Millwall's 442 tactical system, honed after the start of the season due to injury losses, began to show its power when used as a substitute.

The first game in '99 was the FA Cup, Millwall went away to challenge Cambridge United, and Millwall, who came on as a substitute, won by five goals away, although the opponent was very weak, but the team's offensive and defensive transitions and offensive cooperation satisfied Aldridge.

Klose's partnership with Ruud van Nistelrooy, coupled with the duo Dav and Glen Char, combined with the attack, was very fluid.

After beating Cambridge United to advance to the next round and return to London, Andrew invited Aldridge to dinner.

The two were eating and chatting in the restaurant.

'Recently, Leeds have launched an offensive against several players.

Andrew talked about it with a serious expression.

Aldridge was unimpressed, the winter transfer window opened and Millwall received countless offers, but he was not in the habit of doing business in the winter.

"Leeds United? Hehe. ”

Aldrich sneered.

Seeing his attitude, Andrew hurriedly reminded: "Their offer is not low. ”

Aldridge picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth and said: "The players eat youth rice, and if they don't win more honors, the high treatment will not be maintained for a while." I'm not a babysitter or a life coach for players, so if someone is stupid enough to think a move to Leeds is more promising, then what can I say? ”

Andrew sighed lightly, "Aldrich, don't underestimate the magic of money. ”

"I'm not denying the allure of money, but it's an account, and smart people are good. A five-year contract, if Larsson goes to Leeds United, even if he gets 100,000 a week. Earn 3 million a year, 15 million in 5 years. What about 5 years from now? After five years at Leeds United, what will be the next contract offer? How much will his value fall? At Millwall, even if I give him £60,000 a week, how much will an off-field sponsorship deal help him earn while he wins titles and individual honours? In five years, it must add up to more than 15 million, will it be stupid to go to Leeds United? ”

Aldridge has no concerns about poaching from non-big clubs, which he doesn't think poses a threat to him.

Andrew was silent for a moment and said: "You're talking about the absolute mainstay of the club, but what if it's Ferdinand? ”

Aldrich scoffed, shook his head, and said, "What's the difference?" He was at Millwall, where he had to develop steadily. The future is the main force of the team. England's main team, at Millwall, his chances of winning glory must be higher than at Leeds United, right? ”

Andrew knows that Aldridge is right, but in fact not everyone has such patience.

Aldridge will lead the team to Manchester at the weekend. In his pre-match press conference, he said that the game was just an ordinary league. He doesn't put pressure on the players. With five months to go, the league is not a one-game tiebreaker, and the match against Manchester United will not decide the league title.

Ferguson took the game very seriously. Or that he not only attaches importance to it in his heart, but also declares it in his mouth.

"Millwall are Manchester United's biggest rival in the title race, since '96, Manchester United have missed the league title for two seasons, this is not what we should have, think of last season when we lost the title at the last moment, it was Millwall who sniped us, now Manchester United need to beat Millwall to prove: we have enough quality to win the league title! Especially when we lost 2-1 in the first leg of the league, we can't afford to lose this game and I won't accept anything other than a win! ”

Ferguson is ambitious, Manchester United is strong, the class of 92 has taken the lead, both technical and tactical play and player ability have reached a mature stage, and the new season formed a powerful black wind double strike partner, Manchester United must use the championship to add color to this team, let their temperament to the next level.

This is about the long-term development of a team, when the team is already impeccable in terms of ability, the psychological level is extremely important, to win the championship, improve the temperament, make the psychological quality more mature, and the transformation after winning the championship will make the team rise to another level.

Manchester United even need the title more than Millwall, and Ferguson knows this, if he continues to miss the title of a major tournament, no matter how good this group of players is, they will start to doubt and deny themselves from the psychological level, and their fighting spirit will be eroded.

Ferguson's remarks reminded Aldridge of Arsenal who had not won the championship for the next eight years, sometimes it takes chance to win the championship, but the temperament of the team with the championship and the team without the championship is really different, and the team that can't win the championship seems to owe so much breath, and often drops the chain at critical moments.

Visiting Old Trafford in the league, Aldridge felt it was not the right time and was very bad for Millwall.

There is no problem with the selection of personnel in his line-up, but the point is that he is building a new attacking combination, and suddenly running into a team like Manchester United will inevitably reduce the attacking power sharply.

But just like his mentality against Arsenal, the league is a long-distance run and there is no need to compete with the opposition for the moment, Millwall beat Manchester United at the beginning of the season, as long as they don't lose away games, and the strong dialogue with Manchester United is satisfactory.

At Old Trafford, Millwall's latest attacking combination was unveiled at the Theatre of Dreams.

Ronaldinho, Henry, Larsson.

Nedved.

Makelele, Pirlo.

The combination of such a line-up in midfield made its debut.

Ferguson and Aldridge stood on the sidelines at the same time, and the two did not communicate before the game, but only said hello.

The Premier League's title race this season has been in a fever pitch since the beginning of the season.

