When Cristiano Ronaldo sent the ball into Arsenal's goal in the 71st minute of the game, Aldridge did not celebrate. The live camera focused on him and captured him hugging Gattuso and telling him something. ()
Wenger frowned, wondering why Millwall was able to successfully attack this time.
The speed of fatal counterattack is so fast!
Kaka, Larmour, and Ronaldo gave Arsenal's defense almost no time to adjust. Ronaldo's movement was a classic, but how did this movement space come about?
Did the defense take it lightly? Or were they unprepared for Millwall's attack?
Yes, in the first 70 minutes, Millwall rarely had this kind of offensive coordination. They played steadily, but after the substitution, the offense pursued danger!
The overall abilities of Kaka and Ronaldo are not as good as those of Klose and Villa, regardless of their experience or the overall ability of forwards.
But Aldridge does not require Ronaldo to be Klose's fulcrum, nor to provide local support like Villa. Kaka replaced a forward, but his position on the field is not to play as a forward.
, let alone talk about it. What Aldrich wants them to use is their speed advantage. If it is the opening
If they play like this, Arsenal will definitely wear them out and make them lose their physical strength in running to no avail again and again. The so-called good steel is used on the blade. This is Aldridge's tactical conspiracy in this game.
The first 60 minutes were spent creating the most suitable environment for the debut of Kaká and Ronaldo.
"Millwall quickly used up the last substitution after the goal. It seems that Hall was extremely decisive and replaced Larmore with Gattuso. This is a signal to strengthen the defense again. As long as Millwall does not
Let Arsenal score. Then they will win their sixth championship trophy this season!"
Gattuso, who was full of energy, pointed at Alonso as soon as he came on the field. He signaled that the opponent should position himself first, play a central midfielder, and leave the defensive midfielder position to Gattuso!
There is no doubt that regardless of the defensive space compression of the formation or the defensive ability of the combination of personnel, Millwall's defensive hardness has reached a new level.
Wenger was anxious on the sidelines. He had nothing to say about Aldridge's substitution. Originally, he only had one main player. Now that there is one more player, it is normal to be more conservative. Besides, there will be more players in three days.
It’s the Champions League final!
After all three substitutions were used up, Arsenal counterattacked vigorously, but their results in positional battles were even less satisfactory. They did not have a classic No. 10 player and were lacking in overall organization in positional battles.
Seeing that Arsenal's offense advanced past half-time and seemed like a headless chicken not knowing how to develop, the commentators expressed their own opinions.
"Arsenal's positional warfare ability in high-level confrontations needs to be improved. This is a commonplace topic. Their side counterattacks are very threatening. Perhaps their counterattack ability is only behind Millwall and better than Manchester United. But in positional warfare,
, their abilities are not as good as
Manchester United and Millwall, even though Manchester United's traditional two-wings fly together, pass, run, cut, shoot, and score goals, which is a routine that Manchester United is very familiar with, they are both lacking. Once the opponent compresses the offensive space,
Arsenal's offense started to become messy."
"Yes, Andy, from the scene, we can clearly see that Millwall's offensive rhythm has changed significantly before and after the substitution. The offensive players are more determined to move forward. This must be Hall's substitution.
Adjustments are planned before the game. On the contrary, Arsenal's shortcoming has always been that Wenger rarely makes changes during the game, unless the situation reaches a very bad point, such as they are still behind at the end of the game.
Or even if you play against a weak team, it will still be a draw. The Arsenal built by Wenger is a stable team with clear tactical ideas. However, in specific games, there is no secret in adapting to the situation or even preparing before the game. Arsenal's
The style has not changed, and the team's rhythm has rarely changed. For 90 minutes, from the first minute to the last minute, it seems that they want to win with determination from the beginning to the end, but the reality will not be that easy."
"This is also the biggest reason why Arsenal has been criticized for their poor performance in European competitions in recent years. Arsenal is a strong team in Europe, but they have no back-up, personnel, tactics, and all aspects, which are clearly displayed in front of their opponents.
We are not surprised at all that Arsenal will encounter difficulties when their opponents analyze them thoroughly and restrict them in place. In this game, if Millwall can win in the end, then it will obviously be Hall's victory over Wenger again.
The victory lies in on-the-spot command and tactical arrangement.”
The game reached almost 80 minutes, and Wenger was about to fight.
He removed Parlor and replaced him with Wiltord, adding a forward on the offensive end.
Aldridge stood on the sidelines and kept shouting at Ronaldo, making gestures to him, telling him not to be at the forefront of the striker, to go back more often, and to pull out appropriately!
Millwall's counterattack in the past few minutes has been ineffective. The reason is that Ronaldo has been staying on the front line after scoring the goal. It is estimated that this kid wants to seize another running opportunity like just now, and then make the final decision.
Ronaldo realized that he had not been able to get opportunities recently, so he listened to Aldridge and ran back to respond appropriately, waiting for the opportunity to counterattack.
In the 83rd minute, Baynes received Southgate's successful defensive header on this side, and he passed the ball straight to Ronaldo on the front wing.
Cristiano Ronaldo stopped the ball, turned around, and began to sprint along the wing. Arsenal had just played an attack. At this time, the backcourt was not particularly empty. Except for Sylvinho on the other side who had assisted and not returned yet, there were still three defenders.
Plus Vieira.
Cristiano Ronaldo walked to the wing and came to the area 40 yards away from the goal and then cut inside. Lauren blocked his front, and Vieira moved to block his diagonal route into the penalty area.
"Cronaldo passed the ball to Kaka, and then he quickly moved forward. Lauren and Keown double-teamed to mark Ronaldo. Vieira turned around and moved to block Kaka's passing line. Kaka chose
Dribbling breakthrough, he dribbled to the right, a little away from the goal, and Campbell went over to defend him."
