The Young Lion

During training for the next round of the league, Aldridge invited Wenger to visit Millwall's training base.

The training ground is lacklustre, but Wenger praised the hotel for indoor training, the modern sports medical team plus scientific diet, meticulous intelligence collection and tactical meeting rooms, etc. This was the first time Aldrich and Wenger met many years ago It was discussed in depth, and Aldrich realized it all with his own hands.

On the training ground, Wenger just stood on the edge of the field and watched quietly, while Aldridge worked as usual, which puzzled the colleagues of the coaching staff.

But no one asked too much, at least Wenger's appearance would not make people wonder.

Before the start of today's group match, Aldridge called the players to his eyes and said: We have performed well in the past two months. We have only conceded two goals in eight rounds of the league, but our goals have been in the recent period. There seems to be a little less, so today's training focus is that the winger can try to break through after taking the ball, and add some new things to the offensive tactics.

Aldridge's words made Pires and Schneider's eyes shine.

In the past, there were not many training requirements for the team. The offensive players should try their best to get the ball in the front court with one kick, and they should be concise and clear in handling the ball. Fast-paced to tear open the gaps in the opponent's defense, but this is still a bit simpler for football, which has a variety of offensive and defensive tactics.

Personal breakthroughs are essential in football. People talk about the combination of passing the ball into the goal and it is indeed easy to become a classic, but such goals are not every one, and in the process of making goals , Personal breakthroughs are a very important link.

Aldridge previously suppressed the side breakthrough just to lay the foundation for the defensive system, because the side breakthrough is not just a player getting closer to the bottom line and the penalty area from the side, it is bound to affect the entire offensive system to press forward, and there is no turning back. , If the attack cannot be recovered in time before the attack is pressed, the pressure on the defense will be huge.

To allow the team's offense and defense to be able to retract freely, Aldridge could not let go at the beginning and let the players play freely. In the process of shrinking, he found the feeling, first became familiar with the defensive mode and state, and then bit by bit Unleash the offense, this is his overall idea of ​​transforming the team.

The first-team coaches Tolop and Craig took the tactical drawings and explained the simple tactics to the players.

For example, the route of the wide pass, the 45-degree cross to find the back point, the bottom pass to find the front point, how should the two forwards move on the wide player's ball route, how to cover and involve, and so on.

Tactics are always rigid, and they must be tailored to suit themselves.

Millwall's forwards are fast and have a keen sense of smell in the penalty area, so the wing attack will naturally serve them.

Probably due to the abundance of offensive tactics today, the players were very excited. After the coaches gave a concise explanation, they were gearing up and divided into two sides to start the match.

Aldridge walked to the other side of the training ground and stood beside Wenger. At this moment, Wenger was watching the players on the training ground attentively.

After half of the match, Aldridge asked softly, How is it?

Wenger let out a long breath, turned his head and nodded to Aldridge, and said, Although they are young, they have great potential. Aldrich, I am deeply impressed by your vision.

Although there are not many skilled players on the field, it is precisely to make up for such shortcomings. Aldridge's team plays very concisely, and the ball moves quickly under the players' feet.

There is no need for fancy moves, as long as a tacit short pass is enough, and then continue to move to form a cooperation.

Although it was only a short match, Wenger has seen that the future of the players in this training ground is limitless.

In the next few days, the players' enthusiasm for training was very high. After all, they could be more active in offense, which made their offensive factors that had been suppressed for a long time burst out completely.

In the ninth round of League One, Millwall sits at the Lion's Den and ushers in an underdog: Luton.

It was the lack of strong opponents in this round that made Aldridge finally make up his mind to try to release the attack tactically.

As usual, Aldridge would not talk about tactics in the locker room before the game, but left the locker room just to stimulate the team's fighting spirit.

He deeply understands that the shorter the time before the start of the game, the more he tells the players tactics, the less effective it will be. Instead, it will only make the players nervous. How to play the game should be prepared one day in advance, and there is no need for it before the start of the game. Telling the players what to do, it will only be annoying.

The Lions Den Stadium was full of seats, and Aldridge's team had already won the fans' affirmation. In the stands today, not only Wenger was watching the game, but a group of young lads also appeared with banners, which read: I like Milwaukee. Roar, then! We are the Roar of Lions!

The young people holding such a banner are Brady, Fred, and Ivan.

They stood in the south stand wearing Millwall's traditional dark blue jerseys at a young age, and Aldridge opened the back door for them in their seats, and 50 tickets were given to Brady according to the seats, which made Brady In just one week, the Lion Roar, a fan organization with nearly 100 members, was neatly organized in the stands and became a unique landscape on the court.

