The Young Lion

Brian Robson led the team to Old Trafford. If there are Manchester United fans doing nothing at night to watch a FA Cup semi-final, it must be to support Middlesbrough, except that Robson was once Manchester United. Outside of Captain Mercy, the hatred of Manchester United fans for Millwall is no longer a secret.

As the protagonists Aldridge and Robson, when the two greeted before the game, the atmosphere was very harmonious. The two chatted for a while. Robson congratulated Millwall on winning the Premier League title and also impacted the European Winners Cup for them. Cheer for the finals.

Robson was one of the earliest coaches who knew Aldridge. His opponents who knew earlier than him basically did not come to the stage of the Premier League. Even in the League Cup and the FA Cup, the probability of encountering is very low. can be ignored.

Aldridge accepted the blessing in a low-key, and then the two returned to the coach seat, in the middle position, there is no difference between the host and guest, but Middlesbrough still occupied the home team's locker room and coach seat, this point Aldrich also Care, no harm.

It is said that Middlesbrough is struggling in the league, but the FA Cup reached the semi-finals, and they also participated in the League Cup final. Unfortunately, Robson lost to the rising star Martin O'Neill.

This phenomenon is not too strange. The cup is a hotbed of hotspots. It is normal for relegation teams to come to the FA Cup final in the League Cup. It is not new for even low-level teams to win the championship.

The game opened under the lights of Dream Theater.

Millwall played very conservatively after the opening, they based on the interception ability of the midfield to prevent the attack of Middlesbrough.

Juninho and Emerson’s midfield partner is actually very reasonable and powerful. Juninho is known as the most creative midfielder in contemporary Brazil. Emerson is a defensive midfielder. Both Combined with a reasonable division of labor and clear thinking, coupled with the outstanding efficiency of striker goal Balan Ravanelli, Middlesbrough's configuration is the envy of most Premier League teams.

Perhaps they are eager to achieve success, thinking that their strength can eat their opponents at a stretch. They are much worse than people expected. At least on paper strength, Middlesbrough is definitely not a popular relegation pre-season.

Come to the semi-finals, one step away from the finals, only 180 minutes from the championship trophy, so this is definitely a key game.

Aldridge just sent a lineup that surprised the experts in such an important game.

In fact, he is still training troops today, but not mainly training tactics.

Instead, exercise the team's mentality.

He let the "veterans" in the main lineup to drive young players to adapt to the mentality of the big scene.

As a strong team, you should be mature and patient, and you should not increase the pressure because of the attention received by the game, and then the mentality is unbalanced.

Let Nedved, Makelele, Southgate and other players come to the battle to give the Lampard, Mills and other players the calm support of the game.

In this way, Millwall did not press forward after the opening, and they did not deliberately pursue fast pace. Even if Middlesbrough has extraordinary creativity, Juninho, but in the face of the accumulation of many capable of attacking and defending The midfielder Millwall, their offensive formation was cut in an orderly manner, Juninho commanded the team to attack, but played without threat.

Millwall’s offense relies on the individual combat ability. Nedved, Phillips, and Shevchenko cooperate in the frontcourt. Lampard or Barak take turns in turn. Because of their outstanding personal ability, a pair For a short while, Millwall invested little offensive force but had many opportunities, but his luck was not very good. Phillips missed the goal with a few shots.

Aldrich stood in front of the coach and turned back to communicate with Jenson. He was considering whether to let the players play a long pass, but there was no offensive fulcrum ahead.

As he hesitated, Millwall scored.

Middlesbrough couldn't attack for a long time and began to make a big push. As a result, he was counterattacked and the gate was declared lost.

That came from Barak's dribbling from the middle in the counterattack. Nedvide attracted Emerson's attention, and Barak drove straight in. He didn't distribute the ball to Phillips until the penalty area. The demon knife immediately saw the blood seal. .

Aldridge saw a wry smile at Jenson after seeing the goal.

There is no need to discuss.

It's a good game this time.

"This lost goal is probably the epitome of Middlesbrough this season. They have a strong strength, but once the offensive is blocked, their mentality becomes impatient and recklessly pressed, and then they are counterattacked by their opponents in the Premier League. The number of goals scored in the Premier League ranks seventh, but the number of goals conceded is the highest in the Premier League. Even if their defense can be a little better, I think they should not fall into the dilemma of relegation."

Middlesbrough tried to stabilize the defense after losing the ball.

But the ball has been lost, what else?

In particular, Millwall is not tepid today in the game rhythm, there is no obvious change, just patiently looking for opponents flaws, and then changing the situation through personal abilities locally, which made Middlesbrough defensive end of the first half After that, I regretted it and wasted more than twenty minutes in vain.

Aldridge praised the team’s performance in the locker room. In this knockout game, the mentality of the exercise is more obvious, because in the league, you are not in a hurry to attack, and if the opponent is not in a hurry, it is completely meaningless, the league There are points to tie, and the knockout is quite different. The strong side is more calm, and it may not be meaningful to play against weak opponents, but this will become particularly critical when you compete with comparable opponents.

In the Old Trafford stand, today, more than 30,000 Millwall fans came here to cheer for the team.

Their crazy enthusiasm completely overwhelmed the worried Middlesbrough fans.

