In Aldridge's mind, the whole idea of building a team is similar to eating.

The first is to eat a buffet, you can eat whatever you want, buy a wing strongman if you need to fly with both wings, and if you want to play defensive counterattacks, you have to buy players with fast counter-attacking speed, etc., which are all designed by the manager as he wants.

The second is to look at the food under the tailor-made, what kind of cards in the hand, it is necessary to use the most appropriate way to play to maximize the power of this deck, tactically simpler, put the players in their hands one by one in line with their characteristics and good at the position, and so on one by one, the framework of the tactical formation is almost formed, but the limitations are bound to be great.

Middlesbrough's tactical formation is the second.

In the 10th round of League One, Aldridge's team will travel to North Yorkshire to challenge Middlesbrough, who are second in the league!

Aldridge was very serious in the pre-match preparation meeting, and the entire coaching staff agreed: The most important game in the 46 rounds of the league is this game!

This season, Middlesbrough have changed their president and manager, in a similar situation to Millwall, while Middlesbrough has adopted a new coach who is former Manchester United captain Brian Robson and is in charge of the team as a player-coach.

With Brian's prestige and Clayton Blackmore, who moved to Middlesbrough from Manchester United with him, in the dressing room, Middlesbrough have made a surprisingly smooth transition in this turbulent summer, and with little to no run-in period, Middlesbrough have become the favourites to win League One!

In the first nine rounds of the league, Millwall won six, drew two and lost one, accumulating 20 points.

Middlesbrough also have six wins, two draws and one defeat, and are the same number of points as Millwall, but they are second on goal difference.

In the eyes of outside football critics, although Millwall is now at the top of the table, the team is too young will be an unstable factor, on the other hand, Middlesbrough is a mature team with an average age of about 25 years old, the oldest on the pitch is striker Hendry and defender Pearson is 30 years old, followed by former Manchester United meritorious player Blackmore 29 years old, it can be said that Middlesbrough has a very mature central axis, which is essential for the stability of the whole season.

Another factor that makes Middlesbrough the favourites to win the title is their tactical formation.

Defensive: 532.

This formation is also used by one team in the Premier League, George Graham's Arsenal, an extremely utilitarian and passive tactic that can make the game extremely boring for the sake of points!

Aldridge believes that Millwall is barefoot now, Middlesbrough is shoeed, and there is no need to be afraid of the other party.

However, the result of this game is significant for the young team.

If you lose, then the barefoot will be afraid of wearing shoes.

You can't let the team think they deserve to lose.

As a result, he was extraordinarily meticulous in laying out his tactics.

"The opposing John Hendry is thirty years old, but he is a pure goalscorer, this kind of player may not see him a few times for the full 90 minutes of the game, but maybe give him a minute of highlight, he will rewrite the game, pay extra attention to his marking, he is partnered in the front line is 20-year-old Graham Kavanagh, this player has very obvious characteristics, it can even be said that he is a defensive striker, he will harass our back line by running aggressively in the front, it should be noted that, His header was excellent and his creativity after the ball was not to be underestimated, so he must be cut off from Hendry. ”

In the pre-match preparation meeting before departure, Aldridge laid out tactics on the tactical board, and in the defensive arrangement for the opponent, the first thing was naturally the characteristics of the opponent's two forwards to analyze and defend the strategy.

The players listened very carefully, and everyone knew the significance of the next league game, which was the real battle for the top spot!

The following day, Aldridge led the team to North Yorkshire, where they gave pre-match interviews here at Middlesbrough before the afternoon game.

Because it was the battle for the top spot, this league game was put on the evening, also for the sake of ratings.

Sitting in the press conference hall, Aldrich looked at the reporters in front of him with more than 20 media representatives, and several of them were still very impressed.

That's a big change from what it was before League One kicked off two months ago.

Young reporters from The Sun and the Daily Mail were also thrilled to see Aldrich.

Aldrich greeted the reporters with a smile before they began to ask questions.

"Thomson, Richard, are you still interns?"

Thomson, who represented The Sun, looked a little embarrassed, smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

Obviously, he has turned positive.

It's just that his face is still a little tender, after interviewing Aldrich two months ago, he gave his own manuscript to the newspaper editor for review, and was finally changed beyond recognition by the editor, and the article that appeared in the newspaper the next day also changed Aldridge from Thomson's inspirational young marshal to a playboy who treats the club as a toy.

Thomson, who still has professional ethics, feels guilty, but fortunately, Aldridge doesn't take it to heart.

Richard looked much more sophisticated, and opened his mouth and smiled: "Thanks to you, I have been officially hired by the Daily Mail, hehe." ”

Aldrich held his chin and asked curiously, "Does it have anything to do with me?" ”

Richard said proudly: "Of course, I have been tracking Millwall, in the past two months, Millwall has surprised everyone, hehe, Mr. Hall, I have long known that I have been paying attention to you, and I can't lose my job." ”

Richard raised an eyebrow at his peers, much to the scoffing of reporters from the major newspapers The Times and The Guardian.

