At St. James' Park, there was no goal to change the score in the unremarkable second half. At the end of the game, there was a burst of boos from the stands.
0:1.
England lost to Finland, the defeated team in the World Cup qualifiers, at home.
It is understandable that the fans are dissatisfied. They think it is not worth buying tickets to watch the game. First of all, the fans are dissatisfied because popular idol stars like Beckham and Irving did not appear on the stage. Secondly, the game was lost.
This is Aldridge's second defeat as coach of the national team. It was also in a friendly match. The last defeat was in Oslo more than half a year ago.
After the game, Aldridge came to the locker room and said to the players who were very disappointed after losing the game: "We lost this game and it is irreversible, but I hope you understand what we are doing now."
Everything is preparing for the World Cup. Don’t be discouraged. We are not a perfect team. We have a lot to improve. This requires
We work together, every player, every coach, we work together to make the England team stronger before the World Cup. In this failure, we found many problems. This is a good sign. Now we find
It is better to have problems than go to the World Cup and have problems. If it happens then, we will have no room for remedy. I hope you understand this."
Aldridge's words were very contagious and convincing, and the players cheered up. The head coach stood up and told them: We are on the right path, but we haven't reached the end yet.
Naturally, you will encounter setbacks on the road. Today is one of them.
After the game, Aldridge was at the center of the storm. After all, he lost to a second-rate European team at home. England seemed to be knocked back to its original shape overnight, becoming a paper tiger that left fans tossing and turning with worry and sleepless nights.
"Hall paid a heavy price for underestimating his enemy!"
"A humiliating defeat! It's time for England to cheer up!"
The turmoil lasted for a few days. When Aldrich returned to the club, he turned back into the crazy lion coach that everyone admired.
Fleet Street is funny enough. A few days ago, they were sarcastic and insulting, and made Aldrich worthless. He was arrogant, arrogant, lacked international experience, etc. It seemed that he was full of shortcomings.
Not even three days had passed before Fleet Street began to flatter Aldrich again.
"The young coach leads the Lions into the countdown to four consecutive Premier League titles!"
"Middlesbrough can't stop the powerful Lions. The young coach is aiming for the first crown of the new year, the League Cup!"
The 27th round of the Millwall Premier League was scheduled to be played in the morning. At the same time, the Football Association also announced that Millwall will play the 28th round two days later.
This is what Millwall applied to the FA. It was applied before the FIFA match day.
They are adjusting the schedule, not to push the game back. On the contrary, they are moving the game forward, because next weekend, they will play the League Cup final against Blackburn Rovers.
The opponent in the 28th round was Aston Villa. The FA consulted Aston Villa for their opinions and got Aston Villa’s consent. Probably, they believed that Millwall would play two games in three days and Middles
The Fort will consume them in one game first, and then their chances of defeating the Mad Lions at home will be greatly increased.
Millwall can't help it, the schedule is too damn dense!
There are two league games in 3 days on the weekend, the Champions League will be played in the middle of next week, and the League Cup final will be played on the weekend. In fact, there are 4 games in 8 days!
If the Lions don't adjust the schedule, then the 28th round of the league will be made up later, and they will probably be in the same situation. After all, there is still the FA Cup.
In the final analysis, it is the competition system of the Champions League that collides with the local competition system of England.
The top 16 of the Champions League still have to play 6 games to determine the top 8, which happens to be the start of the FA Cup in England.
But it's not just England that's suffering. Strong teams in other leagues are also beginning to feel overwhelmed. After one season, there are too many games.
There have been voices within the G14 that have raised objections, represented by Millwall, who hope to unite within to put pressure on UEFA and reform the competition system again. However, it is very difficult to completely unify the opinions within the G14. After all, there is only one league champion in each country.
, if you can participate in the Champions League and play more games, you can make a lot more money. This is a battle of interests, not a rational discussion.
Perhaps due to the influence of the FIFA match day, Millwall failed to win Middlesbrough despite sending its main players at home.
Two days later, Millwall visited Villa Park. The main players rested and came on as substitutes. Aston Villa, who was gearing up to defeat Millwall at home, was defeated by Millwall's substitute lineup with a score of 3:1.
Two days later, Millwall faced the challenge of Galatasaray at home. The main force, which had regained its strength, defeated the Turkish giants without a fight 2:0 at the Lion King Stadium.
Next, the Millwall team headed to Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for the first decisive battle of the new year, the League Cup final.
