The Young Lion

After getting a good start in the league, Aldridge did not mention Peter Dawson after the game. In his heart, even if he is a proud and complacent guy, he is not interested in taking an unknown person like Peter Dawson as a stepping stone.

After the first round, Millwall unexpectedly occupied the top position in the league table, followed by Sheffield United, Oldham, Middlesbrough and other strong teams with super strength.

Aldridge gave the players a day off, but he returned home and worked until late at night. The next day, he came to the hotel where the club stayed for training and re-discussed the growth and training plan for young players with the entire coaching staff.

They listed the schedules of the three echelons first in the conference room.

Jansen pointed to the projection on the big screen and said: Before the FIFA match day in mid-September, we still have seven matches in League One. The opponents are Sunderland, Derby County, Bolton, Reading, West Brown, Burnley, Tranmere, two of the games are sandwiched in the middle of the week, players need to play twice a week, and there will be the first round of the League Cup in the middle of next week. In the middle of the last week of August, we also face the second round of the League Cup.

Aldridge was lost in thought while looking at the first team schedule projected on the big screen.

It won't be too difficult to be a guest at Sunderland on the weekend, because the current black cat Sunderland is not yet capable of making it to the top. Last season, they were only ranked in the middle of League One, and they are at the same level as Xiu'an United. This summer , Sunderland did not have strong signings, the team's strength is neither high nor low, it only depends on the performance on the spot.

But the next series of games will be a test for Millwall.

Derby County hit Millwall 5-1 in the promotion play-offs last season.

In the summer, many experienced veterans were introduced to try to surpass Bolton.

Reading and West Brom, who were promoted to the First Division last season, even though their strength does not seem to be strong, they are familiar with the victorious teams in the past season. underestimate.

In the period before the FIFA match day, Aldridge must ensure that the team’s mentality is stable. It is very difficult to achieve victory without arrogance and defeat. Say.

He thought for a while and said: League Cup is handed over to the substitutes. The starting lineup of the first team can only deal with the league this season, unless we can reach the final in the cup, but I think this possibility is very low. The season is very long, try to keep it The main lineup plays once a week, they are still young, and the amount of games should be moderate. In the next seven games, our goal is still the same: not to lose, and to reduce the goal as much as possible. Even if there are seven draws, I willing to accept.

Hearing Aldridge's unambitious goal, the other members of the coaching staff looked at each other, and Jenson frowned: As long as we are unbeaten in seven games? Isn't that a little low? We won 4:0 in the last game. In my opinion, among the seven opponents, we can win at least two games. If opponents like Tranmere and Burnley just draw, it doesn't mean much. Besides, seven draws are just seven league points. If we If you can win three games, you have at least nine points.

Jansen's opinion is recognized by everyone, but Aldridge shook his head and said: Last season, Nottingham Forest ranked second with 83 points, and Crystal Palace ranked first with 90 points. There are 46 games in the league. There is room to lose points in the early stage. I don't want to put too much pressure on the team. At the same time, we must realize that yesterday's home win over Allianz was essentially a tactical error by the opponent, not a gap in the overall strength of the team. Jansen, you very practical

We won three games and lost four games, and we have more points than seven draws, but I don't think so.

The members of the coaching staff frowned and stared at Aldridge, wanting to hear his thoughts.

Yesterday, the average age of our starting 11 players was about 21 years old. If the 25-year-old goalkeeper Keller is excluded, the average age of the other 10 players may only be 20 years old. They cannot afford failure, and neither can we. Failure comes with it. Doubts, mistrust, disappointment, loss of motivation, and distraction of players' brains will be distracted. At this critical stage of building confidence and mutual trust, losing is the biggest taboo! A draw, with our young team If you lose one goal, the players will feel sorry or unwilling. If you lose two goals, it is normal to comfort yourself. If you lose three goals, it is a blow. If you lose four goals, it will give you The players left a big shadow in their hearts, and it was contagious to each other, spread throughout the entire team, and eventually collapsed.

Aldrich's calm voice shocked the entire coaching staff.

In fact, these coaches are also very young, and the most intuitive performance of being responsible for the team is the league standings, and getting more points is almost the first goal of work.

Aldridge knocked on the table and said softly: Okay, from now on, we must forget about yesterday's victory, and don't look at where we are in the standings. Our focus is to build the current team More combat effectiveness, not only the growth of individual players, but also the shaping of the team's temperament and spirit, this is what we should focus on, when we do these things well, I think victory will come naturally.

