Chapter 506: The Photo That Stole the Headlines
Unexpectedly, the sales of major newspapers like The Times the next day didn't surpass that of some gossip tabloids.
While the big newspapers focused heavily on detailing Millwall's championship celebrations and Liverpool's misstep against Bradford, who were placed fourth from the bottom in the league, which allowed Leeds United to secure fourth place and a spot in the Champions League qualifiers despite a draw away, their in-depth match reports and season reviews couldn't match the power of a single photo in the tabloids.
Aldrich had never done a photo shoot, but after a photo of him topless at Lion King Stadium was digitally altered, it was published. The article itself didn't matter anymore—what mattered was the massive sales spike for the tabloids. Of course, most of the buyers were female readers.
Aldrich was resigned to this; it wasn't exactly an infringement of privacy, especially since the tabloids mostly ran straightforward articles, simply using his photo to boost sales. It worked surprisingly well.
Millwall now focused all their energy on preparing for the FA Cup final.
Aldrich reminded the players during training to first forget about the Champions League final so they could perform well in the FA Cup final. If the team kept thinking about the Champions League final, they'd risk losing focus. And since the FA Cup final came first, a loss there could negatively affect their performance just four days later in the Champions League final.
Chelsea, Millwall's FA Cup final opponent, had started stirring the pot. Vialli admired Aldrich's coaching abilities but believed that this season had been unfair to some of the players.
"I don't know what Millwall's lineup will be, even if Hall says it, I wouldn't trust it. Everyone knows he'll lie to confuse the opponent. But if he plays the first team in the FA Cup final, I think that's unfair to the other Millwall players. Klose, Gronkjaer, Larmore, Lampard—those are the real heroes who got Millwall to the final. Larsson? Nedved? Sure, they're better players, but they haven't played a minute before the final. They haven't been on the pitch at all, but now they'll play in the final, and if they win, they'll be the heroes. People won't remember the real contributors, like Lampard, Gronkjaer, and the others."
If those words had come from a neutral source, they might have seemed reasonable.
But coming from his mouth, everyone knew exactly what it meant.
It was meant to unsettle, perhaps even a bit out of fear.
In the five years since Millwall entered the Premier League, they had never lost to Chelsea and held a dominant win rate against them.
Vialli's comments sparked a heated debate on Fleet Street, receiving considerable support.
This wasn't unusual. Fleet Street wasn't always in Millwall's corner. If at the right moment, they could generate more buzz by siding against Millwall, they wouldn't hesitate.
This controversy inevitably affected Millwall, but Aldrich chose to remain silent.
He wasn't the team's nanny; he was the owner, the manager.
Thinking—that was the job of the players.
At its core, Aldrich's duty was to protect the collective interests, not any one player. He wasn't trying to force the honor onto Pirlo, Larsson, or others. For the final, the strongest lineup should play—was there anything wrong with that?
If the substitutes couldn't accept it, it was a matter of their own mindset.
They had been eliminated from the League Cup, but they were in the FA Cup final. It couldn't be denied that Millwall hadn't faced too many challenges on their way to the FA Cup final, with Arsenal being their strongest opponent. Arsenal fielded their first team to knock them out of the League Cup, while Millwall played their substitutes to beat Arsenal's reserves in the FA Cup.
Their only truly brilliant performance had been in the semi-final against Aston Villa. Other than that, they still had issues to address. The result was a win, but they needed to focus more on improving themselves through the experience.
After all, if they were only fixated on one trophy, well, what could be expected from players like that?
This year's luck on the road to defending the FA Cup would not have been possible without Manchester United's exit. Their league form was stronger than in previous years, with points that couldn't be deceived. If they had participated in the FA Cup, it's likely they would have met Millwall, either in the final or earlier on.
Unfortunately, Manchester United was forced to withdraw in January by the FA, who pointed a figurative "gun" at their heads, demanding they skip the FA Cup to fly to Brazil and participate in the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup.
Manchester United had already played in the Toyota Cup, yet still had to participate in the Club World Cup, so they had to pull out of the FA Cup.
At the time, FIFA had also invited Millwall, but Aldrich flatly refused.
It was an unwarranted request!
Manchester United were the Champions League winners, while Millwall had only won domestic tournaments last season—why should they join in?
The FA's hidden reason for pressuring Manchester United to attend the Club World Cup in Brazil was rooted in their belief that England needed a representative team for such an international FIFA event to curry favor with FIFA, helping their bid to host the 2006 World Cup.
Andrew later informed Aldrich that the FA had not pressured Millwall because at that time, the English national team did not have a manager. The FA feared they would not find one before the European Championship started. Aldrich was always the best emergency choice, so they didn't want to strain relations with Millwall, as long as England had a team involved.
As a player for Millwall, Aldrich had to remain both rational and ambitious.
He didn't address the players directly; sometimes it's better not to speak than to say the wrong thing. Being too open could make unspoken things awkward, which would affect the atmosphere in the locker room.
This was a competitive environment, and it was essential to recognize and evaluate oneself.
