169 A Hundred Years of Shame
Most of the stands at Old Trafford were silent, except for the visiting Millwall fans chanting the anthem.
Still, more Red Devils fans are comforting themselves with optimism.
"It's nothing, it's nothing, it's just two goals behind, and last year it was two goals back."
Yes, most fans felt that today's game was a lot like a remake of last year, with Millwall scoring two goals and a 5-5 draw at the end.
Anyway, it's not time for despair.
But Aldridge is determined to make the Red Devils desperate today!
Take advantage of your illness to kill you!
He doesn't care about the poor state of Manchester United's players, physical problems, consecutive defeats, and the main team not being able to play.
He wants a win and three points first, and secondly, he can't keep a two-goal advantage if he can score three for Manchester United.
Millwall is going to blow a storm through England, and the wild lion is going to step on the corpses of all the great families to ascend to the throne!
'Manchester United are in a very bad situation, they can't control the game, Paul Scholes, the young man who is expected to be Cantona's successor, is a clear physical disadvantage, then again, even if Cantona is on the pitch, what about it? He himself admitted in an interview last month that he had a problem, and he couldn't find the reason for his bad state. ”
United showed fatigue from the start, their off-ball runs dropped significantly, which led directly to their attacking players being targeted to death, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer worked hard today, but what was the use of running open on Schneider's side? No one could pass the ball to him accurately, he didn't even get a chance to play.
Alex Ferguson's character, Manchester United's heritage. The bloody nature of the Red Devils. This makes it impossible for them to have the idea that a small team loses less and wins. The strong are not afraid of failure, they are afraid that they do not have the heart to win, and they are afraid that they do not even have the courage to struggle and resist!
As a result, Manchester United began to fight back frantically, while Millwall was very calm, especially when Manchester United's running momentum was not enough, and Nedved's undead iron man was even more eye-catching, and he actively participated in the defense. It also makes up for Pirlo's defensive holes, and with Makelele, even if Keane and Bart are involved in the attack, they can't do anything in the middle.
The full-backs also attacked boldly, and United managed to create chances, but David Beckham played erratically and slotted the ball off the line.
Bout quickly picked up the ball and threw it directly to his compatriot Schneider, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer turned around and ran to the back without thinking, knowing better than anyone how quickly Millwall were switching from defence to attack.
But his legs clearly couldn't outrun the speed of the ball.
Erwin had an assist and Shevchenko, who was defending him, rushed forward after the attack was complete, leaving him far behind. Schneider's long pass over the top arrived as scheduled, and Manchester United, who was empty in the back, immediately realized what it means to be overwhelmed!
Larson. Trezeguet, Shevchenko, and the undead Nedved all four sprinted together, leaving Manchester United with two centre-backs at the back, and they had to retreat to the penalty area in a hurry.
Shevchenko caught up with the ball and made a slight adjustment to cross the middle, May went to defend Trezeguet, but the opponent missed the ball, and Larsson on the left flank took the ball and gently returned it to the top of the box.
The ball rolled slowly, and Nedved didn't need to adjust, and it was a blast to meet the ball.
Schmeichel flew out but couldn't touch the ball, not the angle, but the speed, the ball was so fast that by the time Schmeichel made a move, the ball had already crossed the goal line.
"The ball is in again! Millwall had a three-goal lead and I felt there was no suspense in the game, even though there were 50 minutes left. Nedved's long-range shot was a beautiful one, Keane and Bart couldn't keep up with Nedved's rhythm today, he kept running at high speed, running at high speed, running at high speed, when did he know when he was tired?! Millwall's god of war leads the Wild Lion to become stronger every day! The Czech, who shone at the European Championships in the summer, is undoubtedly already Millwall's number one star! He is also one of the best stars in the Premier League! ”
Nedved ran to the visitors' stands after scoring and clenched his fists in a growling expression.
The Lions fans cheered him on with excitement, and some fans even tried to climb over the stands to hug Nedved, but were stopped by the stadium staff.
