On August 14, 98, the new Premier League season kicked off.

Millwall visit Sheffield Wednesday in the first round of the league.

Before the start of the game, the players returned to the dressing room after warming up, and the starters and substitutes were in the dressing room, waiting for Aldridge's lecture.

Aldridge was as chic as ever, looking around the room, taking in the expressions of each player, and then said lightly: "This season, we have to bring the league title back to the Lions' Den, and that's what I ask of you, and what I ask of myself." ”

The players listened with serious expressions and nodded their heads consciously.

Aldridge continued: "The outside world says that Millwall's strength has declined, I don't think so, although it is true that some of you did not play in the Champions League last season, but it does not mean that our success is all due to the 11 main players, we are a team, only 11 players, no matter how good it is, it is impossible to create a big achievement!" Players who will get more opportunities in the new season, I want you to put all your attention on the pitch and show your best side, and veteran players like Gareth, I want you to set an example for the youngsters, show your energy, forget what kind of honours you have won, don't stop chasing victories, and have a firm belief in your heart: we are far from the top, far from the top! I am confident that I will continue to create brilliance with you, but it also requires you to have the same faith and show me in action! ”

Southgate laughed, "Don't worry, sir, the taste of a champion is like a drug." It's addictive! ”

Nedved nodded as well, "That's right. We'll fight until the day we can't kick! ”

Young Xiao Luo touched his nose and whispered, "Me too." ”

Other players have expressed their stance one after another. As if a military order had been issued, the atmosphere in the locker room gradually rose, and morale rose sharply.

Aldridge looked around again and said: "Okay, go out into the game with the temperament of a champion and tell everyone that Millwall are the favourites to win the league title, no matter who doubts it." We're going to fight back against them! ”

With that, Aldridge was the first to walk out of the locker room and into the pitch along the players' tunnel.

When he appeared, the cameras immediately focused on him, and there is no doubt that he is now the most popular of the Premier League managers, and in addition to his jaw-dropping record, the image of the England manager himself has also made him more visible.

"The first round of the Premier League season is about to begin, Andy, what do you think of Millwall's prospects for the new season?"

"I think the most important thing is the play of a few players. Whether or not they can play well will determine Millwall's fate this season, and I think the first person who matters is the Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy. He took over from Trezeguet and as a centre-forward, his mission was to score goals, a criterion that would have meant he had to score more goals than he had last season to secure Millwall's attacking firepower. The second is Ronaldinho, judging from Hall's arrangement, he was placed in the left winger position, Larsson moved to the right, through the observation of not many games last season, I found that he and Shevchenko have significantly different characteristics, Shevchenko does not stick to the ball, he passes when he should pass, and he will cut in the air as soon as he runs, but Ronaldinho is more like a forward player, he likes to take the ball, likes to tear apart the opponent's defense through his personal ability in the front court, individually, he is a very good player, but in the past four years, Millwall has always emphasized the overall team, and whether the Brazilian can work together with key players such as Nedved, Larsson, and Pirlo will be the key to affecting Millwall's attacking quality. As for Thierry Henry, who has moved in for £10 million, we haven't watched him play in the Premier League, so we can't comment on it for the time being. ”

"Hall has already made a big statement that this season is about reclaiming the league title that he lost last season, do you think his comments will put pressure on the players?"

'There's definitely pressure and this group of players needs pressure, like Gareth Southgate, Claude Makellele, they've won the league, they've won the Champions League, they've got two of the club's biggest honours, and that's when the manager has to give a death order to fight for something to keep them motivated, and if Hall keeps a low profile like he has done in the last few years, thinking Millwall aren't the favourites and that in turn is demoralizing, what would the players think? We're already European champions, but we're not as good as any other team in our home league? Set a goal and work together as a team, although Millwall may not be called to bring the old to the new, but the team has a young infusion, and Hall also needs to stimulate the enthusiasm of the youngsters. ”

"It seems that Hall's diplomatic rhetoric has a clear purpose, so we'll have to wait and see how the new Champions League winner performs in the new season."

Players from both sides began to enter the pitch, and Millwall's main formation was still last season's 433.

Goalkeeper: Bout.

Defenders: Schneider, Materazzi, Southgate, Zambrotta.

Midfielders: Makelele, Pirlo, Nedved.

Forwards: Larsson, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Ronaldinho.

The formation is still the same formation, but the style of play must be changed, because the personal characteristics of the players are different, especially the attacking side of Ronaldo, Aldridge cannot let him copy Shevchenko's role in the winger position, it is not an exaggeration to say, because Ronaldo entered the main lineup, Aldridge's summer preparation team focus is to tailor a new tactical system for him.

Sheffield Wednesday are not a strong team, and the team in the middle and lower tiers, in their home stadium, the new season has just begun, and they don't need to put the bus in the game yet, but the posture is definitely defensive-oriented.

When the game began, Aldridge stood on the sidelines with a solemn face.

