Chapter 956: Christmas war

This year's Christmas War is the top battle again!
Millwall's second place in the Premier League standings received the most attention. In addition to their vibrant side this season, there is also an accumulation of past influence.
Fleet Street strives to build momentum for the top team.
No one wants to see the competition situation in a single major league. Compared to the two seasons where Millwall has almost locked the championship in half, this season, Fleet Street has been talking about it: Arsenal locked the league in half!
There is a premise.
Defeat Millwall at the Lion King Stadium!
Arsenal are so good this season.
In the first 18 games, 13 wins and 5 draws.
It was only slightly inferior to Millwall, who won two undefeated seasons.
Fleet Street determined that Arsenal could copy the undefeated championship as long as they stepped on the body of the crazy lion!
Millwall's performance must not be bad.
In the 18 rounds, they handed over 11 wins, 6 draws and 1 loss.
Arsenal, 44 points, Millwall, 39 points.
There is only a gap of 5 points, but if Arsenal beat Millwall on the road, the gap will expand to 8 points, and the morale of Arsenal will be boosted by morale, which will make them more courageous in the second half of the league!
The Premier League began to officially compete for the throne of the world’s first league. In the past, they did not have many teams to win. Now it is the fierce competition for the championship group that has become the biggest selling point. In addition to Millwall’s contribution, there are naturally traditional giants Manchester United, Arsenal, and The attention brought by upstart Chelsea.
As for Arsenal's amazing start to the season, they still cannot shake Millwall's market position, for simple reasons.
They look gorgeous, but they are still centered on counterattacks.
Millwall has also fought back before, but it hasn’t lasted long. In other words, although both are fine football, a representative team of gorgeous football, but Millwall is more atmospheric, at least, Millwall is still offensive football The representative, Arsenal, is not worth mentioning. Their creativity in positional warfare is still limited. Without space, the power of Arsenal is reduced by at least half.
Wenger has no choice. In recent years, Arsenal has actually focused on counter-attacks, but the defense is not a bus, the offense is not a rush, especially the counter-attack on the wing, the team that kicks the ball cooperates quickly and sharply. It was particularly pleasing to fight back. At first, it was due to the age limit of the five defenders. It was forced to fight like this. Later, it was left over from the previous style. If major surgery is required, Arsenal has no money.
At the pre-match press conference of Christmas War, Aldridge had a headache.
The press conference was chaotic, and the reporters in the audience were excited and asking questions, instead of focusing on the topic instead of the first battle, not the Premier League. The object of their inquiry was the "national team coach" Aldridge.
Snapped!
Aldridge will enjoy the noisy surroundings of the stadium, but cannot tolerate the noisy scene of a similar conference room.
He clenched his brows and sullen his face, and took the case. The scene suddenly became silent.
"Enough! I’ll make an exception today to answer a question you asked out of time! As the coach of the England national team, I support the FA’s decision! Discipline is discipline, regulations are regulations, violations of discipline, violations of regulations, punishment, this is Very normal procedure! No matter who he is, if it is a Millwall player, I will not plead for him! Rio Ferdinand suspended for eight months, this is the penalty of the FA for Manchester United players because he missed Urine test, do you think it is heavy? Looking at other cases, you will find that it is not heavy! Why do you ask? Because he helped the England national team win the World Cup championship? That is not the reason we pamper the players! As the national team coach, aim When Rio Ferdinand is suspended, there is only one response I can make: Ferdinand will miss the European Cup, and we will solve this problem internally, how to solve it? Our central defender is not only Ferdinand!"
As soon as the words fell, Aldridge walked away.
Aldridge is very conscious of being a famous coach.
Very troublesome!
He is not a babysitter, and he doesn't want to wipe his butt. It's two different things to protect players and help them clean up the mess.
Ferdinand missed a urine test after a Premier League match this month, and was summoned by the FA. Immediately after that, his mobile phone call record was exposed by the superb Fleet Street that day, proving that the Manchester United medical team urged him to do a urine test many times. He is probably "absent" as described by the outside world, or simply "no one in the self-esteem", continue to go shopping, continue to work he will move into the life of the new mansion, then, hum.
The FA fell across the board, and the 8-month suspension penalty was made public, which caused an uproar.
There was a fry pan over Manchester United, and Ferguson almost collapsed.
This season's defending champion Manchester United is okay. Considering Beckham's departure, Joaquin needs an adaptation period, plus there is no one except Fanny on the front line. Solskjaer who is over 30 is still a magical substitute. From time to time, Scholes still has to make guest appearances, and Keane is 33 on the midfield. Manchester United ranks third in the league. After Millwall, the defending hope still exists, but the mainstay on the back line suddenly has to be After eight months of suspension, the defense in the second half of the league is no longer a worry, it is an obvious big loophole!
Manchester United is very firm, if the FA does not reduce the sentence, they will appeal to the Swiss Sports Arbitration Court!
The FA is even tougher: Manchester United, you it! After three failed appeals, Ferdinand waited for a two-year ban!
Uh, yes, the appeal mechanism of the UEFA sports circle is somewhat similar to the social legal system. If you want to appeal the case, there will be additional punishment if you lose the case!
For example, the red card suspension is also the same. If you appeal, you may be suspended with a penalty. However, this point can also be used. Because the appeal period, no penalty, players can play. If the suspension is a key battle, many clubs Appeals will be used in exchange for opportunities for players to play first and then stop.
