Aldridge leaned against the door with his arms folded, and the players came in one after another. They sat in silence on their chairs. The only sound in the locker room was everyone's heavy breathing.
When Millwall loses or is tied by a weak team, they are naturally in a bad mood and no one wants to talk after the game.
But if it is a technical or tactical defeat, senior players will take the initiative to communicate within the team after the game, learn lessons, and improve shortcomings.
What can you share about today’s defeat?
If you want to shoot, the defense is basically no problem. Except for Caruna's "fake stop" that allowed Valencia to succeed in a sneak attack, the other three shooting opportunities given to the opponent were all forced by Valencia, which was a threat.
Very small, it can be said that they were very successful in limiting the opponent's counterattack.
Looking at Valencia's flourishing performance in La Liga and their ability to suppress the bats at Mestalla, the only thing Millwall lacks is goals.
After the players calmed down a little and calmed down the excitement of the game, Aldrich spoke.
"We are canceling the summary meeting for this game. You can take a shower now, change your clothes, and let's go home and forget about this game. One thing that needs to be remembered is that a week later, we will advance to the semi-finals at the Lion King Stadium."
After saying these words lightly, Aldridge turned around, opened the door to the locker room and walked out. He had to attend the post-game press conference.
In the locker room, Southgate and Nedved were the first to stand up. They took off their jerseys and prepared to take a shower and change clothes. The other players also took off their wet jerseys in silence and went through the post-match procedures step by step.
Generally, Millwall will have a post-game summary meeting, which is usually to improve the players' game awareness. Aldridge spoke up and canceled the summary meeting for this game. The reason is very simple, there is no summary value.
They limited Valencia to perfection in the away game, and Gonzalez's goal can only be said to be an accident. Anyway, Aldrich did not believe that the goal was a "premeditated" goal, and he would not put the blame on
Materazzi's head, even if Materazzi himself thought that the goal was related to him, Aldrich felt that if he replaced a defender of Nesta's level, he might not have expected the development trajectory of Carew's ball.
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What Aldrich needs the players to do is to forget this game as soon as possible. The more they recall, the more they will fall into a demonic obstacle. Deliberately exaggerating Valencia's defensive ability and undermining their self-confidence are likely to cause short-term psychological shadows, especially
For offensive players, it will cause them to hesitate when shooting: In the end, can the shot go in like this?
Players must have an unwavering belief in advancing. There are still 90 minutes in the game, and the difference is only one goal. As long as the confidence remains, destiny is still in their own hands!
Cooper accepted a post-match interview before Aldrich. He said that Valencia achieved an extremely difficult victory. When commenting on the game, he emphasized that this was the transformation of Valencia's spirit and fighting spirit into victory on the field. Cooper looked forward to the second round.
Never mentioned it, maintained a sense of mystery, and seemed like it would surprise Millwall at the Lion King Stadium.
In fact, the outside world doesn't need to guess what Valencia's posture will be in the second round.
They can only defend against counterattacks, and they will fight to the end with this strategy at home. When they go to the away game, can they be expected to become more unrestrained in their attitude?
When Aldridge walked on stage, the reporters at the scene were shocked, and many of them looked at him jokingly, waiting for the show to unfold.
After sitting down, Aldridge did not wait for reporters to ask questions, and first said: "I am pressed for time today, so if you have any questions, ask them one by one at once, and I will answer them."
As soon as he finished speaking, Aldrich held his chin in one hand and glanced at the reporters with a smile.
The reporters looked at each other in confusion. Aldrich was playing a big card!
If you win and act like a big name, we can criticize you for your low quality.
But now Millwall has lost.
Despite his gentle tone of voice, he is actually quite crazy in his attitude.
Some reporters from England finally understood Aldrich's intention after thinking about it.
divert attention.
I'm afraid, he can't wait for tomorrow's front page headline to be "Millwall lost a small away goal, and Hall was arrogant after the game!"
In this way, the information received from the media, whether it is the outside world or the team, deviates from the game itself.
Many non-British journalists with seniority at the scene shook their heads and laughed sarcastically, and some stood up and left.
After the first one, there was a second one, and reporters from almost a dozen media outlets left one after another.
They did this in response to Aldrich's lack of respect.
There is indeed a mutually dependent relationship between football reporters and clubs. Sometimes reporters are the relatively weak party in order to run news.
But today's occasion is a post-match press conference stipulated by UEFA. UEFA is in the background. Aldrich, as the coach, is obliged to attend, and reporters can appear here if they are qualified to interview.
Everyone owes nothing to each other and has equal status.
It is my freedom to ask you questions.
It is your freedom to answer or not.
There is an equal relationship between the questions and the answers.
Aldrich, however, asked reporters to ask questions one by one, and he answered them all at once. This was a bit flouting the established rules, as if he was dominating the scene and overriding the reporters.
It seemed that everyone was queuing up to serve him.
In the eyes of some experienced reporters who don't know Aldridge well, Aldrich is now like a spoiled child.
It's normal for the team to feel bad after losing the game, but at least they should show the proper demeanor, right?
