There was not much time left in the game, and Boca Juniors suffered another heavy blow. Bianchi was unwilling to surrender on the sidelines and used his troops to press hard. Millwall retreated due to pressure and had two good opportunities to counterattack in the last five minutes.
But he was not sure of it, especially when Villa's goalkeeper hit the goalkeeper and hit the crossbar and bounced out of the baseline, making him hold his head in his hands in disbelief.
When the game ended, Millwall's coaching staff and players on the bench stood up one after another. They were not as excited as winning other games. Aldridge went to shake hands with Bianchi after the game.
The two did not communicate and separated after shaking hands.
The fans at the scene cheered for Millwall. They came here once in 1998. Two years later, Millwall came here again and won the Toyota Cup again.
In fact, the shape of the Toyota Cup trophy is very strange. It doesn’t look like a cup at all, but more like a designed artwork.
After winning the championship, the players started taking photos to commemorate the victory. Henry won the best of the match and could drive away a Toyota car.
Cristiano Ronaldo has also become the focus of reporters on the sidelines. At a young age, he has become the creator of the Millwall club's youngest appearance record. The senior record he broke is none other than Pirlo, the indispensable playmaker in Millwall today.
, and he still scored a goal today. After all, it was also the final, and his opponent was not an unknown person, but the team that won the South American club's intercontinental competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to be enjoying the spotlight. He walked gracefully while holding the Toyota Cup trophy. He came to the sidelines. His family, accompanied by Millwall staff, had already come to the sidelines. After permission from the stadium staff. C
Luo entered the stadium with his family for a group photo.
After waiting for a group photo, his brothers and sisters left him behind and went to find the stars of the Millwall team to ask for photos and signed jerseys.
"Boss, take a picture with me."
Aldridge is communicating with Boas about the game that just ended. In his free time, Boas is the person he likes to discuss the game with the most.
Aldridge turned around and saw that Ronaldo was still "occupying" the trophy. He smiled and said: "Come here and stand in the middle."
Ronaldo walked to stand between him and Villas-Boas, and after the photo was taken, Ronaldo handed the trophy to Villa, and Aldrich just happened to pull Villa over and take another photo.
"If I remember correctly, your 19th birthday will be in a few days, right?"
Villa heard Aldrich's question and nodded: "Well, yes."
Aldrich chuckled and said, "When I go back, I'll invite you to my house for dinner. I'll cook it myself."
Villa smiled knowingly after hearing this. Since he became an adult, he really rarely goes to the boss's house for dinner. He is probably older and has his own space and expanded life circle. Let him and Aldrich
The distance has also become farther, but what remains unchanged is the mutual trust.
After winning the Toyota Cup, Aldrich had nothing to say after the game for this kind of event that had neither foreshadowing nor continuity. He just praised the team and happily headed home.
Millwall once again won the Toyota Cup, and Fleet Street's response was relatively muted. They just wrote the battle report as usual.
There's really nothing surprising about it.
The strongest in Europe VS the strongest in South America.
There are the best players in South America every year, but there may not be one in Europe that is undefeated in 64 league games in ten years.
During the Toyota Cup fierce battle, the Premier League weekend coincided with the cup competition, so the league was suspended. Millwall returned to London to rest for a few days. Before the 17th round of the Premier League started at the weekend, they got good news.
Manchester United visited London and were held to a 3-3 draw by Charlton at the Valley Stadium.
Millwall sat at the Lion King Stadium and sent out all their main players to face the visiting Aston Villa. A hearty 5:2 victory extended their unbeaten run to 65 games and also narrowed the points gap with Manchester United to 1
As for the two goals that were rarely conceded to an underdog in the game, Aldridge seemed nonchalant after the game. His main defensive midfielder and main defender were suspended.
During this period, FIFA announced the winner of the World Footballer of the Year award. Zidane was elected, Henry ranked second and Figo third.
This year's Ballon d'Or will also be announced. Millwall's momentum in the second half of the year is not obvious, because they themselves are the biggest focus. They are unbeaten in 65 league games and last season's Triple Crown. Do they still need to deliberately tout it?
Fleet Street predicts that Millwall is likely to defend the Ballon d'Or this year. Of course, the possibility of Nedvěd himself defending the title is very low. He has been recovering from injury since the beginning of the new season. When he needs the most eye-catching offensive, he disappears.
out of public view.
But Millwall still has many strong contenders for the Ballon d'Or.
The biggest favorite is Thierry Henry, who has won the Triple Crown, the Champions League and the League Golden Boot, and won the European Cup with the French team in the summer. If he is elected as Mr. Golden Ball, who will question it?
Larsson, Ronaldinho and Pirlo are also popular candidates.
In the eyes of mainstream European football, there are always people who know the truth, especially professional football critics. Pirlo has been nominated for the Ballon d'Or for two consecutive years and helped Millwall create the Triple Crown as an absolute main force.
His importance and contribution to the team are noticed by many professionals. Many people study Millwall, and the focus of player analysis is Pirlo.
Ten years after the original history, UEFA published an official evaluation, listing twenty people who changed world football, including nineteen players or coaches and one referee.
This list has a European perspective. Only two South American players were selected, and Pele was not included.
