The new season has arrived as scheduled, and the Charity Shield, which symbolizes the end of the English football break, will be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff for the first time.
The Millwall team came to Cardiff, Wales, in high spirits, and Liverpool were also gearing up to compete in the new season.
Liverpool, which won three championship trophies last season, has a completely new spirit. The Red Army has been listed as part of the group competing for the Premier League title in the new season. Since 1995, Millwall and Manchester United have been competing for the Premier League title.
, the game between Arsenal, Liverpool is expected to break this old pattern, and challenge Millwall's dominance, which has formed a monopoly, with Manchester United and Arsenal for three consecutive league championships.
Regarding Liverpool's re-emergence, Aldridge spoke highly of it in front of the media. He himself stated: "I like the city of Liverpool very much. As a traditional English giant, if Liverpool can attack the league championship, it will make the Premier League
Further increase in competition will not only benefit the development of the Premier League, but also
It can bring motivation to Millwall. You know, if your opponents are always the same and you can always beat them, it will undoubtedly dampen your aggressiveness. Millwall needs new challenges.
Whether Liverpool can cause problems for us in our title defense, we will know when May comes next year."
Aldrich's remarks were bluntly interpreted by Fleet Street as having a hint of truth.
Maybe he is telling the truth. Millwall does need more challengers to keep them in a sense of crisis and aggressiveness, so that the team will not become mentally empty after continuous victories.
But Aldridge was obviously mocking Manchester United and Arsenal.
It is believed that these two opponents have always been Millwall's title rivals in the past, but in the past three years, they have been continuously defeated by Millwall.
Liverpool coach Houllier showed some limited ambitions. He claimed that although Liverpool has the strength to challenge for the league championship in the new season, because the team still has to participate in the Champions League, the two-front battle situation is severe, and being able to enter the top three in the league is a realistic goal.
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Cardiff is a city in Wales. Many teams in Wales were established 70 or 80 years ago. However, at that time, Wales did not have a mature league system, so many professional teams in Wales joined the English league system.
It wasn't until 1992 that the Premier League was established. The Welsh League was also established. Some Welsh teams returned to the "local" league, but there were still some, such as Swansea and Cardiff City, who chose to stay in England regardless of the maturity or competition of the league.
In the professional league system where everyone is stronger.
In the tenth year of the Premier League, there is still no Welsh team in the Premier League. Even "strong teams" like Swansea, which always dominate the Welsh Cup, can only survive in the fourth tier of England.
At the end of last season, it was almost relegated to the non-professional league. This is normal in the eyes of the English. Wales can despise England's sports, only rugby and football? How can these sheep-herding Welsh people make a difference in English football?
!
Just like the home of the Welsh football team, the Millennium Stadium was originally built only for rugby matches.
The Premier League champions and the English FA Cup champions will meet at the Millennium Stadium. In addition to the fans of the Lions and the Red Army who flock to the stadium to watch the game, local Welsh fans are also willing to pay to watch a match between England's giants.
For the Charity Shield, which was held here for the first time, the stadium with nearly 75,000 seats was fully occupied, and the atmosphere was very warm.
"The game only started with ten minutes left. We saw Hall holding hands with Houllier and chatting happily on the sidelines. The two coaches have known each other for a long time. It is rumored that they have a good personal relationship. It seems that what they said is true."
Aldridge knew that Houllier was in poor health, so he took the opportunity to greet him. Houllier was filled with emotion. The job of head coach of a football club is tiring, and a lot of work is just the basics. The excitement of on-the-spot command is also exciting.
The heart bears a huge load.
Players from both sides lined up to enter the field, with heads held high and chests held high. The old players were calm and restrained as if they were dignified, while the young players were heroic and full of energy.
"Millwall and Liverpool players have already entered the field and are taking photos before the game. What's interesting is that today the two teams will face off in the Charity Shield. Three weeks later, the two teams will also meet in the European Super Cup. Today's game
This is Millwall's starting line-up in the Champions League final, with not a single personnel change. This is why in the new season, as long as Millwall participates in all competitions, they are listed as the favorites to win! Compared with previous summers, there are always main players.
To leave, Millwall spent a quiet summer this year and only let go of a few substitute players. Considering that they have players like Metzelder, Barzagli, Alonso, Klose and so on on the bench.
The strength of the season has improved significantly, and Millwall's overall strength in the new season has only improved but not declined!
Liverpool starts 442
Goalkeeper: Dudek.
Defenders: Carragher, Hyypia, Henchoz, Riise.
Midfielder: Murphy, Gerrard, Hamann, Smicer.
Forwards: Heskey, Owen.
Houllier sent Fowler to Leeds United in the summer, and the team's strength seems to have declined. However, if Fowler stays with the team, Liverpool may be in trouble in the new season, because the conflict between Fowler and Houllier is already a thing of the past.
As we all know, if this problem is not resolved, Liverpool will not be stable internally.
Whether Liverpool is qualified to challenge Millwall's Premier League dominance in the new season, the result of today's game may not be too convincing, but we can also see some tricks. In the end, whether Liverpool and Millwall are different
Are they on par with each other or are there significant differences?"
Before the game started, Aldrich sat on the coach's bench with a calm expression on his face, thinking about something that no one else in the world would know.
