What is Van Gaal's place in Aldridge's heart?

To use a more popular word to describe it: awesome!

This kind of "awesome" evaluation and admiration is not the star-chasing mentality from the perspective of spectators, but Aldridge's learning how to be an excellent head coach on the road, treating the other party as a living teaching material!

At one time, he spent the longest time in the Netherlands, because in addition to observing Ajax's training and games first-hand, he also repeatedly studied more than 200 Ajax match footage from the Van Gaal era.

Van Gaal's Ajax has been upgraded on the basis of the traditional 433, establishing a system of large diamonds and small triangles, and the tactical advantage is clear at a glance with a three-dimensional front connection.

Ajax also has a number four under him, but it's very different from the quarterback in rugby and the number four in Barcelona.

Ajax's number four position is played by a defender or midfielder who can attack and defend, and when defending, the number four position is a defender, and when attacking, the number four position is a midfielder, and the formation has changed from 433 to 343.

Van Gaal put forward the idea of the retreat of the core of the organization in the early nineties, and it is more daring than Cruyff's theory of the core of the midfield, using the central defender to organize the attack!

At that time, Ajax's formation on the field had four large diamonds, and countless small triangles, including the goalkeeper, all became passing points, and they dominated the game through passing, and one player could not be allowed to hold the ball too much and deviate from the tactical system.

In light of this, it's not hard to understand why Louis van Gaal and Rivaldo are at odds, with the more free-play superstars they have. The more he is not tolerated by Van Gaal. At this point. Aldridge thinks Van Gaal is right because he is also a manager and he also does not allow players to undermine the team's tactical system.

Less than half a year after taking charge of Barcelona, what has Van Gaal's transformation of Barcelona been?

At the very least, he didn't dare to let the team play 343 against Millwall.

In the thirteenth minute of the game, Van Gaal got up and gave orders to the Barcelona players, and they were about to start putting pressure on them in an all-round way!

Soon, Aldridge saw that Barcelona's hierarchy in attack was becoming clearer and clearer, and the triangle system in a small area was clear at a glance. They want to wear down their opponents' energy with this close-knit passing, while also looking to tear open up gaps in the defence.

But every time they hit the depths, the offense came to an end.

Millwall defended with at least four defenders and three midfielders dropping back, and the wingers would also press the full-backs and harass the opposition with the ball.

This tactic is already oppressive, and as soon as Millwall's defensive formation shrinks, the opponent's back and forth passes on the outside are just useless.

As a result, the stars began to play to their abilities, Figo was bravely tackled head-on by Elgra on the wing, and Schneider took the ball to observe the situation ahead. He then passed the ball to Nedved, who was running to pick up.

The Czech passed the ball to Ballack in the back before Pep Guardiola could come up and press.

Louis van Gaal asked his players to counter-attack on the spot. So they pounced on the player who was on the ball, Ballack had figured out how to get the ball out before he received it, he made a long pass to the left wing, Larsson dropped back to get the ball, and the talented right-back Reziger was shocked before he could press it.

They all know that Millwall's biggest threat up front is Larsson, and not just because of last season's top scorer in Europe, but six months ago in Rotterdam, the Swede destroyed Barcelona with two goals.

So, they all focused on Larsen.

But the Swede was cunning today, and he took the ball straight behind Sereziger.

The king of the small penalty area, Ruud van Nistelrooy, rushed over to get the ball in understanding.

The biggest weakness of the pressing style of play is that there is too much space in the backcourt.

The defender does not press the ball to form a point, the pressing effect is greatly reduced, the back line is pressed, then the counterattack is played, and the space behind him is too big, this style of play needs top defenders and rated defensive backs to protect the space, Guardiola did not block Nedved's pass for the first time, so that Millwall's counterattack brewed, which laid a hidden danger for a series of passivity behind.

Ruud van Nistelrooy scrambled to touch the ball on the left in front of the penalty area and forced a turn to cross the middle before Kuto could get it up, and he fell to the ground after his pass, but he managed to get the ball through.

Nedved, who had raced forward from the counter-attack after knocking the ball back to Ballack, cut straight into the ribs of the Barcelona penalty area, and Ruud van Nistelrooy crossed the ball just right, and when goalkeeper Baia and defender Abelardo both came to block his shot, Nedved crossed the ball again.

Shevchenko, who rushed up, scrambled the ball into the empty net before Sergi.

Camp Nou is silent!

"Shevchenko opened the scoring! Millwall's whirlwind of quick counter-attacks destroyed Barcelona's defence! The visiting Millwall has a one-goal lead, and Barcelona has stepped off the cliff with one foot! If they can't be reversed, they will fall into the abyss, desperate, desperate, Millwall has driven Barcelona into a desperate situation! ”

Shevchenko rushed to Nedved after scoring a goal, jumped up and was hugged by Nedved, and they celebrated in front of the Barcelona goal!

Van Gaal's face did not change, and Aldridge's expression did not change either, and he did not even smile.

He stood calmly on the sidelines with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat.

The players habitually looked to the sidelines, and when they saw Aldridge's reaction, they all knew that they should not take it lightly and not get carried away just because they scored first.

The game only lasted 20 minutes.

The players pumped their fists at each other and walked back to half-court to get in line, reminding each other to focus and not let up.

Barcelona's attack was stronger, but Millwall was like an impenetrable piece of iron.

