In the summer of 1994, when Aldridge took over Millwall, his arrival was a farce that was not expected at the time, but it turned out that he changed the fate of Millwall. At the same time, another man changed the fate of the club. At the same time, a person also joined a Serie A club. This person’s name is Zeman, and he is the boss of Lazio, the Blue Eagle that is currently very popular in Serie A.
Nowadays, many fans in Europe will say that Millwall's offensive football is a mess, but neutral fans in Serie A or fans of the Blue Eagles will never agree. When the Lions were still ups and downs in the English League, the Blue Eagles, led by Zeman, finished with 433 Offensive football suddenly emerged in Serie A. With the status of Serie A in Europe at that time, its influence and the overall style of Serie A, there were many teams that dared to play offensive football, but it was too difficult to achieve impressive results, and Ze Mann did just that, taking Lazio into the "Little World Cup" as a member of the Seven Sisters.
5:1 Naples, 4:0 AC Milan, 8:2 Fiorentina, 4:1 Inter Milan, 4:0 Genoa and other big score results appeared in the same season. How can such offensive football not make people admire and worship it?
Although Lazio failed to win the league title in the 1994-95 season, they were able to score 9 more league goals than champion Juventus. This statistic is commendable. Their offensive firepower ranks first in Serie A, especially in their emphasis on overall defense and league participation. Against the background that there are only 18 teams.
Since then, Lazio has continued the style of offensive football under the leadership of Zeman, but whether to attack or to defend, this is not difficult for the head coach. Attack and defense are integrated, and the defensive risks hidden behind offensive football have increased year-on-year. .For this reason, Lazio's games were spectacular, with big scores often achieved, but they were often beaten to disgrace by Italy's home team. The important factor in missing out on the trophy was that they either won or lost their games, and draws were extremely rare.
It wasn't until Zeman dismissed get out of class that Lazio's magical and offensive football charm began to decline significantly. Then after the Swedish Eriksen took over, the Blue Eagles started a new era.
In the summer of 1998, Lazio was identified as one of the four favorites to win the Serie A title before the start of the new Serie A season. However, after all, they were not a wealthy club and lacked the temperament of a champion. Just like Eriksson's first season when he took over, they were both as impressive as Lazio frequently played winning streaks, but also ended up with a 6-game losing streak at the end of the season. Last season, Lazio was only one step away from the Serie A championship. In the penultimate round of the league, they handed over the championship to AC Milan, and finally lost one point. The most exciting part of this story is not AC Milan’s astonishing reversal of 7 consecutive victories at the end of the season, nor is it the fact that Lazio’s 4 wins and 1 draw were ruined by that draw, but in the final sprint, Roma In the city derby, Lazio suffered a strong sniper attack from Roma led by Zeman!
Last season, Lazio only had the last European Cup Winners' Cup as a consolation to make up for the lack of the league championship at the last moment.
Lazio's strong rise is directly related to the boss's burning of money at all costs, and this phenomenon has become very common in Serie A. There are many people gambling. When seeing a winner, it is not difficult to understand that others are ready to take action.
"Unfortunately, we only got one draw at home. We had a better chance than Millwall in the whole game. We are not afraid of Millwall, even though they have just set a new winning streak in the five major European leagues."
"They are a Premier League team and we are a Serie A team. It is unfair to only compare domestic achievements. It is far more difficult to win the championship trophy in Serie A than in the Premier League. The competitiveness is not at the same level."
"Hall is an excellent coach, but he is not invincible. We have ambitions for the Champions League. If we can win at Wembley, it will be a good spiritual boost for Lazio, even if Millwall is in Europe
Undefeated in London."
...
Eriksen talked a lot, a lot ahead of the fifth game of the second group stage of the Champions League.
Maybe he was trying to upset Millwall, for example, to make Aldridge lose his cool.
Who knows.
In short, Fleet Street added fuel to the fire and treated the Swede's remarks as a provocation in front of Aldrich.
Aldrich did not respond and left the press conference calmly.
In the group standings, Millwall has climbed to first place in the group with 8 points.
Lazio unexpectedly lost to Feyenoord in the last round and still only had 7 points.
Bordeaux has 4 points and Feyenoord has 3 points.
Millwall's qualifying situation has been completely reversed after only one game. Now, as long as they don't lose in the last two games, they will advance to the top 8.
At this time, Aldrich does not need to argue with the coach of an Italian team, wasting words and time.
Aldrich didn't respond, but Fleet Street didn't want to let the stunt go.
Ever since, the silence of the Mad Lion Commander turned into a kind of silent contempt.
Be it Eriksen or Lazio.
You are not qualified enough to act wild in front of a mad lion!
The weather was beautiful, the night sky was clear on the night of the game, and the temperature was very suitable for the players to compete.
After Aldridge entered the stadium, he heard the fans of the Lions and the Blue Eagles fighting in the stands. The Lions fans made up songs to mock each other, and the few Blue Eagles fans also used Italian national curses to fight back.
Aldridge put his hands in the pockets of his coat and walked straight to the coach's bench to sit down. From the looks of it, he was in a similar situation to the team's current situation: sit back and relax.
In the last two games, we will play Lazio at home today, and finally we will go to the Netherlands to play Feyenoord. If there is a draw with Feyenoord, Millwall will get the promotion spot regardless of the result of this game, because they will compete with Bordeaux.
have an advantage in the battle record.