Although Aldrich was smiling, he said such willful and rude words, but his appearance was slightly better than that of Slap.
These veteran non-British media reporters left the venue one after another, silently conveying a signal: Sorry, you want to be a big name, that's fine, but we won't wait for you.
Aldridge always held his chin with a harmless smile on his face. UEFA's press officer was in a dilemma. Apart from being embarrassed, there was nothing he could do.
There were quite a few reporters who stayed behind the stage.
Those big-name reporters can leave the scene with ease. Some people can't. After all, they still have to eat.
Consoling yourself rationally, now you have at least one piece of unexpected news material. Next, you can listen to Aldrich’s post-game interview, and you can hand over the work when you get back.
Neither the Fleet Street reporter nor the Spanish reporter left.
Most Fleet Street reporters smiled bitterly inwardly.
The young marshal succeeded again!
At such a critical stage of the Champions League quarter-finals, Aldrich started the group teasing mode, actively attracting media attention and reducing the personal pressure on the team, especially the players. As for offending other European media reporters, this is nothing. Anyway, those
The media still has to cover Millwall.
Spanish media reporters were waiting to ridicule Aldridge.
You lost so badly!
Millwall is indeed worthy of being the first team in Europe hated by the top teams!
"Okay, let's start asking questions. If no one has any questions, then I'll leave."
Aldrich changed his posture, sat back on the chair, and said with a smile.
Reporters began to ask questions, one question after another. Some were simply making things difficult, while others were concerned about the game itself.
"After the draw of the top 8, Millwall has a strong voice to advance to the final. After today's loss in Valencia, as the team's head coach, what do you think is the probability of Millwall reaching the final?"
"Is the reason why Millwall lost today because you were too confident? In the past, Millwall used defensive counterattack tactics when playing away games in Europe. Today, they used aggressive offense and Valencia used defensive counterattacks to defeat you. Is this?
Is it caused by your wrong tactical choice?"
"From a 4:0 win over Valencia to today's 0:1 loss to Valencia, less than a year has passed. Has Millwall's strength declined, or has Valencia's strength improved? We noticed that Millwall's strength has improved.
The situation in the Premier League has also become difficult, and the domestic cup competition has also been eliminated early."
"Can you comment on the game? Valencia only got 4 shooting opportunities in the game, but Millwall had 32. It's hard to believe that the final score will be 1:0."
...
After the reporters finished asking, Aldridge said half-truthfully and jokingly: "This is Spain, Valencia, we are playing at the Mestalla Stadium. Maybe, the patron saint of bats will give Mestalla
There's magic on the court, haha."
As soon as he opened his mouth, the oppressive atmosphere in the scene immediately disappeared.
Many reporters smiled knowingly.
To be fair, after watching the entire game, even die-hard bat fans will feel that Valencia's win was a fluke.
Millwall's crossbar was hit by a basket, and Canizares and several other players' rescue efforts in front of the goal at critical moments were absolutely phenomenal.
Even at the penalty moment when everyone thought the good luck ended, Millwall still failed to score.
"Valencia's performance was impressive and respectable. They deserved to win. Some of you asked me just now what I thought of Valencia's defensive counterattack tactics. I can only say that today, they won, that's all.
On the other hand, someone asked whether Millwall made a wrong tactical choice. My answer is no. We performed very well today. We just conceded an unexpected goal and it is regrettable that we failed to score. But I am very optimistic about the two teams in the second round.
We are full of confidence in the match, can anyone doubt that Millwall has no way to crack Valencia's defense?"
Aldridge rarely criticizes the opponent's tactics, although the reality is that if Millwall also plays defensive counterattack, then the game will become extremely boring. He is not pursuing the scene, but Millwall's ability to
The offense is very threatening, there is no need to play defensive counterattack, what is missing is scoring goals.
If this game were to be played back a year and in the finals, Aldridge would probably not be able to withstand such a cruel reality blow, and Canizares would definitely be able to become a god in one fight. However, this kind of game is absolutely impossible to be played continuously. Next time
During a match, Valencia's mentality, the two teams in a new environment and different conditions, Aldridge did not believe that Millwall could still play a game that seemed to be cursed.
Upon hearing Aldrich's answer, the Spanish reporter in the audience smiled disdainfully.
Football is a magical sport, a sport that uses results to demonstrate the process.
After winning the game, if we go back and review the game, the process is absolutely correct, especially the tactics and strategies adopted by the head coach.
If you lose the game, no matter what the scene or the situation, you are vulnerable and it is difficult to overturn the absolute "truth" impact brought by the result.
As long as you can win, even an extremely ugly bus can be praised.
If you can't win, you will only be left in the corner if you are gorgeous and dazzling.
Aldridge played a big role after the game, and after being interviewed, he joined the team and returned to London.
The next day, as expected, many media criticized Aldridge's unbecoming behavior after the game, and some even suggested that Aldridge see a psychiatrist.
Millwall's defeat became secondary. Aldridge successfully relieved the team's pressure. During the recovery training, Schneider secretly laughed with his teammates: The boss is naughty again!
