"It's the 39th minute of the first half, Millwall is leading Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 at home, plus 2-2 in the first leg, Millwall is 3-2 ahead!"

'Don't forget, Millwall have two away goals! In other words, even if Tottenham equalizes, Millwall still have the advantage! ”

While Sky Sports commentator Belu Elson analysed the score, Zhang Yang stood on the sidelines and applauded, delighted by Curtis Weston's performance.

Weston has always been a player with high expectations.

Although Millwall has not seemed to be taken seriously by Weston since the Championship, in fact, Zhang Yang has always hoped that Weston can perform well and has always had confidence in him.

In weekday training, Weston has been doing well, he has always been just inexperienced.

Zhang Yang has made Weston play a lot of times, and has repeatedly encountered weak teams in the league, or in some unimportant games such as the FA Cup and League Cup, Weston will start.

It's the first time I've played in an important tournament.

Zhang Yang also wants to see what kind of performance Weston can have under pressure.

The results did not disappoint him.

Weston withstood the pressure and performed extremely well, Dawson's defense just now, the average forward played very well, and he couldn't perform better with Darren Bent.

Zhang Yang celebrates with others.

Another reason for his happiness is also the scoreline between the two sides, as Belu Elson analysed, with Millwall scoring two away goals and Tottenham Hotspur having one.

This is one of the reasons why when formulating tactics before the game, consider counter-attacking with defense.

As long as you pay attention to defense and don't play against Tottenham head-on, then there will not be too many goals, and the role of two away goals will be shown, otherwise in the last offensive battle, Millwall scored three goals, Tottenham also scored three goals, and finally Millwall will be eliminated because of goal difference.

That's not what Zhang Yang wants to see.

————

Tottenham Hotspur Coach's Box.

Head coach Joel looked at the celebration on the pitch and his face became extremely solemn, and from the beginning of the game, Joel had been very serious, because Millwall's style of play was unexpected, and the game was completely out of control.

In this time, he has come to terms with the fact that Millwall is playing defensive counter-attacks.

In terms of the scoreline, Joel also had to admit that focusing on defense was the best option, and in terms of the strategy of the game, he lost to the opposing manager.

It can't really be helped.

Tottenham has only one style, and the same is true for how to play the game, he didn't expect Millwall to play a 'dual-core' tactic for half a season, saying that he changed the defensive counterattack, so he changed the defensive counterattack.

Millwall's players are also very comfortable with defensive counter-attacking play, and there is nothing wrong with it at all.

Joel couldn't figure this out.

In fact, Millwall players will of course adapt to tactical adjustments, a defensive counterattack style used by the team last season, in addition, the team's tactical core is to let players perform freely on the field, rather than any rules and regulations, and the 'double core' style of play does not strengthen the tightness of the midfield, Millwall suddenly turned to offense and defense, gave up the 'double core' style of play, and then emphasized the defense, the team immediately became conservative.

Joel was a little apprehensive about the game, but not to the point of despair.

Just one goal.

For Tottenham, a goal against the opposition is far from deciding the winner, even if the goal difference is at a disadvantage, but they only need to score two goals.

Is two balls hard?

It's a bit difficult for other teams, but as long as Tottenham play well, Millwall may not be able to keep the back of the net.

This is Joel's faith.

Now that Tottenham have come to the battle, they have no choice but to score as many goals as possible, and Joel is thinking about how to break down the Millwall defence more easily.

Now Tottenham have a problem: Berbatov is being marked very badly.

Berbatov and Defoe are both forwards, but in Tottenham's lineup, Berbatov also has to play the role of midfield connection, it cannot be said that Berbatov is the offensive core, but his role is not weaker than the offensive core, Tottenham's wings fly together, and they also need to rely on the conversion of middle players, Berbatov's role is very obvious.

Millwall had some research on Tottenham and they sent in Livermore to focus on Berbatov's defence.

It's nerve-wracking.

