The shift in the focus of the British media also represents the direction of public opinion in English football.

In the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, English football can be said to be a 'big win' - Millwall played 0-5 away, leaving PSV Eindhoven without even hope of the second leg.

Manchester United's '1-7' is even more eye-catching, and Sporting Lisbon's goal is almost funnel, and there is no need to consider the possibility of a reversal in the second leg.

Chelsea also had a good result, with a 2-1 win at home to Valencia in the first leg, a score that left the second leg in suspense, but with what the media knows about Mourinho, it will be too difficult for Valencia to score in the second leg.

Therefore, the three English teams that have reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League basically have no problem qualifying.

In this case, there is nothing to say except to tout the English club's 'conquest of the Champions League', and the attention of the British media and fans has also returned to the competition for the Premier League.

Millwall's home game against Manchester United is very likely to determine the next title: Millwall's beating of Manchester United means that Manchester United will hardly have a chance, on the contrary, if Manchester United win, they will retain the suspense of the title race, and they are still very hopeful.

This match is considered the 'final of the league'.

In addition, one thing that attracts fans is the cliché 'north-south confrontation', the division between north and south in English football is very clear, northern football is represented by Manchester United and Liverpool, southern football basically refers to the London region, Chelsea, Arsenal, Millwall is an emerging force in southern football, won the league championship last season, and has been dominating the top position this season.

Millwall's face against Manchester United is also seen as an important battle for the 'north-south confrontation'.

This game is undoubtedly the focus of attention.

After the return of the Millwall team, they did not even have half a day's rest, and they were in full swing to prepare for the league game against Manchester United.

Millwall was also prepared before, but it was only to understand the recent situation of Manchester United, and there was very little preparation for the game, mainly because of the preparation for the Champions League, and the Champions League promotion is definitely more important than a league game, not to mention, Millwall 'can afford to lose' the game, even if they lose to Manchester United, they still have a points advantage.

Now it's different.

There is no pressure on Millwall to qualify for the Champions League, and they will need to prepare for the game against Manchester United.

The coaching staff should formulate playing styles and tactics, and arrange for preparation training.

Players also have their own ideas when facing the big game.

Take, for example, Jamie Vardy.

This season, Jamie Vardy has been quite good, playing very efficiently in the league, not much worse than Darren Bent, and it is rare that he has also performed well in the Champions League, scoring two goals in four appearances, and has become the team's 'second' choice in attack.

Vardy wasn't satisfied, though.

It's not that he's desperate to surpass Darren Bent, or that he's jealous of his teammates, the point is that the team's 4141 'dual-core' tactic only needs one striker, and many times, he can only play as a rotation and substitute, and he has a lot of playing time, and it is difficult to play in every big game.

Just like the Champions League and PSV Eindhoven match, the Champions League quarter-finals, can be watched by fans all over the world, the team's first choice striker in the tournament is Darren Bent, he can only stay on the bench for 90 minutes, watching his teammates perform to their heart's content, and he can only be the one who applauds.

That's depressing.

The last game was against PSV Eindhoven, and this game against Manchester United, why should it be your turn, right?

Vardy wasn't sure.

He found that Darren Bent wasn't in bad shape and didn't need a rotation to rest.

So Vardy thought of Zhang Yang.

All the players in the team, including Morris, Darren Ward, and even Traore and Barragan who have just arrived in the team, are a little afraid of publicity, Zhang Yang is younger than the average player, but the team is very majestic, just like Pire, Harman, Smitchell, Heatrop and other veterans who are about to retire, they are not too afraid of publicity, and they are very dull on weekdays, and everyone else can understand: they are all about to retire, and there is nothing to be afraid of, no head coach in the world will let them worry, even if they offend the coach, they are just leaving, but early retirement.

That's nothing to them.

There is a 'no want, no desire' mentality, so naturally there is no need to worry about anything.

Other players are different.

Including star players such as Zambrotta, Darren Ward, Morris, etc., they still have a few years of career to go, so it is natural that they will be a little afraid of publicity.

Zhang Yang is very kind on weekdays, smiling at everyone, and others occasionally joke, but no one wants to be alone with Zhang Yang.

That's definitely not wonderful.

