From the first minute of the game, Aldrich's heart hung in the air.

It's not that Dynamo Kyiv is performing too well, and it is estimated that it is only a normal level of performance.

However, there are hardly any players on Millwall's side who are playing properly.

At the beginning of the game, Zambrotta slipped and fell to the ground when defending on the wing, if it wasn't for Lampard's follow-up to shovel the ball at Haskovic's feet at the first time, I am afraid that Hascovic could break through the entire Millwall defense in the process of acceleration, and Rebrov was also outflanked in front of the penalty area, which was close to a teammate's fatal pass.

Dynamo Kyiv followed up with a corner, the two defenders in the Millwall penalty area seemed to be slow to react, moving significantly slower than usual, Schneider at the back post was just about to clear the ball with a header, but was pressed up by a man behind him to hit the goal.

"Kaladze's header! Bout has made a meritorious service! He held the ball firmly in his arms, and it was a world-class save! ”

In the past, Bout would always choose to counter-attack as long as he controlled the ball, but now he is more mature in the goalkeeper position, and he noticed that his teammates were playing abnormally, so he held the ball and slowed down the rhythm first, giving his teammates a buffer space to breathe and composure.

Seeing this, Aldridge gestured to the frontcourt players with a sinking face, and the two forwards and forwards shrank back, starting from the backfield, compressing the space between the various fronts to strengthen the protection of dangerous areas.

Although Millwall's players warmed up carefully, after the warm-up, their bodies quickly cooled down in this cold temperature, giving them a feeling of being powerless.

This is the most normal human reaction. The average person does strenuous exercise in cold weather. Frequency and rhythm are deliberately controlled. This is the self-protection nerve at work, Millwall is not as familiar as the opponent in this season into a cold autumn comparable to winter, running is not as good as the opponent is on the one hand, not daring to do large movements is the other hand, which limits their play.

To make matters worse, the players became a little restless at the start of the game because they couldn't play to their strengths.

I always feel as if I am unwilling, as if my opponent has opened a hanging. But they were put under a tight spell, how could this make them not anxious?

Aldridge gave instructions to the players, and it was impossible for the on-the-spot conductor to have a lengthy discussion with the players about the mentality.

But the manager can adjust by letting the players go through the game behavior.

The front line shrinks, pass the ball more first, it doesn't matter if you pass back, make sure you don't lose the ball first, and run up in the process of passing and receiving.

In such a boring process of running and passing, Millwall once exceeded 80% of the ball in the first 20 minutes of the game!

But. This 80% possession has no effect on the intuitive trend of the game.

The deeper effect was that Millwall's players got hot during the 20 minutes of passing the ball. The mentality is stable, and the self-confidence is back.

This kind of possession is not about threatening the opponent, but about adjusting to oneself.

Dynamo Kyiv didn't dare to press all the way, so when Millwall was on the back of the field, making seemingly meaningless back-and-forth runs and then passing the ball back to no avail, the players of Dynamo Kyiv didn't understand, they probably thought that Millwall was going to spend time at the back and leave Ukraine with a draw.

The fans of Dynamo Kyiv quit and booed and laughed in the stands.

"This is the Premier League champion?"

"You don't even dare to make it through half the game?"

"This is the best team in Europe last season? My son's varsity team played better than they did. ”

"Pass it, pass it, shrunken turtle!"

The fans of the Lions were full of gloom.

What's wrong with the team?

The starting formation is conservative, and the playing style is also conservative, are you really afraid of the Ukrainian banba?

It wasn't until the twenty-sixth minute that Millwall came up with a threatening attack.

Schneider was involved in the attack on the wing, Ballack was in the middle of the attack, Nedved dropped back from the midfield position to respond, and the trio completed a series of passes in midfield before Schneider broke through the Kossovski defence on the wing.

But Schneider couldn't play the speed advantage today, he had the illusion that the Ukrainians on the opposite side were all faster than him, although he was not known for his speed, but when there was room to advance, he aimed at the opportunity to burst out and start to rush 30 meters, and there were not many people in the Premier League who could catch up with him, because the opponent had to turn around and start again.

But today, after he passed Kossovski, he was never able to distance himself from the opponent, and as a last resort, Schneider knocked the ball to Nedved again.

Nedved didn't stop the ball and made a straight pass through the Dynamo Kyiv line between Karadze and Vaschuk, cutting through the entire defence.

At the same time, Shevchenko, who entered the game the fastest today and played almost without any impact, slipped diagonally into the ribs and got the ball on the baseline, and when the entire back line of Dynamo Kyiv retreated to put pressure on him, Shevchenko put the ball back at the top of the box.

Larsson, who followed up, came out of the bag between Husin and Kadash and shot hard at the ball!

It was a great opportunity, but last season's European top scorer kicked it away.

Playing in this unaccustomed weather and on the field, Larsson also failed to play at his normal level, at least this kick, even if he is in poor form in the Premier League, can hit the goal.

Aldridge applauded his disciples from the sidelines, praising the attack and telling them not to be discouraged.

