บท 472: Pressure Mounts as the Gap Widens
This year's Christmas showdown won't take place on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but rather on the 27th.
As the final fixture before the halfway point of the season, Millwall will head to Milton Keynes, a newly promoted team currently fighting against relegation.
Due to the obvious strength disparity, the pre-match press conference at Fleet Street focused more on the recent Ballon d'Or voting. As expected, the World Footballer of the Year award would be claimed by Nedvěd.
When Aldrich was asked about his thoughts on Nedvěd's win, he smiled and replied, "In recent years, there have always been people nitpicking, saying that Nedvěd can't quite compare to some players, or he's lacking in some way. I've always said such comparisons are meaningless, because no player is perfect. No player is a jack-of-all-trades, but Nedvěd has become a phenomenal player. He will be the benchmark for future central midfielders. The club will use Nedvěd as a standard to judge players in the same position—his fitness, defensive awareness, movement across large spaces, linking up the attack, and his timely late runs into the box. I'm so glad his efforts have been rewarded, and I'm honored to have such a professional role model in the team. I hope every Millwall player, especially the young ones, can look up to Nedvěd as an example. This way, Millwall will only grow stronger."
At this point, the media couldn't refute Aldrich's words.
However, for a long time, people had criticized Nedvěd for lacking talent.
This was an ignorant bias. Indeed, on the pitch, there were many attacking midfielders who played with flair, their style pleasing to watch.
But that's where it ended. Playing beautifully didn't mean playing effectively. It didn't necessarily contribute positively to the team. This wasn't a fancy trick performance; pulling off a few moves to earn applause wouldn't change the scoreline.
Because of this, Aldrich's typical response was simple: "Show me a player who can replace Nedvěd!"
This usually ended the argument.
On one hand, people argued that someone was better than Nedvěd, yet they couldn't find anyone who could truly replace him at Millwall. This situation drove the media mad. It was a delicate issue—despite seemingly ordinary star players, no one could be an absolute replacement for him.
When Nedvěd began to score, all the media quickly quieted down. After a period of silence, the tone shifted, and the media began singing Nedvěd's praises.
On the day of the game on 27, the players who participated in the Ballon d'Or returned to the team on schedule, missing only two days of training during the Christmas period. However, they were not included in the matchday squad.
Away from home, the energetic substitutes showed no signs of slowing down, securing a 3-1 victory over Milton Keynes.
Millwall finished the first half of the league season with a perfect 19-match winning streak.
This wasn't much of a news story anymore, as Manchester United also won their last two matches, and the gap between the two teams remained at 15 points, with little hope of a comeback.
Two days later, the Premier League resumed, and Millwall traveled back to London to face Graham's Spurs in a London derby.
Graham resorted to his usual defensive tactics, successfully ambushing Millwall at White Hart Lane with a 0-0 draw.
Millwall's winning streak was halted at 19 straight wins in a single season, and 23 across seasons.
After the game, Aldrich smiled and said, "Well, we've stopped creating records. Maybe that's a good thing. It'll relieve the pressure on the players and help with our upcoming performances."
Setting records and making history is certainly an exciting process, but it also builds up pressure along the way. Now that the new records have been set, it might be a good time to take some of that pressure off. If we played a few more matches, it'd be close to February, when the European competitions begin, and the mental state at that time might not be as relaxed as it is now.
Nedvěd winning the Ballon d'Or had a positive psychological effect on his teammates.
Henry, Larsson, Ronaldinho, and others immediately volunteered to play when January came.
For them, to win more personal honors, they undoubtedly needed solid stats to back them up.
Without impressive goal numbers, what reason would a forward have to compete for individual honors?
Their desire to play was strong, but Aldrich still had to make adjustments to the whole team.
As a result, he started using the main attacking squad in league matches, while fielding substitutes in the midfield and defense.
In the newly started FA Cup, he used substitutes in the attacking positions and starters in defense.
On January 4, Nedvěd proudly displayed his Ballon d'Or trophy to the fans at the Lion King Stadium, and the team took a group photo. The fans cheered, acknowledging that Nedvěd's award was well-deserved, just like the club's annual refusal to sell him, no matter the price: "Even for one hundred million pounds, we won't sell him!"
Visiting Liverpool players looked at Millwall's starting lineup for the photo, especially Nedvěd in the center, holding his Ballon d'Or. It would be a lie to say they weren't envious, but what could they do? They could only envy him.
The visiting Liverpool players took photos with the Millwall starting lineup, especially admiring Nedvěd, who stood in the center holding his Ballon d'Or. To say they weren't envious would be a lie, but what could they do? All they could do was envy him.
Aldrich exchanged a few words with Houllier, who congratulated him on producing yet another Ballon d'Or winner. The title of "Kingmaker" was now truly famous.
Aldrich had no choice but to be humble in response.
When the match finally began, however, their positions were instantly reversed into rivals.
Millwall fielded six key starters today.