Aldridge has become accustomed to the behavior of fans in the stands by the aisle looking for his autograph when he enters the field, and occasionally he will be patted on the shoulder to cheer him on, or to praise him a few words.

Unlike usual, after the game started, Aldridge did not stand on the sidelines to direct, but sat on the coach's bench, watching the game on the court with a calm expression.

Since the start of the game, cheers have been heard from the stands.

Millwall's home record can be regarded as a home dragon, which makes fans happy to enter the stadium to cheer for the team. For ordinary people who have worked hard for a week, there is nothing like shouting and singing indulgently in the stadium It's even more enjoyable.

But after the game started, the situation on the court was very stalemate.

Luton's overall combat strength is not strong, and they did not shrink back to defend when they came to the Lion's Den. The main problem lies in Millwall's offense.

Aldridge couldn't help but glanced at the visiting coach's bench. The opposing team's head coach was also sitting, and there was a baffle blocking his view. Aldridge couldn't see the opponent's expression clearly. He said silently in his heart: It seems that the opponent also played a A lot of effort.

It was Nedved who organized the attack in the middle of Millwall, but in the past games, Nedved did not go deep into the opponent's penalty area, and mainly did the work of transition in the middle. Therefore, the two sides, Schneider and Pires was the starting point of the attack and the threatening link in Millwall's attack.

Because of this, Luton's two full-backs stared at the duo from the start of the game.

Almost like a pair in a chess game.

And Pires and Schneider, who were allowed by Aldridge to make a breakthrough, seemed to be overjoyed. This game showed signs of showing off their footwork. The first action after receiving the ball was to pass, pass, pass. …

After being cut off by the opponent two or three times in a row, the situation became even more serious!

At the 30th minute of the first half, even the fans in the stands could tell that as long as Schneider and Pires got the ball, their next move would definitely be extraordinary!

These two didn't overpower their opponent's speed and explosive power. They wanted to use their skills to pass the English defender with rough defense? And is it when the other party sees through that you will excel?

This is too disrespectful to the other party!

Simply treat the opponent as a stake!

Do you want to remind them?

Jansen whispered in Aldrich's ear.

He is quite strange. The reason why Millwall's offense was blocked can be seen by ordinary fans. Isn't it because the two wide players just took the ball and just wanted to pass?

But Aldridge has always sat calmly, showing no signs of getting up and going to the sidelines to command.

Aldrich shook his head and said, It's useless to shout anything now, we need to give them a period of time to calm down, during the intermission.

Wenger in the stands felt that what he said to Aldridge a few days ago was a bit exaggerated.

At least Millwall's two full-backs on the field now, he feels that he has misjudged.

Pires and Schneider, who played freely in training, played terrible on the court!

But he is more curious: what will Aldridge do?

Scold these two players during the halftime break?

Or a substitution?

Or tell them not to try again?

The unspectacular first half ended with the referee's whistle. The fans in the stands were a little discouraged, and many of them fell asleep.

Millwall looked less of a threat than before.

In the first half, there were only two shots. The two forwards could not get support, and they were invisible at the end of the first half.

When Aldridge returned to the locker room, he did not change the tactical arrangement, but only drew the positions of several Luton players on the tactical board, and told the team's defense to pay attention to the movement of the opponent's players.

Before entering the field in the second half, after Aldridge and other players walked out, he deliberately stopped Schneider and Pires, and the three dragged to the back. Aldridge was in the middle of them, hugging them from left to right. neck.

The two players calmed down after the half-time break, and they both understood that their performance in the first half was a mess, and they couldn't lift their heads up.

Before, I complained in my heart that the boss didn't give them a chance to show their breakthrough ability.

Well, the boss allowed you to kick like a joke, but in the end you kicked like that bird.

Ashamed!

Feel ashamed!

You two played really tired in the first half.

Ok?

Pires and Schneider raised their heads in surprise, looking at the face of Aldrich who was close at hand, a little dazed.

really tired?

Doesn't it stink? really bad?

Aldrich rolled his eyes and said indifferently: Idiots can see that you must pass the ball after you get the ball. What does the best defender rely on in defense? Body? No, it's predictive awareness! Well, you two directly tell the opponent what to do next. What should I do, do I still need to predict? It’s too easy to prevent you.”

Pires and Schneider lowered their heads again.

The tactics remain the same, but what you have to change is the rhythm. Listen to me. You do this on the field. After receiving a pass from your teammate, pass it three to five times before trying to pass the ball again. Pass three or five times and then Break through once, understand? When you have accumulated more experience, you should pass or surpass others, and that can be done almost subconsciously, so let's use this stupid method now.

After Aldridge finished speaking, he let go of the two players, patted them on the back and let them go out to play.