18 August 1995.

After noon, the west part of the city becomes bustling with people, and if you look down from the air, you can see the direction of the crowds, and it is a modern stadium.

Theatre of Dreams: Old Trafford!

A blue lion on its body drove slowly towards Old Trafford, no doubt the same one Millwall had taken when it arrived in Manchester.

Aldridge signed a contract with the car rental company from the beginning of the new season, and the away games outside London in the United Kingdom, the buses in which Aldridge's team traveled, must carry the Millwall team logo, telling everyone in a high-profile manner: Millwall is coming!

Putting no stone unturned in publicity is a must for the club to raise its profile, and car hire companies are happy to provide such a service, as long as it is a game around Greater Manchester, they will take on big customers such as Millwall, not to mention the ability to connect with fan groups and enhance the company's brand.

After more than 20 days of summer training, Aldridge's team is ready to go, ready for all the preparations for the new season, the players have gradually entered the state of play from the state of leisure during the holiday, before the start of the season, Millwall played five warm-up games, all of which were English football opponents, three of the four teams relegated from the Premier League last year, plus two League One teams that failed to be promoted last year, all were away games, Millwall warm-up games only achieved four draws and one loss. In the analysis and prediction of the major media in the pre-season tour of the Premier League, Millwall's poor performance in the pre-season warm-up may make their relegation prospects very unoptimistic.

If they don't adapt to the Premier League sooner, they may have been left far behind by their relegation rivals by the time they can establish themselves in the Premier League.

Aldridge does not have any requirements for the warm-up game, the warm-up is to let the players adjust their physical condition, rather than have to fight hard to win.

In each of the five warm-up games, he rotated the whole team in the first and second halves, and it is understandable that the results are poor.

As the bus drove to the outskirts of Old Trafford, Aldridge, like everyone else in the bus, couldn't help but cast his eyes out the window and gaze at the magnificent modern stadium not far away.

Outside the stadium, there are crowds of fans wearing Red Devils jerseys, they take pictures, talk, laugh, eat, drink, frolic and don't care who today's opponent is, and the lazy enjoyment that is invisibly revealed is the pride of Manchester United from the bottom of their hearts and their contempt for any opponent.

Players like Nedved, Southgate and others couldn't help but be fascinated when they looked out the window at the stadium not far away.

Is this Old Trafford?

Carrying the legend of generations of Red Devils, Dream Theater!

Aldridge retracted his gaze and said that it was self-deception not to envy, and that there were so many teams in the world that envied Manchester United, and there was no need to pretend that their own kennel was better than Manchester United's golden nest.

It doesn't matter, everything will be there.

That's what drives the team and himself.

Received by Manchester United club officials, the entire Millwall crew on the trip to Manchester got out of the car and went to the dressing room.

With some time to go before the game, the players would change into their shirts and warm up off the pitch, while Aldridge took a casual tour of the club.

After the warm-up time, the squad returned to the dressing room, where they could even hear the tsunami of Old Trafford cheering on the crowd before the doors closed, and the Old Trafford anthem was playing in the stadium as loud as the fans.

When everything was silent, Aldridge stood in front of an empty tactical board, which he never took out before the game to write and draw, only when the midfield needed to adjust.

The starting eleven had already changed their jerseys, and the substitutes were sitting in the dressing room in their jackets, waiting for Aldridge's most pre-match instructions.

"Where are we?"

Aldridge asked with his chin slightly raised.

The players looked at each other, and Larsson shrugged: "Old Trafford." ”

"That's right, we're at Old Trafford and we're here today to take on the most high-profile team in the whole of England: Manchester United. Perhaps, compared to the trophy, they are not as good as Liverpool, but in England, Manchester United is like a favored child, from the royal family to the fans, Manchester United receives the most attention. When you come out on the pitch, you can observe the look of the Manchester United players, they are arrogant, they have an air of domineering, especially at Old Trafford. I, Aldridge Hall, today is my first Premier League game in charge and the first Premier League game of your life, tell me, tell me out loud, when we come to Old Trafford, when we come to the Theatre of Dreams, when our opponents are Manchester United, will we just come for tours? Will we be the background? Will we be dismissed by Manchester United tomorrow? ”

Aldrich's face was a little hideous, not hysterical, but there was a deep anger in his words.

