After the game, chaos began outside the court. Aldrich was prepared, knowing that there would be no calm outside the court before and after the game, especially after the result came out.
There is always a winner or loser in the game. Even if it is a draw, it is still considered a victory for West Ham United. Therefore, the loser will be unwilling to accept it, and the winner will laugh at the loser, which will lead to conflicts.
There will be security restrictions inside the stadium. Although there are police outside the stadium, it is impossible for the police to follow everyone closely. For East London enemies who have hated each other for hundreds of years, conflict is inevitable. In another hundred years, as long as the club still exists
, such things will still happen.
Aldridge attended the post-game press conference, and reporters had many questions waiting for him.
Asking him how he felt about his victory was a cliché.
Asking him to comment on the game was boring.
The competition is clear at a glance, the winner is stronger, and the stronger also wins.
But there are still many media reporters eager to interview Aldrich.
Giancarlo, Gazzetta dello Sport's senior reporter in the Premier League, is one of them.
"Mr. Hall, today Millwall played an eye-opening game. I don't know if this is appropriate to describe it. Italy's chain defense is deployed in the midfield and backfield to stifle the opponent's offensive threat.
, Millwall used a similar but more extreme method today, completely strangling the opponent's offensive organization links in the midfield and frontcourt, and then forming a continuous pressing attack. Does this mean that Millwall has developed a method?
A brand-new, epoch-making defensive strategy?”
Giancarlo was greatly shocked after watching the game.
He was not originally the Premier League observer reporter for La Gazzetta dello Sport. But when Millwall suddenly emerged a few years ago, he paid special attention to the team's skills and tactics. Then he volunteered to come to England to follow and report on Premier League matches for a long time. The key point was
Study Millwall.
In his opinion, the root of Millwall's success in the Premier League is not how powerful and gorgeous the offense is. Simply speaking of offense, as long as the giants in the world can form a first-class attacking team, 50% of them can do it.
Play a mercury-dropping offense. But to achieve a stable or higher record, you still have to rely on defense. This is also the philosophy of Italian football. Defense comes first, because defense has a more critical impact on victory.
Neither Manchester United nor Arsenal have reached the level of Millwall in terms of defense. In the past few years of competing for the championship, Giancarlo has published a special article explaining in detail how other teams competing for the championship lost.
However, he believes that Manchester United has been ranked second in a row. It's not that the offensive firepower is not strong enough, maybe the statistics show that Millwall has scored more goals than them, but at critical moments, it is the defense that plays its role.
Maybe Millwall beats its opponent 6:0, which means it has gained 6 goals and goal difference, but if Manchester United loses 0:1, the difference in goals and goal difference is huge, but it is not in the standings.
The difference is only 3 points. If it is not the goal difference, the most important thing is the number of wins and losses that plays a key role.
He believes that Manchester United has lost some unexpected games, while Millwall is more stable and loses very rarely. The reason is the quality of defense. Sometimes in games where Manchester United is beaten, it seems that there is a personal problem with the players, but Millwall
Will the players perform 100% stably? No, this is the contribution of the head coach in the defensive strategy, which improves the fault tolerance rate and makes the defense more stable.
Here, Giancarlo believes that the core figure is Southgate. Southgate, who has followed Aldridge for more than seven years, has his own weaknesses, but he brings out his strengths and his role in defense cannot be ignored.
It can be said that there is no candidate in Millwall's substitute lineup who can replace Southgate's role. It is not a gap in ability, but a difference in defensive tasks and assuming this role.
Therefore, whenever Millwall's defense continuously exposes hidden dangers, it must be when Southgate is absent due to injury. Without him, the team's overall defensive strategy cannot operate effectively.
Whole body effect.
Millwall's original overall defensive strategy had the shadow of the Italian chain defense. Due to the different characteristics of the league, Aldridge did not copy it. It was unrealistic, so it was improved. Giancarlo naturally discovered this.
, Southgate is more like a deep-lying central defender, not only completing the defensive task, but also the task of stabilizing the ball. This allows Millwall to ensure that the ball will not be easily lost when switching from defense to attack.
But the subversive impact of today's game shocked Giancarlo's heart.
High pressing is a tactical change that Millwall has to make because the opponent is defending. If they do not press high, then when the opponent switches from defense to attack, there will be too much room for forward impact, and the entire formation will retreat to create a position.
Defense, it is easy to be penetrated as the opponent continues to advance.
Today, Millwall took the high-pressing tactic to its extreme. The chain defense is in one's own half. Its core functions are two points. One is to ensure the defense, and the other is to allow the opponent to attack and create a successful defense.
There is no offensive space, so the Italian team adopts a chain defense and does not invest too many troops in counterattacks. With two or three good players who can cooperate together, they can attack the city in the counterattack.
As for Millwall's defense today, the defensive zone is in the midfield and frontcourt. It is not stifling the opponent's final attack, but stifling the source of the opponent's attack.
The attack is roughly divided into two stages. The first is organization, and the second is to focus on attacking the breakthrough point.
What the chain defense restrains is the second phase. Millwall's high press is restrained in the first phase. This is definitely more difficult and risky than the chain defense.
Giancarlo's question made the press conference quiet. All reporters were curious, and some reporters who worked as football commentators were excited.
They had just witnessed a classic battle that could be replayed countless times, because it was a technical and tactical confrontation that was resolutely executed within 90 minutes and produced an eye-popping effect.
Millwall completely suppressed West Ham United, and this suppression reached its peak.
"I think it's hard to be convincing simply by talking about techniques and tactics, because the influencing factors of a game are complicated. But to say that Millwall's tactics are successful is beyond debate. The score, technical statistics, and scenes all have a strong impact.
