At halftime, Aldridge had some scruples in not choosing to defend in the second half. To put it simply and straightforwardly, he was worried that Millwall would have the highest probability of conceding goals in all competitions this season. This article was originally published by.
In addition to the two knockout rounds of the Champions League, they had a very open game with the La Liga duo and conceded a lot of goals. In all other games, their average number of goals conceded per game was very low, ranking lowest in the Premier League and even the five major leagues.
But among these goals conceded, the Millwall coaching staff analyzed the situation and concluded that the goal was missed by the opponent!
Analyzing from a global perspective, it is actually the most difficult situation to defend: the defense of the second attack and the third attack.
In a frontal defense, Millwall can do its best, but after the opponent attacks, if Millwall fails to adjust the defense line in time and rearrange the man-to-man defense, the ball may be conceded. This is all important.
It happens to every team. There is no absolutely perfect defensive strategy that will ensure that the goal is never missed.
Therefore, what Millwall fears most is that the opponent creates chaos in the penalty area, fails to attack the first time, and is seized by the opponent on the second opportunity to threaten the goal.
Considering that Manchester United has Ruud van Nistelrooy, the king of the small penalty area, Aldrich only ordered the team to focus on control and balance in the second half during the half-time break. If he really retreated, Manchester United's high-flying hit the big luck, Ruud van Nistelrooy was in
A strange combination of circumstances in the penalty area took the opportunity to send the ball into the goal. This kind of ball would be lost so much that Aldrich could only look up to the sky and sigh.
Now that he is retracting to defend against counterattacks, Aldrich actually does not think too much. Commanding has become an instinct. When he is truly rational and clear-headed, he instinctively knows what tactics and strategies to use at what time. Originally, Pirlo and Aldrich
When Luo was on the court, they had the ability to control the ball and firmly control their destiny in their own hands, but they did not do that. Without doing so, Millwall's defense had a fatal problem: it was soft in the middle!
After Nedved is missing from this central axis, relying on Gattuso alone is obviously much weaker than Manchester United's Keane Gascholes, especially when Keane attacks. Butt guards the midfielder line.
case.
So Aldridge did not hesitate to substitute Pirlo and Ronaldinho, which made the Lions fans in the stands feel puzzled and confused, as if Millwall was abandoning their martial arts.
The replacements of Pedretti and Alonso are limited in terms of how tough they are, but in the end they can contribute more to defense than Pirlo and Ronaldinho. At the same time, Millwall's overall tactics have changed.
Let's continue with positional warfare and focus on counterattacks. Alonso's talent is enough. There is no need to place high demands on him to perfectly replace Pirlo.
Millwall has beaten many opponents this season to the point where they can only play long passes, forcing their opponents to change their established technical and tactical systems. At the final stage of the season, in the last 20 minutes, Millwall itself was so embarrassed that it abandoned them.
The usual style of play, all of this, is paying for mistakes, paying for the mistake of over-relaxation during the half-time break.
Now their formation has become 451, which cannot even be called 4231.
Larmour and Larsson played as midfielders on the left and right, Gattuso and Pedretti as midfielders, Alonso as central midfielder, and Henry was at the forefront.
Facing Manchester United's attack, Millwall retreated in three lines, Henry retreated to the center circle, and the remaining 10 teammates all deployed a tight defense within the 40-yard area.
Manchester United scored two goals in a row to make them red. Momentum is an illusory thing, and it is all in contrast. Millwall loosens and tightens, trying to increase the momentum to suppress Manchester United. How can it be so easy?
So now Millwall is using more people and a higher fault tolerance rate to stabilize military morale.
Ferguson and Aldridge were constantly directing the team's offense and defense from the sidelines. This scene has been very rare in recent years, as if the two were inseparable from each other.
Directing players' offensive movements, defensive marking, getting angry at players' mistakes or poor choices in handling the ball, and even fussing over every penalty made by the referee.
The field was filled with smoke and fouls were frequently committed, as if returning to the old English football confrontations, which tended to be brutal and violent.
Millwall compressed the space in the backcourt, and Manchester United's offense fell into a circle after half-time. Keane fought against each other, but Alonso stalked him and would never let Keane connect unmarked.
Attacking, Keane, who was angry and angry, had quarrels with Alonso and Gattuso one after another. Veron fell into invisibility, giving Veron space. He is the master. He entangled him, surrounded him, intercepted him and pressed him fiercely.
It's difficult to perform.
When Millwall turned around to attack, they basically used the wing, either Larsson or Larmour. With Henry being targeted in the middle, it was difficult to make changes in the forward attack.
When the game seemed to be in a stalemate, Aldrich breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, his team stabilized. The appearance of Alonso and Pedretti not only relieved the team's defensive pressure, but also actively fought and fought fiercely through them.
The defensive actions and the momentum of the two young players were conveying Aldridge's on-the-spot instructions.
Gattuso, Gianluca Zambrotta, and Materazzi, who were still on the court, regrouped after overcoming the blow of losing consecutive goals and gained momentum. They knew in their hearts that this game should be them playing for Millwall.
