After the game against Leicester City, Aldridge invited O'Neal to chat in the office.
He opened a bottle of good wine, and the two of them sat on the sofa and were filled with emotion.
"The idea before the season still seems naive. If Leicester City's capital wants to make a difference in the Premier League, it is not that difficult. Even if the players stay focused and devote themselves to the game, poor strength does not mean that morale is not enough.
Make up for it.”
O'Neal drank wine, feeling bitter.
Aldrich nodded in agreement. Leicester City's performance in the new season is polarized. It has a good record against strong teams and basically does not fall behind. However, it is unlucky when it encounters weak teams and it is extremely difficult to win.
When a weak team faced Leicester City and focused more on defense, even if Leicester City had the combination of Tony + Gudjohnsen, they were still unable to break through.
Once the opponent counterattacks, Leicester City's defensive comprehensive strength is not as good as the opponent's forward.
"Yes, you want to bring Leicester City into the first group of the Premier League. To be honest, it is basically impossible. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, and even Leeds United all have better lineups than Leicester.
The city is stronger. The strength of a team depends first on the individual abilities of the players. Although it is not absolute, the lineups of Tottenham and Everton in the past two years are not bad, but it is a pity that the team is not perfect.
Less than once. Leicester City's forward line is not bad. It will be no problem to settle down in the Premier League. If they can score enough goals and limit the attacks in the middle and lower reaches, they will basically be fine. But the further they move up the standings.
, Defense is the most important thing, and the team that ranks at the top will definitely have no problem with offense. The rest is about whose defense is better and who can suppress competitors in key battles."
O'Neal was deep in thought. Suddenly he became interested and asked Aldridge for his tactics book and began to discuss tactics with him.
Aldrich was also quite happy. The game was over and he didn't want to go home just yet. If he could have someone to chat with for a while to pass the time, he would be happy to accompany him.
O'Neal mainly discussed with Aldridge the midfielder.
There is no doubt about this man's coaching ability. When Ferguson announced his retirement several times in history, O'Neal was the favorite to take over. However, the first time he chose to go to the Scottish giant Celtic, and the second time he was still there.
When taking over the Celtic coaching position, Ferguson himself regretted it again.
O'Neill mentioned two teams in particular, one is Arsenal and the other is the new World Cup champion France team.
One of these two teams has an attacking midfielder, and the other does not.
Aldridge told O'Neal calmly. In fact, the only difference in the tactics of the two teams is that Arsenal weakened the attack in the center and relied on fast breaks on the side, while the French team weakened the forward line.
The similarities are the same, double back waist.
The purpose is clear at a glance: strengthen defense.
And this is also the trend in the future. It's not that people don't want to see talented midfielders performing magic football skills, but that in the context of football becoming more and more utilitarian, the defense of a single midfielder is really not reassuring. Think about it the other way around.
Understand, if the opponent has a super attacking midfielder, how high will the one-on-one success rate be against one's own defensive midfielder? The barrier in front of the back line is simply useless.
Arsenal does not want an attacking midfielder. They mainly attack the wings and have someone to support them in the middle.
The French team has weakened its forward line. It can be said that they are 4231, 433, or 451. The double midfielder is to protect the incomparable Zidane.
In the past, O'Neill's tactics did not include an attacking midfielder. When counterattacking, he relied on attacking from the side. But now that he is fighting a positional battle, he has deployed an attacking midfielder, but the effect is very unsatisfactory, especially since he does not have an excellent attacking midfielder.
If you lose the ball when organizing an offense, your own defense will be crumbling.
Aldrich gave him an idea and considered using a single-sided flying wing that is common in Italy. That is to say, the double defensive midfielders remain unchanged, add a front midfielder, and add a full midfielder. The offense focuses on one side. When defending, the front midfielder assists.
To prevent the side from retreating, at least the system is relatively balanced.
As a small team, it can't afford to play on both sides, and it doesn't have good players, so it can only rely on food and drink. The offensive power is a bit weak, but at least it won't be beaten to tears by counterattacks.
He and O'Neal discussed it until 9 p.m., and then the two went out to dinner together, still discussing tactics at the table.
After the league, another week of double matches ushered in. Millwall went to the European war and ushered in the fourth round of the Champions League group stage at Wembley. In back-to-back games, their opponent was Austrian champion Graz.
In the last round, Aldrich slaughtered the opponent with 7 goals. In the next match, Aldrich sent many young players. At the pre-match press conference, he said lightly: As long as Millwall wins this game, they can declare success in qualifying for the group.
Yes, the game is not difficult. I will send many young players to let them get training.
Aldrich did what he said and directly announced the starting lineup.
This can no longer be considered a substitute lineup, and three more unfamiliar names have entered the media's sight.
The two full-backs Ferreira and Cole debuted in the Champions League at a young age, while Pedretti has long been known as Makelele.
Fleet Street reporters who were familiar with Millwall were all holding back their laughter.
Hall is so bad!
They despise their opponents and indeed field a young lineup, which seems to be a sign of arrogance and underestimation of the enemy.
But look at his starting lineup.
This damn thing is 451!
The three defensive midfielders can fight and grab, so they just want to lure the opponent to take the bait and attack.