"No!"

The whole team shouted loudly in unison.

Aldridge nodded and said in a deep voice: "Remember that our opponent is Manchester United, remember that this is our dream theater, remember that today will be our moment to make a name for yourself in the world!" Tell the arrogant Manchester United, Old Trafford, we love it here! Because here we will take away the victory! This is you, this is me, the big day of my life! Let's go, crush them, and trample Manchester United under my feet without a shred of mercy! Lions of Millwall, run! ”

With a wave of his hand, the whole Millwall team was in high spirits, and as if murderous, they opened the door of the locker room and walked out.

The coaching staff and other players looked at each other and smiled, they were used to Aldrich's inspiring passion, but every experience would be a shock from the bottom of their hearts, and if they could get on the pitch and play, they would forget everything and go for it!

Old Trafford has been remodeled several times over the past 100 years, and the Ferguson era has left his mark on the transformation of this special stadium.

One of the biggest changes is to rebuild the player tunnel on the top side of the corner flag of the stadium, such a change will be able to give full play to the home advantage, whether it is out or out, halftime and other moments, the home and away players and referees will pass here, even the away team manager, you have to walk dozens of meters from the sidelines to enter the players' tunnel, so that the Manchester United fans on the sidelines can collectively put pressure on the players, coaches, and even the referee!

The substitutes and first-team coaches were already out of the picture, with Aldridge at the bottom and the starting line-ups waiting to come on, and they were really looking at United's starters, as Aldridge said, with their heads held high and their eyebrows in their hands on the look, very different from their opponents.

It's a temperament that has been cultivated over a long period of time at Manchester United, not innate, but enough to last a lifetime.

Ferguson also appeared to have been delayed for some time, as the two managers met in the tunnel, and the two went around the players before meeting outside the tunnel.

Ferguson walked up to Aldridge with a smile on his face, and the two walked side by side to the sidelines to the dugout.

"The boys at Millwall today are very scrappy."

"There's no way, the relegation team, the strength is not good, and if you lose the momentum, then you really have to go back to the League One next year."

Aldrich replied with a smile.

The fans on the sidelines cheered Ferguson's name, but Ferguson turned his head to Aldridge and smiled: "I think Millwall can be in the top ten this season, and relegation will definitely be fine." ”

"I hope so, hehe."

"Have a drink after the game?"

"Then Manchester United must be merciful, otherwise we will lose badly, and I will be very poor in wine."

"Hahaha, Aldrich, did someone say you're a little fox?"

Aldrich raised his eyebrows with a smile and didn't say anything more.

Ferguson tapped him on the shoulder, then raised his hands and applauded as he walked into the home team's dugout.

The Old Trafford dugout is peculiar in that it is not set up on the sidelines, but is part of the stands.

Aldridge didn't walk up to the visitors' dugout, he stood on the sidelines, his hands in his pockets and stared at the pitch, waiting for the game to begin.

The three stands were shrouded in a sea of red on the southwest, north and south, and the visiting fans were placed in the east stands, which formed an east-west opposition to the traditional Manchester United fan base, and also for safety reasons, separating the team's die-hard fans as far as possible.

The Roar Supporters Group travelled to Old Trafford, and now more than 1,000 visitors have used Millwall's traditional dark blue jersey in the East Stand to create a small, delicate but meaningful image: a blue lion with teeth and claws, which is Millwall's crest!

In the East Stand near the stadium, two beautiful women in their prime sat there, Melanie looked at Aldrich's position with binoculars in her hand, and saw him standing indifferently with his hands in his pockets, she pouted and said, "Hmph, it's cool!" ”

Victoria looked around boredly, and she seemed so distracted that she could only talk to Melanie about her relationship with Aldrich.