At the end of the first half, Millwall was a goal behind and the score was a bit depressed.

Most of the players walked into the dressing room with their heads down, and now in the new season, they are still behind their opponents for the first time, and their mood is somewhat low, and some players think, "Maybe the first defeat is coming." ”

This mentality is a bit pessimistic.

Zhang Yang walked into the locker room and saw the expressions of the players, he knew that he should cheer them on, and he knew better that the team could not be blamed for falling behind, because the overall performance was in it, and the opponent's performance was too good.

Zhang Yang smiled and said, "We are lagging behind, but it's nothing." You should all have an assessment of the quality of the team. ”

Most people didn't understand the meaning, and they looked up in confusion.

Zhang Yang continued, "That's right, as you think, our strength is the top in the Premier League, and even the top in Europe. It's not just the confidence, it's the results that brought us to last season's Champions League! ”

The players are even more incomprehensible, and it is precisely because of the strength of the team that the score will be low.

Is there something wrong?

"We have the quality, that's right, but at the same time, we have to have the mentality! Now it can be said that we are not a big club yet, just a team that has suddenly emerged, and many people say that we will soon fall because we have no background. ”

"So what's the background?"

Zhang Yang asked a question, leaving the players more than ten seconds to think, and then continued, "Heritage, represents historical achievements, but it also represents a kind of self-confidence!" A kind of confidence! Everyone should have confidence in the team, even when they are low, even in adversity. I think that's the essence and the root of the continuous good results! ”

"So we have to have faith too!"

"There is no team that can win all the time, and there is no team that can maintain good results in the history of decades or hundreds of years, every team will have times when they fall behind, and there are still many times, how to adjust the mentality to adapt to adversity? That is to have confidence in the team, confidence in teammates, confidence in yourself, and try to persevere to the end in every game, even if you fail in the end, you can work hard! When everyone does this, there is confidence, there is a foundation, and they can always maintain good results! ”

"So I hope you, everyone, keep working hard, as long as that's how we can achieve what we want!"

Zhang Yang's statement was unanimously affirmed by the players.

The players are indeed a little down, but if you think about it, what is a goal behind? It's impossible for any team not to fall behind, and it's impossible to win all the time, what they have to do is to hold on to the end and not sigh for being behind.

Next, Zhang Yang talked about adjustments.

He's not trying to make substitutions, he's not trying to change tactics, he's just emphasizing one thing: play more consistently.

"If you don't have the confidence to pass the ball accurately, don't pass it easily."

"When you're heavily defended, your first instinct is to keep the ball and not rush to pass it to your teammates."

"Don't be too anxious to pass forward, if you have the opportunity to pass again, you can choose to pass horizontally or back if you don't have a chance."

"Our style of play has always emphasized speed, but the basis of speed is to be accurate and not to make too many mistakes, the latter is much more important than the former. Don't worry about the tempo, in this game, we played 442, there is no need to speed up the tempo. ”

"As long as we fight with a normal mentality, the final victory will definitely belong to us!"

Zhang Yang's emphasis is on "steady", no matter what tactics are played, it is necessary to be stable first, and then pursue speed, even if it is a 352 formation style of play.

Conversely, it is difficult to pursue speed first and then robustness.

No matter how skillful the tactics are, there is no way to pursue stability if the speed is too fast, and no matter how long the training time is, it will not be meaningful, because the ability of its own players cannot keep up, and it is impossible to require everyone in the team to be C-Ronaldo and Messi, and even if the whole team is C-Ronaldo and Messi, there will be a difference between good state and poor state, and it is impossible to pass quickly in one breath, and the probability of mistakes is still not small. Otherwise, without the support of the foundation, no matter how gorgeous the building is, it is a tofu scum project.

————

The 45-minute process of the first half is actually very simple to say.

Newcastle United took an early lead thanks to their excellent performances, and the rest of the time, the two teams were evenly matched for most of the time, with Millwall failing to play and Newcastle United not being able to play.

In terms of attacks, Millwall had more and Newcastle had less, but the possession rate was similar for both sides.

In any case, it is Newcastle United who are in the lead, and Newcastle support media are also very satisfied, and more media are also expecting Newcastle United to beat Millwall, create an upset game, and at the same time, end Millwall's unbeaten momentum.

At halftime, many media reporters were happily talking about the game, and some reporters directly made up their minds, "This will definitely be Newcastle United's victory!" ”

"It's finally time for Millwall to lose!"

"It's true that no team can go without mistakes all the time, Millwall aren't that strong!"

"It's not easy to chase a goal, Millwall is very difficult to play, Zhang Yang will send Sneijder."

“……”

Many people see it this way, Simpson's Millwall, the performance is a big difference, Sneijder has a chance to save Millwall, at the beginning of the second half, Zhang Yang did not mean to change, he sat firmly in the position, and watched the game as in the first half, and did not move for a long time, Sneijder did not do the warm-up, which also made many people not understand.

"Why don't you put on Sneijder?" Some Millwall supporters have raised doubts.

Millwall's performance on the field was much more solid, and there was nothing to be seen in the short term, but those who were interested noticed that the pace of the game was a little slower.

Newcastle United have also focused on defence.

In the first half of the game, Newcastle United did not play aggressively, but they still attacked more than defensive, they are also a team that likes to play attack, but when they are ahead, manager Sam Allardyce still emphasizes defense, "The opponent's attacking ability is very strong, as long as there is a chance, they may be able to equalize!" So be sure to pay more attention to defense, even if you don't score, don't concede easily! ”

Allardyce is still very prestigious.

The Newcastle United players were effective in executing what Sam Allardyce emphasised, giving more experience defensively and taking some of the impact on attack.