Millwall, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, the Final Four, Chelsea have had some problems lately, they have encountered a situation where the form of the Christmas Express has plummeted, and teams with a lot of foreign players are basically plagued by this phenomenon, and it will not be solved overnight.

Millwall's performance at Old Trafford was underwhelming.

Full marks on defense, poor on offense.

Playing a team of Manchester United's level, you have to strive for the best every opportunity in the attacking end, and you will be completely frozen by the opponent at one step.

Aldridge's new attacking group requires every player to be able to work well with their teammates, and some can't keep up with the pace. Then the quality of the whole attack will be greatly reduced.

Henry's passing in the center forward position is still not satisfactory, but Aldridge is not angry, Henry has not played with Larsson, Ronaldinho, Pirlo for a long time, at least Aldridge will give him two months to see the effect, if there is no obvious improvement, he will consider replacing Henry with another striker.

However, under the new tactical system, the defense at the back has obviously stabilized a lot, and the full-backs have stepped forward to participate in the attack. Coverage area is reduced. Avoiding the chance of being beaten by the opposition, Manchester United's wings flew together today, and every attack was a head-on attack on Millwall's overall defence, and the attacking effect also felt bad.

Ferguson watched the game for thirty minutes. Depressed.

Millwall's attacking and defensive system looks like a balance at first glance. I don't see the scene of the full-backs rushing up with joy in the past. Manchester United attacked the opponent with one board at a time, and it was indeed difficult to break through the opponent's defense.

Ferguson walked up to Aldridge and the game was still going on. The two exchanged smiles.

"Millwall is kicking more and more back? Afraid of losing? ”

"Agitation? Hehehe, it didn't work for me! ”

"No, no, no, remember when you first came here?"

"The 5:5?"

"That's right, Millwall's style of play was very sharp at the time, pressing Manchester United's two wings, why is it retracting now?"

Aldridge stroked his forehead and chuckled, knowing that Ferguson was still agitating when he was going around.

"Times were different, Millwall were physically stronger than Manchester United at the time, don't you deny it?"

Ferguson smiled, he really didn't deny it.

However, it didn't seem obvious at the time, and in the second season, when Millwall slaughtered Manchester United at the Theatre of Dreams, Ferguson activated a hair dryer in the dressing room after the game, and at the same time realized that Manchester United's players were significantly behind each other, which strengthened the team's physical advantage, and then came from behind in these two seasons.

"We don't have a physical advantage, Manchester United's wide attack is sharper than before, Beckham and Ryan Giggs, it should be the top three wide configuration in Europe, right? If my full-backs can defend well, I'm satisfied, honestly. ”

Ferguson bumped Aldrich's arm with his arm and said with a smile: "I originally believed it, but you deliberately emphasized that it was true, and I don't believe it now." Millwall's frontcourt players are very capable individually, do you plan to rely on their individual ability to solve problems in the future? ”

At this time, Ronaldinho was stealing the ball by Keane, and Aldridge spread his hands and said: "Can individual ability solve the problem?" ”

'He's broken through 10 times, and if he succeeds once or twice, maybe he'll have a goal.'

"He's been tackled three times in a row, does he still have the confidence to continue to break through?"

"Ha Lu Ha

Ferguson hopes that Millwall's attacking players are playing individual heroism, he is most afraid of Millwall's fast attack when he sees the seams of the pass and cut run, the team cooperates, after 5 seconds in the midfield can kill in front of the goal to complete the shot, the speed is too terrifying, and the player has too many individual dribbling, the rhythm will inevitably drop down, Manchester United has arranged the defensive line, he does not believe that anyone can single-handedly pick up the entire Manchester United defense.

At the current level of Aldridge and Ferguson, especially to the point where the team is in full control, it is no longer possible to talk about constantly pointing to the team on the spot.

Alex Ferguson doesn't need to ask more for Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, and Aldridge doesn't need to ask more for Larsson, Nedved and Pirlo, unless it's a change in tactical direction.

So the two managers can have time to talk and laugh on the sidelines.

Both teams are afraid of each other's counterattacks, the frontal attack is often thunder and rain, there are not many opportunities in the danger area, the pace of the game is not fast, Manchester United can not control the rhythm, Millwall can also not dominate the game, the two teams exchanged blank rolls in the first half, and in the second half, it was the same, and only in the last ten minutes did it hit the climax, Manchester United attacked wildly, Millwall seized the limited opportunity to counterattack, and the defenders of the two teams played at the top level, and repeatedly made wonderful defenses.

Millwall played 90 minutes at Old Trafford and drew 0-0.

After the game, Ferguson's tone changed, and he did not mention the pre-game remarks of trying to win, instead slamming Millwall for starting to play conservatively, unlike the league champions of the year.

Aldridge also sarcastically mocked Manchester United, the two teams met in the league this season, Millwall won one and drew one, even if Manchester United finally won the league title, there is no qualification to be proud in front of Millwall.

The relationship between the two coaches has evolved from talking and laughing on the sidelines before the game to directly "turning their faces" after the game into the focus of the Premier League. (To be continued......)