The second game of the new year was the third round of the FA Cup, and Millwall travelled to face the underdogs Port Vale, and with goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Glenschar, Millwall took away the victory and advanced to the next round.

The day after returning to London, Phillips and Andrew arrived in Aldrich's office.

Seeing the two men arrive together, Aldrich understood what was going on.

Phillips has been on the bench since his first day in the team, and two and a half years later, he is still a substitute, but he will be 24 years old in half a year.

In other teams, it may not be much, but his strength has improved by leaps and bounds, plus he is older than many forwards in the team, but his forward ranking has always been at the bottom.

It's not that Aldridge doesn't give him a chance, it's that his performance on the pitch is unsatisfactory, in the first season, Millwall played 442, he played one of the two strikers well, last season, Millwall's tactics switched between 442 and 4231, he was still only able to play one of the two strikers.

Let him play a single arrow, then the whole team's tactical system has to revolve around him, create opportunities for him, other team-mates attract the defence through movement, and when he gets the ball, he will shoot with his feet whenever he has the chance.

Playing 433 this season, Aldridge let him try his hand at the winger, and it worked badly, unlike Larsson and Shevchenko, who saw the right moment to get into the box after completing the strategy, he instinctively leaned into the middle of the field and squeezed the center's area of activity.

Is Phillips good as a striker? Excellent, can you score goals? I can score a goal!

But at Millwall he was becoming more and more out of place.

This is probably a typical manifestation of a conflict between team tactics and player characteristics.

It has nothing to do with Phillips' personal ability.

Because the opportunity to play is becoming scarcer and rarer. The first half of the season. He stayed in the reserves. With 23 goals scored in 12 games, such a performance that the media were amazed: what a waste Phillips had at Millwall!

Phillips himself felt that his time at Millwall was difficult, because the gap between him and his team-mates was growing, he couldn't play together on the football field, and it seemed that everyone's thinking was not in the same world.

When his teammates worked hard to create chances and waited for him to do a tandem or cover role, he simply chose to finish the attack by himself, and better in other positions. The teammates who have better opportunities are very helpless, and because of the seniority in the team, they can only keep their complaints in their stomachs.

After discussing with Andrew, Phillips decided to have a showdown with Aldrich.

The atmosphere in the office was more convivial, Phillips was brought back by Aldridge from the regional league team, Phillips also admired the young marshal, and if the young marshal still had the magic to let him do his best at Millwall, then he would definitely not leave.

But Aldridge is not a god, and probably because of Phillips' age when he came to the team, it is difficult to change his playing habits. It is very difficult to reform, and if it is not changed well, it is possible to abolish him. Aldridge has always used him as a surprise soldier, or when training the young lineup, let the team stand on defense, and Phillips rushed in front, and the effect has always been passable.

In the face of the detached Phillips, the two sides did not tear their faces and break up, but communicated calmly.

Aldridge patiently analysed his playing characteristics, his position on the pitch, the areas where he was most dangerous, what kind of tactical environment he needed to base himself on, and so on.

Phillips is more like a pure goalscorer, like Owen, but this kind of pure goalscorer player is not the mainstream of the future football striker template, so, in the English 442, Phillips is more suitable for one of the tall, short and clumsy strikers, who needs a partner to cover him, and he plays the role of a killer.

After Aldridge patiently analyzed, he said to him earnestly: "Kevin, you want to leave, I can understand, I also think that with your strength, you can be a leading scorer in other clubs, and staying in Millwall will delay your future, however, I hope you will follow my arrangement in terms of transfers, and what I can promise you is that I will not try to sell you to the highest bidder, but to send you to the club that best suits your career development. I don't want you to go to a team that doesn't suit your characteristics and cause you to sink there. ”

Phillips was so moved that he nodded solemnly in agreement.

In any case, Aldridge's actions are for his good, as for the personal treatment after the transfer, it is what Andrew should fight for him, and the transfer fee has nothing to do with him.

Aldrich's behavior seems to be salty and unscrupulous.

Players transfer, just leave, what does it have to do with you?

Besides, don't have a high transfer fee, isn't this brain water?

On the contrary, Aldridge believes that every player who leaves has a lot to do with him and Millwall, not just for a fee.

Like the four players who left last summer, except for Pire, who was in a bit of a bad situation at Arsenal, the other three players all performed well, which directly affected Millwall's signature, and they were all players who came out of Millwall.

Thuram may have already made a name for himself in Ligue 1.

But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Patrick Vieira are brilliant, and Millwall have cultivated colours.

Aldridge needs Millwall to develop an elite image and a good reputation himself, and like Ajax, people don't just think of this as a top Dutch club, but also think of it as a breeding ground for talent.

Therefore, for every transfer, he can't just focus on the transfer fee, the players who leave here, and the continuation of his career should also be what he should worry about.

If Phillips doesn't perform well after leaving, then he will definitely be labeled as a parallel import, and if he does well, it will naturally be good for Millwall's reputation.