Aldridge had no sympathy with Ferdinand.
not at all.
Even feel annoyed.
Ferdinand had no reason to call Qu.
Everyone abides by the rules. Everyone is familiar with it. Why are you special?
Do the wrong thing and get a penalty.
Just right!
Annoyingly, this made him worry more about the national team.
It is estimated that only Terry, Campbell is very happy to secretly ecstatic about this file.
The following night, Millwall and Arsenal came to an end at the Lion King Stadium.
Wenger was not proud of Arsenal's lead of 5 points. On the contrary, his face was dignified from the moment he stepped into the stadium.
Despite Millwall's uneven lineup today, Wenger did not dare to take it lightly.
Arsenal, a team that is very mature in terms of technical and tactical play and teamwork, has been adhering to the team for many years and has an unrivaled tacit understanding. Because of the stable overall framework of the team’s lineup and the change in core tactical concepts in these years, they came At the peak, the energy burst was amazing.
However, Wenger still felt bottomless, despite the hard tone in front of the media, that Arsenal would lead the standings to the last minute!
From the second round of the league, Arsenal is the top of the list, starting with a wave of winning streak, and then winning the mediocre, has always been in the position of leader.
Millwall is constantly swinging between the second and fourth places. Now he is not too far away from Manchester United and Chelsea behind him, but it is still relatively stable.
To say that other teams have been kicked out of the championship, it is already very reluctant, and Millwall is unlikely to watch Arsenal reach the top.
Henry had a minor injury and Villa replaced the starter.
De Rossi accumulated a yellow card suspension, and directly took him on holiday to return to Rome for the New Year. The first replacement for him will be Pedretti.
Southgate was also on the injured list, and Silva came out to hone the last game, and today he sent a more experienced Neil.
In London with a New Year atmosphere, the Millwall team is relatively deserted.
Aldridge has put some young players on vacation. This is his tradition of training players. Young players who do not pick big beams can get a reasonable rest. Even if they are like Ronaldinho, they can still get Christmas holidays at the age of 20, even if they sacrifice The game record, Aldridge does not care, let the players have a good year, it is better than the pressure to suppress the bad mood to face the second half of the league.
With the honor of the European Golden Boy Award, Ronaldo returned to his hometown, and Kaka returned to Brazil to reunite with his family. Even the German player Ram was specially put on vacation by Aldrich. After all, the new German players are not used to it. Winter break.
As for Alonso in the team, it was the holiday adjournment that sent him back to Spain after the Christmas battle. There was no complaint about Alonso. Compared with other Premier League teams, Millwall is taking into account player sentiment. In terms of living conditions, I have been extremely considerate.
Millwall fans are not worried about falling behind Arsenal in the team standings. Everyone can see that Millwall still has potential to be tapped, and it is very big!
And Arsenal?
Is there room for improvement?
Almost nothing.
The strength of their players is basically at the current height. In the future, they will either stay flat or decline steadily, that is, an Ibrahimovic, and there should be room for improvement.
At Lion King Stadium, playing Wenger for so many years, for the first time!
The first time Aldridge was stunned by Wenger!
"Wow roar! Arsenal led Millwall at home 2:0 in the first half! Their counterattack was very effective, and there was no opponent who could not be destroyed. Millwall attacked too aggressively, giving Arsenal a huge Counter space!"
Ibrahimovic celebrated proudly, Wenger smiled with his arms, and the Gunners fans cheered, as if they were about to capture the Lion King Stadium!
Aldridge stood fiercely on the sidelines.
Arsenal's core routine today is counterattack, counterattack, counterattack!
But, Arsenal's famous sideline could not fight back, and turned into a strong pressure on the middle!
Pires itself is not a pure winger, he has no sense of disobedience when going inside.
Yong Baili pressed the speed sleeve on the other side, and the flying wing brought tears and pressure on the back line.
Center Ibrahimovic also obeyed the tactical arrangements under Wenger and retreated.
Ibrahimovic, Bergkamp, ​​Pires, plus Vieira and Silva on the offensive one, Arsenal did not pull the side when countering, directly rushed to the middle, and a small range of pass and cut cooperation Smooth and easy!
Alonso and De Rossi cultivated a good tacit understanding in the first half. Today, he and Pedretti combined. The backline defense is easy to be caught. This is a stronger opponent. The opponent has a targeted attack deployment zone. The coming offensive threat has increased.
It is difficult for Nesta to have a sense of sorrow in the back line, which is difficult to beat with four hands. No one dared to have one-on-one with him, Ibrahimovic also dared not, Bogkamp is old, and the decline in confrontation ability is very obvious , Is playing art in itself, and now is to maximize the use of residual heat, taking on the task of organizing the series, but the threat of flying wings Yongberg sharp knife, as well as Piray and Ibrahim’s frontline cooperation, and Vieira and Silva provided a lot of pressure after inserting the offensive.
Since the beginning of the new season, Aldridge, who is firmly committed to the new technical and tactical system, has made more obvious on-site adjustments for the first time, changing the formation and player roles.
The serious-looking Aldridge did not feel fortunate that the news conference was disrupted by Fleet Street yesterday, because there was no Ferdinand's trouble, he would make a big speech at the news conference: defeating Arsenal, Millwall is only 2 points away from the top of the list. .
In the eyes of most people, Millwall is 8 points away from the top of the list after this battle.