As a head coach, you can't always passively make squad adjustments, such as finding that a player's form is starting to decline and then let the player rest or adjust, and find out the reason to solve it.

The manager has the obligation and responsibility to identify problems early and prevent them from occurring, which is a manifestation of his ability to control the team.

Sometimes the player's own stubbornness is not correct, such as playing with an injury, the spirit is commendable, but the effect may not be good.

Two days after the big game with Manchester United, on Tuesday evening, Aldridge sat in his office to sort out the information, he had just had a pre-match preparation meeting with the players, that meeting was relatively relaxed, because the next game is tomorrow's Champions League group stage of the last round, Millwall has already qualified early, planning to send all substitutes to play, against the visiting Galatasaray, the result can not be taken into account, the important thing is whether the purpose of training the players is achieved.

Dangdang

There was a knock on the door, and Aldrich looked up and said, "Please come in." ”

The door opened, and a head leaned in, it was Xiao Luo.

Aldrich walked over with a hippie smile on his face, sat down across from the desk, and then placed an envelope on the table and pushed it in front of Aldrich.

Aldrich frowned and asked, "Think the vacation is short?" ”

The envelope was given to Xiao Luo in the morning, and at the same time, he also sent one to other players in the first team, especially the attacking players, with Christmas cards and holiday notices for the players.

With six players in Millwall's Ballon d'Or squad and Christmas approaching, Aldridge simply gave them a collective holiday to attend the Ballon d'Or ceremony. Spend Christmas with your family directly after it's over. I'll come back after a break of 10 days. Start preparing for the second half of the league.

Xiao Luo shook his head with a smile and said, "Boss, I only need 3 days of vacation is enough, three days before and after Christmas." ”

He's different from other players, his family is in Brazil, and he only has one time a year to go back for Christmas except for the summer, even if it's to report to the national team. The schedule is also very tight, after all, if you go to the national team, you have to train and compete, not go on vacation.

Aldrich leaned back in the boss's chair and stared at Xiao Luo for a minute, then chuckled and said, "Give you too much vacation?" ”

Ronaldo shrugged and said, "I don't want to make myself look special in the team. ”

Aldrich nodded and said, "Well, I understand, then you will return to the team on the 27th." ”

Ronaldo stood up and smiled and waved Aldrich goodbye. Gently close the office door.

A few minutes later, Pirlo. Nedved, Larsson, Thierry, Schneider, the five players who were also selected for the Ballon d'Or squad also put the envelope on Aldridge's desk.

They have the same idea as Xiao Luo, some people think that the vacation is too long, and some people simply don't want the holiday.

Aldrich stood up after seeing them off, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and smiled at the distant sunset.

The next evening, Wembley.

Aldridge stood in the dressing room before the game, and the 11 players wearing the starting jersey today, some people were more nervous, and Villa was one.

He sat there early to arrange his jersey and shoe shin guards and other equipment, and sat precariously waiting for Aldridge's pre-match lecture.

"We've already qualified for the Champions League and we have only one requirement for you today: to play to the level you had in training."

With that, Aldrich turned and walked out.

Villa looked shocked.

This, this, that's the end?

Other players such as Glen Shire, Frank Lampard, Gattuso and others, despite being substitutes, have also been on the pitch for a long time, and the same thing to do for this kind of stress-free game is to do the same as Aldridge said: perform well and show the results of training, which is enough.

At Wembley, Aldridge met Trim again, this time he stepped forward to shake hands, and left with a few pleasantries.

Stadium attendance dropped considerably, as Millwall had already qualified early, and Aldridge had said before the game that there would be substitutes, and it was normal for the enthusiasm of the neutral fans to fade.

"The last round of the group stage of the European Champions Cup Group H will all end today, Millwall 5 games, 4 wins, 1 draw and 13 points to advance to the first place in the group, Galatasaray 5 games, 1 win, 1 draw and 3 losses to accumulate 4 points, 3 points away from the group second place Hertha Berlin, they and AC Milan are in the same situation, they must defeat their respective opponents to have the possibility of qualifying. At least that is the opportunity, and Millwall seem to have given Galatasaray a chance to face them today. ”

Goalkeeper: Keller.

Defenders: Ferreira, Neil, Barzagli, Cole.

Midfielders: Gattuso, Lampard, Ramour.

Forwards: Donny van der Meyde, Villa, Glen Schal.

Aldridge sat down today and watched the game with his chin propped up.

Don't look at him as a substitute, but he's not worried about the game at all.

What he likes most about the current game is not who the opponent is, but the situation of the game.

Galatasaray came to the away side, if they want to advance, don't say a draw, they must win!

And because there is a possibility that three teams will score the same score, they will also have to win by a big margin.

The other party has no other choice, and must break the cauldron and attack against the guest!

Having learned the lessons of the away game against AC Milan, Aldridge has partnered Neal with Barzagli to provide experience and security at the back, which is at least reassuring.

And this young backline has fought with AC Milan, and his confidence has improved, at least he will not be restrained, and Galatasaray's hard power is not as good as AC Milan, and in the face of the opponent's fierce attack, the pressure will be less than that of the same period last year.

The game will go in much the same direction as Aldridge predicted.

