The Young Lion

For most of the season, Millwall fans have become the happiest group in League One.

They can enjoy the fun and passion brought by football in the simplest way.

Millwall under Aldridge has taken on a new look. The team's style has been completely insulated from the English-style long pass. While blowing up a youthful storm, it also made the fans proud.

On the afternoon of the match day of the 32nd round of League One, the Lion's Den Stadium continued the full attendance on the home match day. When the two teams lined up to enter the field, there was prolonged applause on the court.

There is no hatred between Millwall and Middlesbrough, they are just competitors, and now that Millwall has left Middlesbrough far behind, Millwall fans can naturally welcome the arrival of their opponents generously.

The broadcast camera locked on Aldridge at all times before the game. This handsome young coach is a celebrity in England's coaching circle. , Some football columnists have begun to follow up and pay attention, but the research report dare not draw conclusions lightly, because professionals who are truly expert in tactics believe that Aldridge's transformation of the team has not been completely successful, and is still being built. In the process, it is already refreshing to abandon the blind and frequent traditional winger crossing tactics, and use the winger to support and occasionally insert into the penalty area.

After the players from both sides came on the field, Aldridge took the initiative to walk to the visiting coach's bench, and Brian Robson greeted him. The two hugged cordially and then chatted with each other friendly.

Aldridge, forget about losing to me in this game. Anyway, you lead by so many points.

Okay, Middlesbrough attack boldly, Millwall open defense.

Can you not be so annoying?

Thank you, this is the best compliment for me.

After Aldridge and Bryan Robson smiled at each other, they separated and walked back to the sidelines to stand.

Compared with the confrontation in the first half of the season, only David Beckham is a rookie on the Millwall side of the two teams' rosters, and nothing else has changed, not even the formation.

Middlesbrough still played their hidden murderous 532, and Millwall continued to use their honed 442.

Even the trend after the start of the game was almost the same as the first contest in the league: Millwall had the advantage, and Middlesbrough shrank the half very conservatively.

Aldridge is standing on the sidelines, is he making the mistake of the first half of the season?

of course not!

Now Millwall is more mature than it was more than three months ago, and the tacit understanding between the players is not what it used to be.

Pires-Nedved-Makelele-Beckham's midfield line cooperates very smoothly in the midfield area, and with Larsson who retreats in front, Millwall firmly controls the ball at their own feet.

Not only contraction is conservative. Millwall guarantees the possession rate, patiently creates opportunities, and does not easily lose the ball. This is itself a conservative strategy.

Aldridge first instilled in this team is: learn to pass back!

When the receiving players in front do not have good positions and opportunities, the midfielders must have the awareness to pass the ball back in the face of pressure.

Not conceding the ball means first of all ensuring one's own invincibility.

This battle for the top spot, which was clamored by the outside world as sparks hitting the earth, did not show the expected intense sparks after the start of the game.

It was dubbed by Aldridge in front of his colleagues in the coaching staff: Kavanagh, a defensive forward, kept running back and forth in Millwall's midfield, trying to disrupt Millwall's rhythm through harassment.

But relying on his rampage alone, it really didn't work. It was more like being walked back and forth by the Millwall midfielder.

The midfield trio of Blackmore-Mastor-Hignett did not dare to cross the halfway line easily, they seemed to be waiting for something, and did not care about the passage of time.

How to break the dense defense, Millwall has been able to self-adjust and use flexibly tactically, without the need for Aldridge to give instructions all the time on the sidelines.

Pires automatically moved to the center to cooperate with Nedved in a small area. The two forwards used running positions to attract the attention of the defensive players, and opened up space to give their teammates a chance to shoot from a distance.

Twenty minutes before the first half, Nedved almost opened the scoring with a long shot, but it hit the crossbar and bounced towards the stands.

Middlesbrough is still playing the back-and-forth tactics without any improvement, but there will still be looseness and distraction in a small area.

Pires took a long shot from outside the penalty area and was caught by goalkeeper Miller. He immediately drove forward with a big kick, trying to create a chance for the team to counterattack.

The ball landed just past the center line in the frontcourt, and Makelele steadily blocked Kavanagh behind him, and no matter how crowded Kavanagh was, he couldn't make Makelele lose his center of gravity.

Facing the falling ball, Makelele blocked it with his foot and knocked directly at the foot of Beckham on the right. Just after Beckham received the ball near the center line on the right, he adjusted in situ for a second, and then suddenly a long pass sent The ball is hoisted towards Middlesbrough's penalty area.

