The Young Lion

On Christmas Day, Millwall went on the roster and the coaching staff took the bus north on Seven Sisters Avenue.

In such a day today, Millwall played lightly. On weekdays, the team administrators all took vacations in advance to let him go home for the holiday.

Highbury Stadium is full of seats, Christmas atmosphere haunts the stadium stands, many fans dressed as Santa Claus to watch the game.

The atmosphere of this London Derby was suddenly different from what it once was.

In the fall of Arsenal and the rise of Millwall two or three years ago, even though there was no hatred between Arsenal and Millwall, there was a bit of hostility between the Gunners fans and the Lions fans. Now, the two teams are in the same city due to the same city. The hatred of the Derby relationship is very weak, and it can be said that there is no, but only that the competitors are not weak.

Competition and hatred are two different things, just like Millwall and West Ham United, Chelsea is hatred, and it does not change because of the opponent or their own league rankings, team strength, and competition is more like Manchester United and Millwall. The relationship between the fans of the two teams is almost no friction, but no one wants to lower the other side in the stands. The passion of the war between the fans in the stands is more than enough.

Aldridge didn’t talk to Wenger today. He sat early on the coach seat waiting for the game to start.

Wenger was more depressed. Arsenal maintained the initiative to defend the league, but ranked third in the Champions League and eliminated. At the end of the UEFA Champions League draw, everyone felt that Arsenal had no problem in that group, but unexpectedly even The team couldn't catch the second.

"Happy Christmas, audience friends. Today at Highbury, we will see the same city derby battle between defending champion Arsenal and Millwall. The difference between the two teams is only one point. Arsenal are ahead, Millwall Afterwards, Manchester United have one more point than Arsenal, Chelsea have one point less than Millwall. The top four teams are only one point away from the first to the fourth. There is a saying in the media that it is now London. The team is besieging the Manchester team. In fact, it looks the same. The focus of the English football is now undoubtedly from Manchester to London, Millwall, Arsenal, Chelsea. This is the backbone of London power."

"Martin, don't you talk about today's game?"

"I just don't want to give the audience too high expectations. Although the two teams are ranked second and third, but Millwall is missing a major general today, Arsenal's offensive firepower has also declined slightly this season, so this game I don’t think it’s as exciting as the Christmas War that Millwall participated in the previous two years."

"Both teams are defensive teams. The league is about to finish halfway. The number of goals conceded by Arsenal is single digits, only 8, and Millwall lost 13 goals. The defense of the two teams is The Premier League is ranked in the top two, and the offensive firepower, the two teams are not much different, but compared to last season, both have dropped significantly, Arsenal's French teenager Anelka began to cooperate with Bergkamp, Millwall's golden trident last season completely disappeared in the first half of this season, and the best performing Ronaldinho and Nedved in the first half of the season are not on the big list. I think the game is definitely brilliant. Will be greatly discounted."

"Oh, Wenger's match with Hall last season was evenly divided. He defeated Millwall last season and scored 3 points. It was one of the key battles for Arsenal's last championship. Coupled with the away defeat of Manchester United, I think Wenger To defend in the league, the game against Millwall at home must be won. What Hall's idea is, I can't predict, points behind, according to common sense, he should also take the initiative to attack, but in the team When there is clearly a lack of key players, he has few options."

Arsenal's defense this season is simply against the rhythm of the sky. The average age of the defenders is more than 32 years old, but they have radiated unparalleled energy. Their defensive level is directly catching up with the few goals conceded by Graham that year. However, considering that it was a 5-guard ultimate anti-anti-tactics, and now it is a 4-guard regular defensive counterattack, Arsenal's defense line under Wenger has reached another level.

Millwall's lineup today gives a feeling that he can't match Arsenal.

Goalkeeper: Bute.

Guards: Schneider, Materazzi, Ferdinand, Zambrotta.

Midfielders: Van der Mede, Gattuso, Lampard, Makelele, Glenn Charles.

Forward: Van Nistelrooy.

Aldridge put out two defensive midfielders and put four people in the offense, two full-backs Garampard and Van Nistelrooy. The attacking formation is the big diamond four.

Wenger came to the sideline fifteen minutes before the start of the game. He also sat on the coach's bench. After learning of Millwall's starting list, he frowned and felt a sense of misstep.

According to the experience of last season, Millwall should play 433 or 442 even when playing away. I never thought it was a 451. The midfield is obviously focused on defense.

This is troublesome.

Arsenal's offensive firepower has declined in the new season. Although Anelka is also known as a genius, the number of goals has not reached the level of a world-class striker, but according to his age, he can average two games. A ball is really amazing. Think of Alan Smith as a genius killer after scoring a goal in four or five games. Anelka is expected to be a future world-class killer.

Aldridge also conducted a self-examination when he summarized the reasons for the defeat in the league last season.

