For most of the season, Millwall fans have become the happiest group in the English League One.
They can enjoy the fun and passion of football in the purest form.
Millwall under Aldridge has taken on a new look. The team's style has been completely insulated from the English style of long passing. It has caused a youth storm and made fans proud.
On the afternoon of the 32nd round of the English League One, the Lion's Den Stadium continued to have a full attendance rate on the home match day. When the two teams lined up to take the field, the stadium burst into endless applause.
Millwall and Middlesbrough have no hatred, they are just competitors, and now that Millwall is far behind Middlesbrough, Millwall fans can naturally welcome their opponents generously.
The broadcast cameras were focused on Aldridge before the game. This handsome young coach is a popular figure in England's coaching circles. He is gentle and extremely capable. No one will question Aldridge's coaching ability, not even Millwall's current tactical system.
, football columnists have begun to follow it, but the "research report" dare not draw conclusions easily, because professionals who are truly experts in tactics believe that Aldrich's transformation of the team has not been completely successful, and it is still being built.
In the process, it has been refreshing to abandon the blind and frequent traditional winger cross tactics and make full use of wing support and occasional insertion into the penalty area.
After the players from both sides came on the stage, Aldridge took the initiative to walk to the visiting team's coach's bench, and was greeted by Bryan Robson. The two hugged cordially, and then had a friendly laugh.
"Aldrich, forget about losing to me in this game. Anyway, you are ahead by so many points."
"Okay, let Middlesbrough attack boldly, Millwall is undefended."
"Can you stop being so annoying?"
"Thank you, this is the best compliment for me."
After Aldridge and Bryan Robson looked at each other and smiled, the two separated and walked back to the sidelines to stand.
Compared with the confrontation in the first half of the season, only one new player on Millwall's side, David Beckham, was on the roster of the two teams. There were no other changes, not even the formation.
Middlesbrough still played their hidden murderous 532, and Millwall followed their honed 442.
Even the trend after the start of the game was almost the same as the first league match: Millwall had the advantage, and Middlesbrough contracted the half-time very conservatively.
With Aldridge standing on the sidelines, is he making the same mistake he made in the first half of the season?
of course not!
Millwall is now more mature than it was more than three months ago, and the tacit understanding between the players is not what it used to be.
The midfield line of Pires-Nedved-Makelele-Beckham cooperated very smoothly in the midfield area. With Larsson retreating in front to support, Millwall firmly controlled the ball.
Under your own feet.
Not only shrinking is conservative, Millwall ensures possession of the ball, patiently creates opportunities, and does not easily lose the ball. This itself is also a conservative strategy.
The first thing Aldridge instilled in this team was: learn to pass back!
When the forward receiving player does not have a good position or opportunity, the midfielder must have the awareness to pass the ball back when faced with pressure.
Not conceding the ball means first and foremost ensuring one's own invincibility.
This first-place battle, which was clamored by the outside world as a battle between Mars and the Earth, did not show the expected fierce sparks after the game started.
Kavanagh, who was nicknamed by Aldridge in front of his fellow coaching staff as a defensive forward, kept running back and forth in Millwall's midfield and backcourt, trying to disrupt Millwall's rhythm through harassment.
But just by himself running rampant, it really doesn't have any effect. It's more like being walked back and forth by Millwall's midfielders.
The midfielder composed of Blackmore, Masto and Hignett did not dare to cross the center line easily. They seemed to be waiting for something and did not care about the passage of game time.
How to break through intensive defense, Millwall has been able to adjust and flexibly use tactics without Aldridge giving instructions all the time on the sidelines.
Pires automatically moved to the center and cooperated with Nedvěd in a small area. The two forwards used their movements to attract the attention of the defensive players, opening up the space and giving their teammates the opportunity to take long shots.
Twenty minutes before the first half, Nedved almost opened the scoring with a long shot, but unfortunately it hit the crossbar and bounced into the stands.
Middlesbrough is still using the huddle tactics without improvement, but there will still be looseness and distraction in a small area.
Pires' long shot from outside the penalty area was caught by goalkeeper Miller. He immediately kicked forward and tried to create an opportunity for the team to counterattack.
The ball landed in the frontcourt just past the midline. Makelele firmly blocked Kavanagh behind him. No matter how hard Kavanagh squeezed, Makelele could not lose his center of gravity.
Facing the falling ball, Makelele blocked it with his foot and knocked it directly at the foot of Beckham on the right. Beckham caught the ball near the center line of the right and adjusted on the spot for a second, and then suddenly made a long pass to the goalkeeper.
The ball was lobbed into the Middlesbrough penalty area.
The Middlesbrough defense players who had just finished defending were moving forward to re-establish a parallel defensive line. No one expected the goalkeeper to kick a big kick into the frontcourt. In less than 10 seconds, the ball flew again.
came back, and the landing point was behind them.