The team that has studied Millwall knows that Millwall's player with the strongest one-on-one defensive ability is the '10,000-year-old iron back' Livermore, Livermore's restrictions on Berbatov are too tight, and it is very difficult for Berbatov to play.

While Tottenham have others, Dimitar Berbatov is an important player.

Dimitar Berbatov can't play, and the number of touches of Defoe in front of him is pitiful, and Tottenham's overall performance will be greatly affected.

It's difficult to get Berbatov to play.

Joel has been paying attention to Berbatov's position for a long time, and he found that Berbatov is alone, and it is not easy to get rid of Livermore's defense, let alone dribbling, and it is not easy to receive passes.

Somewhat helpless, Joel turned his head to look next door.

Zhang Yang had returned to his position, with a simple smile on his face, playing with delicate dice in his hand, and seemed not to take the game to heart.

It's hard to imagine directing the game, he seems to be more laid-back than the fans off the field, but Joel has to admit that the opponent's coaching ability is excellent, and his tactical layout is at a disadvantage, which is the biggest proof of this.

After some consideration, Joel called Janas and told Janas to take on more organizational responsibilities, "Don't count on Dimita, he is very well guarded, you have to pay more attention to running forward, and you have to take care of both sides." I know it's hard for you, but now you have to pick up the heavy lift! ”

Joel, like Zhang Yang, uses words to motivate players.

The difference between the two sides is that Zhang Yang just let Weston play normally, and don't give up on himself; Joel wants Jenas to play extraordinarily.

Yes.

It is difficult for Jenas to complete the task that Joel said because his level is not up to standard, he is already a central midfielder, so to speak, the core of the attack, and then provoke some shadow striker work?

Also shoulder the link between the wing and the middle?

Are you kidding.

Janus will definitely not explicitly refuse, he just nodded blankly, whether he can do it or not is only God knows.

————

After the restart, Tottenham continued to attack, and they did not have any mental impact by conceding a goal.

On the contrary, the offense was fought harder.

That's what manager Joel signaled, and that's what the Tottenham players want to do, and what they're good at is pressing down their opponents with attack.

"Scoring goals is the best defense", Tottenham can interpret this sentence with performance in many games.

But they soon saw why Millwall was able to rely on defensive counterattacks to win the Premier League and FA Cup last season.

Millwall's centre-back duo is Zambrotta and Arbeloa.

Zambrotta needless to say, Aberroda was born in the Real Madrid academy and is considered a genius in the Real Madrid youth system, but unfortunately Real Madrid is full of big names, and only those who are sure to be focused on training can be promoted to the first team.

Abeloa's ability is very good, but the number of times he participates in official games is relatively small, Zhang Yang attaches great importance to Abeloa, and lets him start more often, whether it is on the side or in the middle, Aberoa can do well, he can be said to be the 'first substitute' on the back line.

The most important thing in Millwall's defensive system is a clear division of labor.

"Speech and Spirit Calculation" is to evaluate the overall tactics, and Zhang Yang derives the most suitable tactics according to the "Speech and Spirit Calculation", which naturally includes defense.

Therefore, the biggest feature of Millwall's back line is that players rarely get caught by the opponent in defensive runs.

That's how Zambrotta and Arbeloa's defensive combination worked.

Arbeloa is in the front line, directly defending the attacking striker who is a threat, while Zambrotta is the commander of the defence and a direct participant, always in the most critical defensive positions.

With two centre-backs, wing-backs and midfielders, the Millwall defence can be described as 'airtight'.

If the opponent wants to break through the Millwall defense, either there is a very subtle combination, or the ability of a single player is outstanding, such as the game against Roma, Totti's individual play, shaking off the defenders in a row, and the defense line is naturally destroyed.

Tottenham don't take either.

If the two sides play against each other and Millwall neglects to defend, Tottenham can still find many opportunities, but Millwall is focused on defense, and it will not be so easy for Tottenham to break through the defense.

Tottenham have been working hard for a long time and they have found it impossible to break down the defence and it will be very difficult to threaten the goal.