Millwall lost in two key battles, one against Manchester United and one against Arsenal.

Although they won the opponent at home, they lost to the opponent by a three-point away game. At the end of the season, they lost one point to win the championship.

Where did Millwall lose?

Aldrich thought it was his problem.

In the first half of the league, Millwall was behind in points, but he took the initiative to attack on the road, which increased the risk of losing the ball and eventually lost the game.

If Millwall can stabilize his mind, or Aldrich can stabilize himself, forget the points gap, and face it with ordinary heart, maybe Millwall will have better results in those two games.

Today he told the players clearly: Our goal in the game is not to lose.

It sounds a bit ambitious, but this is the reality. Millwall hasn't been arrogant enough to come to Highbury to face Arsenal, the top defensive player in the league.

Nowadays, the Premier League is no longer able to break out of the world with blood and courage. With the influx of foreign players, the strength of each team has steadily improved, and the overall level of the Premier League is obviously rising.

It would be naive to crush opponents only with **** fighting. Half of the teams in the Premier League kneel in front of Arsenal defenders.

Aldrich believes that the league won not only rely on hard power, but also has very high requirements on the level of the head coach. He can’t instill the passion of the team on the pole as before. When appropriate, learn to brake. Tolerantly, to maintain morale on the basis of not losing the ball, so that the team's state avoids large fluctuations, the league is ultimately more stable than who.

When the game started, the postures of the two teams were almost the same. Six-man defense, four-man offense, and even Millwall in defense, Lampard invested more.

Ten minutes passed, and the commentator Martin Taylor was depressed.

"Ten minutes after the start of the game, the two teams carried out a brutal strangling in the midfield. No one had a better chance to advance the attack to the dangerous area, and no shots appeared."

"Wait, I think the head coaches of both teams want to win the game. They are mainly cautious in the first half. As the game time passes, they will definitely let go in the future."

Wenger looked at the situation on the court with optimism.

The players of Arsenal have almost reached the strongest state in his hands. The offensive and defensive transition is very smooth. The team's offensive and defensive system is also difficult to be demanded, but there is a specific background, that is, they play defensive counterattack and the other party attacks. .

Positional warfare is not what they are good at. Therefore, in the Champions League, when other teams are more patient and conservative, Arsenal are not as good as their opponents in terms of mentality and experience. The reason why Dynamo Kiev won the top position is to win the experience .

To change this situation, Wenger must change the midfield. The combination of Vieira and Petit's defense is no problem, but the offense, especially the positional battle, is lacking in talent, just like Aldridge vs. Lampard. The usage preferences are the same as Pirlo.

Despite Bogkamp in Arsenal, there are really no traditional players in the starting lineup.

Wenger believes this is what Arsenal lacks. When opponents also play defensive counterattacks, there are not many opportunities for Arsenal's positional battles. The lack of team creativity is the fatal reason that restricts the team's more abundant play.

In the 17th minute of the first half, the first foot shot of the audience finally appeared, which came from Pirenec's long shot to the defensive bag and rushed the foot.

Butt easily put the ball in his arms, and then Millwall counterattacked, Glennshire also hit a long shot after breaking through Petit's assist in the frontcourt, and the ball slid out.

The two teams did not create a good opportunity in the positional battle. Almost all of them tried to rewrite the scores based on the individual abilities of the offensive players, but the effect was not good.

The atmosphere in the Highbury stands was warm, and the game was dull. It didn’t matter. The fans were entertaining themselves. Why not cry at Christmas?

Aldridge sat motionless, watching the game with his chin resting.

Strong teams play weak teams, and the offensive can be extremely powerful.

The strong dialogue is sometimes a bit dull, with different defense levels.

Especially in today's Arsenal, the outside world appreciates Arsenal's play very much. To put it bluntly is to be particularly passionate when fighting back.

As long as the opponent attacked and the attack was frustrated, Arsenal had a large amount of offense when he turned from the defense. The midfielder played the speed advantage and cut the running position, tearing the opponent's defense layer by layer in the 40-50 yards of advancing space. And then score goals, this way of scoring, Millwall is still handy, but can face the top teams that focus on defense and the formation is not pressing, such an offense is difficult to play.

The rhythm of the first half of the game was fouls, interceptions, long shots, star players' dribbling breaks...

The two sides did not have an absolute chance to break the goal, and then the first half ended.

Before entering the locker room, Wenger observed Aldridge's expression deliberately, and found that the other party's expression was indifferent. Wenger somehow felt cold in his heart.

This feeling is like Aldridge seeing a cigar smoking Lippi in Turin.

Wenger would like to see Aldridge disappointed or worried, even if he is happy, so he can guess Aldridge's mind.

It can be seen that Aldridge, whose expression is still unsteady, Wenger can't guess the other side, but will also think that Aldridge is invulnerable.