Chapter 455: First defeat

Destiny fools, Millwall, who will be victorious since the new season, and in the two days after the eight-ball massacre Leeds United, All England is touting this seemingly impossible team to beat.
But just two days later, Millwall's first defeat of the new season came.
In the fourth round of the League Cup, Millwall had a bit of luck, got Arsenal, and played away.
When he went to Highbury, Millwall played lightly and came off the bench.
Arsenal put out the strongest team at home.
Aldridge felt incredible when he got the Arsenal starting list.
He guessed wrong, completely wrong.
Arsenal were tied by the Magpies in the last round and lost points again. The gap with Millwall's league points has reached a level of despair, but they always have to guarantee the first four. After four days, they will play the London Derby. As a guest, White Hart Lane fights with the enemy Tottenham. Seven days later, they will fight the Champions League life and death, with the group of Barcelona and Florence, ranking above Arsenal, Arsenal two fierce battles in the next seven days, Aldridge predicts When Wenger lined up, he thought that the opponent should despise the League Cup. This is not to give up the game, but to avoid serious losses of the team and use the bench to face the battle.
Millwall also had a London derby four days later. Coincidentally, it was also a dead enemy and a guest. They will be heading to Stamford Bridge at that time, and they will be visiting Milan City seven days later.
Originally, the League Cup was used to train troops. Until the finals, Aldridge was generally not the main force unless he had a match that had to win, such as West Ham United or Chelsea.
Before the game started, Aldridge walked to the coach and frowned and asked Klinsmann: "I said before the game that Millwall will be on the bench, and we did make it to the full bench. Arsenal will be in the next week. There are two key battles, but they are all the main force, what is Wenger thinking?"
Aldridge is not a god, but he is used to controlling the situation. According to general thinking, in such a situation, is it necessary for Arsenal to die with Millwall in the League Cup?
Klinsmann and Jenson both shook their heads after looking at each other.
"What if I declare that Millwall will be the main force before the game? Will Arsenal send a bench?"
Aldridge is a bit horny, especially when psychological warfare is useless or counterproductive, he will reflect for a long time.
Klinsmann sighed: "I think this has nothing to do with Arsenal's future schedule. Last season in the FA Cup, Arsenal lost to Millwall's bench lineup. A month ago, we again Arsenal, Aldridge were blood-washed 5:0 in the league. If you were Wenger, would you still think so much? The most important thing right now is not the nature of the game, the League Cup or the league, even if it is a friendly match I'm afraid Wenger doesn't want to lose to Millwall anymore. Now for Arsenal fans, he may lose to Millwall again, and the injury will be more painful than Tottenham!"
Aldrich was caught in deep thought.
Klinsmann was right, not because of his psychological warfare failure, but because he still didn't consider comprehensively before the game, but only considered external factors.
Maybe Millwall has always won or lost against Arsenal under his command. He did not put Arsenal in a completely hostile position. The psychology of fans is mostly the same, but Arsenal is different. Millwall is better than them. Won the Premier League title one year earlier, and also have their Champions League championship, which is not a traditional English giant. Like Arsenal despise Tottenham, Millwall now does not take Arsenal in his eyes, but Arsenal does Millwall has been listed as the biggest enemy in the city of London, and even the number one enemy of the entire English football.
When Aldridge talked to the coaching staff, the game had already started. He was thinking about his back to the court. Suddenly he saw the coaching staff and substitute players standing up and applauded. He looked around.
What the hell!
Millwall scored at the start!
Klose was running to the sidelines to celebrate. Aldrich asked other people to know that after the opening, Lampard, Ramall, Klose and Van der Meide made a continuous triangle pass and Klose scored.
The team took the lead, and he was certainly happy, and he left behind the depression of the pre-match psychological battle.
However, the next game completely entered the rhythm of Arsenal.
Last season, Arsenal lost to Millwall's backup, completely because they despised their opponents and took the initiative to be counterattacked continuously. Today, they played all their main forces. Even at home, they also showed a low posture. The offense should never be too hasty.
Ten minutes later, Ovimas staged an amazing performance, first abused Ashley Cole, and then Metzelder turned to fall behind and slipped, hitting the middle of the road after the bottom of the penalty area. Ibrahimovic pushed and scored the score.
Arsenal players didn't celebrate after scoring a goal. Instead, they seemed to be very worried and unhappy.
The same is true of the fans in the stands.
Probably, they felt aggrieved that they faced such a team at home, especially Millwall, whose average age on the back line was only 19 years old.
After reaching a certain level of strength, abusing vegetables can't abuse a sense of accomplishment, but it must win. If it loses, it becomes the laughing stock of the world.
For this goal, Aldridge was a little helpless.
Metzelder's speed is slow. The important thing is the link of Ashley Cole. If he can't hinder or harass the opponent's super winger, one-on-one, Metzelder is completely blasted by Ovimas without any suspense. .