In Er's last game, he must help the team win no matter what, which is not only an honor for the club, but also a new peak in their personal careers.
In the 80th minute of the game, Ferguson started to make substitutions. He was still sullen. Manchester United's first two goals were actually counterattacks against Millwall. When they were unable to counterattack, Manchester United's offensive ability was somewhat lacking. After all, it was useless.
He opened a wing, and Veron no longer has any sense of presence in the small space in the frontcourt. Even if he does, he will mostly
Seeing his mistake, the three midfielders Millwall defended in the center were so strong in intercepting. Alonso, Pedretti, and Gattuso might be able to get past one of them in a small area, but they would definitely not be able to get past the second.
If one is passed, he will immediately move back to fill the position, and they are linked together. Unlike Pirlo in this area, if he is passed, he will be passed.
"Manchester United made substitutions. Ferguson replaced Veron with super substitute Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Manchester United strengthened their front line and made a last ditch effort!"
Seeing Solskjaer play, Aldridge was not worried but happy.
The tense strings in my heart relaxed.
The pressure in the midfield has dropped sharply!
Without Veron, Manchester United's midfield will have one less contact point or organizer. In local defense, it will also give Millwall one more person in man-to-man defense!
However, after the substitution, Manchester United will definitely no longer concentrate on penetrating in the middle. Instead, they will go to the wings and play long passes to try to create chaos in the Millwall penalty area. They have an extra forward!
Sure enough, as Aldridge expected, Manchester United began to use Giggs' ability on the wing, and Scholes also took the initiative to pull the ball wide and loft the ball into the penalty area.
Ferguson was anxious on the sidelines. Seeing that time was getting shorter and shorter, Millwall's defensive pressure in the center dropped, and accordingly the troops were divided to support the wings. Manchester United did not even have a chance to kick the ball from the wing within 3 minutes from 82 minutes to 85 minutes.
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Ferguson gritted his teeth, no longer hesitated, and ordered the full-backs to assist. Phil Neville and Sylvester rushed forward to support the attack.
Aldrich also made a new round of tactical adjustments at this time.
He would not expect to completely rely on defense to consume all the game time. For some reason, the closer to the final stage, there will be a lingering thought in his mind: Manchester United is desperate!
Yes, in the 1999 reversal of Bayern Munich, in the rainy battle in Moscow in 2008, Terry's penalty kick hit the goal post and missed the goalpost. In the two Champions League finals, how hard is Manchester United's fate? This is not scientific, but it will make people wonder.
Some unscientific thoughts, even fear.
If Manchester United continues to play like this and continuously invest in offense, and Millwall only defends, maybe it will be absolutely tied. Then what? The further back, the less control the head coach has over the game.
Aldridge knew that he had made a mistake and allowed Manchester United to develop the game to this stage, but he had no time to blame himself and reflect. When he made adjustments after he sobered up, his thinking was very clear. He was regaining control step by step.
Take the initiative back into the game, even though the situation on the field doesn't look like that.
From the 70th minute to the 85th minute, Millwall's offense had no threat. It was due to the single attack point on the wing. Manchester United's attack was ferocious. The momentum comparison tended to be even. After the players on the field stabilized their minds and did not make mistakes while busy,
At the 85th minute, Aldridge also issued new tactical instructions.
Fullback, attack!
If you don't attack from the center, due to the limitations of your own players' abilities, Gattuso and Pedretti are weak in offense and strong in defense. Alonso is not too fast and can be used as a support point, but cannot be used as an impact arrow to drive the offensive.
, not to mention that there will be Keane and Bart in front of him, also in order to bypass Manchester United's defensive midfielder line. After attacking, the defensive midfielder has a stronger awareness of covering the wing. At the same time, Milvo
Our two full-backs Schneider and Gianluca Zambrotta should have no problem with their physical fitness. They didn't go straight up and down many times today. In the final stage, Aldridge broke out when he replaced Ronaldinho and Pirlo.
What comes to mind is that the defense needs to be stabilized first, so the formation must be pulled back first, which also has the tactical purpose of luring the snake out of the hole and forcing Manchester United to weaken the defense.
In the 87th minute, Manchester United mainly attacked the left wing. Giggs and Sylvester cooperated in the double-team circle of Pedretti, Larsson and Schneider. In the end, Giggs reluctantly kicked the ball in.
At the back of Millwall's penalty area, Butt predicted accurately and snatched the ball from the air before Solskjaer outflanked him at the back.
After holding the ball, Bute stood still as if he was not planning to take the goal kick. Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy originally planned to interfere with him, but when they saw him standing motionless in front of the goal line, they immediately ran back to defend.
, but as soon as they moved, Bute also moved and ran toward the upper left corner of the penalty area.
Aldrich looked ferocious and shouted at Larson and Schneider who were close to him on the court: "Quick! Seize this opportunity!"
Ferguson clearly saw Millwall's wide players running forward in unison. It was like turning back time. He saw Millwall when they first played against Millwall at Old Trafford 7 years ago.
A lightning fast break is about to take place! (To be continued...)
