Home team dressing room.

The United players are resting on their own, some relaxing, some listening to soothing music, some half-lying with their eyes closed, but they all have one thing in common: they all look at manager Alex Ferguson standing in the doorway from time to time.

Ferguson has been standing in the doorway since he returned to the dressing room, looking at the players indoors and reflecting on the first half.

On the way back, Ferguson felt that he had 'fallen into a trap', but he still couldn't decide how to play in the second half.

Is it just going to be attacked?

In the first half, Millwall has been defending, but it doesn't mean that the second half is still like this, maybe they put the victory and defeat in the second half, when Manchester United attacked, giving the opponent space to counterattack, and it is not surprising that the opponent can score, so you can't let go of your hands and feet to attack with all your might, and you must have reservations in attack.

Ferguson pondered.

Football games must be both defensive and offensive, no team can always defend or attack, there is a certain proportion of offense and defense, to the head coach, it is necessary to grasp the degree of attack, in order to ensure that the backfield has sufficient defensive response ability.

Ferguson's concern was Millwall's sudden counter-attack.

There's a reason for that.

The experience of playing against Millwall in the last game, coupled with watching a lot of games in Millwall, Ferguson and the entire Manchester United coaching staff easily discovered the key problem - Millwall's counter-attack efficiency was unusually high.

In many games, especially at the beginning of the season, Millwall is not strong enough and is passive against many teams, but it is often Millwall who wins in the end.

Why?

The reason is easy to find: in these games, the opponent has more shots than Millwall, but Millwall has scored more goals than the opponent.

That's the root cause!

The same goes for Manchester United and Millwall.

Manchester United suppressed Millwall all over the field, but Millwall scored two goals in a few chances, Manchester United only scored one goal, and finally lost the game away, and it is precisely because of the accurate data obtained by analysis that Ferguson and Manchester United's coaching staff attach great importance to Millwall's counter-attack, and they believe that 'Millwall cannot be given any chance'.

'Past games have shown that if you give them one chance, you can score!' Assistant coach Carlos Queiroz said.

Don't underestimate Manchester United's assistant coach!

Many believe that Ferguson's success is due to the fact that he has been assisted by a succession of outstanding assistant coaches.

Carlos Queiroz is just one of them, and he is also a well-known coach who has coached Portugal's youth team and won the World Youth Championship twice, in 1989 and 1991.

Queiroz then worked as assistant coach for Alex Ferguson for a long time, and two years earlier, in the 2003/04 season, he moved to Madrid, Spain, to take charge of the star-studded 'Galaxy Battleship' Real Madrid.

Queiroz's more than half a season in charge of Real Madrid was a failure, and he was sacked by the club due to consecutive defeats in the sprint stage of the league, but the opportunity to coach the giants is enough to prove Queiroz's ability.

After leaving Real Madrid, Queiroz returned to Manchester United to continue as assistant coach for Alex Ferguson.

Queiroz is one of United's most authoritative assistant on the coaching staff and will be involved in a lot of work before and after the game, helping the team prepare for the game.

Before the match against Millwall, Queiroz was in charge of researching Millwall.

After watching the video of the game for a long time and collating some stats, he came to the 'important' conclusion: "Millwall's counter-attack was quite efficient, and several of their midfielders, including the strikers, were very capable of getting on goal. I don't know why, but that's the truth, data doesn't deceive people. ”

This became one of the 'bewilderments' of the Manchester United coaching staff.

Millwall's frontcourt efficiency has been praised by the British media, regardless of Darren Bent, Braniff, Josh Simpson, plus midfielders Livermore and Jody Morris, each player's goalmouth efficiency is quite outstanding.

Why is that?

It stands to reason that a player's efficiency in front of goal has little to do with the state on the spot, and most of them are just temporary plays, but Millwall's frontcourt players are indeed extraordinary, and the media attributed it to 'Millwall's tactics that are specific to the player', and the Manchester United coaching staff can only come to this conclusion.

