Everton is a team with a lot of ups and downs, with ups and downs over the past six seasons.

In the 2001-2002 season, Everton ranked 15th in the league and faced a severe relegation situation; In the 2002-2003 season, Everton finished seventh in the league and quickly reached the stage of the competition for a place in Europe.

Next season, Everton sit seventeenth, in an even more precarious situation than two years ago, and are just one step away from relegation.

In the next season, Everton finished fourth in the league and quickly entered the stage of competing for the Champions League, but unfortunately, they were eliminated in the Champions League qualification stage and failed to perform in the Champions League.

Last season, Everton finished twelfth and regained seventh place last season.

From the analysis of Everton's achievements over the years, David Moyes's team is about to face a severe test, but it is undeniable that Everton's strength has been on the rise.

David Moyes continued last summer's transfer strategy of "preferring to be lacking rather than excess", spending only 9 million pounds to bring in three new signings, compared to Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and other teams of the same level, Everton is very low-key.

The number of new players is small, but it is considered practical.

The £5 million purchase of left-back Baines from Wigan Athletic fills the void left by Naismith's departure, and the 22-year-old is an absolute mainstay of the England Under-21 team, full of energy, attacking awareness and ability, and has knocked on the door of Manchester United twice, one of which was a spectacular free-kick.

From Wigan Athletic's Rookie of the Year award in 2004 to Player of the Year and captain of the year in 2007, Baines has shown leadership potential, with former Wigan Athletic Bamboo Sieve Jewell praising him as "a great football brain".

In addition, Everton's purchase of Jagielka from Sheffield United is also considered a good deal, and last season he played in 30 games and scored four goals, covering all positions in central midfield and even goalkeeper, and was named in the England B team at the end of the season.

The 24-year-old Jagielka, like Baines, is young, well-founded and malleable.

Another newcomer, Pienaar, who plays as an attacking striker, made a name for himself at a young age at Ajax, commented in The Guardian: "David Moyes has brought in midfield killers like Cahill and Arteta, and maybe Pienaar will be the new Cahill." ”

Everton did not do a bad job in leaving, striker Beattie, who only scored thirteen goals in two years, was purged, Pistony, Richard Wright left on free transfer, Naismith also went to Sheffield United, and the departure was basically "should have left", bringing in three people and leaving four, Moyes only made partial changes and additions to the team, and compared with last season, the strength is still unanimously optimistic.

Sadly, though, Everton seem to have continued their impressive run of results, and after 10 rounds of league games, Everton's results are not too bad: they have won four games, but they are by no means good: they have won only four games and lost five.

With 13 points in 10 rounds, it can only rank in the bottom of the league.

Before meeting Millwall, Everton had suffered two consecutive defeats, losing to Newcastle United and Liverpool respectively, especially the Liverpool derby loss at home, which was a big blow to Everton, and the team had to face an extremely difficult situation.

Now they have to face Millwall.

There is no doubt that Everton are going through a difficult schedule, first with Newcastle United, then with the Liverpool derby and then with the defending champions.

For Millwall, this game is a challenge to the "unbeaten in 49 rounds of the league", and for Everton, they will also hope to get a good result to reverse the slump of consecutive losses.

Most of the outside media want Everton to win, but it is undeniable that many people are also discussing Millwall's "record-breaking", and those media who don't want to see Millwall's good results can't avoid talking about "breaking records", because fans like to watch these things.

Millwall's results are too flamboyant, and even if you don't want to see good results, you have to at least keep a neutral attitude to talk about it.

The record-breaking issue is really worth discussing.

If Millwall can equal Arsenal's unbeaten record, preferably surpassing it, it can really be described as "great", and it can also be linked to the unbeaten record and the league results, which will make the results seem "even greater".

It will be a journey worth remembering for decades.

The media that support Millwall want Millwall to break the record, and their analysis points out that the chances of breaking the record are very high, and Millwall only need two games: one is the upcoming game against Everton; The other was an away game against Aston Villa.

Everton, Aston Villa, are not too difficult opponents.

There are also many media discussing the "possibility", that is, "how likely is Millwall to tie and surpass the record", although most of the media do not want to see Millwall "dominate the Premier League", but the general view is still more optimistic, because from a neutral point of view, Millwall and the new record are infinitely close.

What Millwall has to do is not to win two games in a row, just need to be "undefeated", the meaning of undefeated is obvious, as long as you don't lose, at home against Everton, if you go to tie the draw, it will definitely be very easy.

Judging from the results and the situation, Millwall has a chance.

In the midst of all the opinions, the Millwall club also stood up to express their expectations--

'I'm looking forward to the game because if we don't lose we can equal our unbeaten record in the Premier League. That's a great achievement! ”

--Jody Morris.

"We can do it! It's not about motivating, it's just about saying how I feel. ”

--Zambrotta.

"If I knew I could create greater in Millwall, I might have made it."

--Robert Pire.

