The Young Lion

When it returned to London, the sky was dark, Aldridge returned to the community apartment, parked the car in the garage, and walked straight to Ewen's house opposite.

There was no light in the living room, and flickering candles were on the table. Her elaborate and precise dinner was laid on the table. When she saw the arrival of Aldridge, she smiled happily: "Just right, the time to sober is just over."

With that said, she poured two glasses of mellow red wine from the decanter.

Aldrich opened his chair and sat down, suddenly his face was a little lost, obviously thinking about something.

Yi Wen sat across from him, supporting his chin as if smiling, "Let me guess what you are thinking."

Aldridge recovered and picked up the glass and raised his compliments, saying, "Thank you."

"Are you worried about the team's status? Is it possible that Manchester United will reverse it?"

Aldridge snorted and shook his head: "Manchester United may indeed be able to achieve a winning record, but want Millwall to lose 5 of their last seven games. This is a miracle for Manchester United. How could it happen? ?"

The league was tied again today. This is the sixth league draw since the second half of the season.

"Are you really not worried?"

Yiwen seems to be unwilling to drop his guess.

Aldridge raised his eyebrows and said, "Actually I am satisfied with the current situation. Even if I lose points in the next game, I might laugh when I get home."

"Ah? How is it possible? This lie is too lame."

"it is true."

"Someone will believe you will be happy for the team's inability to win?"

"Only in the current situation and in the league."

"why?"

"Because I don't want the team to win the championship before mid-April."

Yi Wen looked puzzled. The man in front of him was always different from what others thought.

Seeing the doubts in her expression, Aldridge smiled and explained: "There is a voice outside that thinks that Millwall can create a more brilliant history and criticized me. They think that as long as Millwall uses the most in all competitions, With a strong lineup, you can set a record for many, many rounds of defending success in advance, and you will also refresh the data of wins, goals, etc. to an unprecedented height. I don’t deny that this statement is correct, but I can’t let the team They won the championship before mid-April. No, but fortunately Manchester United has played well recently. If they give up, it will not be good."

"What's wrong? The defending was successful in advance, and the center of gravity was shifted to the Champions League and the FA Cup early. Is it wrong?"

"In theory, this is true, but after all, the league is the most important field. If the defending is successful before mid-April or even earlier, it will inevitably relax the player’s spirit, in the most demanding situation. The body is ok, but the spirit may not be able to achieve the best state of excitement. I need the team to maintain a certain sense of urgency and crisis. It is better than nothing. It is better than nothing, so that this fighting spirit is not interrupted, there is continuity, think One thought, they have been working hard from August to April, the league's successful defending, will not be relaxed in spirit?"

Nodding according to Wen Wenyan thought, it sounds reasonable.

"Then what were you thinking?"

Aldridge sighed after more than ten seconds of silence: "Bert and Earl, they have reached the stage where their cognitive abilities begin to improve. I don't want to always see them and become strangers in their eyes."

This is human nature, and it is also the instinct of almost all creatures. At the stage of cognitive ability at birth, whoever is close to them and frequently appears in front of them, deepening the cognitive impression, will produce a sense of closeness and trust.

Ewen thought for a while and said: "Maybe you should talk to Chisholm, she can't often accompany Burt and Earl. From the child's point of view, at least you are not as long as she is. Concerts or publicity abroad."

Aldridge regained his spirit after half a minute of silence, and smiled: "Don't mention these, talk anymore, but you will waste your carefully prepared dinner."

The two raised their glasses and looked at each other, and enjoyed dinner.

...

In the final round of the second group stage of the Champions League, Aldridge not only sent a full replacement to the Netherlands, but the starting list was also criticized by many people.

Lazio had 7 points, Bordeaux had 5 points, and Feyenoord had 4 points.

Feyenoord has been eliminated.

Lazio had a direct dialogue with Bordeaux in the final round, and Feyenoord played against Millwall.

So for Feyenoord, it was a battle of honour. It was their curtain call performance in the Champions League this season. They hoped to compete against the powerful Millwall again.

But Millwall did not cooperate, the other side was out, but Millwall still had to prepare for the ensuing quarter-finals.

In Millwall's starting list, there is only one player over the age of 21.

Goalkeeper: Bute.

Guards: Ferreira, Barzali, Metzelder, Cole.

Midfielders: Pedretti, Alonso, Joe Cole.

Forwards: Vicente, Villa, Joaquin.

In such a Champions League game where victory or defeat is irrelevant, Aldridge training is a bit outrageous.

But he just wanted to use this high-profile game to train young players, stimulate their growth, give them the opportunity to let them feel all of this.

In the locker room before the game, Aldridge looked at the ten energetic players, plus a silent but quiet bout.

