The next day at Tranmere, Aldridge's side suffered their first league defeat!

Before coming, Aldridge and the entire coaching staff were in a very relaxed state of mind.

In the plan, from the second round to the eighth round of the league, that is, the seven matches before the FIFA match day, Aldridge aims to be unbeaten in at least seven games, and he will be satisfied with seven points in points.

In the last five league games, Millwall have won three and drawn two, and have achieved 11 points.

The most important thing is that in the first six rounds of the league, Millwall did not concede a goal, the team's defensive system framework has been successfully structured, and in this round of the substitute lineup, Aldridge does not pay attention to the result of the game, as long as the substitute players can be trained, can let him see the improvement of the players is enough.

However, in this round of away games, Millwall met the home dragon of League One: Tranmere.

Aldridge really missed his pre-season outlook.

He didn't regard Tranmere as a rushing opponent, but Tranmere showed a terrifying posture in the first six rounds of four home games this season, winning all four games!

Both away games were defeated.

Tranmere's fighting power at home made Aldridge quite fearful in the formation, and even he played a 4411 formation away from home, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer retreated as a second striker, the two wing-backs Beckham and Glen Schal were the first task to defend, Ballack was a central midfielder, and Vieira was behind.

It was such a defensive formation that faced the stormy Tranmere at home away from home.

Tranmere had 25 shots on goal and 10 were on target, with Millwall having less than half the number of shots on goal.

The final result was 2:1, Millwall suffered their first league defeat!

Aldrich was not disappointed, but felt that it was expected.

To be fair, Glen Shire, Zambrotta, Ballack, David Beckham, Neville, Patrick Vieira and even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Bout didn't have much professional league experience before this year.

If a group of lads with talent and no experience can play against the League One home dragons, then the professional league is too unchallenging.

The two consecutive wins in the League Cup are all due to the opponent's lack of attention, including the opponent's lack of full play, Millwall's home advantage and so on.

With only one goal away to Tranmere, Aldridge felt that the purpose of training had been achieved, allowing the players to feel the atmosphere of the game, familiarize themselves with the rhythm of the game, and gain valuable experience despite the loss.

However, after the game, the visiting team's dressing room was smashed by Materazzi

Wearing the captain's armband for the first time to play, but in the end failed to win, and even did not get a draw, the grumpy Materazzi did not blame his teammates, but he was very unwilling, and returned to the dressing room after the game and couldn't help but turn the already humble away dressing room into ruins.

Aldridge gave a post-match interview in the mixed zone, and the reporters who watched the show tried to make it difficult for him.

"Millwall came here on the bench to challenge Tranmere, is it underestimated? Is it that the unbeaten streak in the first six rounds makes you think you can easily win all the games? ”

'Tranmere accused Millwall of a dirty style of play and Materazzi deserved to be sent off in the first half, do you agree?'

After the loss, Aldridge did not get angry in the face of the reporters' down-and-down interviews, but only smiled and said that Tranmere is very strong at home and is the best team in League One at home.

He didn't say anything about his own team, but he replied nonchalantly about whether Materazzi should be sent off for his ferocious defensive actions in the game: "This is England, I think Materazzi's performance meets the standards of an England defender, if every action he makes is a foul, then the Premier League centre-back can only play a dozen times a season, and the rest of the time should be suspended." ”

The reporters who added fuel to the fire did not annoy Aldridge, and even after the loss, he maintained his demeanor.

How else could it be?

If you lose the ball and lose face and bearing, Aldrich will not do such a loss-making business.

After a hurried interview, he returned to the visiting dressing room to lead the team away, only Aldridge found that the players and coaches had left, leaving Materazzi alone on the bench in a daze.

Looking at the smashed doors and debris of wooden planks in the visitors' dressing room, Aldridge slowly walked over and sat down next to Materazzi.

He did well today, which Aldridge recognized.