Fans of the other party also have to worry about staying in the Premier League, while Millwall fans are simply emotional.

Crazy Lions is the defending champion of the FA Cup, and this season, fans believe that the next most important game is to reach the FA Cup final.

On the previous day, another FA Cup semi-final has ended, and a team got tickets for the final in advance.

It is Millwall’s worst enemy: Chelsea!

Because of this, Millwall fans roared in the stands to cheer for the team.

Kill Middlesbrough and go to the final to kill Chelsea's championship dream!

In the second half, Aldridge replaced Shevchenko with Glenchar, and Gattuso replaced Makelele.

The formation remains the same, but the play is much simpler and rougher.

Because Middlesbrough must vigorously press the offense.

Aldridge looked dignified from the sidelines.

This time is a hurdle for the team.

Withdrawing the key player in the defense, Makelele, is undoubtedly a test of the team's defense.

Gattuso and Makelele are two very different types of defensive players. Gattuso relies on strong physique and running ability, sweeping back and forth, but there is a big gap with Makelele in the prediction of the ball in the key area. Simply speaking of defensive skills, Makelele clearly outperformed him.

But Gattuso is more imposing, and this invisible spiritual force oppresses opponents aggressively, which is also a key quality.

What satisfied Aldridge was that Gattuso withstood the test. At least with the assistance of Lampard and Barack, he completed the defensive task with diligence and excellence on the court, but it was not enough. It was far from his ability to stand alone. Mile.

Middlesbrough attacked for twenty minutes without any rules. The non-threatening hoisting only allowed the ball to repeatedly fly into Millwall's penalty area but was quickly flew out again.

Mills made a long pass from the right to hang forward.

Phillips, who had already ran out of space on the left side of the frontcourt, just stopped sprinting and sighed.

The pass was too ridiculous and passed directly to the opponent's penalty area. The Middlesbrough defender stopped the ball and passed it to Juninho in front. The latter wanted to attack impatiently. Lack put it up and cut off the ball directly under his feet. He knocked the heel to Gattuso behind him without turning his head. Gattuso didn't stop the ball and knocked Lampard horizontally.

Lampard took a step and then made a long diagonal pass to the right. Glenchard sprinted from the side to the middle. The ball was brought to the middle when the ball was received. This even brought the ball to the middle. After killing in front of the penalty area, he came a long shot.

boom!

The ball bounced back on the beam, Middlesbrough's defenders slammed the brakes, and turned their heads to look out of the penalty area. Phillips appeared there strangely. Before the ball landed, he jumped up and kicked.

The ball flicked through an inconspicuous arc and shot into the middle of the goal in Middlesbrough. The goalkeeper did not respond.

"World wave! Wonderful volley shot! This is Millwall's super bench, remember his name, Kevin Phillips! This football definitely has a chance to compete for the best goal of the year! Millwall's striker It’s so enviable. Audrey Hall should give Phillips more opportunities to see his goal. Is this a general striker's shot?"

Aldrich was covering his mouth with his hands folded on the sidelines. He felt very sorry that Glenn Charles had a long shot on the beam.

But the next second, Phillips' shocking volley shot shot his eyes.

Aldrich left his mouth with both hands, and his mouth remained O-shaped, forgetting to close it for a long time, it seemed incredible what he saw with his eyes.

Although it was not a barb shot, it felt like a stunt in a football advertisement.

Because the ball was first bounced off by Glencharr on the crossbar, Phillips shot in the air without waiting for the ball to land. If there are no other players on the field, this can definitely be used to make an advertisement, especially the shot. Afterwards, the ball's flight trajectory directly entered the corner of the goal, giving him 1,000 or 10,000 chances, and it may not be able to play such a jaw-dropping effect!

The Old Trafford stand was boiling, and fans of the crazy lions cheered up and down. Even after the Middlesbrough fans saw the wonderful goal, some people began to applaud.

"It's better to leave him. Sometimes it takes a player like him to come up with such unpredictable shots."

The coaching staff also ran out to celebrate, and then everyone talked about how exciting the goal was just now.

Jenson made recommendations to Aldridge.

Aldridge's face changed from shock to smile, and finally to a bitter smile.

He also wanted Phillips to stay. At this age, the technical characteristics of the opponent have been formed, but the game needs to be maintained to maintain the state. If he can integrate into the core tactical system of Millwall, Aldridge will give at least 25 appearances for the season. But he has never been able to integrate into the team. Just like the goal just now, it was not a cooperation between players, but he scored the second offensive opportunity and scored by his personal ability. It is difficult to maintain a stable goal rate.

The opponent wants to go, and Aldridge doesn't want to delay the other's future. After all, Aldridge can't bet every time he uses Phillips, the opponent will reward himself with an unexpected goal.

The second goal was scored, Middlesbrough was slightly discouraged, and the players gradually lost their fighting spirit on the court.

Because Millwall did not let them see any hope of victory seventy minutes before the game.

They just created a few very reluctant chances to complete the shot, without threat.

In the end, the score of the whole game was fixed at 2:0, and Aldridge led his team Millwall to the FA Cup final for two consecutive years.

Middlesbrough can also focus on relegation.