Millwall faced Arsenal at home in the London Derby. After the game started, the first thing that set off the atmosphere was not the players on the field, but the fans in the stands.
The giant scroll on the south stand has been removed, all Roar members have stood up, and Brady is standing at the bottom edge of the stand, raising his right hand high and waving it rhythmically.
one two three!
"Stupid egg! Dumb egg! Arsenal!"
one two three!
"Stupid egg! Dumb egg! Arsenal!"
...
Muffled thunderous shouts of joking came from the south stand, and the uniform voices echoed over the stadium.
This is not because Millwall fans are ingenious. Arsenal have been notorious for being boring for many years, and all their opponents in England will laugh at Arsenal's football based on this.
Still, there was an original part to the roar, with the word "Arsenal" making a rhythmic pause as fans throughout the stands cheered.
Ridicule and sarcasm have a wonderful connotation!
Because in English, especially British English, the pronunciation of the first half of aarnal is very similar to ass which means stupid donkey stupid and butt.
Arsenal's players have been laughed at before, but today in the small stadium of the Lion's Den, the roar of the lion's roar lingered in their ears for a long time, which immediately made them feel humiliated.
Aldridge couldn't help laughing when he heard the weird pronunciation of "Arsenal" on the sidelines.
That's right, otherwise, where would it be a derby?
However, after the start, it was Arsenal as a guest who took the initiative on the field.
Rioch did not dare to change the five-back defensive formation easily, but he allowed the full-backs on both sides to boldly step forward to participate in the attack. When Winterbourne and Dixon came forward, Arsenal's offensive numbers reversed their disadvantage.
Because there are five defenders and a defensive midfielder, Arsenal's frontcourt attack can only rely on the full-backs to go straight up and down, and the center attack relies on the cooperation of the central midfielder and the forward.
Millwall, who had a devastating match against Manchester United in the first round of the Premier League, took the right medicine today. Nedved retreated and formed a double midfielder with Makelele, forming a barrier at the front of Millwall's penalty area, directly cutting off Arsenal's forward line.
Contact with the midfield.
Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp, who are both in their thirties, are surrounded by Millwall and cannot get the shells delivered by the midfielder. Bergkamp's active retreat will also be targeted by Makelele.
He retreated deeper and Makelele gave up, always maintaining safety in the area.
Today, Millwall took the initiative to give up competing with Arsenal for midfield, and instead compressed the opponent's offensive space to defend more strongly in dangerous areas. Whether it was Bergkamp's breakthrough or Platt's intervention, Arsenal tried to cooperate.
, were unable to threaten Millwall's goal.
Seeing Arsenal's several attacks in vain and the offensive players frozen, Aldridge looked expressionless on the sidelines, but inadvertently glanced at the box on the court.
Professor, you came at the right time today!
Today's Millwall uses the same tactics that Arsenal used to resurrect from the ashes two years later.
Vieira and Pettit, who was transformed into a defensive midfielder, compressed the opponent's offensive space. During the counterattack, Vieira stepped in and relied on the two wingers and forward Bergkamp to retreat to support. At that time, Assen was offensively gorgeous.
Na, the current Millwall can also play such an attack!
The positions and functions on the field, Makelele and Petit, Nedved and Vieira, Larsson and Bergkamp are all very similar.
He took the initiative to give up the area near the center circle and started to press wildly. Aldridge was trying to lure the snake out of its hole.
Arsenal, who are accustomed to playing defense, must give them space to attack. However, they have not played offense for many years and have played the kind of 1:0 football. They think that having Platt and Bergkamp can give the team a new look in offense.
Yet?
The first ten minutes of the game proved Arsenal's inability to position themselves!
The offense can't go up, so Arsenal can only strengthen the number of attackers. Winterbourne and Dixon who come up from the side can enrich the offense, but what Millwall does is also very simple. Neal and Thuram step up and face off against each other.
Son, one for one!
In this way, with the vertical defensive line, Millwall has no numerical disadvantage.
In the box, David Dein, who was sitting in his seat watching the game, introduced Wenger to the outstanding players in the Arsenal team, and also expressed some contempt for Millwall, thinking that Millwall and Millwall played in the last game.
In the game that Manchester United played, half was about Manchester United's replacement, and the young players overshadowed the Red Devils. The other half was about Millwall's outstanding performance. Manchester United's defense was incomparable with Arsenal.
He is naturally a salesman. What Arsenal can boast about, apart from the stars in the team, is the defense.
But Wenger, who was silent, did not respond. If he had a tactical book in his hand, he would clearly explain the invisible situation on the field to Dane.
Arsenal seemed to have a fierce offensive, but they could not penetrate Millwall's offensive hinterland. Bergkamp could not catch the ball near the penalty area, so he pulled out to catch the ball. He could not form a tacit understanding with Wright when passing the ball, and he failed to break through with the ball.
Unable to get rid of Makelele, the two full-backs came forward to assist and formed a confrontation with the full-backs pressing against Millwall. In fact, for Arsenal, the situation was precarious.
Arsenal's defense was no longer stable after the full-back came forward to assist. However, I don't know if Aldridge can grasp the weakness of this defense.
Platt got the ball in the midfield, and several ground attacks were unable to penetrate Millwall's dense defense in front of the penalty area. He chose a high ball and long pass, trying to directly find Wright to see the effect, but the ball passed as expected.
After being cleared by Stam's header, the ball fell to Nedvěd's feet. Bergkamp only pressed symbolically, but Nedved accelerated the breakthrough and gave up the pursuit.
Platt, Mason, and Jensen lined up in the midfield defensive line. After a brief adjustment, Nedved made a long pass directly across the midfield and passed the ball to the left wing. Pires was already waiting there.
