The Young Lion

Millwall is in the limelight, but there is always a bit of a bossy taste. They are majestic at home, and they are invincible even in the London Civil War, but once they go out of London, they are hard to win.

After killing Chelsea cleanly with 5 goals, he turned around and headed to Elland Road Stadium and played Leeds United 0:0.

Millwall seems to be used to the rhythm of winning a game and tying a game, just not losing, but it just doesn't make you happy.

The club has a tradition on Monday nights where the coaching staff get together to drink beer and chat, they call it beer night.

In the entertainment room of the hotel, Jenson and Bob are playing pool, and Craig and Najib are drinking and chatting at the bar.

In just two months, the Millwall youth team led by Najib has made rapid progress in the youth league, and the FA Youth Cup has also advanced all the way, making Millwall's Leo youth training base become the focus of the outside world.

Players under the age of 21 like Pirlo, Capdevila, Shevchenko, Lampard, Ferdinand, etc. will improve their growth through the youth league. Maybe many of them are overqualified, but this is their growth. It may not be a good thing for them to rashly push them into the fierce physical confrontation of the Premier League, and foreign players also need a process of adaptation.

From time to time, Aldridge will transfer some young players to the bench and give them some time to observe their game feeling by coming off the bench, but he will never rush to give them a stable position.

Almost forty years ago, Manchester United's reserve team was nicknamed Busby Babes by the British media. Now, Millwall's Leo youth training base also has a nickname. These extremely talented young players are called Busby Babes. Hall baby.

Aldrich came late, mainly because he wasted some time in the medical department. After walking in, he smiled at Nagy who was at the bar: If the Millwall youth team keeps showing off like this, our future will be ruined by others. The team poached.

Najib, who looked dull, replied: I heard that during the home game, there were already many scouts from all over the country watching our players in the stands.

Aldrich took a bottle of beer and opened it, took a sip and sighed: Not only in China, Andrew told me that there are many scouts from teams from Italy and Spain who come to watch the football at Lion's Den. It has become the focus, but what I can comfort myself is that those scouts did not represent the giants. Thank God, this is a world where everyone is arrogant. The top giants now even look down on Manchester United, and they don’t care about small roles like Millwall. .”

What Aldridge said is the truth. The Premier League is in the ascendant, and its competitiveness in the European competition has not yet risen to the point of attracting attention. Don’t say that in the past few years, it has not even entered the quarter-finals of the Champions League. This year’s new champion Blackburn Directly out of the bottom of the group stage, Europe's eyes have not yet focused on England.

He said that he was afraid of being poached, but in fact Aldridge was quite at ease.

The youth team has attracted the attention of many teams in England, but they cannot offer more favorable conditions to take away Millwall players, and the first team may not be able to impress players unless they attract the attention of other first-tier clubs in Europe. It is a real giant, and it is the kind of player whose name is heard by a fan and makes a very sincere offer. Otherwise, it will be difficult to take away Millwall players.

Jansen came over and asked, How is Nedved?

Aldridge looked up and sighed, Ten days of recuperation!

Grass!

Jason cursed in a low voice.

Tolop said with a look of embarrassment: Makelele is suspended, Nedved is recovering from injury, our two main midfielders will not be able to play on the weekend, and Pires was also injured in the last game. Stam was sent off with a red card. Damn, it's Newcastle United at the top of the table this weekend, and we only have half the starting lineup.

In the long league, there will always be times when many accidental factors collide and cause big problems.

Stam was sent off by the referee with a red card at Elland Road in the last round because he was suspected of elbowing when jumping for the top. Makelele was suspended for accumulative yellow cards. Pires injured his knee when he fell, so the problem is not big. , but there will be a truce for three weeks. Nedved felt thigh discomfort during training today, and the doctor suggested a ten-day rest.

The main lineup was incomplete, but they met Newcastle United, which went crazy in the first half of the league.

As of the 17th round of the league, Millwall has 9 wins and 8 draws, ranking third in the league with 35 points. Newcastle United has 15 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, ranking first with 46 points, not only leading Millwall by 11 points, but also leading the league. Manchester United 10 points.

Ten years later, twenty years later, the name Newcastle United, even fans who like the Premier League, will not think it is anything special.

But in this day and age, Newcastle United these past few months has been nothing short of magical, Tyneside's Hollywood.

So subconsciously, the Millwall coaching staff feels that the current Newcastle United are more difficult to deal with than Manchester United, at least the results are a good proof.

