For the final game of the English League One, the Lion's Den Stadium was packed. The stands had been buzzing since before the game. The fans were obviously in a good mood today. Even though the outcome of the game was not important at all, it was the team's last home ground in the English League after all.
During the game, coming here to support the team is a compliment to the team.
Most of Millwall's main lineup were sitting in the stands behind the bench. Larsson, Nedved, Southgate, Pires and others were sitting in a row in suits and ties, chatting in a relaxed manner.
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After the game, Aldridge was not in the mood to hold a championship celebration. As a League One champion, there is no need for the players to get carried away. Instead, he would convene the team after the game to conduct a season summary, and then directly give the players a day off.
When Aldridge walked out of the tunnel, the fans stood up and applauded, and the sky above the Lions Den was filled with applause and cheers.
The Hall family took over the Millwall club, and young coach Aldridge's first-time performance in charge of League One won the hearts of all fans.
The league points are about to leave a record number of points, the number of goals has reached 119, and the average number of goals per game is more than 2.6. The players purchased for the team have quickly become heroes in the hearts of fans.
Millwall fans are full of expectations for the Premier League next season.
Aldridge raised his arms above his head and applauded towards the stands. When he walked to the coach's bench, he saw the Roar fans organization holding a huge banner in the south stand.
"To my beloved Aldrich: Keep Larson!"
The Roar Fans Organization is not Aldrich's private property. At best, he provides the fans organization with some conveniences in terms of tickets. He has no time to interfere in other aspects, but this fan organization has a soul.
Just before the start of the game, when the British media revealed that Manchester United was interested in bringing in Larsson, the Roar fans organization wrote an open letter to the club, in which it hoped that the club would keep Larsson and avoid the likes of Sheringham and Cascari.
The incident like Nuo's departure happened again.
Cascarino only played for Millwall for three seasons, but he and Sheringham formed an unstoppable forward combination. Even now, Cascarino is still serving as Marseille's leading shooter.
And Sheringham is a pain in the hearts of Millwall fans.
Sheringham joined Millwall's youth team at the age of 16 and played for the team for eight years, then first moved to Nottingham Forest, and then returned to London and landed at White Hart Lane.
Millwall fans want to forget about Sheringham, but they always recall the good things he brought to Millwall. However, Sheringham is already the leading goalscorer of the North London team. Millwall fans can only watch indifferently with sadness.
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Will Larsson leave the team?
Aldridge has not expressed his position to the outside world, but he has done a good job of ideological work for the players internally.
For example, Larsson, Aldridge has talked with him. If Larsson wants to leave, Aldridge will not stop him, especially if he joins a traditional giant like Manchester United. What reason does Aldridge have to obstruct it? Millwall and Manchester United
The appeal is simply not comparable.
But Aldrich put himself in Larson's shoes and analyzed the situation for him.
Manchester United spent a record transfer fee of 6 million pounds to introduce Andy Cole half a year ago just to replace the Welsh king Mark Hughes. After Cantona returns from suspension, will Larsson definitely have a main position in Manchester United?
Anyway, he is at Millwall and has no injuries or attitude problems. Aldridge will definitely guarantee his starting position and team status.
As for other teams in England, the transfer fee is a hurdle, as is the salary. Coupled with the team's competitiveness and other reasons, Aldridge persuaded Larson to stay.
By the end of the season, the news of contract renewals for the team's players will be announced collectively. Coupled with Aldridge's cold handling of media inquiries, Millwall will not face turmoil this summer.
On the court, players from both teams had already entered the stadium, and Aldridge also sat down on the coach's bench and chatted happily with Jenson.
This past season, the atmosphere in the team was good, perhaps because of the young people, who were full of motivation, and the coaching staff was rewarded for their dedicated work. Seeing the team invincible in English League One, everyone was filled with pride.
Swindon are determined to win this game. If they want to successfully avoid relegation, they must win, so they have the momentum to fight against the odds.
As for Millwall's substitute lineup, Aldridge sent out a 433 formation, with Phillips in the middle of the front line, Glenjar and Solskjaer on both sides, and the midfielder was the double midfielder partnership of Gattuso and Vieira.
, central midfielder Ballack, among the four backs, Lucas Neal continues to play left back, Materazzi and Richards partner as double central defenders, and Zambrotta is also becoming more and more stable at right back.