The attacking trio, plus Nedvěd, and in defense, Southgate and goalkeeper Butt.
Pirlo rested on the bench, with Lampard starting in midfield.
Although it seemed that Millwall's starting lineup was slightly weakened, this situation posed a dilemma for Houllier.
Millwall was clearly stronger in attack than defense—at least when compared to their full-strength starting lineup.
Attack or defend?
If they defend, doesn't that mean allowing the opponent's dazzling attacking group to wreak havoc?
If they attack, what about the counterattack?
Attack and defense are two sides of the same coin. No matter what choice is made, risks are unavoidable.
This match really pushed Houllier to the brink, his heart disease almost flaring up... and yes, he does have heart disease...
Liverpool began the game focusing on counterattacks.
But they didn't dare to commit too many players forward for the counterattack, relying on only two or three players to break forward, with minimal effect.
So Liverpool increased their counterattack efforts.
In the fast-paced game, Liverpool's counterattack faltered, and before they could regroup, Millwall struck back with a counter of their own. Carra, playing as a full-back, was left dizzy by Ronaldinho's skill. He was never really cut out for the role, and his lack of top-level experience showed as he was thoroughly toyed with by the Brazilian, on the brink of collapse.
Carragher hardly got any defensive decisions right.
When he blocked the inside, Ronaldinho would go wide. When he covered the byline, Ronaldinho breezed past him.
If it weren't for the better coordination of the 3h defensive trio since the start of the season, Liverpool would probably have been torn apart by halftime.
At the end of the first half, the score was 2-1.
Ronaldinho and Henry each scored one goal.
In the second half, Millwall switched to a defensive counterattack. Liverpool, unwilling to leave the away game empty-handed, had no choice but to attack. But even the 3h defensive trio couldn't stop Millwall's sharp and quick counterattacks.
In the second half, Larsson scored twice, leading the team to a 4-1 victory over Liverpool.
The league match with Manchester United and this one with Liverpool became two case study games for Fleet Street.
Football commentators are unanimous: if a team like Liverpool approaches a match against Millwall with fear, opting for a cautious, defensive strategy from the outset, the result will inevitably be a crushing defeat. The reason is simple—there is no defense in the Premier League that can withstand the attacking power of Millwall's incredible frontline!
Though Manchester United lost, they had glimpsed the hope of victory! Had luck been on their side, say, if Lampard's final long-range shot had gone wide, or if Van der Gouw had made a successful save, Millwall might not have won.
The general consensus in the media was that to get points off Millwall, you had to be bold, attacking fiercely and directly.
As for whether a team could park the bus like Tottenham, playing for a draw from the start, the risks and rewards of that strategy were clearly not worth it.
It was a simple math problem.
Defending miserably for a draw nets you either 1 point or none.
Attacking boldly, you could get 3, 1, or 0 points.
And what was the result of Tottenham's draw?
Fan support for Graham fell, and the White Hart Lane faithful were calling for his departure. Why? Because that draw made the fans feel even more embarrassed than a loss!
In the following month, Millwall played four league matches, winning two and drawing two. They scored plenty of goals but conceded more, partly due to their starting lineup weakening and also because their opponents began attacking more actively.
Meanwhile, Manchester United had only 3 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in the second half of the season. In February, Manchester United lost to Robson's Newcastle United 3-0, which widened the gap between them and Millwall.
The difference went from 15 points to 16 points.
With only 13 rounds left in the Premier League, bookmakers across Europe adjusted their odds. Millwall's title-winning bet was closed, while Manchester United's odds jumped to 60-1. Arsenal followed closely behind at 150-1 to win the championship.
Three months left in the Premier League season—it seems like there's still time for a miracle with 13 rounds remaining, but now, only a fool would bet on Manchester United or Arsenal winning the title.
Don't be fooled by Millwall's slight shift in focus, as they've been a little dismissive of the league lately. But Aldrich understands the situation well. He may not play Ronaldinho, Nedved, or Pirlo in the league, but Henry and Larsson are always on the pitch—these two are leading the league's scoring charts!
Even the extraordinary Phillips is trailing Henry and Larsson in goals, with a seven-goal gap between him and the fourth-place player. There's no doubt that the Premier League Golden Boot, and even the European Golden Shoe, is likely to be awarded to one of these three players this season.
Henry has two more goals than Larsson, and his reputation has been rising throughout the season, surpassing Larsson in the process. Most of Henry's goals are from open play, with only a few coming from set pieces, while Larsson has scored five penalties.
In mid-February, the Champions League was reignited earlier than usual, due to the increased number of matches.
After winning two FA Cup matches in a row to advance, Millwall began focusing their efforts on the Champions League.
But just as the Champions League was about to kick off, Aldrich found himself caught in a media whirlwind.
After just attending the Champions League pre-match press conference, Aldrich was leaving the club that evening when a luxury car blocked his path.
When Aldrich honked, the window of the car rolled down, and a familiar face from the past appeared.
"Aldrich, get in my car. We need to talk—it's important."
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