Players from both sides began to enter the stadium, and the commentator introduced the starting lineups of both sides in turn.
Millwall faced the battle with all its main players and all the personnel were in place.
Lazio also has strong troops and horses.
Goalkeeper:Machegiani
Defenders: Pancaro, Mihajlovic, Nesta, Favalli.
Midfielder: Conceicao, Veron Simeone, Winter.
Forwards: Inzaghi Jr., Salas.
Compared with the original lineup, there is only one change in this lineup, and that is the left midfielder. This was originally where Nedvěd should appear, but now it is the Dutchman Winter.
Winter returned to Lazio for the second time in the summer of 1998 and continued to play for the Blue Eagles. His original status in the Lazio club was no less than that of Pavel Nedved. He was one of the important members of Zeman's team that led Lazio to play offensive football.
Simeone is the same Simeone who played against Millwall at Inter Milan last year. He is also the Simeone who fell to the ground in an exaggerated manner after being violated by Beckham. He is a strong defensive player.
Lazio's ranking as the favorite team for the Serie A championship is guaranteed by its strength. The wizard Veron, the representative of Portugal's golden generation Conceicao, and the world-class central defender Nesta are all famous figures in the international football world, and others such as
Pancaro, Inzaghi Salas Jr., Favalli and others are also well-known in European football.
"At the beginning of the game, Millwall kicked off first. After the kick-off, we saw that Millwall accelerated the pace of the game and pressed forward. It seems that Hall's tactical choice in this game is to use a pressing attack.
That's it. Haha, that's right. Football is played on the field, not spoken. So what if Eriksson made an ambitious and lengthy speech before the game? After 90 minutes of play, there will be plenty of time to come back.
Let’s talk.”
Millwall's qualifying situation is stable, but we cannot take it lightly. If we lose this game and Bordeaux and Feyenoord decide the winner, the situation will be reversed immediately.
Playing at home and attacking aggressively is reasonable.
What's more, Aldrich deployed in a targeted manner.
Play fast today and bring down Lazio.
Simeone's defensive ability is indeed strong. Today he still showed his ability to stick to people. If he sticks to people, this player will basically be frozen.
But Millwall has so many good offensive players in the frontcourt, and Lazio can withstand one or two. Trying to limit them all is a fantasy.
In the first half of the game, Lazio defended passively and could keep up with the rhythm. However, the scene was extremely ugly. Eriksen stood up from his seat and walked to the sidelines with his hands on his hips.
Lazio can't even organize a decent attack!
Millwall's high-pressure pressing tactics require offensive players to counterattack on the spot, leaving very little time for the opponent to organize an attack.
Veron, the master of midfield organization, only succeeded in catching the ball 3 times out of 8 times. He failed to get the ball out of the 5 times, 3 times were directly intercepted by Pirlo in advance, 2 times were due to teammates passing the ball incorrectly, and after picking up the ball successfully 3 times,
But it was directly destroyed after being double-teamed by Pirlo and Nedvěd.
Consiccao and Winter are already old. They are 33 or 34 years old and have enough experience. However, they cannot withstand the impact of Gianluca Zambrotta and Schneider who are in their prime years.
Ersson and Ronaldinho's return defense double-teamed, compressing the midfield
In the area, Millwall's extremely high tactical quality cut Lazio's formation into pieces when defending. Lazio players who received the ball would fall into isolation in less than 3 seconds, and were defeated in a one-on-one breakthrough. The entire offensive was
Declare the end.
In the 26th minute, Simeone jumped directly from the backcourt to the frontcourt. He had experience playing against Millwall at Inter Milan. Seeing that the midfield was paralyzed, he simply decided to try his luck.
Unexpectedly, his long pass almost resulted in an assist.
Inzaghi saw that he had thrown away Materazzi and was one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but Butt was well prepared, ran out of the penalty area and headed the ball to his compatriot Schneider on the wing.
Under high-pressure pressing tactics, the goalkeeper must not just stay in front of the goal. He must expand the defensive area and become a free agent. He can become a passing point and can also play the role of a sweeper. If he sticks to the goal, he will become a team
Fatal flaw in the tactical system.
Aldrich was very satisfied with what Bute did.
Gradually, Millwall's advantage in playing a fast-paced pressing attack became greater and greater. After the defensive strength of Veron, Conceicao, and Winter dropped significantly, Simeone was completely unable to withstand it in the middle.
In the 32nd minute, Pirlo got the ball from behind, and Veron's pursuit slowed down three meters behind him. It was a bit like waiting for his teammates to successfully defend and then quickly organize a counterattack without being marked.
Ronaldinho moved to the center and played a one-on-one with Pirlo to break through Simeone's defense zone. Larsson and Henry changed positions. Pirlo sent a scalpel to Henry. Henry went down the right side of the penalty area and swept the ball.
In front of the goal, Larsson deliberately dragged Nesta and let the ball roll past him. Nedvěd made a sliding tackle from Mihajlovic and sent the ball from the back of the goal into the goal.
"Nedvěd helped the team open the scoring! This is a typical Millwall-style goal. The offensive player suddenly changes position to interfere with the defender's marking. Pirlo passes the ball to open the defense. The striker either directly attacks the goal or unexpectedly
Then pass it to the player who intervenes, a beautiful goal that you will never tire of! Eriksen, who made bold remarks before the game, should shut up now. His team has no power to fight back at Wembley!
"
Aldrich stood up, clapped and gave a thumbs up to the players on the court.