Even after last season's great success, he started the new season with a lot of work than he did at the beginning of the season, and it was not easy to take charge of the team on the spot, and he needed to observe and understand every detail of how the new squad was performing.

Millwall opened the game with a wave of fast attacks, Zambrotta sprinted down the left, and along the way made two one-twos with Claude Makelele and Ronaldinho and then crossed low, and Van Nistelrooy failed to grab the spot. The ball that was cleared out of the box fell at the feet of Pirlo. He then smashed a delicate through ball through the opposition's defence. Larsson cut inside from the right and fired a direct volley into the netting that unfortunately did not score.

'Millwall looked like they were in good form for the new season, but Larsson switched from left to right and it felt like a bit worse on goal, and if he had cut inside on the left, he had scored a lot of great goals in the same position. Although this kick is not ugly, it is not up to par. ”

Sheffield Wednesday's attack can only rely on long passes, because of the ground coordination, the difference in the level of players is obvious, they need more time to pass and control the organization, and when the ball does not reach a very accurate level, the probability of being intercepted by Millwall is very high.

Millwall have Materazzi in the backline this season, at least the air defense is fine, and long balls can't penetrate their defence.

The game lasted twenty minutes and Millwall was on the attack. But only flowering and not bearing fruit, Aldrich saw the crux of the problem.

Ronaldo and Nedved lack a tacit understanding.

Unlike counter-attacks, there is a large space and the advantage of speed to rush forward. Positional warfare has higher requirements for the fineness of the passing and cutting positions, and the tacit understanding of the timing of the passing and running is also higher.

When Millwall was in control of the tempo, Ronaldo and Nedved often had a "role crash".

That is to say, Xiao Luo took the ball, Nedved did not run, Nedved ran away, Xiao Luo thought that the opponent would receive the ball in place, and vice versa, Nedved is used to giving the winger a straight ball with his eyes closed in a smooth attack, whether it is Larsson or Shevchenko, as long as there is space, he will inevitably cut in from the side to receive the ball in place.

So when Nedved took the ball and wanted to get the ball, Ronaldo didn't run, he could only pass the ball at his feet, and the attack finally advanced to the limit and then finished in a simple and rough way, either crossing, Vanney did nothing under the opponent's tight marking, or forced his feet to shoot, which was not of high quality.

Sheffield Wednesday committed a foul up front, the opposing players were arguing with the referee, and Aldridge called Ronaldo and Nedved over from the sidelines.

When the two came to him, Aldridge said simply: "Before the end of the first half, Xiao Luo, you take the ball, Nedved runs, Nedved takes the ball, Xiao Luo waits for the ball, Nedved passes the ball to you, he runs, you pass again, understand?" ”

Ronaldo and Nedved nodded at the same time.

Aldrich can't expect them to have a tacit understanding out of thin air, so he can only make the rules and use the most rigid way to make them cooperate, first play the cooperation, and then when they are familiar with each other, they will be able to use it freely.

It's essentially a fixed role that doesn't transition.

Ronaldo is anchored to the tandem character, while Nedved is anchored to the Terminator character who breaks the goal later.

When the two have a clear heart, they can tacitly complete the swap of roles.

After this adjustment, Millwall's attacking coordination has become much smoother and the threat is more intuitive.

Ronaldo and Nedved passed and ran down the left flank, and Nedved's speed advantage led him into the box like a sharp knife, repeatedly threatening the opposition goal.

In the 39th minute of the first half, Nedved stepped forward after Ronaldo won the ball, and the Sheffield Wednesday players also realized that the opponent would pass the ball to Nedved, so they passed the ball and kept an eye on Nedved.

Xiao Luo pulled the ball back, and then a horizontal pass, and then inserted Pirlo in the middle to receive the ball, a delicate direct pass tore apart the opponent's defense, the opponent stared at Nedved, so on the left side of the heavy army, but the right side of the defense is relatively loose, Xiao Luo transferred, Pirlo straight stop, from left to right to play extremely fast, Larsson cut the ball on the right side, only 30 degrees of shooting space, he calmly knocked the ball back to the middle, Vanney just consciously retreated to get rid of the opposing defender's marking, in the face of the incoming ball a push, The ball goes straight into the bottom right corner of the goal.

'Millwall broke the deadlock late in the first half with the goalscorer being their new centre-forward Ruud van Nistelrooy! Millwall played a delicate combination, the ball from Nedved, Ronaldo, Pirlo, Larsson, and then Ruud van Nistelrooy to the goal, the attacking players in the front court were all involved in the attack, this is what Millwall do best, using the sudden through ball after lateral transfer to penetrate the opponent's defence, as long as the opponent's rhythm cannot keep up, it will inevitably reveal the flaws in the defensive line. Millwall's goal was not a surprise and even came later than expected. ”

Aldridge applauded his team's goal and sat back.

Ruud van Nistelrooy was excited about the goal and he went to the corner flag with Larsson around him to celebrate.

He also has to fight back against the outside world's doubts and tell everyone that he can not only take Trezeguet's position, but also do better than the other side! (To be continued......)