In April, wars were raging in England. The Premier League, FA Cup, and Premier League hegemon Millwall were the only English Premier League team to participate in the Champions League and forge ahead in the European arena. The fans were hooked, and one exciting battle after another came on stage.
It's a good show, especially because the suspense of the Premier League has always existed. Chelsea's pursuit of Millwall has been the focus of constant publicity in Fleet Street.
In the penultimate round of the league and just two days after the FA Cup semi-finals, Millwall was about to face the challenge of Manchester United at home. When attending the pre-match press conference for an interview, a reporter asked Aldridge such a question.
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"Millwall played the FA Cup in the middle of the week, but on the weekend, your league match was the first to start. On the contrary, Chelsea, who had a week off, was the last to start. Do you think the FA's schedule is fair?
?”.
The atmosphere at the press conference became delicate, with many reporters laughing and saying nothing.
The "Guardian" reporter asked this question, seemingly to speak for Millwall and stand on Millwall's side, but in fact, he had hidden murderous intentions and wanted to direct the topic to what Premier League fans are paying most attention to.
Mourinho steals the limelight, even if Chelsea has been second in the league, but when Chelsea cannot win the game, Mourinho will have many, many reasons to divert attention from the outside world.
To stop people from discussing "Why didn't Chelsea win the game?"
Instead, they discussed the remarks made by Mourinho.
Among them, Mourinho believed that the FA's arrangement of Chelsea's schedule was very unfair. For example, some opponents had an extra day of rest and Chelsea had one less day of rest.
This is simply nonsense.
But unfortunately, this trick has been tried and tested because Mourinho changed the concept and put Chelsea in the role of the weak. The powerful is naturally the Football Association. The outside world likes to see such stories of "rising up" to attack the powerful.
, and pursue the underdog protagonist.
Aldridge cleared his throat and coughed twice, and said calmly: "If there is no double-match schedule per week, the Premier League games are very regular, Saturday, Sunday. There is a game on Monday night, and most of them are on Saturday and Sunday.
Go ahead. If, if the FA wants every team to get what you call fair rest time, then
So, the schedule should be like this, Millwall will always play on Saturday or Sunday, or Monday, and our games will always be fixed on a certain day of the week. Is this possible? Impossible! Because the schedule will definitely crash,
For example, Millwall is fixed on Saturday. But our opponent is fixed on Sunday.
God, then. How do we play? There will definitely be a team that has an extra day of rest, or a less day of rest, or even two days. This topic is really boring. I think people who criticize the unfair schedule are just covering up something. In other words
, if you always have one less day of rest than your opponent, then your league should be one and a half times ahead of schedule.
The end of the month, but no, we all played all the league schedules in May. The fact is that sometimes you will rest one or two days less than your opponents, and sometimes you will rest one or two days more than your opponents. If everyone
They are all using this reason to complain, hey, why are we still playing football? Let’s just argue with the calendar and schedule.”
The reporters in the audience were happy.
Aldridge said whatever he wanted and didn't care about provoking a fight. He naturally understood that the reporter's question was actually aimed at Chelsea coach Mourinho.
If he avoids it, it will appear to be a sign of weakness, not to mention what should he have to fear from the other party?
Even though he has a good relationship with the FA, Aldridge has never complained to the FA about the schedule, nor has he received any kind of convenience. Just like this season, when the FA arranged the schedule at the beginning of the season, they must have thought about it.
Making it difficult for Millwall to defend their title.
Because if Millwall easily wins the championship, it will naturally be detrimental to the global promotion of the Premier League brand. Therefore, there will be a wave of devilish schedules in the final stage to increase excitement. The same is true for Chelsea, although it is one less game than Millwall.
Despite the strong dialogue, Aldrich still had no complaints.
The "Guardian" reporter continued to ask: "But now there are indeed coaches in the Premier League criticizing the schedule. What do you think of this phenomenon?"
It's not just Mourinho who will criticize the schedule, but Wenger too.
Aldridge looked calm and replied: "I don't really care about other people's opinions, but personally, the head coach needs to protect the team, but over-protection of the team is sometimes detrimental. Sometimes in the face of failure,
You have to make players realize that the root of the problem is not how others are trying to hinder you, the difficulty of adding external forces, but the fact that if you can be stronger,
You should overcome these difficulties. In my coaching experience of more than ten years, I always hope that the players can face the difficulties, recognize the reality, withstand the pressure, and then overcome everything. This is my philosophy and also the philosophy of Milwall
It is a football philosophy that you should uphold and carry forward. We have many outstanding players who grew up in this environment and let their names spread all over the world on the football field."