"Unbeaten record? What's that? As long as the coach lets me play, we can set a record of 49 consecutive wins! ”

--Kevin Braniff.

Zhang Yang looked at the media reports, especially the last Braniff's speech, he felt a little blushing, and comforted himself for a moment, "This guy is not a Millwall player!" This guy is not a Millwall player! ”

Forty-nine rounds in a winning streak?

Why don't you fly to the moon and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun!

Zhang Yang is also full of expectations, and it is good to create an undefeated record, but in front of media reporters, he became much more low-key, and when asked, he showed confusion, "Breaking the record?" We're 48 rounds unbeaten? ”

The reporter was a little confused.

Zhang Yang seemed to understand, and then nodded, "Yes, I just thought, it seems that yes, last season, we won the championship undefeated, and this season it seems that we have never lost." ”

"But it's nothing, it's just unbeaten, it doesn't make much sense to go on for a long time without losing, and I would remind the team that we have to be mindful that we approach every game with the goal of winning, not 'going undefeated', and if we lose the necessary desire to win in order to maintain the so-called record, I'd rather see the record lost. ”

Zhang Yang's words in the interview quickly appeared on the pages of major media and became a topic of discussion among people in the football world.

Why is it important to be undefeated?

Winning is important?

If you talk about a record, it's definitely important to be undefeated, but aside from the unbeaten record, victory is what should be pursued.

There was a lot of praise and flamboyance in the media.

But in fact, Zhang Yang doesn't think so, if it is other times, of course, it is more important to win, after all, winning is three points, a draw is only one point, and two wins are more points than two consecutive draws, but he has a task in his body, and he must work hard to break the record in order to complete the task and gain new abilities.

So, it's more important to be undefeated!

In the face of Everton, Zhang Yang also let the team adopt a conservative style of play, without a 352 radical formation, but only playing the most familiar dual-core parallel position 451, and constantly reminded the defense before the game, "David, you must pay attention to the position, keep an eye on the opponent's forward, and don't give them any chance!" ”

"Others, defenders don't plug in too often. We have to try to control the important, stabilize the rhythm, and play slowly! ”

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David Moyes's side are sure to be tough to play against.

In the previous two seasons, Zhang Yang has experienced that Everton did not start well this season, but Everton is still difficult to play, even if Millwall is at home, it is not easy to break the goal.

That's not to say Everton have been on the defensive.

In fact, the two teams played normally, with Everton using a 4231 formation that was strong in attack and defence.

Everton's squad strength is still secondary, the key is that they play very steadily, steadily advancing, steady and steady, in comparison, Millwall plays more actively, but Everton is not in a hurry, but there are no loopholes at all, and there is a certain threat in attack, and after a long time, it is found that Millwall has a higher possession rate, but it does not take much advantage.

Zhang Yang couldn't help but be quite surprised.

Everton's lineup is also interesting, the core Cahill is at the peak of his integrity, and his strength is very strong, and the former Crystal Palace "striker" Andy Johnson is also a powerful player, who won the Premier League "Silver Boot" award in the 2004-2005 season, and the number of goals scored that season was second only to Henry who played for Arsenal at the time.

The two midfielders, Neville and Carsley, are both physically strong and strong players, and on the back line, Lescott and Bynes are both young and powerful players.

The characteristics of this lineup are that each position is very strong, that is, it can play very tough, coupled with the stability of the overall tactics, solid and tough, will make any opponent's scalp tingle.

Millwall ran into such trouble.

To say that Everton's overall lineup, individual position strength, and technical skills are all different from Millwall, but when the two teams compete, Millwall can only take advantage of "high ball possession".

Others, no more.

Just because you have a lot of possession doesn't mean it's easier to score goals, because Everton are tight on key positions and it's not easy to get the ball up front.

The game lasted twenty minutes, and Zhang Yang almost saw it through.

Everton's performance is mainly a 'stable' word, but if you want to play well, for example, to score more goals, you rely heavily on the performance of striker Andy Johnson.

Solitaires have this problem.

Often, the lineup of a single striker relies heavily on the individual performance of the strikers.

Millwall is also a lone striker, but Millwall's midfield support ability is quite strong, and it is certainly not comparable to Everton, so it can be said that "the top clubs are not on the list".

Everton's overall technical strength is not so strong, and it has not yet passed the stage of "relying on a single striker to play".

There are two of Everton's most dangerous players, one is Andy Johnson, the other is Cahill behind him, Andy Johnson is the main point of attack, Cahill often intervenes, and occasionally comes to a long shot, which is also very dangerous, it can be said that Everton's performance is entirely dependent on the play of Andy Johnson and Cahill.

Besides, the rest is just stable.

When he understood Everton's situation, Zhang Yang was much more relieved, he felt that the team should be made more flexible, and there was almost no point in a confrontational stalemate with Everton for a long time.

Kill time?

Looking to tie and catch the record?

That's certainly important.

But it is also very important to try to beat your opponent if you are undefeated!