Millwall slowed down the tempo and Newcastle United emphasised defence, and the game was not as good as the first half.

It's kind of weird.

When two teams are playing, one side will definitely try to equalize, and it will also make the game faster, often the second half will be much more intense than the first, and now the situation is quite the opposite, the second half becomes a little more dull, as if Millwall gave up the game and is not in a hurry to tie the score.

Of course it can't be.

Newcastle United coach Sam Allardyce is also a little incomprehensible, he is the same as most people's opinion, that Millwall will definitely choose to replace Sneijder, and only by letting Sneijder play, Millwall midfielders can play more efficiently, but Millwall has no intention of substitution, Zhang Yang has been sitting still, and seems to want to continue to play in the current formation.

"Maybe that's good news?" Sam Allardyce thought, "Without Sneijder, there would be a lot less pressure on the defence. ”

It didn't take long for Allardyce to realize that he was naïve in his thinking.

Millwall did not make a substitution for Sneijder, but that did not mean they did not want to equalise, they slowed down the tempo and played more efficiently.

Regardless of whether Newcastle United strengthen their defense or not, Millwall's consistent style of play is enough to suppress the situation, or at least the ball possession.

Ten minutes into the second half, Millwall had 61 per cent possession.

This is probably also due to the fact that Newcastle United have strengthened their defence and put much less energy into attack.

Not only did Millwall increase their time on the ball, they also played more efficiently, and Newcastle United needed to be careful when the ball was passed up front, and a single player who didn't pay attention could play a dangerous ball.

Millwall's attacking tempo has decreased, but compared to before, they are much faster than Newcastle United, and the wonderful combination is still staged, and the ball in front of goal is more targeted and penetrating.

Among them, the most dazzling player is Simpson in the middle of the midfield.

Millwall has Morris, Braniff, and the new signing Sneijder, the one Simpsons is always overlooked, in the eyes of the public, Simpson is also a right wing player, with poor defensive ability, and is between the main and substitute, but a player who plays a lot.

But in fact, Simpson's ability is still very comprehensive, you must remember that two or three seasons ago, Simpson was an excellent offensive player, he is not very old, his ability is constantly improving, and the captain is familiar with every player, in terms of strength, he can fully cope with the core position.

As he gets used to his central position, Simpson knows what to do.

When Simpson plays steadily and flexibly, it also drives the performance of the frontline players, and the players at the top are often linked to the overall performance, and they can only perform when they have the opportunity, otherwise they can't even receive the ball, and it doesn't matter if they are strong or not.

Dardy's performances improved and he occasionally got on the ball to the Newcastle United goal.

Jamie Vardy's partner, the young Suarez, has also been flexible, with a more aggressive movement, a weaker defence and the occasional opportunity.

As time passed, Newcastle United found that Millwall was very dangerous and could not be said to be able to attack the penalty area every time, but a negligence or the opponent's good play would make the goal go through a crisis.

So far, Millwall have failed to produce a dangerous goal, but they have had too many shots on goal and Newcastle United have found that their defence is not able to stop Millwall's attack, which cannot be said to be completely unguarded, but the defensive effect is not very good.

Newcastle United are feeling the pressure like never before.

Some Newcastle United players also wanted to attack, but the main theme of the second half was defense, which was certain, and manager Sam Allardyce also focused on defense, and they temporarily took a one-goal lead, so they stabilized their mentality and continued to defend.

Allardyce also identified the problem.

From the first minute of the second half, he has been watching the game seriously, this one is very hopeful to get points, especially the game against Millwall, which is still in the lead for the time being, and being able to beat Millwall away will definitely make the team morale great, and the effect is too obvious.

From the start of the second half, Newcastle United became passive.

Millwall's attacking tempo slowed down a bit, but it was only a little bit, and they played with more composure, which was certainly an improvement, at least in this game, because Millwall were more of a threat.

Sam Allardyce couldn't help but hesitate and looked at the bench, he wanted to replace Michael Owen, who has always been a 'transparent man', with a defender, but after glancing at the game time, only twenty-five minutes had passed, he decided to take a look.

Allardyce soon regretted it.

In the 73rd minute of the game, Millwall's attack hit the bottom line, and Pire took the ball and kicked the ball to the defender's leg and out of the bottom line.

Corner kick.

Pire walked to the corner flagpole and took a penalty, Simpson gestured very secretly, the two have been together for more than a year, and there is still a bit of a tacit understanding, and Pire immediately passed the ball.

"Look at this time! Tactical corners! The narrator shouted nervously.

Simpson meets the ball and pushes it sideways.

The ball was quickly passed from the bottom corner to the edge of the penalty area, and Livermoreton rushed towards the ball.

The defenders in the penalty area rushed out quickly to stop Livermore, but they knew the power of Livermore's shot, and if he succeeded in completing the shot, it would be too threatening.

In the end, Livermore didn't have a shot on goal.

As he ran forward, Livermore noticed that the crowd in the box was too dense and it was difficult to hit the ball directly at goal, which was very lucky, and after attracting the attention of the defenders, he pushed the ball diagonally as soon as possible.

Simpson, who was standing a little on the side before, was already standing on the line of the penalty area, and the nearby Newcastle United players were too late to defend.

"Stop him!"

"Don't let him get on his feet!"

The Newcastle United player shouted anxiously, but to no avail, Simpson quickly swung his right foot against the ball, his eyes swept behind the goal, and the side of his right foot and the rolling football created an instant distance friction.

With a muffled sound, the football crossed the curved arc and spun at a great speed towards the goal!

"The Simpsons ——!"

With the shouts of the commentator, goalkeeper Givens made a quick save, but the flight path of the arc made him make a wrong judgment, and when he pounced on the imaginary position, the football also turned from hand to the goal line.