Thanks for the reward of "Death of the Thief"! ——

As fate would have it, Millwall, who had won every game since the start of the new season, were touted by all England for two days after the eight-goal massacre of Leeds United.

But just two days later, Millwall's first defeat of the new season came head-on.

In the fourth round of the League Cup, Millwall was a little unlucky and drew Arsenal, and it was an away game.

Traveling to Highbury, Millwall came on lightly and came off the bench with all the substitutes.

Arsenal, however, put out their strongest squad at home.

Aldridge was surprised when he got Arsenal's starting line-up.

He guessed wrong, completely wrong.

Arsenal was forced to draw by the Magpies in the last round, losing points again, and the league points gap with Millwall has reached a point of despair for them, but they always have to ensure the top four, four days later, they will play the London derby, visit White Hart Lane and fight with the sworn enemy Tottenham, seven days later, they will play the Champions League life and death, Barcelona in the same group, Fiorentina, are ranked above Arsenal, Arsenal will play two tough games in the next seven days, Aldridge predicted Wenger's line-up, thinking that the other side should despise the League Cup, It's not about giving up the game, it's about avoiding serious attrition in the team and using substitutes to face it.

Millwall also had a London derby four days later, and coincidentally, the same sworn enemies, the same visitors, who were on their way to Stamford Bridge and seven days later to Milan.

Originally, the League Cup was used for training, and until the final, Aldridge was generally not the main force. Unless you come across a game that you have to win. For example, West Ham United or Chelsea.

Before the start of the game. Aldridge walked to the coach's bench and asked Klinsmann with a frown: "I said before the game that Millwall would be substituted, and we did have a full bench lineup, Arsenal have two key games in the coming week, but they are on the main team, what is Wenger thinking?" ”

Aldrich is not a god, but he is used to being in control of the situation, according to the general way of thinking. Is it necessary for Arsenal to go toe-to-toe with Millwall in the Carabao Cup in such a situation?

Klinsmann and Jensen looked at each other and shook their heads.

"What if I declare before the game that Millwall will be all-in-one? Will Arsenal come on as a substitute? ”

Aldridge is a bit of a driller, especially when psychological warfare is useless or counterproductive, and he thinks for a long time.

Klinsmann sighed: "I don't think it's anything to do with Arsenal's future schedule, last season in the FA Cup, Arsenal lost to Millwall's substitute line-up, and a month ago, we beat Arsenal 5-0 in the league, Aldridge. If you were Arsene Wenger, would you still be thinking so much? The most important thing at hand is not the nature of the game. Whether it's the League Cup, the league, even if it's a friendly match, Wenger probably doesn't want to continue to lose to Millwall, and now for Arsenal fans, it may be more painful to lose to Millwall than to Tottenham! ”

Aldrich pondered when he heard this.

Klinsmann was right, not because his psychological warfare was ineffective, but because he still didn't think about it before the game, only taking into account external factors.

Maybe Millwall has always won more than lost against Arsenal under his command, and he didn't put Arsenal in a completely hostile position, and most of the fans have the psychology of the same, but Arsenal is different, Millwall won the Premier League a year earlier than them, and they also have the Champions League title that they don't have in England's traditional giants, just like Arsenal despises Tottenham, Millwall doesn't take Arsenal in his eyes now, but Arsenal has listed Millwall as the biggest enemy in London, It is even the number one enemy in the whole of English football.

As Aldridge spoke to the coaching staff, the game had already begun, and he was thinking with his back to the pitch when he suddenly saw the coaching staff and substitutes in front of him standing up and applauding, and he turned his head to look.

I'll it!

Millwall opened the scoring game!

Klose was running to the sidelines to celebrate, and Aldridge asked others if it was Frank Lampard, Ramol, Klose and Donny van der Meyde who scored after a succession of triangular passes.

The team took the lead, and of course he was happy, but he also left behind the frustration that the psychological war before the game did not succeed.

However, the rest of the game went into full swing with the rhythm that Arsenal had mastered.

Last season, Arsenal lost to Millwall's substitutes, entirely because they despised their opponents and took the initiative to attack and were counterattacked continuously, today, they played with all their main force, even at home, they also put on a low profile, and the attack was never too hasty, and they played steadily.

Ten minutes later, Overmars put on a stunning display, first beating Ashley Cole, then allowing Metzelder to turn and slip in front of him, and after the ribs of the box went down the middle, Ibrahimovic pushed the equaliser.

The Arsenal players didn't celebrate after the goal, on the contrary, they seemed to be preoccupied and couldn't be happy.

The same goes for the fans in the stands.

Presumably, they were frustrated by playing at home against such a team, especially Millwall, who had an average age of 19 at the back.

When it comes to a certain level of strength, abusing vegetables is not a sense of accomplishment, but it must win, and if it loses, it will become the laughing stock of the world.

Aldridge was a little helpless about the goal conceded.