Graz had no hope of qualifying anyway. They lost three games in a row in the group stage and suffered a humiliating defeat at their home court. Coming to the away game was a bit of a formality.
But when they came to London to prepare for war, could they turn a deaf ear to what was happening outside the window?
The London media exaggerated that Millwall was determined to win, and they looked down upon others and used a lineup of 2 teams + 3 teams put together.
Scholars can be killed but not humiliated!
Grass-your-family, Millwall!
The Austrian champion was furious.
At Wembley, we turned against the away team and the attack was vigorous.
Unfortunately, this is what Millwall wants to see most. It is also the purpose of Aldridge's pre-match remarks and announcement of the starting lineup.
He sat on the coaching bench and watched the game with his chin drawn. Just four minutes into the first half, Graz, who was extremely motivated, was defeated by Millwall's side counterattack.
Pedretti successfully intercepted the ball in front of the penalty area and split the ball to counterattack. Ferreira did not hesitate to kick the ball and handed it to Van der Meyde in front.
Van der Meyde made a handsome and unrestrained move past the opponent's full-back, and then handed a through ball to Klose, who successfully countered offside.
Klose lived up to the expectations of his teammates and calmly pushed the ball into the far corner with a single shot. The score was rewritten and Millwall led 1:0.
The number of fans attending today has dropped.
After all, Graz was massacred with 7 goals in the last round, and the Lions fans almost unanimously believed that the second round was just another round of abuse.
The process of the game also looks like a torture, but it is inseparable from Aldridge's conspiracy and psychological warfare.
If Graz doesn't take the initiative to attack, it will take a lot of trouble to win the tough battle. After all, they are a second-tier league championship team and they are really determined to defend. Millwall can't win the game without half the main force?
Graz was not discouraged after losing the ball and continued to attack.
Thirteen minutes later, Grenchar broke through two people in a counterattack, played a one-two with Klose in front of the penalty area, then countered offside and sent the ball into the goal with a single shot.
"Glenchard also scored! Millwall took a two-goal lead in less than 20 minutes. It looked like it would be another massacre. Millwall's youth storm is still going on, even if it is the format we are all familiar with.
Lenchard is only 21 years old now! Pedretti, Ferreira and Cole. Will the three young players who made their debut at Millwall today become the mainstay of the Lions in the future?"
Aldridge stood up as Gronzal and Klose hugged. He walked to the sidelines and called Lampard over, asking him to position himself in the counterattack and play the role of B2B (penalty to penalty area).
A few words of explanation were enough. Aldridge turned around to search for Ashley Cole and Paul Ferreira, but did not see them in the backcourt. He did not find them until his eyes turned to the celebrating crowd.
Good guy, Glenchard scored in the opponent's penalty area, and both full-backs rushed up from their own penalty area to join in the celebration...
When they walked back, Aldrich pointed at the two of them and waved.
Call the two people in front of you and tell them to boldly advance forward and participate in the attack in the next game, just like they did in training.
The players and coach of Graz were almost in tears. Seeing Aldridge's attitude, he was not going to give up yet.
Graz started to feel a little timid. Being two goals behind reminded them of the match half a month ago. It was a nightmare. Will it happen again today?
They began to shrink their formation, set up fences, and consciously focused on marking Grenjar and Van der Meyde, as well as Klose, who scored the goal.
Aldrich had foreseen this, so he had midfielders and backfielders on both sides and in the middle come forward to support.
Before the end of the first half, Lampard's long-range shot was saved by the goalkeeper. Klose followed up with a follow-up shot to expand the score to 3:0.
In the second half, Aldridge used Duff to remove Glenchard, and Henry also came on as a substitute for Van der Meyde.
However, the opponent defended more resolutely in the second half. There were constant dangers in front of the goal, but they relied on the human wall to keep the goal intact. The final score was fixed at 3:0.
At the end of the game, Aldridge took the initiative to shake hands with the opponent's coach, but the opponent became angry and thought Aldridge was humiliating him, so he walked away.
Aldridge showed a helpless expression and had no choice but to shake hands with the assistants of the opposing coaching staff, then turned and walked into the tunnel.
"Millwall, the defending Champions League champion, is unstoppable. They have won all four games in the group stage. They have two games left. They will go to Moscow to challenge Spartak Moscow in the next round. The last game will be against Inter Milan at Wembley. Already
Millwall, with 12 points in hand, has basically been declared to advance to the knockout rounds. Unless they lose the next two games, they may miss the knockout rounds, but the probability is not very high. Considering the points of other groups, 12 points should be the best.
second place in the group, especially because their goal difference advantage is too great."
In an interview after the game, Aldrich changed his attitude before the game and highly praised the Austrian champion Graz. Yes, the game is over, and they will not meet again for at least the next six months. Of course, Aldrich will give
The opponent has enough respect, and as for the contemptuous gesture before the game, it is nothing more than to win the game.
The reason why Aldridge did not send the main force in this Champions League game is very obvious. Fleet Street knows it without asking: recharge your batteries in preparation for the London Derby!
Just three days later, Millwall will head to West London and visit Stamford Bridge to challenge Chelsea, the leader of the Premier League standings!