Aldridge has always deliberately avoided this question when asked about the contribution of his personal coaching tactics to modern football. The main reason is that he is actually just summarizing and integrating the experience left by his predecessors, and combining his understanding of football with the insights of later generations.
Just an advantage.
For example, Hideguti in this list, as a teammate of Puskas' golden team of his generation, his tactical role is far superior to that of Puskas. The change of center retreat set off a storm that swept Hungary around the world.
Going back further, we have to mention the coach of Chideguti’s club, Mabukwe.
People say that England is the originator of 442. In fact, it was Mabukwe who was the first to design the theory and practice it. In the era when attacking and stacking forwards, his defense was ridiculed, but today, it is Austria.
The most core point in Delic's tactical design and the key to victory: hiding the offensive point.
Most of the players on this list have improved the abilities of role players in the same position. Simply put, they are the pinnacle that players in the same position pursue, such as Maldini K, who can make defenders become elegant.
Ruyff, Di Stefano, the winger Matthews, who is as artistic as a winger, etc.
But there are also some superstars who have combined influence and contributions outside of football. For example, Zidane, who is of Algerian descent, has had a positive impact on national integration in France. He is an angel and a devil. He once made football ugly. He forced UEFA to
, FIFA had to modify the defense
Maradona abides by the rules and increases the penalties for defenders' fouls. It is because Maradona cannot defend him normally, so football is ugly. The opponents he faces have to use frequent fouls. Fouls that exceed the standard are
Except for fouls, it is completely impossible to limit his performance.
On this list, only a handful of players contributed to the epoch-making change in the combination of position and role on the field. Beckenbauer, the originator of free agents, and the most influential full-back assisted Facchetti.
More than ten years later, fans are talking about the German goalkeeper Neuer's incarnation as the "goalkeeper". But if you look at the history of world football, there is someone crazier than Neuer in the goalkeeper position, and he has become the target of imitation by many goalkeepers: La
- Denkovic, as a goalkeeper, he used to lead the game from the back
The ball broke through three defensive players and was brought down by the opponent angrily. The foul was committed 10 meters past the center line. The incident happened in Germany. Is he crazy? Maybe, in short, he was selected for change in the UEFA selection.
World Football's 20-man roster redefines the standard for goalkeepers.
There is another person who redefined the standards of positional roles. This person is from Italy and his name is Pirlo. He is also on this list.
Pirlo's selection has little to do with his own technical ability. If he plays as an attacking midfielder, there are many players with better skills than him. However, he is an attacking midfielder and plays as a defensive midfielder, which makes the defensive midfielder himself more capable.
The role of functional ability in tactics has undergone earth-shaking changes.
On the football field, everyone should perform their duties.
What's the use of a forward if he doesn't score goals?
If a defender doesn't defend, is he still called a defender?
In the past, when a forward scored a goal, the attacking midfielder behind the forward organized and delivered the shells. This way, the threat seemed more intuitive, the distance was close, the connection was close, and the success rate should theoretically be higher, just like England's long pass theory.
The basics are the same, hit the ball directly to the area closest to the goal where the threat is greatest.
But the reality is that the offense is concentrated at the front, and the opponent's defense center is also concentrated there, which in turn compresses the area.
Pirlo's role has nothing to do with whether he has been transformed from an attacking midfielder into a defensive midfielder. It is that he is an attacking midfielder type player, but he organizes in the defensive midfielder area. A new situation has emerged: take a step back and the sky will be brighter.
Some people would say that Keane, Vieira, both offensive and defensive, Albertini, Redondo, the four talents of the previous era, seem to be able to do such a job.
But there is essentially a difference.
Even if the career is based on 500 games, how many games do these defensive midfielders play on the field as an organizer of offense?
Just because Redondo has some shocking passes doesn't mean he can do organizational work in the defensive midfielder. Keane and Vieira are easier to distinguish. Defense is their first priority.
, but what makes them stand out compared to other similar defensive midfielders is that they can complete the defensive task well, and then allocate their energy to help the team attack, whether it is Manchester United or Arsenal, attack from the wing and drive the offense forward.
, or mainly wing players.
But in Millwall, Pirlo played more than four seasons, he did pure organizational work full-time, defense was a secondary task!
This subverts the role that players in the defensive midfield position should play in the past. At the same time, when instigating an attack, he uses the pass to drive the overall forward attack.
In the development of modern football later in the original history, almost all major giants had such figures in organizing regional retreats to ensure the team's passing success rate, and the one who pioneered it was Pirlo.
In the first two seasons, Pirlo's appearance confused European football, so they began to observe him, study Millwall's games, and find out Pirlo's specific role on the field. Every pass he made brought
Changes in rhythm, changes in threat value measured by short and long passes driving the offense, etc.
When Pirlo helped Millwall win countless championships as the absolute main force, no one doubted him anymore. People realized: he created a new positional role template under Aldridge.
For this reason, some football critics have called for the Golden Globe Award to be given to Pirlo. Although his goals and assists are far less than those of Millwall's front trident, his contribution may be the best among the Millwall team.
The highest.
reason?
Millwall has no shortage of forwards, but can anyone replace Pirlo?