!
When Wenger saw this scene, the corner of his mouth raised slightly: It seems that Aldridge has been prepared for it.
Yes, Aldridge allowed the full-backs to face Arsenal's full-backs instead of letting the two full-backs drop back. The purpose is obvious.
After taking the ball, Pires dribbled toward the baseline at high speed. Arsenal's defensive line only had three central defenders, and the midfielder returned to defense to closely follow Nedved who came in at high speed.
However, Millwall's offensive numbers have a clear advantage.
Pires dribbles the ball, and the three teammates running forward on the same line as him are Trezeguet, Larsson, and Schneider.
Pires did not cut inside, but walked all the way to the bottom line in the dark. When he crossed the penalty area parallel to the line, he made a disguised cut inside. At this time, Arsenal's defensive line had to divide its forces.
to stop him.
The distance between the three central defenders in the penalty area was thus widened, and there was a space in front of the goal. Pires crossed the penalty area before Adams stepped forward to block him. Trezeguet and Balder were physically confronting each other.
He wisely chose to leak the ball, and the ball rolled backwards from his and Bald's feet. Larson was well prepared. He rushed to the goal and took two steps back. He had ample preparation time to face the incoming ball.
But a shooter like him doesn't need much time in the penalty area. He pushed the ball lightly into the lower right corner of the goal. Seaman abandoned the goal and rushed towards him. He opened his arms and lowered his center of gravity. He could only watch the ball pass from where he had already stretched.
He rolled past Kai's feet, and then, the Lion's Den stadium burst into cheers!
"Larsson! Arsenal's defense completely surrendered. They couldn't touch the ball, and they didn't even have the opportunity to physically commit a foul. Millwall took the lead even though they didn't seem to have an advantage. They used a textbook
The counterattack penetrated the door guarded by Seaman. Larson, the shooter, is too calm in front of the goal. Looking at his adjustments from running to preparing to catch the ball, and his confidence in calmly shooting, he definitely has the potential to become a top shooter!"
After Larsson scored, he ran to the south stand in a relaxed manner, and his teammates rushed over.
They love this wonderful feeling so much!
Is there anything more enjoyable than scoring against Arsenal, taking the lead in a derby, and watching the fans cheering them wildly?
Aldrich just applauded. The game had only started for ten minutes. There was no need to get carried away. Besides, the opponent he faced was not a strong team.
Whether it was Manchester United, which faced a major overhaul and lacked the soul of Cantona in the first game, or Arsenal, which is currently in a confused stage of transformation, neither of the two traditional giants has reached the state of their heyday, and Millwall still has great potential.
Not only the growth of the players, but also the technical and tactical aspects have not been fully formed. Aldridge will not be complacent, there is still a long way to go.
Rioch stood on the sidelines and just encouraged the players. He couldn't do much else.
In the box, Arthur celebrated happily and even danced, cheering Millwall's name loudly. Compared to Arthur's pride, David Dein, who was sitting in a suit and tie with his hair not messed up, looked a little ugly.
I was bragging about Arsenal to Wenger just now, but in the blink of an eye I conceded the goal. What a loud slap! You should slap yourself!
An elegant smile appeared on Wenger's face, and he whispered: "Mr. Dane, do you know why Arsenal conceded this goal?"
"Probably the players have not recovered from the holiday, and the pace of the game this season is relatively slow."
Dane came up with a random reason. He failed to win against Middlesbrough at home in the first round, and now he conceded the first goal as a guest at Millwall. He really lost the face of a traditional giant. No matter how ugly Arsenal was when Graham was in charge, at least
Results are guaranteed, but now, Arsenal is really on the edge of a cliff.
Wenger shook his head slightly and said: "If Arsenal cannot make changes, they will continue to concede goals because Millwall's tactics are restraining Arsenal."
Dane frowned and asked, "Huh? How can you see that?"
"It's very simple. When Arsenal defends, excluding the goalkeeper, they have three defenders and a defensive midfielder. When they attack, they have six people. Millwall defends with six people, four defenders and two midfielders. When the numbers are equal,
Due to Arsenal's past tactics, the cooperation of the players was not able to penetrate Millwall's defense with equal numbers. After the counterattack, Millwall had four people in attack and Arsenal also had four people in defense. But there was a problem.
Yes, there is one person in Arsenal's defense who is a midfielder, while Millwall can be said to have four people lined up or in a saucer shape. They use the vertical width to form a four-on-three numerical advantage, unless Arsenal's midfielder can
Return to the penalty area and become a defender, otherwise, a similar opportunity to Millwall's goal will appear again. If you seize it, Millwall will score again."
Dane thought for a while and nodded: "Then what is the crux?"
"Formation. Arsenal used to play 532. If it was 352, they might have a tacit understanding to defend against such a counterattack. In fact, if Arsenal puts aside their strong team attitude in the past and patiently plays 532, which they are good at, they will in turn compress Mir.
Wall's offensive space, then the chance of winning this game on the basis of a draw will be very high, because Aldridge definitely wants to win this game, but he has captured Arsenal's psychological weakness that wants to win more.
, I admire his tactical attainments."
"Is wanting to win the game also a weakness?"
"Of course, in a strong confrontation, you must first contain the opponent's offense, unless you have the advantage of absolutely controlling the game, but this is difficult to see in the English league because of factors such as the intensity of physical confrontation, referee scale and rhythm changes.
"
"Thank you, I understand. Mr. Wenger, I think that if you come to coach Arsenal, you will make Arsenal great again. At least you have a clear idea in your mind on how to change this team."
"I am very happy in Japan now and have no intention of returning to Europe to coach."
ps: Thanks to "Feiyang Ru first met" and "I'm so happy today" for the rewards!
