Thank you for the tips from "Death of the Thief" and "Shimazu"! ——

Manchester City, Main Road Stadium.

The FA Cup semi-final match between Millwall and Aston Villa will be played here, home to Manchester City.

Manchester City, who are still working hard in League One, have played well this season in League One and are hoping to see the Blue Moon again in the Premier League next season.

From the environment around Maine Road Stadium, it can be roughly understood that Manchester City was suppressed by Manchester United in this city, even in the earliest, the owner of the city was definitely Manchester City, and Manchester United was just an outsider.

On the way to the Maine Road Stadium, you can see a large area of abandoned factories around, and the scene of the decline of the world factory seems to be still left at this time, this area has become a gathering place for immigrants, prosperity is not to say, recession is the most appropriate description, it is not difficult to understand why Manchester City will move away from this stadium in the future and choose a place with a better geographical environment to settle down.

Just like last year, Fleet Street is touting Millwall as they will achieve great things and win the first treble in English football history.

Last year, there was only one Champions League short.

This year, Millwall, the reigning FA Cup champions, still fielded all substitutes to play in the all-England FA Cup semi-finals.

Millwall's victory over Newcastle United a few days ago was a good morale boost for the whole squad, especially the young players, who were honoured to see Millwall continue to be a success, although their contribution was only a small part. And Aldrich's trust in them. Let them play for the team at the level of the FA Cup semi-finals. This made them both touched and full of fighting spirit.

Crowds of Lions fans descended on City's home stadium and sang cheerful songs from the stands before the game to celebrate the team's third top-flight title in the club's history.

As for the Van der Meyde incident, there was not even a single wave in the Lions fan base, and the timing of the incident was also disgusted by the fans, who could not support the Dutchman in the slightest, and the club from top to bottom, the team and the fans were looking forward to a month of glory. At this time, someone disturbed the morale of the army, and the fans didn't care who he was, Aldrich's handling even made many fans feel very happy, and the door should be cleaned up as soon as possible for this kind of black sheep.

When Aldridge, who was in a suit and leather shoes, walked out of the players' tunnel with one hand in his pocket, the Lions fans who occupied most of the stands at the scene involuntarily bowed with their hands in his direction, and they were full of smiles and very happily expressed their highest respect and gratitude to His Majesty the King of the Lions.

The live camera swept over the stands, and this scene became the most classic fan image of the season.

When tens of thousands of fans made a gesture of worship to a coach at the same time, that scene was absolutely shocking!

There is no other reason. Aldridge has made history in the Premier League era. He became the most successful manager in the Premier League!

Not counting the number of top-flight titles, just the Premier League titles, Millwall have won the same number of Premier League titles as Manchester United after successfully defending their title this season.

Manchester United won three Premier League titles in '93, '94', '96.

Blackburn won the '95 title and Arsenal won the '98 title.

And the rest of the years, '97, '99, 2000, it was Millwall who won the league title.

Considering that Millwall only came to the Premier League stage in 94, Aldridge compared to Ferguson, and Millwall compared to Manchester United, it is clear that the former won three Premier League titles in a shorter period of time.

If you add the League Cup, FA Cup, and European championships, Millwall is undoubtedly the most successful club in England in the past five years.

Aldridge was also calmed by the sudden actions of the fans on the sidelines, and it took a long time to recover, Klinsmann and Jensen in the coach's box saw Aldridge's expression as if they were "frightened", and it was rare to smile when the game was about to start, and the players sitting on the bench also showed reverence.

Aldridge returned the favor to the stands where the Lions fans were, and then raised his hand and applauded to express his gratitude.

He was so emotional, Millwall was different, the FA Cup semi-final was played at a neutral venue, and they came to the stadium to cheer more fans than their opponents! This is evident in contrast to their FA Cup semi-finals four years ago, when they also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

Aston Villa coach Ggoli saw that Aldridge was so admired by the fans, and it must be an outright lie to say that he was not envious, there is no need to deceive himself at this point, no matter how famous the club is, a manager can impress the hearts of thousands of fans, this should be one of the pursuits of aspiring coaches, and Aldridge has done this.

After the interaction with the fans, Aldridge focused on the upcoming game, and the fans supported him, and he also wanted the team to give back to the fans with their results.

"The 1999-2000 FA Cup semi-finals are about to start, Millwall and Aston Villa are competing for a ticket to the final at Maine Road, Millwall, who has attracted much attention, sent a full bench squad today, and their approach always confuses the outside world, because they are on the bench, you think that their strength must be greatly reduced, but Millwall's substitutes have good potential, and they have performed very steadily after a planned workout, and this season is the same, look at their bench lineup, like Glen Shire, Klose, Frank Lampard and other players are fully capable of playing the main role in the middle of the Premier League. ”

Millwall started 433.