Metzelder is slow, the important thing is Ashley Cole's link, if he can't hinder or harass the opposing super winger, one-on-one, Metzelder is completely blown out by Overmars without any suspense.

Six minutes later, Bergkamp received a pass from Vieira and crossed to Pire, who then turned to be offside, and Pire's through ball came as expected, and the Ice Prince volleyed from a tight angle to reverse the score.

It was Barzagli who defended Bergkamp, who was also completely beaten by Bergkamp in this defence.

For the first time since the new season, Aldridge showed a helpless expression on the sidelines.

Barzagli + Metzeld, the two central defenders were completely blown up by the opposing striker.

At this time, the commentator said in the commentary: "If it is a center-back combination of Ferdinand + Neil. Millwall would never have been so easily penetrated by the most rearly of defences. ”

This season has been for Aldridge. The main lineup is to hit the new glory. But the development of the bench, especially the large number of young players, is also crucial, and no team can ignore the depth of the bench, and he could have used Barzagli or Metzelder to partner Neil in the centre-back combination today, and Neil's experience and ability will definitely play a positive role at the back.

But he didn't expect Arsenal to play Millwall's substitute lineup and send the whole team, less than 20 minutes into the game, did he change the central defender? How big of a blow will this be to the players' confidence?

After thinking for a moment, Aldrich was relieved again. It was supposed to be a training force, and the backline was abused, but he had to make sure that Barzagli and Metzelder were not beaten by Arsenal and never recovered.

He began to adjust his tactics, allowing Lampard to drop back deeper, parallel to Gattuso to strengthen the interception at the back line, while also keeping the back line closer to the back line and the wing-backs in.

Well, it's kind of a wall to block the goal, and it doesn't matter, Aldridge's face isn't red at all. Millwall is still Millwall, but the quality of the players on the field is obviously much weaker than Arsenal.

Arsenal are taking it one step at a time to break down Millwall's defence. Aldridge linked the midfield line to the back line, and he didn't believe Arsenal could break through the Millwall defence with a double striker and a two-sided striker.

After his adjustments, Arsenal dominated the pitch but created a noticeable drop in the number of chances created in the danger zone.

In today's game, the Arsenal players were in high spirits, only to be caught off guard in the opening stages, and in the time since, Millwall has only had a handful of opportunities to counter-attack.

The scoreline remained unchanged until midway through a set-piece, when Millwall equalised midway through a set-piece and a brace from Klose's header from Frank Lampard.

However, as the defense contracted, the counterattack moved forward, the large range of running back and forth and the disadvantage of the field required more physical energy to defend, although Millwall dragged the game into extra time, but in extra time, Aldridge replaced Joe Cole, Alonso, Neil, did not make the attack more effective, but Arsenal first led the score again through a corner kick in extra time, and then Millwall pressed the attack and was hit by a wave of counterattacks, conceding the fourth goal.

At the end of the 120 minutes, Arsenal eliminated Millwall 4-2, but Wenger was not happy.

Not only did he play the full squad in this game, but he also played 30 minutes more, and the thought of the two fierce battles in the coming week made Wenger's heart sink to the bottom.

Millwall's first defeat of the new season was at Highbury, and the lads on the pitch were disappointed but did not feel the weight of the blow.

Winning or losing is a common thing, no game is guaranteed to win, no game is guaranteed to lose, keep a calm mind and face the future positively, this is the football philosophy that Aldridge instilled in his players.

Especially young players, to avoid them have psychological pressure, from the good side to face the loss, through the game to see their own shortcomings, know how to improve themselves in the future, and the strength of the opponent is to learn to look in the mirror, face up to their own shortcomings, the future to make up for the shortcomings, further improvement.

Aldridge felt little disappointed about his team's Carabao Cup exit, except that there were no surprises.

I want to train and get results, and I can't be too greedy.

So when asked after the game about Millwall's "miserable" first defeat of the new season, Aldridge looked calm and able to smile at the camera.

'In the last few seasons, the result of this game will not be in the spotlight, Millwall were knocked out by Arsenal, on the stage of the Carabao Cup, what's so strange about that? It's always been a year when big teams get upset in the Carabao Cup, and I'm not disappointed with the defeat, we scored a lightning goal at the beginning, but then the defence played very badly, and I'm happy that after the players adjusted themselves and stabilized, they played at a high level for 70 minutes, they were still young, just like I used to lead Nedved in the early 20s, Larsson and they played, and we lost at that time, was anyone surprised? As long as they maintain a stable mentality, improve step by step, and learn from the game experience, they will definitely become excellent players and excellent teams in the future. We are Millwall, the fans and the team are united, for us it is not going to be a hero when you win and you become an orphan when you lose, so please don't put too much pressure on my players, yes, we lost, but I don't blame the players, the outside world, no one is in a position to criticize my players, that's all, see you again. (To be continued......)