That's what worries Ferguson the most.

The opponent's frontcourt is very efficient, so it is natural to limit their counter-attack, if Manchester United presses too much, it may give Millwall a chance, only one or two, maybe the opponent can complete the goal?

Ferguson kept thinking about it, and when he realized that time had passed and he had to say something, he finally felt that he was thinking too much.

A football game is a gamble!

Manchester United have a stronger squad than Millwall and they have a better chance of winning, but there is no such thing as a guaranteed win, all they need to do is try to fight.

Next, Ferguson explained his playing style seriously.

"We are going to step up our offensive."

This was the core of Ferguson's second-half play, and he also told his players to pay more attention to Millwall's possible counter-attack.

"Stop them with fouls when necessary!" If you let the outside world know what Ferguson said, it will be incredible, Millwall actually made Manchester United pay attention to 'blocking with fouls', but Manchester United is not surprised at all, in the face of the team that can still be ranked first in the late league and beat Manchester United at home in the first leg, it is not too much to pay attention to it.

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Away team locker room.

Zhang Yang didn't know Millwall's game data, which caused so much trouble to the Manchester United coaching staff, and made the other party deal with it so seriously.

In fact, he didn't even pay attention.

This question is also very simple to say, just like Queiroz considered, under normal circumstances, the efficiency in front of goal is a temporary performance for a moment, Millwall can make the players play better through tactics, but this is not conducive to the improvement of the efficiency in front of the goal, the mentality, action and defensive situation of the players, will be the influencing factors of the goal.

But no matter how many influencing factors there are, it can't stand the power of 'supernatural powers'.

From the beginning of the season to the present, Zhang Yang doesn't know how many goals he has scored for the team with his 'words and words'.

If you count the number of games, in the past 30 games, it has been used 30 times, even if only half of them have been used to shoot, and the goals must have been more than 10.

That's why Millwall players are so efficient in front of goal.

A player who shoots ten times can only score two goals, but when he is 'spoken' twice, it becomes four goals, and the goal efficiency is directly doubled, pulling others far behind.

High efficiency in front of the goal, does not mean that you can win, just like now, with Manchester United direct confrontation, Manchester United can get ten chances, Millwall can get two or three times, there is a huge gap in strength between the two sides, even if Millwall has strengthened this season, the ability and experience of each player have been greatly improved, but at most it can catch up with the level of the 'Premier League', and Manchester United, there is still a big gap.

Therefore, under the mentality of 'semi-abandoning' the game, he will choose to only defend and not attack.

Attack, leave it to luck!

Millwall's luck is very average, and the pre-match 'Word Divination' is only 'auspicious', and 'auspicious' represents a normal level of luck.

After the start of the second half, Manchester United strengthened the offensive, pressing forward a lot on all fronts, making Millwall's situation very passive, and Millwall could also find counterattack opportunities in the middle, but just relying on the support of Darren Bentega two or three midfielders, it was a bit fantastical to break through Manchester United's defense, and the football could only play half time before being directly tackled by the opponent.

The Millwall players didn't care, and before the game started, the coaching staff was asking to defend well, and there were no goals to score.

Zhang Yang only found Darren Bent alone, and the requirements for him are the same, "Find opportunities to break through with the ball, ready to counterattack at any time, as long as you are in front, Manchester United will not be able to let go." ”

This is tactical 'deterrence'.

More than halfway through the league, there are plenty of strikers who have performed well in the Premier League, and Darren Bent is definitely at the top of the list, and in the eyes of the media, he has surpassed Braniv as Millwall's most dangerous player.

Don't underestimate this title!

Although it is said to be 'Millwall', Millwall are first in the league and second in the Premier League in terms of goals, four more than Manchester United and only two less than first-placed Chelsea.