Richard had just started his career at a young age, but he was not afraid of a newborn calf, and others disdained him, and he used reflex skills to reciprocate with contemptuous sneers.

Now that Millwall's strong momentum is attracting attention, and the reporters of the major newspapers are also coming here to run the news, Richard is very proud, and feels that he has been following Millwall all the time, which can be regarded as prescient

"There are so many media friends here today, so let's have a question for each person, try to be as short as possible, and it should be related to the game, I refuse to answer the other questions, let's start, Richard, what do you want to know?"

Aldrich sat up straight, his expression always mildly smiling.

Richard also straightened his waist and asked loudly: "Mr. Hall, before the season, you said that Millwall's goal this season is relegation, but nine rounds of the league have passed, your team is at the top of the League One table, and the team's excellent performance is obvious to all, it can be said that the main squad has played eight games, you have set a record of zero goals conceded, and only conceded two goals in nine games, second only to Wolves in League One in terms of goals, now, what kind of goals does your team have?" ”

This is a question that other reporters are also concerned about, in fact, just looking at the strength on paper, outside critics do not think that Millwall is particularly strong, because many players are new faces, and it is still a question whether they can maintain a stable and excellent performance.

But will the thrill of victory brought by successive victories overwhelm the mind of the young marshal Millwall?

Aldridge touched his head and smiled bitterly: "It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the next game." Well, Millwall's goal this season is relatively simple, which is to develop players, I don't change what I said before the season, this is a young team with unlimited potential, I don't care about overnight wins and losses, I don't stare at the standings every day, as long as my team is improving every game, I will be satisfied, if I still say that the goal this season is relegation, you will definitely call me hypocrisy. ”

Hehehehehe.

The reporters present all smiled tacitly.

In League One, because there are many teams and many rounds, the relegation line is roughly around 50 points.

Aldridge's side, on the other hand, have picked up 20 points after just nine league games, and even if they put a bus in front of goal, they will easily avoid relegation in the remaining 37 rounds

Aldridge spread his palms and said helplessly: "Because the Premier League has reduced the team this season, everyone knows that if you want to be promoted, you can only win the League One championship and pass the play-offs, and the competition will be more cruel and fierce than in previous years, so it's too early to talk about the goal in the standings, I only focus on the next game, one game at a time, what will be the final result, time will give us the answer." ”

The reporters were a little distracted, and they naturally wanted to hear Aldrich's rhetoric so that they could write about it, and this kind of low-key and pragmatic argument really had nothing to attract attention.

While Aldridge is telling the truth, it's a bit early to talk about the standings, with the top teams dropping into the middle of the table or even the bottom of the table if they lose just two games.

Thomson raised his hand and asked: "Mr. Hall, Middlesbrough manager Mr Robson was asked what he thought of you in the previous press conference, he said that as a manager, you have a good start, Millwall ushered in a new era in your hands, expressed respect for you, and said that Middlesbrough should not take the young Millwall lightly, and other teams in League One should also value Millwall's existence, what do you think about this?" What do you think of Mr. Brian Robson? ”

Aldridge lowered his eyebrows and groaned for a moment, although at first glance Brian Robson didn't say anything bad, but in fact it was just psychological warfare, nothing more than to make Millwall the target of the League One, this kind of trick, it seems that Brian Robson is copying Ferguson's set.

To be sure, Aldridge's coaching career started at the same time as Brian Robson, who has only been in charge as a player-coach this season.

'All I can say is that Mr Robson has studied Millwall in depth and I would have liked every opponent in League One to look down on us and put all the main players on the bench when we played, hehe.

Hearing Aldrich's straightforward words, the audience burst into laughter again.

Despise Millwall?

The teams that had previously underestimated them were largely crippled by Millwall's efficient defensive counter-attacks, and only pragmatic teams like Bolton Wanderers and Reading took points from Millwall.

'Mr Brian Robson is an awe-inspiring man and it's not my turn to judge his coaching ability, Middlesbrough's results over the last two months speak for themselves, they are favourites compared to Millwall, and teams looking to make it to the Premier League will definitely want to beat their direct rivals with a win over Middlesbrough.'

Aldridge's words were not a compliment, Brian Robson was not only a fantastic captain in English football in the 80s, but also a natural leader, and it was this temperament that made him quickly make the team full of cohesion and fighting power after taking charge of Middlesbrough.

But coaching a team and being the captain of a team are two different things, and the limits of a manager's achievements are not determined only by mental attributes.

Aldridge can't make a grudge against Bryan Robson, and it is enough to realistically emphasise that the other side is the favorite to win the title, even if other teams play Millwall with a lot of spirit, at least Middlesbrough don't want to take advantage of it.

Aldrich was free-talking, occasionally joking, and funny, and the press conference ended in a cheerful atmosphere.