The reporters got new news material and stopped putting pressure on Aldridge, hoping he would give more.
Tomorrow is a league game, so the topic should return to the main topic.
Regarding whether the defeat to Manchester United in the FA Cup will have an impact on tomorrow's league, Aldrich said seriously: "I am quite satisfied with Millwall's performance in the FA Cup this season. The players tried their best and I saw it."
The steady growth of some young players, including emerging newcomers like Moutinho, Messi, Veloso, Ramos, they have won the League Cup
And their performance in the first few rounds of the FA Cup deserves praise. They are growing steadily and they represent the future of Millwall. As for the loss to Manchester United, it will definitely have an impact. Millwall will not ignore the defeat and others will take it from us.
Yes, we will naturally get it back, very good, the opportunity is right in front of us, and we will welcome Manchester United's visit at the Lion King Stadium tomorrow."
The next day, the afternoon sun was shining brightly in East London, and the Lion King Stadium was packed with seats.
The Lions fans were holding back their resentment in the stands.
Manchester United seems to have arrived here with a relatively relaxed mentality.
They got tickets to the FA Cup final. As long as they don't lose all the last four games of the league, they can ensure their qualification for the Champions League by winning one or two games. The final goal of this season is the FA Cup.
Coming here today, maybe I can take a sniper shot at Millwall. It's not like I'm helping Chelsea, it's just that he - damn - doesn't like Millwall!
Aldridge and Ferguson met again on the sidelines in a short period of time. The two did not communicate at all. They simply shook hands and returned to the coaching bench to wait for the start of the game.
Manchester United's starting lineup today was no different from their starting lineup in the FA Cup, while Millwall changed everything except the goalkeeper.
Before the game started, the live camera focused on Southgate, who was sitting on the bench looking lonely.
For Southgate, his career has been sentenced to death by Fleet Street.
His poor performance in the FA Cup semi-finals made him the target of criticism from some outside football critics.
Some serious major newspapers, on the other hand, have a more objective stance and are also full of warmth. They are sympathetic to Southgate and rationally analyze his future.
Obviously, Southgate is no longer worthy of being a starter at Millwall. At the same time, for the purpose of building the future, Millwall may not need a 35-year-old veteran next season as a substitute, although he can
He brings some experience, but he himself is unstable on the court, so how can he contribute to the team intuitively?
Considering that he was England's captain who won the World Cup and was seriously injured when he went to the European Cup with England, major newspapers were unable to make negative articles about Southgate's poor performance and instead mentioned his contribution more.
and the positives of being at Millwall.
The Lions fans who watched the game on live TV couldn't help but feel sad when they saw Southgate's lonely expression. Many Lions fans who were watching the game together in the bar fell silent.
It makes people sad and regretful.
But the pain in the hearts of outsiders will never be as painful as the pain in Southgate's own heart, which aches in waves.
Looking at his teammates who were already on the court, Southgate's eyes were quite complicated.
I longed for that green field and rode on that passionate stage, but now, I have lost the qualification to go into battle.
What made him most miserable was that even though Aldrich comforted him privately after the FA Cup semi-finals, relieved him and told him: the team needs him!
He is needed to guide young players, impart experience in the locker room, and set an example for young players.
However, Southgate knew in his heart that it was time to say goodbye.
When he was unable to contribute to the team, Grunchar chose to leave. When the team needed him, Grunchar came back.
Now, it's Southgate's turn to make his own decision.
He thought about persisting, working hard, and then burning his life for the crazy lion!
But reality forced him to bow his head. He was not a particularly strong central defender. What he needed was flexibility and agility. However, the decline in physical fitness after a serious injury caused him to lose the capital to truly establish himself as a mad lion.
Looking at Aldridge's back standing on the sidelines, Southgate's expression suddenly returned to normal, the melancholy in his eyes disappeared, and his tense face relaxed.
The head coach who is younger than him has gone through eleven years of ups and downs with him. These eleven years should be worth the eleven years of many players, even stars. It was a glorious period.
It is a legendary journey that is indelible in memory.
He personally has no regrets.
The only thing I want to say is sorry to the club. He couldn't end up perfectly. When the team needed him most, he disappointed many, many people!
His career has been perfect and worth it!
It's time to make the only contribution he can.
That is to take off the Lions jersey and turn around and leave.