Darren Bent is Millwall's 'most dangerous player', at least in the top three of the Premier League, and the only strikers who are definitely more dangerous than Darren Bent are Manchester United's Ruud van Nistelrooy and Arsenal goalscorer Thierry Henry, who is only over 22 years old in terms of age, can be so evaluated, how good it is to imagine.

A number of media outlets have begun to call for Darren Bent to be included in the England national team.

Darren Bent's deterrence is enough for Manchester United to pay 100% attention, even when Manchester United holds the ball, there will be defenders next to him for a few meters, sometimes two people follow, which makes it difficult for him to find any opportunities, but at the same time, it can be regarded as restricting Manchester United's attention, so that Manchester United does not dare to let go of all his hands and feet, and relieves the pressure on the backfield defense.

Darren Bent has a lot to play and Millwall will not be less under defensive pressure.

After Manchester United strengthened its offensive, Millwall began to have frequent crises, just like Zhang Yang thought, it is not easy to hold the goal, Manchester United's offensive is very strong, they are not a world-class technical team, but the technical strength and cooperation are enough to crush Millwall.

Milwall's backfield, including the goalkeeper, has ten players all near the penalty area, such as Van Nistel, Cristiano Ronaldo and other players, must be 'taken care of' by two players, Manchester United's so-called talented striker Rooney, are somewhat ignored, because compared to Van Nistel, C. Ronaldo's threat, Rooney is still worse.

The big guy still got Millwall in trouble.

Zhang Yang realized the trouble.

In the 69th minute of the game, Zhang Yang used 'foreknowledge' to calculate the goal, and it was Rooney who scored the goal, he received a pass from Scholes and rushed directly across the penalty line to complete the shot.

This is Rooney's 'signature' shot: using his explosive power to rush forward, get to a similar position, and come straight to the bombardment, which is often a headache for opponents because their defenders can't beat Rooney.

Now it's different.

Zhang Yang told Livermore to focus on 'taking care' of Rooney.

Livermore was a midfielder who spent most of the second half near the penalty line, and he was important to defend midfielders such as Scholes, and he would also drop back to help defend with defenders.

Rooney's side was followed by Wes Morgan.

Wes Morgan defends well and is physically strong, but compared to the impactful Wayne Rooney, it's a lot worse.

After Zhang Yang finished speaking, Livermore went to 'take care' of Rooney, and Rooney also felt 'special care', Livermore can't be said to be the strongest player in the world, but it is definitely one level higher than Rooney, Rooney can bully the average defender, but standing with Livermore, he suffers a little physically, and he finds that no matter what, it is difficult to collide with Livermore and get the upper hand.

This left Rooney feeling depressed.

When he saw Scholes get the ball, Rooney realized that he should run forward, and he still squeezed Livermore a little unwillingly halfway, Livermore's body shook, and Rooney felt muscle pain, and on the surface it looked fine, but his pace slowed down.

The gap between these two steps also prevented Rooney from receiving a pass from Scholes.

"Hmm...... Rooney didn't catch up! The Old Trafford stadium announcer, with some regret, didn't know that Rooney hadn't missed a chance, but a goal.

Sidelines.

Zhang Yang exhaled a long breath, and the seriousness on his face turned into a smile.

The team escaped!

This is the nature of 'foreknowledge'.

'Foresight' can know the game in advance, but in the real game, five minutes is nothing, and it is not easy to find time to make adjustments, after all, every player is playing, but the advantage of 'Foresight' is that it can be used almost unlimitedly, and occasionally it can stifle the opponent's goal.

In a game, every goal counts!

Under normal circumstances, in 90 minutes, it would be good for both sides to score one or two goals, and 'stifling' a goal from the opponent can almost determine the outcome of the game, just like now, a goal from Manchester United was terminated early, and there was no goal again in the next five minutes, and they didn't know how long they would have to wait if they wanted to find a good opportunity.

That's the best results!

'Foresight' has achieved the desired effect, then the goal of a draw will not be difficult to achieve, and then Manchester United will rely on luck to find the opportunity to find the back of the net and complete the goal.