Trezeguet cleverly ran between Pierce and White. Goalkeeper Miller abandoned the goal, but he only opened his arms to expand his defensive scope halfway. On the left side of the goal, Trezeguet did not stop at all.
The ball was directly headed towards the Middlesbrough goal.
Miller hates Millwall!
In the first half of the season, Pires scored that weird curve ball that was still vivid in his mind. This time, he could only raise his head and watch the ball pass over his head as he abandoned the goal. He stretched out his hand.
He went to reach for it, but it was obviously a step too late, and he lost his center of gravity and fell to the ground, feeling extremely embarrassed.
"Goooooal! David Trezeguet scored a wonderful header and lob! The assist was provided by the young Manchester United rookie Beckham, who came to Millwall on loan from Manchester United this season.
Mu replaced the injured Schneider in the past month. His performance was very good, and his precise long pass was unforgettable. No one thought that he would directly assist the forward from that position. The pass was beautiful, and Trezeguet cleverly
The counter-offside and header are even more exciting! Congratulations to Millwall, they are now one goal ahead and have an absolute advantage on the field. Although Middlesbrough is very strong, it is difficult to make a difference here."
Trezeguet, who has scored 18 goals this season, ran towards the backcourt with a smile and hugged Beckham directly.
The fans on the sidelines were also very excited, and Aldridge could even see a fan holding a sign in the stands that read: Aldridge, please sign Beckham!
Aldridge could only smile bitterly in his heart. He also wanted to sign the biggest star in English football in the next five to eight years, but how could the cunning Ferguson let him go so generously?
Beckham, who was a young boy when he joined on loan, has become Millwall's star player with more and more opportunities to appear on the court and his performance on the field is getting better and better. Yes, Aldridge is going
To describe Beckham, he is a star player, but he is definitely not among the top five players in terms of ability, even if it only lists offensive players.
Around the training ground, at least half of the female fans who came to watch the training came to see Beckham, while the rest paid more attention to Nedved, Schneider and others. Beckham, who has a British registered permanent residence,
There is no doubt that it is the focus.
When did Beckham become famous? Maybe when he was less than ten years old.
In British football, last year, Beckham was the main force in Manchester United's Class of 92 to win the FA Youth Cup, which also made him famous.
Aldrich dismissed the distracting thoughts in his mind and applauded the team's goal. Then he glanced at Bryan Robson not far away. The opponent was indifferent to the conceded goal and just paced the sidelines without speaking or directing the team.
.
Bryan Robson is really helpless. He has done everything he can, and nothing he says to the team will help. It's not that Middlesbrough performed poorly, it's that Millwall is no longer the team it was in the first half of the season.
Robson, who has hundreds of professional games under his belt, can see that the confidence and drive, magnanimity and composure of Millwall's young lads on the pitch, as well as their flexible use of tactics and football wisdom, make him at this moment the same as before.
Wenger had similar sentiments: Aldridge, your team has an infinitely exciting future.
After the restart, Middlesbrough still did not change their strategy. After getting the ball, they would play a long pass and lob tactics. Whether they can create a threat depends on whether the forwards are good enough.
But this kind of attack has absolutely no lethality in front of Millwall, and the ball always returns to Millwall's feet easily.
The team was in the lead, and the fans were very happy to watch. They sang and sang like a party. They hugged each other in the stands and had a great time.
Beckham received an assist and was greatly encouraged. On such an important stage, he wanted to show off more of himself, so he, who had been staying near the midline for the previous 30 minutes, moved forward even more boldly.
Aldridge frowned slightly when he saw this scene on the sidelines. In the pre-match tactical arrangement, he clearly told Beckham: "Don't push forward too much. Your basic task is to assist Thuram in defense and ensure that we
The right wing is safe, and as the starting point of the delayed attack, you can try long-distance passes."
Originally, Beckham was playing quite well on the wing, so Middlesbrough's defense didn't feel comfortable coming in. However, when he suddenly stepped in, it had the effect of catching the opponent off guard.
Nedvěd suddenly dribbled in the middle and broke through Masto's defense. He was surprised to find that Beckham came forward. He had already planned to take a long shot and pushed the ball across to the right. Beckham's
The assist caught everyone by surprise, so center back Wicks pressed forward and tried to steal the ball from the opponent's feet, but Beckham made a through pass and poked the ball into the right side of the penalty area, forming a formation with Larsson who started at the right time.
With the cooperation of passing and cutting, Larsson half-turned at the bottom line of the penalty area and swept the ball towards the Middlesbrough goal.
Trezeguet fell to the ground before Pearson could clear the ball and sent the ball into the Middlesbrough goal!