The situation on the pitch gives the intuitive feeling that Barcelona are more active, and Millwall is like a swamp, whether it is a man or a ball, as soon as they enter the danger zone, they will sink into the swamp.

Aldridge, after studying Van Gaal's small-triangle passing system, did not transplant this offensive method, but did the opposite. On the basis of a chain defense. He applied this triangular system to defense. In terms of defensive positioning, Millwall's small-scale joint defense system is a small triangle, covering the opponent, and in the game of constant movement, the players complement each other to maintain this advantageous confrontation of the small triangle system.

They rarely use offside tactics, except against teams that are super midfielders, where they let the midfield line press the midfielders. It is easier to anticipate the moment the opponent strikes the ball and link it to the running position of the receiving striker, which makes it more likely to succeed in creating offsides, as was the case in the first leg against Paris Saint-Germain last season.

Barcelona's spiral system attack, the opponent needs to rush out to fight for the ball to have more depth space, but Millwall is to use a slightly static defensive way to ensure the safety of the space in the dangerous area of forty yards in front of the goal, forty yards away, how you like to pass, play as you like, anyway, it is Barcelona who must score, not Millwall.

Almost thirteen years later. Jose Mourinho, who sat next door to Louis van Gaal today, used almost the same way to make Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich desperate to see Inter Milan rise to the top of Europe.

Seventeen minutes later. Barcelona seemed to have the upper hand, but they didn't even have a decent shot on goal, Giovanni made a mistake in the pass, and Makelele broke the ball directly after a long pass to find the forward arrow Vanney.

The Dutchman flicked the ball sideways near the centre circle and flicked it wide to the left after shaking off the angle.

Larsson took the in-cut route and went head to head with Reziger.

As the distance between the two grew as the sprint grew, Reziger did not choose to foul as Couto had already chased back to block Larsson's route.

But Larsson took two steps with the ball and then went straight to the right, and Shevchenko, who cut inside on the other side, was very fast, received the ball and went straight into the penalty area, and chose to volley without interference!

The ball rolled against the turf towards the bottom left corner of the net, and Baia was a step slower to pounce, the ball slipping under his armpit and into the back of the net.

"Shevchenko scored twice! The Ukrainian striker performed really well today, and a striker with superb shooting skills and fast speed like him is what Barcelona fear the most! ”

Many fans in the stands at Camp Nou held their heads in disbelief.

The first half was not over yet, and two goals were behind!

This time, Shevchenko rushed towards Larsson again, and the two shooters hugged each other, and then at the same time opened their arms to the running Vanney to hug each other.

"Barcelona have at least seven players in attack, but they don't even have a single threatening shot on goal, while Millwall has two or three people on the counter-attack, but they have already scored two goals, which is a typical battle between pressing attack and defensive counter-attacking tactics, and at the moment, England coach Hall is superior."

The managers of both sides of the game today were wonderful.

Barcelona conceded two goals and Van Gaal remained motionless.

Millwall led by two goals and Aldridge was unmoved.

Leading by two goals is the most dangerous mentality, Aldridge still did not make any gestures of celebration, only slightly raised his chin.

As if in defiance of the whole Camp Nou, he assumed a strong posture.

Aldridge believes that Van Gaal's success at Ajax is due to the background of the times.

He led Ajax in a pre-Bosman era, where the club's absolute authority over the players allowed him to keep a large number of talented players firmly in control, and when the players were in a weak position, they did not dare to make mistakes and do what they wanted.

As a result, Louis van Gaal can put his idealised tactical philosophy into perfect execution by his players.

However, in the post-Bosman era, the stars are getting bigger and bigger, and his stubborn management model is difficult to unimpeded.

In this era, Van Gaal's Barcelona did suppress Real Madrid in the league, but Aldridge believes that it is not Barcelona that has become stronger, but Real Madrid has self-destructed the Great Wall.

This season La Liga has entered a new era of 20 teams, and although Real Madrid has played four fewer games than last season, it has nearly 30 points less than when Capello was in charge! Even if you subtract the 12 points from four games, it is more than 15 points less than last season!

In the context of Barcelona overpowering Real Madrid in a direct competition, Barcelona is still the team with the most defeats in the top six of La Liga, and the team that concedes the fourth most goals out of 20 teams! You can see how bad their defense is.

This kind of bad comes from the fact that the defensive line is too empty due to the pressing style of play, and once the wild attack cannot suppress the scene, it will be collapsed by the opponent's backhand blow.

As for the 3331 tactic that fans talk about, it is just a numbers game, and the essence of the change is still the same player's role between midfielder and defender, and once this player can't do it perfectly, the already fragile defense is even more vulnerable.

This kind of pressing style of play requires a very high tacit understanding of the team, so Ajax once won the top of Europe after a few years of running-in, and still advanced to the final the following year and lost to Juventus.

The subsequent Dream Three Barcelona was deeply influenced by Dutch football, but only those players who have played together for several years or even more than ten years can work together to give full play to the tactical effect.

Once this tactic is immature against a top team, it will be more difficult than ever, and Louis van Gaal's European results in charge of Barcelona are the best proof of this.

However, attacking football is the most marketable, so fans love Barcelona like this.

In today's game, Aldridge will not give the opponent a better look.

Barcelona can take away the flashy accolades, Millwall only want to take away the three points. (To be continued......)