Aldridge tilted his head on the sidelines, closed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth rose, one hand in his pocket, the other hand clenched his fist and kept swinging slightly, and the other coaches rushed out to celebrate Nedved with his arms raised, Ballack even rushed out and threw away his jersey and jumped high to look extremely excited, in the team, Nedved is the person Ballack admires the most, and he also strives to make himself a giant like Nedved who has a tough style of play and can't die.
Ferguson's face was grim, he knew he couldn't let his players behave like this, with less than ten minutes to go until the end of the first half, he had to stabilize his team first, and if he conceded another goal, he was afraid that everything would be over.
He gestured to calm down the players, to avoid conceding again, and then to make adjustments at half-time.
It was intended to use the configuration of two midfielders to completely freeze Nedved, but the insightful Ferguson found that Nedved's playmaking role had been weakened, the young Italian was inconspicuous on the field, but under the protection of Makelele, he handled the ball very easily and calmly, Scholes was dizzy, Cole retreated too deeply, and at the same time reduced the attacking threat of Manchester United.
United didn't concede another goal in the last few minutes of the first half, but before walking into the dressing room, the players looked frustrated and out of breath and tired.
United made a change in the second half.
Ferguson let Keane go up, or at least he went to steal Pirlo, which would certainly be a landslide victory, and it would also allow Scholes to have a point of contact when switching from defense to attack, and expand the space to play.
Aldridge smiled vaguely when he saw the change in Manchester United's tactics on the pitch.
Millwall asked Pirlo to play behind the organization, but it doesn't mean that Nedved can't organize!
Come and grab Pirlo, better yet, lure the snake out of the hole. Now it's all right. Pirlo has become a cover for Nedved!
Keane ran wide in midfield in an attempt to limit Pirlo. However, Pirlo gave up too much control of the ball when he saw that the situation was not good, and took the ball with his back to pass the ball to his teammates, and even his teammates consciously did not pass the ball to him, but through the transition from the wing, Nedved had more room to move up front.
Schneider received a cross from Makelele and dribbled forward, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer chased after him, and Schneider made a quick stop halfway through the game, keeping the ball at his feet and not moving forward. Then easily passed the ball to the middle, Nedved took the initiative to run over to get the ball, the speed had already risen, he leaned forward to make a movement to catch the ball, and the center of gravity of Bart who followed him also moved forward, but Nedved did not catch the ball, but followed the trajectory of the ball to complete the turn, Bart's center of gravity was deceived, and Nedved's explosive acceleration made him directly shaken.
Dribbling the ball from the middle towards Manchester United's penalty area. May and Pallister are clearly passive.
Larsson and Shevchenko cut inside the ribs of the penalty area without the ball. Coupled with the harassment of Trezeguet in the middle, the United defence is shaky.
Nedved made a long-range feint, when Pallister moved slightly to block, Nedved faked the ball into the box, the ball rolled past Palister and penetrated the defence, Shevchenko did not take credit for the ball this time, but crossed the ball after Schmeichel's attack, Trezeguet fell directly to the ground under the interference of May, and the ball was knocked into the goal by his foot.
"Four to zero! It was Millwall's 18th shot of the game and United were unable to resist it, and Trezeguet also scored, and he owes Shevchenko to the goal for the Ukrainian's selflessly passing the ball and adding an assist to his own book. Manchester United looked helpless and had no idea how to contain Millwall's attack. Andy, what do you think? I don't think Manchester United will be able to turn the tables in this game, but how Millwall should contain it may not only be a headache for Ferguson, but also a question for all Premier League teams to think calmly. ”
"Martin, I just want to say that England has a tactical genius! Aldridge Hall was not blinded by the success of Millwall's previous two seasons, and his team also encountered the same attacking problems that most teams in this era encountered, and we all knew that Nedved was the attacking heart of Millwall's attack, and he would organize the attack, scoring goals or assists was not his main task, but like many strong teams, what to do when their frontcourt core is completely frozen? In England, we'll see frequent crosses from the wings, and in Italy, we'll see superstars showing their ability, but Millwall completely turned the situation around tactically, Pirlo is Millwall's invisible commander on the field, he is the initial source of Millwall's attack, he has a relaxed environment to observe the situation on the field, decide where to pass the ball to attack, although he doesn't directly assist or score, but most of Millwall's goals come from his initial instigation, Ferguson obviously found this, Manchester United wanted to limit Nedved in the first half, but found that they were targeting the wrong person, and when Manchester United corrected the problem in the second half, Keane went to limit Pirlo, but Nedved beat Bart in a one-on-one duel, thus unleashing his power again, Millwall's combination of ideas one after the other was originally a paradox, a tactic that England's traditional 442 formation could not do. ”
"For what?"
