After the game, the players in the dressing room did not go to wash and change clothes, and even the injured Pire and Trezeguet sat in front of the closet, their heads bowed in despair, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

Everyone knows that they didn't win this game, and they have already said goodbye to the league champions.

With five points behind Newcastle United but only two games left in the league, even a win over Newcastle United in the next game doesn't seem to make much sense, just to extend the death sentence to the last round.

The players were very frustrated, and when Aldridge walked into the dressing room, they didn't react either.

Aldrich's expression was also unusually sad, he walked around the locker room, then stood in the center, and said in a heavy tone: "I'm sorry, I betrayed your trust." The ambition to win the league has overwhelmed me, I should have let you rest more to stay in shape, and I should have made you more rational to face the game, it's all my fault, the wins have made me conceited, no opponent can easily win, I should be aware of this, your performance this season, you deserve to be the league champion, but I can't put the trophy in your hands. ”

Aldrich's words were heart-wrenching, and his self-reproach was palpable.

As soon as the words fell, all the players in the locker room looked up at him with shocked expressions.

It was only after falling off the championship train that the players came to their senses.

They stared at Aldrich with a complex glint in their eyes.

Guilt, apologies, sadness

Aldridge's rotation strategy has been in place since the start of the season, but since the end of March, there has been no rotation in the team.

Is it the manager not rotating or the players not wanting to be rotated?

They themselves know better than anyone else.

When Newcastle United began to decline in the second half of the league. The gap in the standings is narrowing. Naturally, the players had a fire of championship ambition in their hearts.

They want champions. Naturally, the strongest squad should be used in every game, and even many players will take the initiative to ask Aldridge to play continuously when they are resting at the training ground in the past month.

Aldrich promised them.

However, they overestimated their body and juggled both cup and league games, and in the packed schedule of April, they finally showed their fatigue after the limit in Game 8.

In this game, they can clearly feel that they want to fight. But it didn't take much strength, and it was obviously difficult to run and sprint, and before the first half was played, many players were already out of breath.

At this moment, countless clips seemed to flash in front of their eyes, Aldridge occasionally showed a melancholy on the ground on the sidelines of the training ground, and his ears rang in his ears at the preparation for each game, Aldridge stressed the need to be calm and play steadily

Who is letting down whom?

The young marshal, who has always been insightful, took the responsibility on his head.

He is like a doting father who does not choose to be harsh when his child is disobedient and wants to indulge. Instead, he let the child go crazy with a tolerant heart, and waited for the child to hit the wall and knock his head and bleed. The father still did not blame him for anything, but began to bandage the child's wounds.

Aldrich could choose to rant hysterically at them, but that would only provoke the child's rebellious heart and create an irreparable rift between the two.

Schneider's eyes glistened with tears, he stood up and walked up to Aldrich, and said softly, "Chief, I'm sorry." ”

It was their willfulness that lost the title, not Aldrich's conceit.

Is he conceited?

Perhaps, but he never showed it, took every game seriously, never changed the standard because of the strength of the opponent.

Aldrich smiled and said, "Bernd, don't apologize to me."

"Boss, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

The players took the initiative to stand up and gather around Aldridge, bowing their heads one by one to admit their mistakes.

Even though some of them are not highly educated, at least they still understand the warmth and coldness of human feelings.

If Aldridge really yells at you every day to rush Lao Tzu and snatch the championship back, and now they are almost declared to have lost the championship, they will naturally be dissatisfied.

After all, someone has to take the blame.

However, that is not Aldridge's style, and he often sets the tone of the game before boosting morale, rather than delusionally hoping that players will kill all sides with their passion.

But in the past month, the whole team has been "crazy", and Aldrich's "sobriety" seems fragile and weak.

For example, Aldridge could be angry at Beckham last year, definitely not because of Beckham's "outsider" status, or because other teammates were implementing the coach's tactical arrangements, and Beckham disobeyed the order, which not only angered Aldridge, but also made everyone angry.

But in recent times, the players have collectively "rebelled", and Aldridge will not accept anyone, they are winning, and this reason is enough to refute.

In today's game, if they had listened to Aldridge's pre-match arrangements from the beginning, they would not have won the game safely, but they would never have played with a penalty equaliser before the end.

After falling from the clouds into the abyss, the players will take a hard look at themselves and feel warm and grateful for Aldrich's tolerance.