Kaka's forward space was already very narrow, so he pulled down to the wing, attracted Campbell, and then passed the ball back to Alonso who came up with an assist. Alonso did not dare to move forward and directly collide with Vieira.
, just take a long shot from 35 yards away!
This long-range shot shocked Arsenal fans and Wenger into a cold sweat. Fortunately, it missed the goal post and hit the bottom line.
After witnessing this attack, Aldridge found that if it relied on Cristiano Ronaldo alone and an assist from Alonso who could not penetrate the penalty area, it would be very difficult to beat Arsenal again.
Arsenal suffered a loss from Ronaldo, and it is impossible for Ronaldo to move and find good opportunities when they have a numerical advantage.
Do you want to take a gamble?
Including injury time, the game may not even have been 10 minutes, but Aldridge looked at Ibrahimovic's body, coupled with Wiltord, and finally Arsenal attacked fiercely, it was hard to say who would win.
He gave gestures to Neal and De Rossi respectively, meaning that they would come up to support during the counterattack. The two nodded and accepted the order. Their physical fitness should be no problem for them. Neal was in the prime of life and De Rossi was in competition.
There was not much offense in the first 80 minutes, and the physical consumption was not serious. Pedretti and Gattuso were left in the defensive midfielder. Both of them are interception-type players with a large range of movement, whether they are filling positions or blocking during counterattacks. They have both.
Definitely guaranteed.
No matter what you were afraid of, one minute later, Pires made a cross and Ibrahimovic headed the ball towards the goal, almost piercing through Pagliuca's fingers.
Aldridge breathed a sigh of relief. The scene was quite scary. If there were all the main players on the field, he wouldn't be worried even if Arsenal were in danger. This was due to the team's superior offensive strength, but this
With the substitute lineup, if the score is equalized, the next game will be really difficult to predict.
The speed advantage can be used once, but it may not work the second time. Moreover, using the speed advantage is not to crush the opponent, but to catch the opponent by surprise. After the opponent sounds the alarm, it is just Vieira and Mir in their prime.
None of the players in Wall's field can have the upper hand in a one-on-one confrontation. Therefore, to break through Vieira's defense, we cannot rely on one-on-one, but must rely on teamwork.
As time goes by, there is less and less time left for Arsenal. Arsenal invests more and more in offense, and the intensity of counterattacks in the frontcourt also increases sharply.
Wenger urged the players to attack, while Aldridge put his hands on his hips and looked as if he was drowning. Arsenal's counterattack was actually not strict. As long as Millwall's players calmly play the ball instead of blindly making clearances, they will definitely be able to resolve it. As long as they break through the opponent
With the counter-attack encirclement, the frontcourt attack was smooth sailing.
In the 87th minute, Bergkamp's pass in front of the penalty area was intercepted by Metzelder. Metzelder's most obvious improvement this season is that he is very stable!
He won't be as aggressive in frontal defense as he was in the past two seasons, which makes his progress very obvious.
After the defense was successful, Arsenal's frontcourt players immediately counterattacked. Metzelder passed the ball to Gattuso in front. Gattuso was depressed. He was surrounded by people on all sides and had no choice but to kick the ball again.
Gave it to Southgate at the back.
At the critical moment, Southgate still has a clear mind. At least as a defender, he is often harassed by forwards to press him. He is used to it. He passed the ball from the back line with a mid-to-long diagonal pass. He successfully cleared the ball and let the ball go.
He entered the dangerous area and also launched a counterattack. Neil, who was pressing up from the side, stopped the ball on the right side of the midfield and then launched a fast break forward.
When Neil passed the ball to Kaka who ran over to meet him, Millwall's offense directly advanced into the frontcourt within 40 yards of the Arsenal goal. Under such circumstances, Arsenal's offensive players were less motivated to return to defense.
It took a lot of time because I felt that running back would be of no use and I couldn’t catch up!
Especially their physical energy is close to being exhausted.
Kaka attracted Vieira, but he was not in a hurry to make the next move. Instead, he passed the ball back to Alonso who came up with an assist. De Rossi also ran up at the same time. With this pressure, Millwall
On the contrary, the attackers have the advantage in numbers!
Alonso first passed the ball to the left to Cristiano Ronaldo, De Rossi moved forward, Alonso was still in the middle, Cristiano Ronaldo went inside and found that both De Rossi and Alonso had been completely targeted.
He chose to transfer the ball with a wide range of long passes.
To the right wing, Neal assisted and didn't go back. There was some space on this side. Neal took the ball towards the penalty area. When Campbell took a step, Neal made a diagonal pass behind Campbell, and Kaka got the ball forward.
, it’s already a semi-solo opportunity!
Vieira came back to block the angle of Kaka's shot. Kaka calmly passed the ball back to Alonso. At this time, Alonso took the ball forward and broke through Arsenal's back line.
There were only Vieira on the right front and goalkeeper Seaman in front of him. The distance was so close. Alonso did not hesitate to volley the ball into the left side of the goal. Seaman was helpless. Basically, there was nothing he could do in front of him.
It was empty, and he could only watch the ball and sigh.
"The second goal! Millwall scored the second goal! Beautiful coordination, completely tearing apart Arsenal's defense, Millwall sealed the victory! They did not have the advantage in the game until the last 20 minutes.
The situation becomes slightly more balanced, wait patiently, and then seize the few opportunities to drive Arsenal into the abyss!"
There was jubilation on the Millwall bench. Aldridge watched Alonso being thrown to the ground by his teammates and playing Jenga. He raised the corners of his mouth slightly, then closed his eyes and nodded slightly.
The next generation of crazy lions will have successors. (To be continued...)