If you are on the first-team training ground, or somewhere outside, the situation is more acceptable, and the most afraid thing is to stay with Zhang Yang, and the place is still the manager's office.

It was nothing short of torture.

Vardy was going through the 'ordeal', he was standing in the manager's office, watching Zhang Yang write and draw on the tactical board, and after five minutes, Zhang Yang still didn't stop, even if he said a word.

Vardy regretted it a little, and he hesitated to interrupt.

"Interrupt, isn't that right?"

"If I interrupt, the coach will hate me...... Don't have a chance to play in the future? ”

"Or because of one sentence, the coach's thinking is completely gone, and it is my responsibility to lose?"

"My teammates will blame me, and the fans will blame me......"

"No! Keep waiting! ”

Vardy thought about it and didn't say a word.

I don't know how long it took, Zhang Yang finally stopped what he was doing, turned his head to look at Vardy with a solemn face, and asked, "Jamie, is there something wrong?" ”

Vardy let out a long breath, he was almost suffocating before he could finally speak.

"Old ...... Top dog! ”

"How?"

As soon as Vardy spoke, he was a little nervous, but he still asked as he thought, "I want to ask, can I play in the next game?" After the most important sentence, the rest was easy, and he went on to explain, "Boss, I haven't played a few times, and since the last time I played against Real Madrid, I have always been a substitute. I would love to play for the team, especially for important games, and I believe it is no worse than others......"

Vardy said a long list in a row.

Zhang Yang couldn't listen to it anymore, and hurriedly interrupted with a headache, "Okay!" Okay, Jamie, stop, I'll think about it. ”

When Vardy heard this, he immediately lost his courage and immediately said, "Okay, boss, what about ...... Then I'll go first, and you continue to ......."

After saying that, he turned around and ran out of the office.

Zhang Yang smiled slightly.

He was a little impressed by Vardy's courage, and he was able to find himself and say that he wanted to play, not everyone in the team could do it, and even said that only a very few people had the courage.

Vardy was able to come to him, probably with a lot of struggle in his heart, right?

But let Jamie Vardy play...... In a normal league, he would have decided which player to play and he didn't have to think about it at all, but the game against Manchester United is very important, not only for the team, but also for players like Jamie Vardy.

As the head coach of the team, you can't just think about the game, you have to balance the feelings of the players, so that the players can feel, at least most of the fairness.

It's about authority as a manager and it's about the players' trust in him.

Just like the management of a company, in the face of two employees with the same excellent ability, but always favoring one of them, giving this one a constant salary increase, promising promotions, and that one completely ignores it, and does not even take care of basic words, it will definitely make the employees unconvinced, and other employees will definitely have other ideas when they know the news.

These things can easily cause a lot of internal problems, and internal problems can be very fatal to a team.

Millwall didn't have to think about this before, because the team was just starting out, just entering the Premier League, and naturally everything was based on results.

Now that the team's results are up, there is also something to pay attention to internally.

Many big teams will have locker room problems, and there will be many contradictions inside, and like some small clubs, they will be united internally, the reason is actually very simple, the results of small clubs are everything, and it is a trivial matter for players to be dissatisfied in the team, and they will leave directly if they are dissatisfied, and the team is about to be relegated, how can they care about the thoughts of a player.

The current Millwall cannot be said to be a giant team, but the results have come up, and the external factors tend to stabilize, so internal factors must be considered.

So let Vardy play?

This is a straightforward solution to the problem.

Darren Bent should have no opinion, he has played in consecutive major tournaments and is not short of occasional opportunities, but there is one factor to consider: Darren Bent is more experienced and more consistent than Vardy, and from the other side's point of view, they definitely want Darren Bent not to play, and Vardy is much easier to deal with in comparison.

Vardy is still too young after all!

Perhaps, just let both of them play at the same time? Playing defensive counter-attacks? No way!

Zhang Yang frowned and thought carefully, the playing style with Manchester United has not been determined, the most stable choice is actually the 4141 'double core' style of play, the team has adapted to the 'double core' style of play, and it has been used in recent games, so there is no problem of adapting to the formation.

If you change tactics, defending and counterattacking is also the worst decision.

Just like the game between Millwall and PSV Eindhoven, no matter how Eindhoven strengthens the defense, it is impossible to defend the goal, and Millwall against Manchester United is the same, the defensive counterattack may become 'wantonly let the opponent attack'.