Phillips won't leave in the winter because of the depth of the squad and at the same time, he wants to leave with a title, even if he is not a regular player, and Millwall is playing on four fronts this season with more competition density than last season. Rotation will be more frequent in the second half. When the time comes, deal with injuries and suspensions. He will have more chances than in the first half of the season.

Compared to Phillips, Tony was in a dazed state, and Aldridge wanted him to be at ease.

On the training pitch in preparation for the weekend league game, Toney and Aldridge communicated on the sidelines.

He told Aldrich about his problem.

He scored a lot of goals in the youth team and in the development team, but in the first team's appearances, he was far less impressive than Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Because he has a fatal shortcoming: speed.

Millwall's attack was very fast, with three passes and two backs rolling the ball. He plays as a center forward, and if he pulls out of the penalty area to respond, then he is often a beat slower to rush into the penalty area.

He can't keep up with the rhythm of his teammates, like Larsson and Shevchenko, who are all lightning-fast characters who enter the penalty area, and the threatening ball of the fatal pass appears between lightning and flint on the field, and Tony can't keep up with the speed and can't outflank. Missed opportunities are repeated.

He's working hard and the coach and team-mates can see it. But speed doesn't mean that hard training will improve significantly.

Fortunately, Toni is not yet 20 years old, and Aldridge patiently tells him that when your talent restricts your performance, then you need to work harder than others to play with your brain.

Are you calling him stupid?

Of course not, Aldridge explained to him in detail, asking him to calmly observe the situation on the field and make up for the shortcomings of speed with more reasonable movements.

Players who play with their brains are more promising, some players are in good health, but they are like headless flies on the field, running a lot of distance, but most of them are useless.

Not to mention Toney's physical advantage allows him to be a strong center forward in the penalty area, when Millwall plays, Toni will play a huge role, but this is also his limitation, you expect him to drop back to interfere with the opponent's attack or in the sports battle from outside the box all the way forward and cooperate with his teammates, it is too unrealistic, he just has to be up front, either to complete the last shot, or to be a bridgehead.

Tony took Aldridge's advice: first, play with your brain, and second, sharpen your footwork.

He has the ability to get the ball in the box, but he needs to improve his ability to handle the ball, whether it's shooting or playing the ball.

At the weekend, sitting at the Lion's Den Stadium, Millwall welcomed an old rival and a point boy in the eyes of fans: Liverpool.

In the space of a year and a half, Aldridge led the team to face Liverpool four times, three in the league and once in the FA Cup final, leaving very fond memories for Millwall fans, and Liverpool will certainly leave Millwall's name in history.

The 8-0 defeat is still fresh in my mind, and Millwall crushed their determination for revenge with a 4-2 at Anfield at the start of the new season.

The outside world is very incomprehensible, and even privately speculates that Aldridge has a grudge against Liverpool, and Millwall is particularly strong in playing Liverpool, but Liverpool can't find the north.

In fact, most of it is due to tactical reasons, Aldridge is the least afraid of encountering the team that wants to play against him, Millwall's defensive formation shrinks, and when it turns from defense to attack, it releases huge forward pressure, and a wave of offensive often carries the power of destruction, Liverpool attacked, it doesn't matter, after the attack, the vacancy in the backfield is Millwall's victory road.

When players from both sides entered the pitch, there was a little commotion.

The players on both sides stood at the exit of the players' tunnel and were about to come on the stage, but in front of them, more than a dozen "sex-love toys" fell from the sky, which were imitations of female nakedness used by men.

The referee's face turned green, and the stadium staff immediately ran to pick it up, while warning the fans in the nearby stands that of course they couldn't find who dropped it.

Southgate, who wore the captain's armband at the front, closed his eyes and smiled helplessly, while the other players poked their heads out and looked curiously.

At the same time, loud slogans sounded in the stands on this side.

"Collymore! Can you still today? ”

The faces of the Liverpool players collectively turned extremely ugly.

Redknapp Jr., who had a verbal confrontation with Aldridge at Anfield the year before last, no longer dared to raise his head, Liverpool was beaten all over by Millwall, and his father Ray couldn't raise his head in east London.

And the protagonist of the maelstrom, Collymore, the striker who was once hailed as a genius, although he is becoming more and more depressed at Anfield, off the field, he is still a man like no other.

nuns in the convent, multi-crowd-p, not married, but playing the game of "swapping partners", and the star real knife and real gun in the TV show battle.

The most bizarre thing is that these are all things that he himself openly sold to newspapers.

The outside world discusses whether he is insane, or to put it simply, he is a pervert.

Liverpool's hotties, who have a rotten private life, can't stand the team-mate either, with news that Collymore will soon leave Anfield for the next club.

As a party, Collymore had a short temper, he even beat his own girlfriend, where could he stand this bird anger, and immediately rushed out of the hall and roared towards the stands, but only attracted the unbridled and loud ridicule of the fans in the stands. (To be continued......)