————

The first half was over quickly.

Tottenham Hotspur coach Jol, during the half-time break, focused on attack, he let Jenas increase his running, and also encouraged Berbatov to pull as much left and right as possible to get rid of the embarrassment of being blocked by Livermore, and also reminded the two wings to pay attention to the characteristics of 'flying on both wings'.

But for ten minutes into the second half, the game still didn't change.

Tottenham's attacking performance was slightly better and could threaten Millwall's goal, but they were a little bit of luck away from finding the back of the net.

Millwall's counteroffensive also grew.

When facing a team that plays defensive counter-attacks, if the long-term attack is not rewarded and cannot break through the opponent's goal as soon as possible, you may face a terrible thing, that is, the opponent's sharp counterattack.

Millwall are also strong on the wing.

Pire is old, but his state does not seem to be affected, his speed is still very fast, and his veteran foot skills have made Tottenham's defense suffer a big loss, and on the other side, Simpson has also improved rapidly, he is playing on the side, there are no outstanding characteristics, but I have to say that Simpson has an advantage, that is, he cooperates with his teammates more tacitly.

This is because Simpson is the 'old man' in the team, Livermore, Morris, and Weston in front of them are all teammates who have played together in the Championship, and they have been training together and growing together for a long time, so they are naturally not comparable to new players.

Simpson is on the right side, and he is more flexible with his play.

Whenever Millwall launched a counter-attack on the right, the cheers of the fans were reminiscent from the stands, as they could easily see the good combination.

In the 73rd minute, Morris broke free from Jenas's entanglement and passed the ball to the left side of the box with a through push, Vardy followed up and took the ball to the right, and Simpson followed up with a volley to pump the ball into the goal.

"The Simpson——!! Two to zero! Added together for two legs, Millwall leads Tottenham 4-0! At this point, we can probably say that the suspense is gone, not because of the scoreline, but what we have seen, Tottenham have been unable to break through Graham's goal, they can only cross from the wing most of the time, looking for opportunities as if they were trying their luck, Berbatov did not perform throughout the game, and Defoe was also stuck in the defensive quagmire, unable to do anything to help Tottenham. With only twenty minutes left, it was too difficult for Tottenham to score two goals......"

No one was surprised by the goal.

Tottenham were unable to break down Millwall's goal, and Millwall's counter-attack was sharp, and the goal seemed to be predestined a long time ago.

Sky Sports commentator Belu Elson also criticised Tottenham's monotony in attack.

Tottenham are a team that is good at attacking, their fast attack is good, and the style of play with wings flying together is also very good, but in the face of Millwall's defense, their speed and agility seem to be gone, and the means of scoring are very monotonous.

This is also a big reason why Tottenham's attack has been blocked.

Tottenham Hotspur's coaching box, from the coach to the players, was silent.

Coach Joel watched the game and looked very helpless, Tottenham was a little out of shape at the beginning of the game, which can be attributed to the pre-match preparation, Millwall unexpectedly changed tactics, and Tottenham was not prepared for this.

When the game got to the point, it was not just a matter of tactics, it was completely a matter of the strength of the Tottenham squad.

Tottenham's attack as a whole is also good, and the ability to break dense defense is also good, but the lineup is also a big problem, including the wings, the players are limited, and there are no real big stars in the team, and there are no players who are very outstanding.

Berbatov is quite a good player, when Berbatov is targeted, Jenas, Defoe and other players cannot play flexibly, and Tottenham's attack becomes extremely monotonous.

Millwall's defense, in fact, is not at the top level in the world, but it is not something that Tottenham can easily break through, and they need a certain element of luck if they want to score.

Simpson's goal hit Tottenham a bit hard.

Many players recalled the game against Millwall, they have not beaten Millwall in two seasons, it should be said that there are very few teams in the Premier League to win against Millwall, and this season, Millwall are still unbeaten in the league.

How can such an opponent fight?

Tottenham came with the confidence to beat Millwall, but now their hearts are only full of helplessness and loss.