If the two strikers don't play defensive counter-attacks, they need a very important offensive core.

Braniff?

Zhang Yang's eyes lit up.

He continued to write and draw on the tactical board, and it was almost noon before he walked out of the manager's office and went to the training ground to talk to Wise and Frederick.

————

"Not kidding, right?"

"You're going to have Bent play with Jamie? Not a defensive counterattack? Listening to the flamboyant tactical considerations, Wise and Frederick were puzzled.

So far this season, there are only two ways of playing that the team has often used, one is the 4141 'double core' style of play, and the other is the 442 defensive counterattack.

Needless to say, the former one.

The latter is more defensive, with both the midfield and the wings requiring players who are good at defending to play, and when using defensive counter-attacks, they still rely mainly on the wings and forwards, while the midfielders are very defensive.

Generally speaking, Morris, who is all-round in offense and defense, will become the core of 442's defensive counter-attacking play.

Zhang Yang pulled the two to the office and carefully explained the tactics against the tactical board, "We are not going to play defensive counterattacks, but to play front, let Kevin be the core, with Simpson on the wing, and Vardy and Bent in front of ......"

After some explanation, both Wise and Frederick fell silent.

They have a general understanding of the core points of the tactics.

The tactics explained by Zhang Yang are very simple, that is, the most basic 442 style of play, double forwards, diamond-shaped positions in the midfield, and four defenders.

A lot of teams play like that.

There are no characteristics of this style of play, and what kind of power it can have depends entirely on the performance of the players on the field and the cooperation that the whole team can play.

In a word, it depends on the state of the scene.

In the formation strategy formulated by Zhang Yang, Braniff is the central midfielder, that is to say, Braniff will be the core, as the most important player in the formation, and his performance will directly affect the performance of the whole team.

"And Manchester United...... It's a bit dangerous to fight like this! Wise thought and hesitated, "And Braniff...... Playing against Manchester United, is it okay to let him play? ”

Frederick said, "I think it's better to play the 'dual core' more steadily, can you be sure to win with this set of formations you have come up with?" ”

Zhang Yang shrugged his shoulders, "Of course I'm not sure, how can a football game be won for sure." But I'm sure that playing like this will be a good team, and it's very unexpected, Manchester United would never have imagined that we would play like this, and more importantly, I believe in Kevin, he can do well! ”

All three looked to the middle of the board.

I just explained the tactics for half a day, and the names of players in other positions have changed, and the only thing that hasn't changed is Kevin Braniff in the middle.

Wise and Frederick can understand the flamboyant approach.

Although Braniff has a problematic personality, he doesn't get along well with his teammates, and his brain is surprisingly offensive, in short, there are a lot of criticisms about him...... But in recent times, Braniff has performed extremely well, two games with Real Madrid, two games with Chelsea and Eindhoven, a total of five big games, Braniff has played extremely well in each game, not the best player in the team, but the overall performance is also one of the best.

Braniff has emerged as the best player in the middle of the midfield, but this is the first time he has taken on a heavy responsibility, having previously played as one of the 'duo' and has team-mates who share half of the pressure.

Now Braniff has a test to face.

When the 442 formation is adopted, and only Braniff is the core, his performance directly affects the performance of the whole team.

Can he shoulder this responsibility?

————

Zhang Yang decided to use the 442 formation, with Braniff as the core and Manchester United to play head-to-head.

This style of play is also very beneficial.

One is to adjust Vardy's appearance, allowing Vardy and Bent to play together to form the team's sharpest forward line, and the second is to win by surprise, Manchester United did not expect Millwall to play like this, and there may be some mistakes in response.

Zhang Yang explained carefully, and Wise and Frederick had no objections.

Although the two are assistant coaches, the team's tactical formulation has always been a flamboyant decision, and there is no room for others to interfere at all.

Zhang Yang made a decision, and they just followed along.

Next, Millwall worked intensively to prepare for the war.

They have very little time to prepare, only a short day, the 442 formation is the most common tactic, and there is no need to adapt to anything, even if a young player comes, he knows how to play in various positions, the only thing is the problem of coordination with teammates.

It depends on the tacit understanding between the players.