Trim put on an aggressive 4123 attacking formation while keeping his players racing against the clock on the sidelines to score goals.

Millwall built on the defensive well, and the defensive counter-attack was very popular.

In less than 10 minutes, Glen Charles and Villa each missed a one-on-one chance!

It was a great scene and a special eye-catcher, because Galatasaray attacked fiercely. Millwall's counter-attack was also sharp and deadly.

It's a pity. At the end of the first half. The score looks shady.

1:0

Neither Glenschal nor Villa scored, but it was Van der Meyde and Ramour who combined it together, and it was Ramour who calmly pushed the ball from inside the box to rewrite the score.

In the second half, the two sides changed sides and fought again, and the Turkish "emperor" simply didn't even want the back, and went directly to 433, three forwards, one central midfielder, and two forward midfielders.

Soon. His side were punished, and the lack of interceptions from the back was leaky, and in the 49th minute, Ramour assisted Villa, who had successfully countered offside, to send the ball into the back of the net.

2:0

Aldridge substitution.

Klose up, Villa down.

Joe Cole up, Ramour down.

When Villa came off the field, he probably wanted to be praised by Aldridge, and deliberately walked very slowly in front of Aldrich, but Aldridge's expression did not change, and he just nodded at him.

What is this?

Villa sat down a little disappointed. I accepted the congratulations of my teammates.

After a while, he remembered what Aldrich had said to him on the bus. Instantly, I was relieved again.

Yes, he scored a goal, but he also wasted at least three golden chances, should he be commended?

If Henry or Larson had those chances, they would have at least made it.

Let's continue to work hard with a normal heart.

In the 68th minute of the game, in a wave of counterattacks, Klose assisted Glen Char, who scored a 45-degree long-range shot diagonally into the ribs to expand the score to 3:0.

Aldridge used up the last substitution to bring Vicente on for goalscorer Glen Shire.

After that, the game returned to normal, Galatasaray was three goals down, and it was a fool's dream to try to turn it around, and their players accepted the reality and chose to be conservative and solid to avoid conceding a goal in order to prevent it from turning into a massacre.

The last 20 minutes came to an end in a slow-paced process.

Aldridge got up, walked to shake Trim's hand, and then turned around and walked into the tunnel.

Millwall won 5 and drew 1 in 6 games in the Champions League group stage, and advanced to the round of 16 with a strong unbeaten attitude.

AC Milan in the same group failed to win Hertha Berlin in the last round, and Hertha Berlin, who got a draw, advanced to the round of 16 by finishing second in the group, while AC Milan benefited from Galatasaray being beaten by Millwall to finish third and can move to the UEFA Cup.

With the Champions League group stage dust settled, and the next day, the first round of the UEFA Cup group stage came to an end, and the day later, Aldridge and his fellow coaching staff gathered in the club's recreation room in the evening, chatting and watching TV over beer.

The draw ceremony for the four groups of the Champions League round of 16 is underway, and Aldridge and his fellow coaching staff are talking and laughing, without the slightest nervousness.

When Millwall's second-round group stage draw came out, Villas-Boas cheered with his fists raised in excitement and the rest of the coaching staff roared in excitement.

Millwall's signing couldn't be better!

Bordeaux, Feyenoord, Lazio, Millwall.

Draw for the round of 16, 4 groups of 4 teams each, two group winners and two group runners-up.

Millwall itself is the first in the group, in the new group, the same as the top of the previous round of the group stage is Lazio, the strength of the second only Lazio in the group of the first place is Rosenborg and Sparta Prague, the key is the second in the two groups, Feyenoord and Bordeaux, should be the weakest two second place in the eight groups, which excludes Hertha Berlin who cannot be in the same group as Millwall.

In this way, Millwall's signing is very good.

While the others were celebrating, they noticed Aldrich looking thoughtful.

"Aldrich, aren't you happy?"

Klinsmann asked, surprised.

Aldridge smiled and said: "I would prefer to be in a group with Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Fiorentina or Porto. ”

"Huh?!"

Everyone's expressions became stunned.

The grouping situation that Aldrich said is almost the strongest group of death with the lowest probability of the second round of the group stage!

Jenson wondered, "What's the benefit of that?" ”

"In this way, you can defeat two or one strong opponent first, and the probability of running into a strong opponent in the knockout round will be lower."

Everyone suddenly realized, and listened to Aldridge continue: "It is also for the players to maintain their condition, we are divided into a relatively weak group, that is to say, before the knockout round, the test and pressure are not great, and when we enter the knockout round, we suddenly encounter a strong opponent with a huge gap in strength with the previous opponent, which is not a good thing." ”

Hearing him say this, the joy of the coaching staff immediately dissipated.

When they summarized the reasons for their exit from the Champions League last season, one of the points that everyone could not ignore, that is, before meeting Bayern Munich, Millwall was too smooth, beating Dynamo Kyiv over two legs in the quarterfinals, and then suddenly beating Bayern Munich.

If you compare the schedule of winning the Champions League last season, in the quarterfinals, they will face Juventus directly, and in the semifinals against Monaco due to the opening of the penalty, the difficulty of the game has actually increased a lot, and it is such a difficult victory to come over, and when it comes to the final, Millwall is more calm, able to play at the best and at an extraordinary level. (To be continued......)