Swindon played the traditional 442, and used long passes to create threats from the beginning of the game.
Millwall's substitute lineup is not afraid of this set.
As England legend Brian Clough said: If the football has to fly around in the sky, why isn't the turf built in mid-air?
The more they play high and high, the more Millwall will be more comfortable counterattacking on the ground.
The mentality of the entire coaching staff is very relaxed. Everyone is talking and laughing. Aldrich only occasionally glances at the situation on the court. The young players cherish the experience of every game. He does not need to stand on the sidelines to supervise the players on the court.
Naturally, the three armies followed suit.
But when the game reached the second minute, a shocking scene suddenly appeared on the field.
Swindon once lifted the ball into the Millwall penalty area from midfield. The dropped ball was easily cleared by Materazzi's header and passed to Vieira in front. Vieira received the ball and organized an attack to counterattack.
But as soon as the ball reached Ballack's feet, the referee suddenly stopped the game and turned and ran towards Millwall's backcourt.
Everyone's eyes were also directed towards Millwall's backcourt.
I saw Materazzi angrily scolding a Swindon forward who was rolling on the ground!
The Swindon striker covered his face and screamed on the ground in agony.
"what happened?"
Aldrich frowned and turned around and asked, he didn't see it just now.
Babu from the coaching staff put his head around and said, "It seemed like Marco knocked Robbie Gates to the ground with a slap in the face just now!"
Aldridge stood up from his seat, and there were loud boos at the Lion's Den Stadium because the referee showed a red card directly to Materazzi!
Did Materazzi hit someone without the ball?
Aldrich felt that he could really do this.
But, for what?
A verbal argument?
Is the other party provocative?
It's impossible for Materazzi to be racially profiled.
"Marco, what happened?"
Aldrich asked calmly when Materazzi walked off the field with a gloomy look. Materazzi looked very ugly on the sidelines, moved his mouth, and finally just shook his head and walked into the tunnel.
Aldrich felt helpless, and obviously Materazzi didn't want to say anything.
Materazzi was sent off in the first two minutes. Swindon immediately had a numerical advantage. Robbie Gates, who was rolling around on the ground, also rubbed his face and stood up. He went to the sidelines to receive treatment from the team doctor.
There is indeed some redness and swelling, but nothing else serious.
Aldridge glanced at the Swindon coach next door, who was happily waving his arms to let the players seize the opportunity to attack. He sighed softly. Aldridge made a gesture on the sidelines, tapped his midfielders with two fingers, and then walked towards the penalty area.
He pointed inside.
Millwall's players were all waiting for Aldridge to give instructions. After this gesture was made, Gattuso and Vieira immediately understood: when defending with double midfielders, they should retreat deeper and form a numerical advantage in the penalty area.
Anyway, Swindon plays long passes and does not transition in the midfield at all. The opponent will probably not take advantage of the numerical disadvantage in the midfield. Moreover, Gattuso and Vieira cover each other, and it is enough for one of them to sweep in front of the penalty area.
, Ballack will naturally delay a little.
After making the adjustments, Aldrich returned to the coaching bench and frowned in distress: "What happened just now? Damn, this is a small stadium."
There is no big screen at Lions Den Stadium, otherwise you can still watch the slow-motion replay.
Craig, like many fans in the stands, took out a radio from his pocket and began to listen to the commentary of the game broadcast.
After a while, the fans in the stands would burst into loud boos whenever Swindon got the ball.
Craig smiled bitterly and explained to Aldridge: "The radio commentary restored the whole process. It seemed that Materazzi moved forward after heading the ball to clear the ball, and Robbie Gates walked up to him and violated Materazzi.
together."
"Violation? What action?"
Aldridge frowned, somewhat confused. If Materazzi was the first to be violated, with his cunning on the court, the opponent should have received a red card.
Craig hesitated and said: "The footage captured on the broadcast was, uh, Robbie Gates, he, he seemed to poke, poke Materazzi's buttocks with his finger."
Including Aldridge, the entire coaching staff looked dull.
The substitutes sitting behind also heard it, and some couldn't hold it back and burst out laughing.
Materazzi was fucked!
It took a lot of perseverance for Aldridge to hold back his laughter, and said to Jenson with a weird look on his face: "Go and comfort him, don't let him destroy our locker room..."
Jenson stood up immediately and couldn't help but smile before walking into the tunnel.