Six minutes later, Bergkamp responded to Vieira's pass and then knocked back to Pire. After the pass, he turned and turned offside. Pire's straight ball arrived as expected, and the ice prince reversed the score with a small angle volley.
It was Balzali who defended Bergkamp, ​​and he was completely defeated by Bergkamp in this defense.
For the first time since the new season, Aldridge showed a helpless expression on the sidelines.
Balzali + Metzelder, the two central defenders were completely exploded by the opposing line.
At this time, the commentator said in the commentary: "If it is Ferdinand + Neil's central defender combination, Millwall will never be so easily penetrated the last line of defense."
For Aldridge this season, the main lineup is a new glory, but the bench lineup, especially the growth of a large number of young players is also crucial. No team can ignore the thickness of the bench. He could have made it today. Balzali or Metzelde partnered with Neil to play in the center guard combination. Neal's experience and ability will definitely play a positive role in the back line at a glance.
But he didn't expect Arsenal to play Millwall's backup lineup and also dispatch the main force. The opening less than 20 minutes, is it to change the center back? How much will this hit the player's confidence?
After thinking about it for a moment, Aldridge was relieved again. It was originally training, and the back line was abused, but he wanted to make sure that Balzali and Metzelde were beaten by Arsenal.
He began to adjust his tactics to make Lampard retreat deeper and parallel to Gattuso's position to strengthen the interception of the backline. At the same time, the distance between the backline and the back line was kept more compact, and the full-backs also retracted inward.
Uh, a little bit of a wall to block the goal, it doesn't matter, Aldridge's face is not red at all, Millwall is still Millwall, but the strength of the players on the field is obviously much weaker than Arsenal.
Arsenal step by step to break the Millwall defense layer by layer, Aldridge made the midfield line and the guard line closely connected, he did not believe that Arsenal can rely on double forwards and bilateral forwards to fight the Millwall defense line. wear.
After his adjustments, although Arsenal had the advantage on the field, the number of opportunities created in the danger zone decreased significantly.
Today's game, Arsenal players are very aggressive, only to be caught flat-footed in the opening stage, and since then, Millwall has only a few opportunities to counterattack.
The score has not changed until the middle of the second half, Millwall through the positioning ball assisted by Lampard assisted Klose header scored twice to equalize the score.
However, as the defense contracted, the counterattack forward, running back and forth and the disadvantaged scenes, more physical energy was needed to defend. Although Millwall dragged the game into overtime, in the overtime, the Olympics Joe Cole, Alonso, and Neal, who were replaced by Derridge, did not make the offense more effective. Instead, Arsenal led the score again with a corner kick in overtime, and then Millwall pressed on the offense. Was hit with a counterattack and lost the fourth ball.
At the end of the 120-minute game, although Arsenal eliminated Millwall 4-2, Wenger was not happy.
In this game, he not only played the main role, but also played 30 minutes more, thinking of the next two weeks of fierce battle, Wenger's heart sinking to the bottom.
Millwall's first defeat in the new season was born in Highbury. Although the boys on the field were lost, they did not feel the heavy feeling of being hit.
Victory or defeat is a common matter for military strategists. If you don’t play, you will definitely win, and if you don’t play, you will definitely lose. Staying calm and actively facing the future is the football philosophy that Aldridge instills in the players.
Especially for young players, to avoid their psychological pressure, to face the defeat from the good side, to see their shortcomings through the game, know how to improve themselves in the future, and to compete with opponents who exceed their strength, is to learn to look in the mirror and face squarely We will make up for our shortcomings and further improve our own shortcomings.
Aldridge has almost no sense of loss for the team’s League Cup out, and can only say that there are no surprises.
If you want to train troops and achieve results, you can't be too greedy for fish and bear paws.
Therefore, after being asked about his impression of Millwall's first defeat in the new season after the game, Aldridge looked light and able to smile at the camera.
"In the past few seasons, the result of this game will not be of much concern. Millwall was eliminated by Arsenal. What is strange on the stage of the League Cup? All along, the League Cup has been strong every year. The team was upset, not to mention that I was not disappointed with this defeat. At the beginning we scored a lightning goal, but then the defense performance was very bad. I am satisfied that after the players self-adjusted and stabilized, they played 70 minutes. They are still young, just like I used to lead Nedved, who was in his early 20s, and Larsen, they played. At that time we lost, did anyone feel surprised? As long as they maintain a stable attitude, step by step Improve, learn from the game experience, in the future will definitely become a good player, excellent team. We are Millwall, fans and the team are united, for us, winning becomes a hero, losing becomes an orphan The scene will not appear, so please don’t put too much pressure on my players. Yes, we lost, but I will not blame the players. No one outside is qualified to criticize my players. Goodbye."