The Curse of the South Locker Room!
Well, Millwall is using the south dressing room today, because Wembley was closed at the beginning of last season. It wasn't long before the English series moved to the Millennium Stadium. The curse of the south dressing room must not have been discovered yet.
In the future, many teams will lose games using the south locker room. Therefore, it is called the curse.
Aldridge didn't take it seriously. He just thought of such a thing and wanted to see if Liverpool really had a buff to improve their condition and strength in today's game, or whether Millwall was weakened by using the South locker room.
debuff.
At the beginning of the game, Liverpool launched a fast break. There were many people attacking, with two forwards, one high and one fast. Behind them, Smicer, the brave Gerrard, and full-back Riise all rushed forward.
Millwall was caught off guard and was almost knocked away from the goal. Fortunately, Pagliuca performed normally and steadily deflected Owen's shot.
Aldrich was startled, thinking that there was some kind of magic spell at play.
But after watching it for another 5 minutes, I realized it was a false alarm!
He glanced at Houllier in the dugout next door.
Liverpool has really regained its former dominance after winning a few cup titles.
On the field, Millwall's players were suppressed for a while at the beginning, and the players were all confused. When they got into the state and saw clearly Liverpool's posture today, the Millwall players were all happy.
Pirlo looked at the backcourt, then at the frontcourt, at the players Liverpool were pressing around him. Gerrard was inseparable from him.
After realizing it, he exclaimed in his heart: Oh, you actually want to fight us?
Either Liverpool has a buff, or Millwall has a debuff, or Liverpool has to fight Millwall!
Houllier, like many coaches, had a headache when he met Millwall. He studied how to deal with Millwall. Defensive counterattack proved to be not very feasible. Liverpool itself does not use defensive counterattack as the mainstream tactic, but defensive counterattack is excellent.
Valencia was beaten by Millwall for two consecutive years, and Bayern Munich also fought counterattacks, and finally left the game with three goals.
Since the counter-attack has little effect, then attack and compete for opportunities. Taking risks is risky, but Houllier believes that at least the probability of winning will be much higher than counter-attacking and being knocked down by Millwall step by step.
Liverpool's midfield position today is actually a small diamond, with Hamann as the midfielder, Gerrard and Murphy as the central midfielders, Smicer as the attacking midfielder, Riise on the left for wing attacks, and Murphy on the right.
After becoming familiar with the general positioning and movement patterns of Liverpool players, Millwall began to exert force. Pirlo, the field commander, took the initiative to move his position to the left, away from Gerrard and closer to Murphy.
Not only Pirlo noticed the Red Army's attack, other players naturally noticed it too.
The offensive players were excited.
Well done to the Red Army!
It’s really not easy. When we meet someone who dares to fight with us, we usually celebrate with joy when we catch an opponent whose skills and tactics are slightly balanced. Today, we met you and it’s like winning a prize.
Counterattack means that the opponent's offensive investment must be large in order to be able to launch an effective offensive, and at the same time, the space in the backcourt will become larger.
In the 12th minute, Smicer picked up the ball with his back in front of the penalty area. When he was about to turn around and pass the ball to Heskey, he was intercepted by Gattuso. After Gattuso intercepted the ball, he immediately passed the ball to Pirlo.
Murphy and Gerrard double-teamed Pirlo. Pirlo flicked his ankle and the ball passed through the narrow gap between the two. At the same time, Zambrotta rushed past Murphy, got the ball and headed towards
Forward thrust.
Gianluca Zambrotta dribbled the ball like a wild horse galloping throughout the midfield area.
No one!
Gerrard and Murphy were left behind. Hamann stared at Nedvěd and did not dare to push forward. He also retreated step by step. The entire midfield area was empty.
Liverpool's defense was shocked, and Houllier also had smoke coming from his forehead.
Zambrotta, how can you dribble the ball to the center?
Aren't you a wide player?
There was a lot of space in the middle, so Zambrotta dribbled the ball and ran towards the center, which was not the normal dribbling area for a full-back at all.
When Zambrotta brought the ball to the area 40 yards away from the goal, Hamann finally came forward, but Zambrotta's speed had reached its peak, and he flexibly changed direction and broke through Hamann's defense zone.
Millwall 5 v 4!
Liverpool's back four are facing a formidable enemy!
Nedvěd slashed into the left rib, Ronaldinho cut to the center from the left, Larsson cut to the center from the right, and Henry pulled from the middle to the right.
Riise and Larsson closed the middle of the penalty area.
Carragher and Ronaldinho closed the middle of the penalty area.
Hyypia blocked Dewed, and Henchouz was originally with Henry, but Ronaldinho and Larsson moved to the center at the same time, so he stood still, hoping that Riise could switch flexibly to mark Henry.
But in this flash of lightning, Liverpool's defense has done a good job, and only one person is missing, and that is Henry.
Zambrotta didn't need to think. After his teammates on the front line completed their movement, the space was clear at a glance. His pass just rolled past Riise running towards the center. When Riese stopped and turned around again, Henry stopped the ball at the same time.
Returning to the inside line, Rise seemed lost, looking around for someone.
Henry volleyed diagonally towards the goal from close range.
The ball passed over Dudek's head and flew into the goal. (To be continued...)
