account external factors.
Perhaps Millwall has always had more wins than Arsenal under his command, and he has not put Arsenal in a completely hostile position. The mentality of most fans is also the same, but Arsenal is different. Millwall is better than them.
Won the Premier League title a year earlier, and also has the Champions League title that no traditional English giant has. Just like Arsenal despise Tottenham, Millwall does not take Arsenal seriously now, but Arsenal does
Millwall has been listed as the biggest enemy in London and even the number one enemy in English football.
When Aldridge was talking to the coaching staff, the game had already begun. He turned his back to the court and was thinking. Suddenly, he saw the coaching staff and substitute players in front of him standing up and applauding. He turned his head to look.
What the hell!
Millwall scored right from the start!
Klose was running to the sidelines to celebrate. Aldridge asked others and found out that after the opening, Lampard, Larmour, Klose and Van der Meyde made a continuous triangle pass and Klose scored.
Of course he was happy that the team was ahead, and he put behind him the depression of not succeeding in the pre-game psychological war.
However, the next game completely fell into the rhythm controlled by Arsenal.
Last season, Arsenal lost to Millwall as a substitute, entirely because they underestimated their opponent's initiative to attack and were beaten back continuously. Today, they played with all their main players. Even at home, they maintained a low profile. They never rushed the offense and played steadily.
Ten minutes later, Overmars put on an astonishing performance. He first abused Ashley Cole, then made Metzelder turn around and slip, then hit the midfielder after getting under the ribs of the penalty area.
Ibrahimovic succeeded in a push shot to equalize the score.
The Arsenal players did not celebrate after the goal. On the contrary, they seemed to be preoccupied and couldn't be happy.
So did the fans in the stands.
Probably, they felt aggrieved to face such a team at home, especially Millwall whose average age in the defense was only 19 years old.
When you reach a certain level of strength, you can't get a sense of accomplishment by beating people, but you have to win. If you lose, you will become the laughing stock of the world.
Aldrich was a little helpless about this conceding goal.
Metzelder is slow. The important thing is Ashley Cole. If he cannot hinder or harass the opponent's super winger, one-on-one, there is no suspense for Metzelder to be completely defeated by Overmars.
.
Six minutes later, Bergkamp received a pass from Vieira and hit Pires with his back. After passing the ball, he turned around and turned for offside. Pires passed the ball as expected, and Ice Prince volleyed from a small angle to reverse the score.
It was Barzagli who defended Bergkamp, and he was completely defeated by Bergkamp in this defense.
For the first time since the new season, Aldrich showed a helpless expression on the sidelines.
Barzagli + Metzelder, these two central defenders were completely overwhelmed by the opponent's forward.
At this time, the commentator said in the commentary: "If it were a central defender combination of Ferdinand + Neal, Millwall would never be able to penetrate the last line of defense so easily."
For Aldridge this season, the main lineup is aiming for new glory. But the substitute lineup, especially the growth of a large number of young players, is also crucial. No team can ignore the issue of bench thickness. He could have let him play today
Barzagli or Metzelder partner Neal to play in the central defender combination. Neal's experience and ability will definitely have a clear and positive effect on the defense.
But he didn't expect that Arsenal would field all their main players on the bench against Millwall. Less than 20 minutes into the game, would they replace the central defender? How big a blow would this have to the players' confidence?
After thinking for a moment, Aldrich was relieved. It was originally a training exercise, and the defense was tortured, but he wanted to ensure that Barzagli and Metzelder were not beaten by Arsenal and never recovered.
He began to adjust his tactics, asking Lampard to retreat deeper and parallel to Gattuso's position to strengthen the interception of the back waist line. At the same time, he also kept the distance between the back waist line and the back line tighter, and the full-backs also moved inwards.
Well, it's a bit like building a wall to block the goal. It doesn't matter, Aldridge's face is not red at all. Millwall is still Millwall, but the players on the field are obviously much weaker than Arsenal.
Arsenal worked step by step to break down Millwall's defense layer by layer. Aldridge made the midfield line and the back line closely connected. He did not believe that Arsenal could defeat Millwall's defense just by relying on two forwards and two midfielders.
wear.
After his adjustments, although Arsenal had the advantage on the field, the number of opportunities created in dangerous areas dropped significantly.
In today's battle, the Arsenal players had high fighting spirit. They were caught off guard only in the opening stage. After that, Millwall had only a handful of chances to counterattack.
The score remained unchanged until the middle of the second half, when Millwall equalized the score with Klose's header from a set kick assisted by Lampard twice.
However, as the defense shrinks, counterattacks move forward, large-scale running back and forth, and the situation is at a disadvantage, more physical energy must be spent on defense. Although Millwall dragged the game into overtime, in overtime, Olympique
The replacement of Joe Cole, Alonso and Neal by Delic did not make the offense more effective. Instead, Arsenal took the lead again through a corner kick in overtime, and then Millwall pressed forward and attacked again.
There was a counterattack and the fourth goal was conceded.
At the end of the 120-minute game, although Arsenal eliminated Millwall 4:2, Wenger was not happy.
In this game, he not only played the full lineup, but also played 30 more minutes. Thinking of the two fierce battles in the next week, Wenger's heart sank to the bottom.
Millwall's first defeat of the new season came at Highbury. Although the boys on the field were disappointed, they did not feel the heavy blow.
Victory and defeat are commonplace in military affairs. No game is guaranteed to be won, and no game is guaranteed to be lost. Keep a normal mind and face the future positively. This is the football philosophy Aldridge instills in the players.
Especially young players should avoid psychological pressure and face defeat from a positive perspective. Through the game, they can see their own shortcomings and know how to improve themselves in the future. To compete with opponents who are stronger than themselves, they must learn to look in the mirror and face it squarely.
We will make up for our own shortcomings in the future and further improve them.
Aldridge had almost no sense of disappointment about the team's elimination from the League Cup. He could only say that there was no surprise.
If you want to train troops and achieve results at the same time, you have to have your cake and eat it too, so don't be too greedy.
So when asked after the game how he felt about Millwall's "tragic" first defeat of the new season, Aldridge seemed calm and could smile into the camera.
"In the past few seasons, the result of this game would not have attracted much attention. Millwall was eliminated by Arsenal. On the stage of the League Cup, is it any wonder? There has always been a strong team in the League Cup every year.
The team was upset, not to mention I am not disappointed with this defeat. We started with a win
They scored a lightning goal, but then the defense performed very poorly. I am satisfied that after the players adjusted themselves and stabilized their condition, they played a high-level game for 70 minutes. They are still young, just like I once led the team in their early 20s.
DeWide, Larsson, they play the same game
, was anyone surprised when we lost? As long as they maintain a stable mentality, improve step by step, and learn from game experience, they will definitely become excellent players and an excellent team in the future. We are Millwall, the fans and the team are
Together, for us, we win
The scene of becoming a hero and losing and becoming an orphan will not happen. Therefore, please also ask the media not to put too much pressure on my players. Yes, we lost, but I will not blame the players, and no one from the outside world will.
Players who are qualified to criticize me, that’s it, goodbye.” (To be continued..)