The key wasn't whether they could reach the final, but whether they were good enough to earn a starting spot over their teammates through sheer skill.
Fleet Street may have hoped to see the Millwall substitutes "rebel," but the rebellion never materialized. Perhaps the recent Van der Meyde incident played its part, but the Millwall side remained calm.
May 20th.
The FA Cup final was being played at Wembley.
By coincidence, today was Aldrich's 24th birthday.
Two years ago, they won the club's first-ever Champions League title. Today, Millwall's players, united in spirit, still hoped to reward themselves with a trophy, which they would also present as a gift to their coach, the one who had made them famous.
At Wembley, Chelsea wore their traditional dark blue kit, while Millwall played in their away white jerseys.
Aldrich stood motionless on the sideline, keeping a watchful eye on the game. Against Chelsea, he didn't need to adjust his tactics too much—he knew them like the back of his hand. Vialli's tactics didn't present a problem for Aldrich, and there was no repeat of the tactical headaches that Bosque's formation changes had caused.
Millwall controlled the midfield, with their players' superior passing and ball control dominating the match. In defense, they relied on high pressing—something they had almost perfected.
The only weakness was the striker. Klose still couldn't replace Henry, and keeping up with the fast-paced attacks and passing plays was difficult for him. He had several chances in the first half, but either ran too slowly or missed the right moment.
Henry sat on the bench, having already secured both the Premier League and European Golden Boots. Today, unless something unexpected happened, Aldrich wasn't planning to send him on. The starting players had already gotten their rest in the final two rounds of the league, while Henry insisted on playing to fight for more goals.
Vialli watched as the team's formation gradually dropped deeper, their counter-attacks growing weaker. This scene felt familiar to him. In the past two years of facing Millwall, his team had never managed to gain any advantage in midfield.
Just like Chelsea often targeted Manchester United, but always struggled against Arsenal and Millwall, because United's midfield was sometimes too open, whereas Arsenal and Millwall would not give opponents any chance to break through with quick passing and movement. In that aspect, Chelsea couldn't gain an advantage. When it came to individual ability, their players, besides forward Zola, couldn't do much. In one-on-one situations, they weren't particularly strong.
In the 34th minute of the first half, Schneider sprinted down the wing and delivered a half-high cross into the box, causing chaos in Chelsea's penalty area. Desailly attempted to clear, but the ball deflected off one of his teammates, and Larsson capitalized on the opportunity to score.
"Millwall has predictably taken the lead! There's a clear gulf in quality between Chelsea and Millwall, and at this stage, tactical discussions feel almost irrelevant. Comparing the players in each position naturally shows who's the stronger side. With their status as Premier League champions and the team that went 48 matches unbeaten, their tactical nous, mentality, and experience are all far superior to Chelsea's. Although the goal doesn't look overly convincing, it's entirely expected that the dominant team would take the lead."
The roar of Millwall fans in the Wembley stands echoed, waving their flags and chanting wildly.
Chelsea's fans, on the other hand, were on the brink of collapse.
Crushed by their arch-rivals. Crushed relentlessly!
This had been going on for five years!
Five years!
Who would come to their rescue?
In the past five years, this marks the third time Chelsea has faced Millwall in a decisive final where silverware is on the line. It seems that today, they are destined to finish as runners-up for the third time against Millwall.
The despair among the Blues' fans is palpable.
Millwall's supporters, however, weren't thinking about that. It was like when they were regularly suppressed by West Ham United over the past hundred years. Who cared what Millwall fans thought when West Ham's legendary captain became an England icon?
Who cares about the weak?
After the goal, Aldrich turned to glance at Vialli, who had his hands on his head and eyes closed, letting out a long sigh.
In the 44th minute of the match, Ronaldinho made a horizontal dribble, passing a Chelsea defender, only to be suddenly tackled from behind.
Aldrich saw this from the sideline and, especially after noticing the number on the Chelsea player who had made the tackle, immediately shouted to Schneider, who was closest to the field: "Go! Get Ronaldinho and the other player apart! Don't let him clash with the opponent!"
Schneider immediately sprinted toward the incident.
Aldrich's face was emotionless. He had noticed that the player who had made the tackle was that troublesome kid, Wise. Ronaldinho had gotten up after the fall, but it was unclear what Wise had said when he got back up. Ronaldinho was indeed shouting back at him, but there was no physical contact.
I'm heading to the Champions League final—I can't let this guy injure me! That was Ronaldinho's only thought as he leapt to avoid Wise's reckless tackle, crashing to the ground. This wasn't play-acting; this was pure survival instinct.
Diving is when you simulate a foul without actual contact to win a free kick. But Ronaldinho's move was to protect himself. Was he supposed to wait for Wise to actually smash his leg before reacting?
Wise, however, sarcastically accused him of putting on a performance.
That was all it took to push Ronaldinho over the edge. He knew Wise wasn't someone you could reason with. Words wouldn't solve this.
The two were face to face in seconds, throwing expletives at each other. Their noses were just millimeters apart, and the atmosphere on the pitch was ready to ignite.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone