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Alas, Evergrande has been blocked from the quarterfinals. I was still looking forward to watching Evergrande fight Real Madrid at the end of the year. There is no chance. Now has Evergrande changed its name to Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Team? The commentator of Central 5 once shouted so, and the two giants were at the scene.
Watching the game, it's a pity that Jack Ma cheered and Elkeson missed the penalty kick...
What Aldrich asked Andrew to do is a common method used by politicians.
Use external pressure to rally internal hearts and minds.
Just like some heads of state will use war or national security crises to inspire unprecedented unity and support from their citizens.
The Fleet Street media has the mouthpiece of Millwall, and these interpersonal networks cannot be touched, but through Andrew and then finding an intermediary to contact the Gunners to criticize Millwall, the matter itself is not difficult.
Aldridge doesn't want to shout slogans at the team over and over again. Once is fine, twice is fine. Any more will make the team "immune."
He believes that excessive praise from the outside world has begun to have the opposite effect on Millwall and is weakening Millwall's soft power.
This situation is common when it comes to individual players, and players whose psychological quality is not strong enough. Some players start to forget about it after being praised for a few words, and the praise that Millwall has received has lasted for more than two years! The team's resistance
No matter how strong it is, there is a tendency for the fortress to fall quickly.
After discussing the matter with Andrew, Aldridge received a call from Boas.
The search for a backup goalkeeper has come to fruition.
According to Aldrich's requirements, there are actually very few options available.
It is basically impossible to be the main goalkeeper of a first-tier club.
In fact, you can only find those old goalkeepers who have expired.
The young star of hope has no experience, and no one can predict how he will perform. The position of goalkeeper is very special. It is difficult to train those who remain in the team with guaranteed quality. Unless someone like Casillas usurps the position at the right time,
, or maybe someone like Buffon who became famous at a young age and naturally rose to the top.
Aldrich greeted his family and drove back to the club.
Christmas is probably the only day he has time to rest, but because of the goalkeeper problem, he has to work overtime, return to the club, communicate with the coaching staff, and return to the department to handle winter transfers.
The Christmas war has just come to an end, and Millwall will play three league games in the next week. In fact, there are four Premier League games in 10 days!
After Aldridge returned to the club, he studied the information compiled by Villas-Boas with the club's goalkeeper coach.
There are not many candidates that Boas can recommend. He thinks the most reliable number one is named Pagliuca.
When Aldrich heard Boas's recommendation, he was filled with emotion. He had really forgotten about this dear friend.
Is Pagliuca famous? Of course it is!
But in Aldridge's memory, I really can't remember this person. In this life, when he met Inter Milan, Pagliuca was sitting on the bench and Peruzzi started. The Millwall coaching staff studied the opponent and directly
Automatically ignore the opponent's substitute goalkeeper.
Now, Pagliuca has left Inter Milan and plays for Bologna. Looking at the European war, Millwall will not be able to meet him.
Aldridge was watching the video and looking through the field data compiled by Villas-Boas.
In Italy, Pagliuca was criticized for his poor performance for a while, which is understandable, because it is a country where defense is an art, and any mistakes made by the goalkeeper will be infinitely magnified.
Pagliuca may not be able to analyze the ball path as accurately as Peruzzi, cannot magically save penalty kicks like Toldo, nor can he direct the team's defense like Schmeichel.
But he is a goalkeeper who has brought the basic qualities required of a goalkeeper to the extreme. He has a heavy sword without a sharp edge, and what he shows to the world is a powerful sense of sight.
The 34-year-old goalkeeper still has fighting spirit and calmness, and his fearlessness in making saves is something Aldridge admires. You know, goalkeepers often keep their face at the same height as the opponent's feet, and are shot reasonably and legally.
A living target, the first thing that a good goalkeeper must overcome is human self-protection awareness, conditioned reflex - the awareness of avoiding danger. It just so happens that Pagliuca is a typical example in this regard!
When looking through Pagliuca's data, Aldrich noticed something. When the club counts player performance, the goalkeeper position does not simply list the number of saves and the success rate. Different data in different situations can better reflect it.
The player's comprehensive level, such as the average distance of the goal kick, passing success rate, attack judgment success rate, etc.
There was one statistic about Pagliuca that surprised Aldridge.
The melee in front of the goal ends the opponent's offensive success rate!
This statistic is important, especially for a team of Millwall's level.
It is difficult for their opponents to penetrate their defense with regular attacks. The highest rate of conceding the ball comes from chaos, especially when chaos occurs in the penalty area, such as the opponent making a second attack, or the ball having unexpected refraction.
After the change, he fell into a dangerous zone in the penalty area. In this case, the head coach could not criticize the team's defense when the ball was conceded, because it seemed that it was caused by an unexpected chaos.
Aldrich thought of Pagliuca's height of 1.9 meters and weight of 87 kilograms. He is brave and fearless. To be honest, when a person falls in love with another person, his subconscious will make his eyes like him more and more the more he looks at him!
Although the most recent memory of this man emerges as a result of Pirlo, and it is a negative one. Pirlo once took a penalty kick to challenge Pagliuca, which angered the Bologna players. When Pirlo went to celebrate the goal, he
After being warned by the other party, he was pushed in the head...
But Aldrich also remembers that when he was sporadicly commenting on Pagliuca's performance on the field throughout his career, there was this passage that was very vivid.
Pagliuca is like Tai Sui who cannot be offended in the penalty area. Anyone who underestimates him will surely pay a heavy price. Pagliuca is persistent and tenacious and has the courage to face every impact. Four words can sum it up: Tai Sui from the ground!
"It's him!"
Aldrich made his final decision, and at the same time glanced at the names of other candidates, none of them satisfied him as much as Pagliuca.
In particular, Pagliuca is 34 years old. When he comes to the team at this age, he will definitely not replace Butt. It will prevent Butt from thinking wildly when he is recovering from injury.
The team's goalkeeper coach has no objections. Looking at these candidates, Pagliuca's competition experience and strength are undoubtedly. Although his technical characteristics are not as distinctive as those of a god-level goalkeeper, there are no major flaws. This person just masters the basic skills.
It's the best.
Jensen frowned slightly and said: "In the middle of the season, we suddenly have to recruit the main goalkeeper of a mid-tier Serie A team. This may be a bit difficult."
“Let’s take a look at the quotation first.”
Aldrich didn't want to waste time. Let's talk about whether it can be done or not.
Millwall quickly sent an offer to Bologna, asking for £3 million for Pagliuca.
Bologna's reply the next day was: No selling! Definitely not buying!
Pagliuca returned to Bologna because he wanted to contribute to his hometown team. If the team sold him for 3 million, it would be too ruthless.
Millwall's second offer was £4 million.
Bologna responded quickly: not for sale.
The not for sale label has been removed.
There are many wealthy clubs in Serie A, but not every club has a natural economic and geographical background and a wealthy owner to back it up.
Millwall made their third offer that afternoon, £5 million!
Everything was calm on the British side. But news spread from the Apennines.
Perhaps the transfer was being discussed internally at Bologna and the news leaked out.
When Fleet Street heard the news, there was nothing to make a fuss about.
Millwall's main goalkeeper is injured. The substitute goalkeeper is absolutely unreliable based on his mistake against Manchester United. The second half of the season is more critical than the first half.
On the third day, Millwall sent a fax to Bologna for their fourth offer of £6 million.
Bologna finally relented: We can sit down and talk slowly.
Aldridge laments the cunningness of Serie A teams.
The outside world knows that Millwall is looking for a goalkeeper. Since Pagliuca has been chosen, there is no reason for Bologna not to take advantage of the situation!
The winter transfer window is about to open and close in a month. At the same time, registration for the second half of the Champions League season will also be submitted to UEFA in February. How can Millwall have time to talk slowly with the opponent?
But now that Bologna's attitude has changed from not selling to being able to sit down and talk, Aldridge stopped talking and asked the club to make the last offer: 8.5 million pounds!
To sell, we will negotiate directly with the players.
If you don't want to sell it, just let's find another replacement.
For a 34-year-old veteran goalkeeper, Millwall's offer is already full of sincerity.
The trading currency in the Italian transfer market is the US dollar, which is now being gradually replaced by the euro. The pound rebounded strongly in the second half of 2000, rising from below 1.4 to the US dollar in September to 1.5. In other words, Millwall spent almost 13 million US dollars to buy Paragon.
Liuka.
If Bologna does not sell, there will definitely be no cash return for Pagliuca. After all, in another year, Pagliuca will really enter the age of countdown to retirement.
Aldridge didn't know what was going on in Italy. Every time Millwall made an offer, the Italian media would get the news immediately, as if the media had installed a microphone inside Bologna.
As a result, Fleet Street felt that Millwall was sick after receiving the news.
Spending almost £10 million on a 34-year-old back-up goalkeeper?
Millwall, which has always been stingy in the transfer market, what's the matter? They don't know how to spend the money they have?
Aldridge complained a few times within the club, but the club's transfer staff cleared him up.
The news must have been leaked by the Bologna club immediately.
The purpose is very simple, to make Pagliuca tempted.
Pagliuca moved to Bologna in the summer because he wanted to play for his hometown team and make use of his remaining talent. Now that the club is looking for money and wants to make a fortune, of course they can't send him away ruthlessly.
Millwall's increasing bids again and again, interest in him, offensive, sincerity, enthusiasm, etc. were all presented to him through the media. First, Pagliuca had a psychological impact, and then the club contacted Pagliuca.
Let’s talk about Liuka.
Selling him and making a fortune would be his contribution to his hometown team.
When Aldridge led the team to play the Premier League Express campaign, the club had already sent a negotiation team to Italy to discuss the transfer with Pagliuca. The transfer fee agreement between the clubs had been reached, but Millwall finally gave in.
9 million pounds, equivalent to approximately 13.5 million US dollars.
Pagliuca is hesitant and in an awkward situation. The club has "betrayed" him. If he doesn't leave, will he stay? But if he goes to London to play football, it will involve changes in his entire family life, and it will definitely not be short-lived.
, so he must be cautious about this decision.
Aldridge personally called Pagliuca the day before the winter transfer window opened.
First inform the other party of their status in the team.
In the second half of the season, he became the main goalkeeper.
Later, after Butt recovers from injury, if Butt's condition is good, Pagliuca will be on the bench. Millwall will give the substitute goalkeeper about 10 to 15 games of playing time every season. If the main goalkeeper is not in good condition,
, the substitute goalkeeper will have more opportunities.
Finally, Aldrich extended an invitation to Pagliuca with sincerity. At least Millwall has an Italian element, with many Italian players on the team, and the team environment will not make Pagliuca feel lonely.
Pagliuca signed the contract on January 1, the day the transfer window opened. He is expected to report to Millwall ten days later and will be scheduled to make his Premier League debut on the 14th. (To be continued...)