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The coaches of the coaching staff looked at each other and smiled. They suddenly felt that Aldridge didn't look like an 18-year-old head coach. Even they were eager for quick success, but Aldridge was surprisingly calm at this time.

No one knew that Aldrich actually had more than forty years of experience in his bones.

Babb suddenly said with concern: Patrick made a mistake in yesterday's game. Although he has calmed down, I am worried that this will put him under pressure. I suggest that he should start by getting familiar with English football and let him go. You can play in the youth team or the reserve team, but don't let him go directly to the league stage easily.

Aldridge nodded deeply, and said: This is exactly the focus of my meeting today. There are many young players in our team who have no professional league experience before, and some of them have only played at the youth team level. , Therefore, I would like to study the schedule of the reserve team and the youth team with you, so that these young players can get exercise step by step.

In the past, Millwall did not participate in the reserve league. There was only one youth team league to play in the echelon, but it was just to train young players. In recent years, the results have been minimal. After Aldridge took over the team, the first team could not sell or The players who were still young and thought they had hope were sent to the reserve team, and the number was enough to make up a team, so they signed up for the reserve team league this season.

Jansen took out two schedules, one for the reserve team and one for the youth team.

Aldrich said: Call the coaches of the reserve team and the youth team and ask them to bring the team player information. We not only want players to participate in the reserve team and youth team competitions, but also design and first-line coaches. The team's consistent tactics, and make other players serve the growth of these players.

To put it bluntly, it is to let other players who have no hope in the eyes of Aldridge accompany the prince to study.

This kind of thing is tacit in English clubs, even Manchester United is doing it, the outstanding star of hope is surrounded by some unknown young players to accompany him, and there is even a lawsuit, but in the end it is nothing .

Now that Millwall is torn down and rebuilt, the youth team and the reserve team are more like decorations, so Aldridge's plan to directly participate in these two teams is understandable.

For two consecutive days, Aldridge and the entire coaching staff studied the technical characteristics of the players in the team, designed tactics to allow young players to get more exercise, and instilled them in the coaches of the youth team and the reserve team.

On Wednesday, Aldridge began to study the intelligence of the weekend opponent, the black cat Sunderland. The entire coaching staff hardly had a day off. They usually supervised the training of the players. When the players were resting, they gathered together to prepare for the weekend game.

Although he gets up early and stays late every day, Aldridge doesn't feel tired at all, but feels that his life is very fulfilling. He leaves early and returns late, and when he returns home, he has no time to deal with other things except sleeping.

At the pre-match pre-match meeting on Friday, Aldridge noticed that the first-team players were more serious than this time last week, with meticulous expressions. Everyone's eyes were fixed on Aldridge, and their ears were pricked up to listen to his tactics.

Seeing this scene, Aldridge knew in his heart that he and the players had established a foundation of mutual trust in the last four-goal win against Cianlian.

This is very good, listen to me, be sure to be right!

Jansen began to write and draw on the tactical board, and Aldridge said calmly to the players: Our opponent in the next league game is Sunderland. This team was in the middle of the league last season. Not obvious, it is the team with the fewest goals among the top twelve teams, and the number of goals conceded is also ranked in the middle. Judging from the last round of their away game against the weak attacking Bristol City, they still have a More energy is put on the defense, but it is their home game after all, so we have to be careful about the accident of capsizing in the away game.”

Aldridge patiently analyzed the opponent's offensive routines for the team, what the team needs to pay attention to in defense, and then combined with the formation pattern on the tactical board, he said: Most of the time the opponent's defense is shrinking near the penalty area. Give us too much space, so in the offense, our two forwards need to constantly move to create passing space. Robert and Bernd, your passing line is to cooperate with the forwards on the corresponding side. Hit the ball to that side when crossing the ribs obliquely. After receiving the ball, the forwards can cross the penalty area or knock back outside the penalty area. Bernd and Roberto will come to respond there, and Pavel can step forward to connect the frontcourt. , to ensure that the ball is in constant motion, and don’t stay too much on one side or at the feet of a certain player. Remember?”

The players who listened carefully said in unison: Remember, boss!

Aldridge clapped his hands and said: Very well, the meeting is over, and we will play a beautiful game tomorrow, but you must remember, don't treat your opponents as Allianz, and treat every game as your most important game .”