But I still want to point out that we need to be calm at this time. Millwall just defeated the Premier League relegation team. The defensive tactics adopted today have certain limitations and are far less widely applicable than Italy's chain defense.
.My tactics cannot be compared to the chain defense, there is no argument about that."
Aldrich talked eloquently and was not dazzled by the victory.
Giancarlo thought for a moment and then nodded.
Indeed, as Aldridge said, Millwall's defensive tactics have great limitations, which must be determined according to the opponent, the game environment, and the configuration of its own players. However, the Italian chain defense has greater applicability and is more widely applicable.
After all, it’s still that clichéd topic: space.
The Italian chain defense uses its own half as the main defensive area. It itself focuses on limiting the offensive space as the core of defense. This kind of defensive tactic can be used by strong teams, but when used by strong teams, opponents who are not as strong as themselves will be desperate, and it will be difficult no matter how they fight.
It is difficult to penetrate the defense line, but it can also be used by weak teams. It creates an offensive space and then counterattacks.
As for Millwall's defensive tactics, first of all, weak teams cannot use them and cannot afford them! Secondly, if strong teams do not have a good tacit understanding and suitable players, such as Nedved's defensive ability, how many giants can play in the attacking midfielder?
Arrange such a player on the line? Then, they will not be able to achieve the purpose of high-position pressing in defensive tactics, and the rest will be impossible to talk about.
Giancarlo admired Aldrich's calmness at this time and his ability to point out the advantages and disadvantages of tactics. He sincerely sighed: "Anyway, Mr. Hall, you have told many teams in actual combat today what kind of ideas can be used to
Facing dense defense, it also opened a new door in football tactics. At this point, you are amazing."
Limitations are limitations, but not only Millwall can use it, other teams will definitely not be able to use it, especially the wealthy teams, which have a strong player team and all kinds of role players. If you are worried about how to break the dense defense, today Millwall
I have provided a good idea. This is Aldrich's credit and his personal achievement. If it can be carried forward, it will be remembered in history forever in the future.
"Thanks."
After receiving compliments from others, Aldrich smiled and thanked him.
David Miller was the second to raise his hand and ask. Like Giancarlo, he didn't care much about the result of the game. Millwall's victory over his opponent is not news, but the way in which he won it is not news.
This is the aspect that focuses on observation and research.
"Pirlo serves as the single midfielder and Gattuso serves as the central midfielder. Gattuso himself is a purely defensive midfielder. Pushing him forward achieves the tactical intention of the midfielder being in front, allowing the midfielder to counterattack.
More compact and aggressive, Millwall was able to dominate this game, except for the high
In addition to the efficient counter-attack, Pirlo also steadily organized the offensive from behind, with the front midfielder behind and the back midfielder forward. At the same time, they appeared in Millwall's technical and tactical system. Does this mean that Millwall will play in today's game?
The technical and tactical strength displayed has made the team's overall strength break through the limit again?"
Millwall's superior strength is somewhat vague, that is, they are very strong and no one can defeat them. Even if they can, it will be an upset in the traditional sense.
So is there still room for improvement for Millwall?
They are already number one, who can they surpass if they go up further?
But this game made David Miller realize that Millwall had once again achieved a self-breakthrough!
And this kind of breakthrough is very concrete and visual.
In the past, breaking through intensive defense seemed to be a matter of course or luck. Maybe the 90-minute attack was a bit unlucky and the opponent got a draw.
Today, there is no element of luck. Millwall's overwhelming advantage crushed its opponents. The most important thing is that David Miller discovered that Millwall's defensive strategy today has great flexibility.
The attacking midfielder is placed behind, the defensive midfielder is placed in front, Pirlo and Gattuso, the two players in the midfield can switch flexibly to cope with different game situations. This means that Millwall's technical and tactical system has once again made a breakthrough and is flexible.
In addition to the variety, the choices are even richer.
If the winning team does not change the tactical system that has proven successful, a change in a key position may lead to a series of immeasurable catastrophic consequences.
Because of this, Aldridge would not touch the positions of Pirlo and Gattuso in the past. Gattuso escorted Pirlo, which proved to be successful. Gattuso can be regarded as taking over Makelele's role.
The continuation of a successful model.
On the road to success, your thinking will inevitably become rigid and you will not dare to act rashly.
This step of breakthrough not only requires great courage, but also requires a long time of ideological preparation. Change or unchanged can only be decided in a moment, but the time accumulation of this decision may last a lifetime for some head coaches.
Unexpected!
When faced with David Miller's question, Aldridge said calmly: "I'm very happy that the team has perfectly implemented the tactics formulated by the coaching staff. As for whether there is a breakthrough, it's hard to draw a conclusion now. At least we gained something from this game."
Gaining new experience will definitely be of great help in the future. Seeking truth from facts, we have a new way to break dense defense. This is a good thing for the team. It proves our understanding of the game and our ability to control the game is stronger, Mir
Wall needs innovation and the breakthrough you are talking about, and we will continue to work hard for this."
After hearing this, David Miller started to applaud with a serious expression.
It is already difficult for successful teams to innovate again, because the risks they bear are huge. Maybe a small change will bring negative effects that will damage their strength and invalidate their martial arts.
Aldridge has such courage and Millwall has such pursuit. It is worthy of his applause for this great team and his heartfelt respect.
Other reporters also applauded and looked at Aldrich with admiration in their eyes.
At such moments, as reporters, they also felt lucky.
Because they are probably witnessing a legendary history that has been recorded in football. (To be continued...)