These heroes are full of fighting spirit, they dreamed that they would start in this level of competition!

"I am a young head coach and naturally like young players, Capdevila, Elgra, Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Trezeguet and so many of your predecessors or have been here Players who played, they have become the main force of the team when they are about your age, and have won the honor for the team, time does not wait for people, the world does not wait for people, I will not ask you if you are ready, even if you I have no idea in my heart, and now I have to lie, deceive myself, and tell myself countless times in my heart: Now, our time has come!"

Aldrich's words made this group of young people with a slightly green face stand tall and their heads up, as if they were expressing their determination.

"However, I will not ask you to do anything other than ability, but you must take the level of training, keep calm on the court, apply the knowledge that the coaches taught you to the game, and show the best possible Good self, today is an assessment. I will give you a score during the halftime break. The three worst performers will be replaced at the midfield. Now, start."

Aldrich left the locker room as soon as his voice fell.

Of the 11 starters, Bout is definitely impossible to be replaced. The remaining 10 people each ignited a flaming flame in their hearts, showing themselves, and not wanting to be replaced, which is very effective for their mental stimulation.

The three giants in the Netherlands are known for their youth training, so from time to time you can see the emergence of a young army in Europe.

Today, Aldridge came to Feyenoord with his youth army.

The Netherlands is a blessed place for Millwall. There have been two wonderful experiences of winning the European War, but the fans of the three Dutch giants do not like Millwall, and only neutral fans will welcome their arrival.

When Millwall's youth army entered the field, the home team's fans exploded with boos.

In their view, it was a shame that the other party sent this lineup.

Not even the idea of ​​competing with Feyenoord, it is purely "entertainment" with Feyenoord.

Feyenoord will use a victory at home to give back to the fans, even if they leave this glorious stage, they will leave with their heads up!

Therefore, Feyenoord fully attacked at home, which is in the same vein as the tradition of Dutch football. A Dutch team that does not attack can hardly be imagined.

Although Millwall's army of young soldiers can't compete with the experienced and field-proven Feyenoord, they are making up for the gap through other aspects.

Under the influence of years of tacit understanding of playing together, the indoctrination of the overall team football philosophy, the cultivation of extremely high tactical literacy and discipline, etc., Millwall has been passively beaten since the opening, but the youth army is present The method is orderly, the formation is not disrupted because of passiveness, and the mentality becomes anxious.

Offensive, failed, offensive, failed, time and time again, Millwall's boys filled Aldridge's eyes with admiration.

Because he saw the toughness that these young players can't beat, his mentality remained stable and he continued to try, and there was no sign of collapse in the face of continuous failure.

Pedretti and Alonso defended the front of the penalty area and defended in the middle, occasionally embarrassed performance, but a good sense of replacement and a tacit understanding can always bring danger.

Until the 37th minute of the game, Joaquin played with Joe Cole after two consecutive defeats and succeeded. He finally showed his power on the side. He took the ball to the bottom and pretended to pass, and then deducted the opponent. The full-back went inside and when Villa was stared to death, he returned to the top of the penalty area and Vicente appeared there.

When Feyenoord defender rushed to grab, Vicente relied on flexible foot technology to change direction and break into the penalty area, direct volley at 45 degrees.

The goalkeeper blocked the ball, but did not expect Villa to follow up and shoot the ball into the goal.

After scoring, Villa frantically ran around the sidelines. On the field, except for Bout holding high fists in front of the door to cheer for the goal of Villa, other young players rushed to Villa.

This goal is very encouraging to them, because they are no longer hiding under the wings of the mainstay of the Nedved, Southgate and other teams.

Their 10 young players, through unremitting efforts, stubbornly defended after a series of offensive frustrations, and tirelessly pursued victory. Now, they are at least standing in front of the victory. This is a goal that can make them feel self-affirmed. Young them.

Aldrich lied to them and did not replace any of them at halftime, which had nothing to do with the score. It was a complete lie to say that substitutions before the game.

In the second half, Feyenoord finally equalized after a long attack.

When the score became 1:1, Aldridge was still indifferent sitting on the coach seat, but he silently said in his heart: withstand, withstand, let me see more!

What kind of team can you expect?

This was the case with this young army in front of Aldridge. After being equalized, they were still in chaos, waiting patiently to give their opponents a chance to make a fatal blow, and never squandered any precious opportunity.

At 69 minutes, Joe Cole took Villa back in front of the penalty area and made a long shot to overtake the score again.

This time, Aldridge jumped out of the coach seat and jumped in the air to celebrate.

The energetic guys let him see hope, see the future of Millwall, and see the rewards paid. In such a game where the outcome is irrelevant, he believes that so far, the fruit has been harvested too much. More games are more.

It is not just training, its significance is by no means so superficial.