'Because you can't put another Gascoigne behind him, once you concede the ball in central midfield, there's a big problem in defence, and Keane made a steal for Pirlo in the second half, so what's next? Keane passes the ball forward and Makelele makes a successful interception. The biggest feature of Hall's tactics is that the midfield also creates space for Pirlo to make mistakes, and his mistakes are protected by Makelele, the risk is minimized, and when Pirlo is fully developed in the future, he is calmer, more composed, and makes fewer mistakes, then Millwall's attacking threat is even more limitless. ”
"I think Hall's transformation of the forward line is the most successful, in the past we saw most of the strikers who stood in a dead position and started to create chances, now, even in the case of equal numbers, Millwall's two wingers will cut into the box from the wing at high speed when they hit a fatal blow, forming a direct threat to the goal, and at the same time catching the defenders off guard, and Larsson and Shevchenko are so fast, I don't think many defenders can turn around and catch up. I'm afraid that only Italy's top defenders can limit this tactic if they are accurately predicted. ”
"The key point is not how the striker runs, but the timing of the pass, Millwall is doing this well to play a very efficient attack, which is also very demanding for the player's ability, the passer must be able to master the best timing, the striker must have a tacit understanding of the run, this is not an ordinary team wants to imitate and copy, at least, I think Millwall's group of players are all talented, the most curious thing is whether they are talented in their own right, or Hall has the magic to make them different."
Ferguson's nose is frighteningly red, and he feels that Millwall today has changed drastically from last season.
Millwall, who scored five goals at Old Trafford last season, relied more on individual performances, and although there were tactical highlights, it was more on top performances from their players.
But today's Millwall completely destroyed Manchester United, who were out of form.
But even Manchester United, who are in normal form, Ferguson does not dare to pack a ticket to absolutely suppress Millwall.
Not to mention how Manchester United can break Millwall's overall defensive system, at least how Manchester United can defend Millwall is a big problem.
Aldridge has built this team into a team with too strong passing ability, and at the same time there is no lack of physical confrontation, except for Pirlo who is a little soft, the other players, all of them are tough guys, especially the front three, Larsson and Shevchenko have speed, Trezeguet has the body, this rib diagonal way of breaking the goal is unguardable.
Ferguson let the midfielders shrink and change the formation to 4411, Cole was in front, behind Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a small diamond midfielder, Keane went back to defend, Butt, Scholes, Beckham trio sandwiched Pirlo and Makelele, and the wings were pulled apart when attacking.
Aldridge noticed that United were starting to squeeze down the central defence, gesturing from the sidelines, and the players on the pitch understood it.
His 433 is more flexible than 442 in that he doesn't need to change the position of the formation to shift the center of gravity of the attack.
In the following moments, Pirlo and Nedved attracted defensive pressure in midfield, while Schneider and Capdevilla assisted to link up with the wingers to completely blow up United's wide defence!
Especially in the second half of the game, the Manchester United players went crazy to no avail, and their fitness problems were the first to occur.
Schneider got down and dribbled into the box, then unexpectedly crossed with a powerful cross that hit Keane's leg and bounced straight into the United goal.
Self-posing oolong!
At the end of the game, Larsson took the ball on the left side in front of the penalty area and dribbled horizontally and then kicked the world to lock the score at a bloody 0:6.
Old Trafford falls!
Conceded 17 goals in three rounds of the Premier League, a hundred years of shame!
And the home defeat will remain in the memory for a long time.
Millwall have won 10 consecutive league games and are 12 points ahead of defending champions Manchester United after 12 league games! (To be continued......)