But Aldridge didn't care too much. He lit a cigarette and drank beer, and said with a smile: The league is a long-distance race. They have already declared war on Keegan. After Cantona came back, Manchester United's record has improved significantly. They don't care about the UEFA Cup at all. Now they are focused on regaining lost ground in the league. Hehe, as spectators, don't you think Keegan is a little tender?

Jansen put down his cue, walked over to take a bottle of beer and frowned, I think that old Scottish man is showing signs of going crazy, belittling Newcastle United and attacking Keegan, which makes sense, but he even criticized other teams in the league. Once again, it's a bit puzzling, he said that other teams did not give their best against Newcastle United, which is too irresponsible.

Aldridge grinned and said: You imagine yourself as Keegan, what would be your reaction when you hear these remarks? Kevin Keegan has such a brilliant player career, he is a figure who lives in applause and flowers, he is fundamentally affected No doubts from others, as if he just got his MBA certificate and applied for the job with confidence, but he was told that we are recruiting technical talents, you should go back to school and learn it again. To be honest, in the Premier League coaching industry, Ferguson There are many enemies, but his peers hope to gain his respect and recognition. Keegan seems to be tit-for-tat with Ferguson, but he really wants Ferguson to say: Newcastle United is very strong, and Keegan's coaching ability is very strong. This is Keegan The most desired, because of Manchester United, Ferguson is like a mountain on top of all the teams in the Premier League.

Jansen understood a little bit, touched his chin and said softly: The more Keegan cares, the more he wants to prove himself. This is not good for the team. If the coach can't calm down, the consequences will be disaster.

Actually, there is always only one opponent for a team that wants to compete for the championship: itself. The championship team should not stare at others, especially you can't pin your hope of winning the championship on the basis of competitors' mistakes. Doulai Fight, just fight with yourself. If you can play at the top level steadily, then there is no reason to miss the championship. If you do not win the championship in the end, you can only say that your performance is not as good as the championship team. Ferguson said a few words, Let Keegan start to lose his position, draw the attention of the outside world to Newcastle United, and Manchester United? They just need to beat themselves.

Aldrich's words made his colleagues nod frequently. They had rarely seen this kind of psychological warfare created by using the media's voice before. It can be described as an eye-opener, although this is not new in England.

Having said that, we play Newcastle United at the weekend, what should we do?

Thorop asked curiously.

Aldridge said with confidence: I already have a general idea. Newcastle United claim to have a gorgeous attack, hehe, then we will use the most popular hard shield to meet them.

Hearing that Aldrich had a plan, everyone stopped asking questions and talked about other topics in life. Everyone played billiards and drank wine, and the beer night was very pleasant.

In addition to facing Newcastle United on the weekend, Millwall will also have a League Cup quarter-final with Manchester City in the middle of next week. As long as they beat Manchester City, then Aldridge will be very close to playing in the League Cup at Wembley at the end of February next year. The final is 80% sure, because the League Cup semi-final is home and away. He is confident that he can beat any opponent in England within 180 minutes. Even if it is Manchester United and Newcastle United, he is not afraid, because both teams will fight for the league. And distracted, but Aldridge is more eager for the championship, not only him, Millwall has been waiting for the first championship for a full 110 years!

In the 18th round of the Premier League, the pre-match press conference between Millwall and Newcastle United was overcrowded.

Aldridge entered the arena in a suit and leather shoes. After sitting down, he said in his opening remarks: Tomorrow is just an ordinary league game. Please don't ask any questions about the league championship. No matter what the result is tomorrow, the Premier League champion will not be born immediately.

His words made the reporters in the audience a little speechless. Their old profession is to use this kind of strong dialogue to create suspense for the championship. Aldridge blocked their mouths with one sentence.

In desperation, a reporter asked: Will Millwall send a substitute player to play tomorrow? I mean, according to Millwall's style of emphasizing cup games over league matches this season, Millwall will play for the league in the middle of next week. Cup and retain strength in the league?

Aldridge replied immediately: No, we value every game. There are many young players in my team who can compete in the Premier League. At least until this round, we have not lost any games. It is enough to prove that we have not underestimated or voluntarily given up the game. I can announce the starting lineup for tomorrow, goalkeeper: Keller, defender: Thuram, Elguera, Southgate, Zambrotta, midfielder: Schneider, Vieira, Gattuso, Ballack, forwards: Solskjaer, Larsson.

When the reporters heard this starting lineup, their faces were all weird.

This is very different from all the columns in today's newspapers predicting Millwall's starting lineup. At least two defenders guessed wrong, midfielder guessed one wrong, and striker wrong one.

What the hell is Aldridge doing?