Aldridge smiled and patted the players on the shoulders in turn and said: "Don't blame yourself, don't blame you, it's the first time I've been in a situation like this, I'm missing some experience, but I'm going to learn from it, and it will make us stronger in the future, won't it?" All you have to do now is forget about the game, go back and get some rest, don't read the newspaper tomorrow, go shopping with your family, go to the movies with your girlfriend, or go to a restaurant for a good meal, I can recommend a few good restaurants to you. Okay, I still have interviews to deal with, you all give me heads up, remember, you are stubborn fighters, you will not be defeated, hold your heads high, business as usual! ”

Aldridge turned and walked out of the locker room.

The players all cheered up, showered and eaten. Teammates sit together and chat. Schneider goes to play a soothing pop song. The locker room quickly regained its life.

You don't have to dwell on the game, but after this month's crazy winning streak came to an abrupt end today, they all learned the truth: obeying the manager's dictates is paramount.

Aldrich, meanwhile, was interviewed in the mixed zone and was bombarded with questions by BBC reporters.

'After a surprise drop of two points at home today, is Millwall's league game over? I mean you're definitely going to get a ticket to Europe, the last two games, even if you beat Newcastle United. They are also two points behind them. ”

Aldridge said calmly: "If the result of this game is an accident, it is disrespectful to Leeds United, although they are fighting for relegation at this time, they are very strong, they were league champions four years ago, but this season is not ideal. Millwall have won six of their last seven games and I think the team is playing well, the league is not over and whether we can win the title or not, today is not the end. Otherwise, will the teams in the middle of the table be able to take a holiday? ”

"How would you comment on Millwall's performance today?"

'The players are tired. But they persevered, especially in the face of adversity and equalised, a quality that is hard to come on the pitch and their tenacity plays a role. ”

"Why don't you let the players take a break?"

Aldridge was silent for a moment, then said: "When you can win the league you want to put all the best players on the pitch, but I made a mistake and I should have rested the players, I think that's the lesson I should have learned, anyway, there are two games left in the league and there is an FA Cup final waiting for us, and then we won't make any more mistakes." ”

Publicly admitting one's mistakes is dangerous for a manager, as it can lead to external scrutiny and internal questioning.

But Aldridge takes the responsibility on himself, not to get the sympathy of the players, but to protect the players and avoid them from being blamed by the outside world.

Then there will be disastrous consequences.

The player will become the target of public criticism, and at the same time, his control of the team will be exposed, and then internal and external troubles will collapse the team.

In the evening, Aldrich returned home, took off his suit and tie, and sat alone on the sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Rafa Benitez went to watch Arsenal play today and is expected to be back very late.

Aldridge doesn't know how long he will be here, and he doesn't have the time to think about why the other party is not in Spain to find out which La Liga team he should take over next season.

Just as he was alone, the doorbell rang.

Aldridge tiredly walked to open the door and found the visitor Najib, with two dozen beers in his left and right hands.

Coming to the living room and sitting down, Naji took the initiative to open the beer and hand it to Aldrich.

"It's been a tough time, isn't it? Are you very aggrieved? Laughing on the outside, defending the players who made mistakes, watching the hope of the championship slip through your fingers, Aldridge, actually, you are the most painful person, but you have to reassure the players. ”

Taking a sip of wine and lighting a cigarette, Aldrich smiled a little bitterly.

"It's hypocritical to say it, how can everything be satisfactory in the world?"

What happens in a season is so complex that it's hard to sum it up in a simple way.

Aldridge wants the championship, but needs a balance, if there is no harvest this season, he can't keep the players, in order to impact the cup championship, the league is indeed not doing its best, but this is also to allow more young players to grow up quickly, otherwise, even if the main team wins the league championship, but what about next season? It's still a situation of inadequacy, once the main lineup has a painful change, not to mention the transfer of players, just an injury, it will make the record decline rapidly.

The manager's vision cannot be short-sighted for a season, but when Aldridge realized at the end of March that Millwall had a chance of winning the league title, he naturally began to plan, rotation is a must, because the schedule is dense, and the stability of the player's mentality is also necessary in order to play normally, but when the latter took the initiative, Aldridge found that his plan had no possibility of implementation.

It was already luck to be able to play until the penultimate round to dash the championship hopes.

Millwall's sprint limit was already at the end of its rope at Stamford Bridge.

Aldridge's concession was because his plan might not be able to win the league championship steadily, so he could only choose to compromise in order not to let himself be separated from the player.

Is it painful in your heart?

So what?

Complain to whom?

What's the point?

Aldrich picked up the beer and touched the bottle in Najib's hand and said with a smile: "Don't talk about football today, drink bars." ”

The two drank bottle after bottle, but they did not have the pretense of drinking to relieve their sorrows, they chatted about the funny things of the past, laughed at each other's childish and ridiculous behaviors, talked about the strange things that happened around them, felt nostalgic for the past, and were sad about the illness of their mentor Puskas (to be continued......