Middlesbrough's backline players who had just finished defending were moving forward and re-established a parallel defensive line. No one expected the goalkeeper to drive a big foot into the frontcourt. In less than 10 seconds, the ball flew again. back, and the landing point is behind them.

Trezeguet swiftly slid between Pierce and White. Goalkeeper Miller abandoned the goal, but he opened his arms to expand his defensive range only halfway through the run. On the left side of the goal, Trezeguet did not stop. The ball, a direct header headed the ball towards Middlesbrough's gate.

Miller hates Millwall!

In the confrontation in the first half of the season, Pires scored the weird curve ball. This time, after abandoning the goal, he could only raise his head and watch the ball pass over his head. It was obviously a step too late, and I lost my center of gravity and fell to the ground, so embarrassed that I couldn't bear it.

GOOOOOAL! David Trezeguet scored a wonderful header lob! He was assisted by young Manchester United rookie Beckham, who came to Millwall on loan from Manchester United this season. Mu replaced the injured Schneider in the past month. His performance is very good. The precise long pass is unforgettable. No one thought that he would directly assist the striker in that position. The anti-offside and header are even more exciting! Congratulations to Millwall, they are now leading by one goal and have an absolute advantage on the field. Although Middlesbrough is very strong, it is difficult to make a difference here.

Trezeguet, who has scored 18 goals this season, ran towards the backcourt with a smile and hugged Beckham directly.

The fans on the sidelines were also very excited, and even Aldridge could see fans holding signs in the stands, which read: Aldridge, please sign Beckham!

Aldridge could only smile bitterly in his heart. He also wanted to sign the biggest star in English football in the next five to eight years, but how could the cunning Ferguson let him go generously?

Beckham has become a star player of Millwall from the beginning of the loan, with more and more opportunities to make appearances and better performance on the field, yes, Aldridge will go To describe Beckham, he is a star player, but he is by no means among the top five powerful players, even if he only lists offensive players.

Around the training ground, at least half of the female fans who came to watch the training came to see Beckham, and the rest paid more attention to Nedved, Schneider and others, Beckham with a British registered permanent residence, Undoubtedly the focus.

When did Beckham become famous? Maybe when I was less than ten years old.

In British football, last year, Beckham was the main force for Manchester United's class of 92 to win the FA Youth Cup, which also made him famous.

Aldridge cleared away distracting thoughts, applauded the team's goal, and then glanced at Brian Robson not far away. The opponent was indifferent to the conceded goal, just pacing on the sidelines, without speaking or directing the team .

Bryan Robson is really helpless. He has done everything he can, and nothing he can say to the team will help. It is not that Middlesbrough performed poorly, but that Millwall is no longer the same team as in the first half of the season.

Robson, who has hundreds of professional experiences, can see that the confidence and drive, grandeur and composure of the young boys of Millwall on the court, coupled with the football wisdom of flexible use of tactics, he is at this moment the same as before. Wenger has a similar emotion: Aldridge, your team has a future that is infinitely longing for.

After the re-kick-off, Middlesbrough still did not change their strategy. After they got the ball, they would play a long pass tactic. Whether they can create a threat depends on whether the forwards are strong.

But this kind of offense has no lethality in front of Millwall, and the ball always returns to Millwall's feet with ease.

The team took the lead, the fans were very happy watching, singing like a party, and they had a great time hooking shoulders and backs in the stands.

Beckham had an assist and was very encouraged. On such a major stage, he hoped to show himself more, so he, who had been staying near the center line for the previous 30 minutes, boldly advanced.

Aldridge frowned slightly when he saw this scene on the sidelines. In the tactical arrangement before the game, he clearly told Beckham: Don't go too far forward. Your basic task is to assist Thuram in defense. Make sure we The right flank is safe, and you are a deep starting point to try to pass the ball from long distances.

Originally, Beckham was quite satisfactory on the wing, and Middlesbrough's defense line was not at ease. As a result, he suddenly stepped in, which had the effect of catching the opponent by surprise.

Nedved suddenly dribbled and broke through Masto's defense in the middle. He was surprised to find that Beckham came forward. He had planned to take a long shot, and he pushed the ball across to the right. Beckham's shot Inserting an assist caught everyone by surprise, so central defender Wicks pressed forward to try to break the ball under the opponent's feet, but Beckham stabbed the ball into the right side of the penalty area with a straight kick, forming a formation with Larson who started in good time. With the cooperation of passing and cutting, Larson half-turned on the bottom line of the penalty area and swept the ball towards Middlesbrough's goal.

Trezeguet scrambled to the ground before Pearson made a clearance and sent the ball into Middlesbrough's gate!

Millwall leads 2:0 at home!