Goalkeeper: Keller.

Defenders: Ferreira, Barzagli, Metzeld, Ashley Cole.

Midfielders: Neil, Lampard, Ramor.

Forwards: Joaquin, Klose, Glen Shire.

Makelele was sent off in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals with a red card, and not only was he certain to be unavailable for the second leg, but Millwall's appeal was rejected by UEFA and Makelele was suspended for three games. The reason was that Makelele was allegedly insulting to the referee after receiving a red card.

Because of this change. Aldridge rested Gattuso for the game. In the second leg of the Champions League semi-final four days later, Neil stepped on as a defensive midfielder, a backfield that Aldridge could fully rely on.

There are hidden concerns about the combination of Barzagli + Metzelde, but they must be trained, and if they are not trained, where can they be improved?

And today's opponents, Aldridge doesn't think they are too dangerous.

Aston Villa are 7th in the Premier League. Relying on solid defense, they only conceded more goals than Millwall, Liverpool, Chelsea, and even Manchester United, Arsenal and other giants conceded more than them.

Aston Villa have the lowest attacking firepower in the Premier League's top 12, and even Robson's Newcastle United are 12th in the league with 15 more league goals than Aston Villa!

The scrappy lads showed their blood from the start of the game, despite the age gap to Aston Villa. But it does not lag behind in the confrontation.

Neil held the defensive gate in the middle and was so aggressive that Aston Villa's attack in the middle was completely unable to advance forward.

Their softer attack didn't pay off within ten minutes of the game. Millwall gradually began to take control of the midfield.

Frank Lampard, England's captain of all age groups outside of the national team, has also been on a solid basis this season and is starting to find his groove after Aldridge fixed him in midfield.

It's a feeling of rationality in the offense, strengthening the big picture, and getting back in the game to create a threat, and he's been working hard, but there used to be a feeling on the pitch that he wasn't using his strength where it should be, and now it's disappearing.

A good midfielder is one who can be seen when he is defending and when he is attacking, and a good midfielder is everywhere in the B2B area of activity!

It can accurately predict the development of the ball and appear in the most appropriate place.

Frank Lampard may not have reached particularly good heights, but he has already developed in the direction of good on a qualified basis.

What makes Aldridge even more happy is that Ramour, who has been on the bench or played minor games in the starting performance this season is very stable, his technical ability is approaching maturity, and what is needed is game experience and strengthening the ability to fight, these two points have made a breakthrough in this season, and now he plays on the field, which is very reasonable, and he performs with ease, without the excitement of young players who are overly rampant, and they can't wait to use all the strength accumulated in training at once.

Aston Villa defended solidly, Millwall were foolish in the middle trying to penetrate the opposition's defence, with Frank Lampard and Lamour frequently moving the ball down the wings.

Compared with Joaquín and Glen Char's play, Joaquín is superior, because Glen Charles has no space, he just gets rid of it on the spot, in a small area of dense defense, Glen Charles needs space for continuous passes, using explosiveness and speed, but Aston Villa did not give it to him.

Joaquin, on the other hand, created a lot of threat on the right flank with his delicate foot skills, and the quality of his crosses was good, but it was a pity that Klose could not make a difference under the attack.

Aldridge made very few changes to the bench and often after 30 minutes because he needed to give the young players more time to settle into the game, get into the groove first, settle into the game and then take the pressure off before making careful adjustments to avoid leaving the players at a loss due to frequent changes.

After 25 minutes of play, Aldridge began to adjust, and the players played well, but Aston Villa focused on defense, Millwall had few attacking points, and it was easy to be targeted, especially the threat in the box was almost zero, so Aldridge needed the team to have more attacking points.

He gestured from the sidelines, allowing Ashley Cole and Ferreira to step in assists.

In the first 25 minutes, the two full-back positions have been pressed to the center line to contain Aston Villa's side counterattack, but Aldridge observed that the opponent's side counterattack is not the midfielder or full-back pressing forward, but the attacking player pulls the side to form a side impact, in the process of forward, the middle player runs forward at high speed to respond, in this way, Millwall can completely let the full-back press up, and hand over the side counterattack to Neil, if he can't contain it, there will be no numerical disadvantage in the middle, after all, even if Aston Villa plays a counterattack, There are also very few players involved, and when the time comes, it will only be a test of the frontal defensive ability of the two centre-backs.

Aldridge's tweaks are starting to pay off, and Ferreira's assists aren't particularly noticeable, as Joaquin is skilled with the ball and seems to prefer to control the ball himself to create a threat.

And Ashley Cole and Glen Charles played well, Cole set the edge to the bottom, Glen Charles cut inside, and the threat was very popular. (To be continued......)