Repeatedly being beaten through the defensive line by Tranmere, mostly from the flanks of Neville and Zambrotta, coupled with the reduced intensity of interceptions at the back, the responsibility for the backline to fall into passivity is not on the two central defenders.

"Lost, unhappy?"

"Should you be happy?"

Materazzi's face was unwilling, and his voice was very low.

Aldrich said softly, "I'm very happy. Because I saw the results of these two months of training, Marko, your performance today, I give you a nine, a perfect ten. It's professional football, not a game, and you can't expect a team with an average age of less than 20 to become invincible in less than three months of formation. On the way to becoming the best team, there will be failures, but as long as every failure is a better failure, then it means that we are improving. ”

Materazzi felt a little better and nodded slightly.

"I know the reason why you are unhappy, losing is part of it, and part of it is self-esteem and face, after all, you are the captain. However, if you are the captain, you can't be so depressed, you have to keep your chest up, and you have to tell your teammates with your actions: today we lost, we didn't lose unjustly, but next time, we will win with dignity. ”

Aldridge's tone is understated, not at all coaching, more like chatting with friends, enlightening and persuading Materazzi.

Materazzi sneered, turned his head to look at Aldrich and asked, "Boss, I'm nine points today, what about the others?" ”

Aldridge pouted: "Richards has eight points, Bout has nine points, two forwards have seven points, two fullbacks have six points, two midfielders have seven points, and two fullbacks have seven points. ”

With the exception of David Beckham and Glen Shire's performances, Aldridge's progress has been so obvious that it is understandable that Aldridge would give a slightly better assessment.

Materazzi spread his hands and said, "Aren't you happy, boss?" Why does no one get a perfect score? ”

Aldridge stood up and stretched, looked back and smiled slyly: "I'll only tell you one person, no one will ever get a perfect score from me, which means that I will never be satisfied with your performance, you still have room for improvement, there will always be, for a perfect score, no matter how good the performance is, it is better to continue to cheer me on." ”

Materazzi's eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Are you a fox?" ”

Aldridge smiled and waved his hand: "It doesn't matter what I am, the key is what you are, I hope you are like the lion on the Millwall team emblem!" Okay, don't, get up, go, do you still want to live here? ”

Materazzi grabbed his coat and put it on his body, and before walking out the door, he hesitantly glanced at the messy dressing room of the visiting team, and the staff outside the door Tranmere stared at him with very gloomy eyes.

"Boss, this?"

Aldridge waved his hand without looking back, and said: "Don't worry, if Tranmere wants compensation, wait for them to fax the compensation list to the club, hundreds of thousands of pounds, deducted from your weekly salary, we are all gentlemen, if you smash it, you will smash it, and if you lose some money, don't worry." ”

Materazzi smiled when he heard this, and raised an eyebrow with interest at the staff of the Tranmere Club who were blushing and thick-necked in the hallway.

Tranmere's club staff have crooked noses!

-!

Seeing that the young marshal in a suit and leather shoes looked like a Sven, I didn't expect that wow, I didn't expect that he would condone the players to smash the visiting team's locker room!

Above board scoundrels!

They were more torn over whether to fax a list of compensation to Millwall.

A door to the away team's dressing room plus cabinets and chairs isn't worth a lot of money.

Do you really want to ask for a few hundred pounds?

Who the hell is stingy?

And whose ones will he lose?

Alas!

Several staff members watched Materazzi and Aldrich leave, and said in unison: Get out!

Boarding the departing bus, Materazzi apologized to his teammates in public, his behavior in the locker room was a bit excessive, and those who didn't know him probably thought he was dissatisfied with his teammates.

Aldridge didn't take the matter to his heart, and when he got on the bus, he applauded the players, saying that they were satisfied with their performance today.

Losing is not a big deal, and losing does not have to be a scolding player.

They're on the road to progress, and no one is lazy or tactically bad on the field, and that's enough.

Back in East London, Aldridge put the defeat behind him and moved on to the next round of fixtures, hosting Burnley.