In the past three games, the outside world has seen a small pattern. Millwall played these three games with a rotation of main players and substitutes. The main players played two games, winning one and drawing one, and the substitutes played one game and won.
It's the League Cup final's turn, and it's time to come on as a substitute. After all, Millwall still has Champions League duties next week. It's obvious that Millwall now has greater ambitions for the Champions League.
At the pre-match press conference, reporters also asked about this.
"In your nearly eight years of coaching, except for the second year when you won the double cup with the main lineup, Millwall will train new players in the cup. If you can reach the final, Millwall will
Sending all the main players to play, tomorrow is the League Cup final, will Millwall still send the main players to play? But they just played a Champions League game two days ago, and they will face Boavista four days later, their physical strength is no problem
?”.
Aldridge answered honestly: "I will give opportunities to many young people in the starting lineup for tomorrow's game. I think this season is our harvest season, which does not mean that we have won the Charity Shield, Super Cup, Toyota Cup and so on.
Honor. But it means. I am very happy to see the progress and maturity of young players like Villa, Alonso, Kaká, De Rossi, Metzelder and so on. Now, I think some of them
A dance that can stand in the finals
On stage, it’s not about feeling the atmosphere. It’s about being strong enough to display your talent on that stage, using your own abilities to help the team win honors, and make greater contributions to the team. Millwall has played many games this season, and it’s important to
We still have a tough battle ahead, and it is necessary to reasonably allocate the players' physical fitness, especially considering that there is still a World Cup waiting for them. As the coach, I have the responsibility and obligation to ensure that they have enough energy to cope with the upcoming World Cup."
The content of Aldridge's interview sent out a signal, telling Blackburn that Millwall would not field its strongest lineup in the final.
Regarding this information, the Blackburn coach shook his head. He responded: "Hall is a coach who is very good at psychological warfare. I think he is releasing smoke bombs. He wants to disrupt our plan for the game.
I don’t believe he would do that. You know, in tomorrow’s final, if he wins, he can take away the championship trophy. If he loses, no one will sympathize with him. He puts the pressure on young players. This is questionable, so he must still
We will follow our past practice and field the strongest lineup in the finals.”
It has to be said that Aldridge's remarks made the outside world suspicious. Is it possible for Millwall, known as the "Trophy Reaper", to win the trophy with the greatest probability when they come to the finals without using the strongest lineup?
Even Fleet Street didn't believe Aldridge's words. They had the same attitude as Blackburn: This is a smoke bomb! Whoever falls for it will be punished!
The next day, Millwall and Blackburn met at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Two hours before the game, the studio of the live broadcast unit and the reporters reporting on the scene got the starting lists of both sides.
Basically, there will be no major changes to this roster, unless a player becomes unwell during the warm-up and is temporarily removed from the roster.
Almost all Fleet Street reporters were stunned when they saw Millwall's starting lineup.
damn it!
Aldrich's falsehoods drove reporters crazy.
Millwall just sent half the team's main players and half the team's substitutes to play.
Smoke bomb?
Sorry, everything Aldrich said is true.
They underestimated Aldridge's integrity. It is true that sometimes he will make secrets and put off smoke bombs, but once he makes a promise to the players, he will definitely fulfill it. This is related to the character of the coach to win the trust of the team.
As he said before the game, he will give young people a chance to play in the finals and praise their progress this season. Then? Smoke bombs? Not giving them a chance? Players will also watch the news, won't they be disappointed?
?They become Aldrich's pawns to confuse the enemy, and they will not have negative emotions?
Therefore, Aldridge is telling the truth, and he will take it very seriously when it comes to specific player arrangements.
The Millennium Stadium was occupied by fans from both sides and local Welsh fans today. Millwall fans attach great importance to this final. No matter how small a mosquito is, it is still meat. Millwall has not been involved in the League Cup for more than two years. As the king of England, one
As a dynasty team, fans naturally hope not to miss out on any trophies they can win.
Players from both sides line up to enter the field.
"The 2001-02 English League Cup final is about to begin. This season's performance is still strong. It can be said that Millwall is the strongest team in recent years. Finally, it is back to the League Cup final. Their opponent Blackburn wants to win from Millwall.
It is not easy for Wall to steal the trophy from his hands. Before the game, there were many speculations about Millwall's starting lineup today. Now that the players have entered the field, there will definitely be no mistake. Here is an introduction to Millwall's starting lineup.