Jenson stood up and walked over to Aldridge after seeing this attack, and whispered, "Why don't you just let the players play like they did just now, it feels like it works." ”

Aldridge shook his head and said: "No, that's not our style, if we win this game, the players will include it in a tactical choice, I don't want that to happen, and besides, this tactic may not penetrate the defense of the top teams." ”

Jensen thought for a moment and didn't insist anymore, turning around and sitting back.

In fact, Millwall's sudden attack after maintaining possession of the ball for a long time just now is a bit similar to Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, patiently pouring his feet on the basis of ensuring possession.

This has very different effects on the morale and mentality of the two teams.

Millwall's players are in motion. The pace of thinking is getting faster and faster. And the midfielders of Dynamo Kyiv are scrambling. But once unsuccessful, twice unsuccessful, and after three unsuccessful times, they will gradually lose their minds, there will be loopholes in the defensive link, and the distance between them and teammates will also be opened in the uncool scramble, and the players on the back line have been "hypnotized".

They watched as the ball in front of them passed back and forth, from left to right, right to left. The players on this side couldn't touch the ball, and their surging fighting spirit was gradually consumed, and their bodies cooled down.

In such a situation, Millwall suddenly launches a wave of forward penetration, and the opponent will suddenly be exposed by the acceleration of the tempo.

Nedved's through ball just now was that if it was a high-speed game, how could Karadze and Vaschuk watch the ball roll between them, let alone Shevchenko's diagonal ribs to catch the ball, and Hrovka was at least two steps slower when they reacted. The defense line was full of holes, and in a hurry, they all rushed to Shevchenko. But he missed Larson, who followed up.

But such an offensive is based on a twenty-foot, thirty-foot pass, and Aldridge doesn't think it's a tactic that can be popularized or that the Wild Lions can now use it.

Possession and pressing alone are not enough to solve the problem.

The reason why Barcelona is brilliant is that there is a Messi who can break through anyone within one meter in a row with a combination of people and balls, and when the situation of Barcelona passing can not be threatened, Messi always stands up and solves the battle alone, and when Barcelona loses the key battle, the biggest problem is not whether they will pass the ball or whether they can control the ball, but Messi is not in the state, so whenever Barcelona loses, Messi is pointed out by Qianfu, which is very strange, because Messi is the offensive core, but not the tactical core, Probably because this tactic has achieved incomparable brilliance in the Spanish national team, the outside world will not question the tactics, but question Messi, who should have solved the battle alone.

Now Millwall does not have Messi in his prime, or a player who can compete with his breakthrough skills, Larsson is the core of the attack, because the passing threat ball gives him the best chance of scoring, but he does not have the ability to single-handedly challenge the opponent's entire defense, Aldridge can't let the team play this kind of ball-possession and pressing tactics, in case it encounters the world's world-level backline, it will look like a mad lion lacks skills.

Lobanovski got up from his seat and gave instructions to the players.

Tighten the midfield to press and not allow Millwall to be comfortable on the ball.

With the alarm bell sounded in the central defence of the previous attack, the players of Dynamo Kyiv no longer dared to take it lightly, and the frontcourt players pressed harder, and they were more adapted to today's game, and played better, which led to a fierce wrestling between the two teams in midfield.

The two teams lost the ball quickly, and Nedved retreated to respond to just make a connection with Ballack, but stopped the ball at his feet and tried to pass it again, but was cut off by Husin, who immediately went straight to Kossovski on the wing.

Kossovski, who switched to full-back from the back, made a stoppage and cut inside in front of Schneider when he touched the ball.

Schneider gritted his teeth and chased after him.

It's really strange today, facing top wide players of the level of Figo, McManaman, and Ryan Giggs, he can keep up with the opponent's rhythm on the premise of being based on defense, and the little-known Kossovsky can actually stop in front of him in one go, his mental consciousness is to keep up, but his body is just a beat slower.

Kossovski saw Berkovic being followed by Frank Lampard, and Rebrov did not run out of space, he chose to dribble the ball himself, and just took a step, Makelle killed, he hastily took the ball to the side, just in time Schneider squeezed out of position, and the attack failed.

Aldridge nodded quietly from the sidelines, and it was a successful team defence.

Millwall's three-man midfield configuration today can make up for the weakness of the player's declining individual performance.

As for how Millwall's offensive should be played, it largely depends on the offensive strategy of Dynamo Kyiv.

If the opposition wants to settle the battle with a small number of troops, as they did in the victory against Barcelona, then Millwall will not give them such a chance, because Millwall can let go of their body and forget about being the Premier League champions and do not mind playing more conservatively.

If Dynamo Kyiv is determined to win at home, it will have to commit troops in the attack.

In this way, the acceleration in the transition between attack and defense and finding the opponent's flaws are what Millwall is good at.

This is the case in football, where there are risks and opportunities, both offensive and defensive.

The first half ended in two parts, Millwall "dominated" the first 20 minutes of the ball, and the next 25 minutes, both sides spent all their energy fighting for the ball, threatening the attack only a handful, Kaladze's header and Larsson's shot were the best chances for both teams. (To be continued......)