The Rise of Millwal

Chapter 345: Injuries and Impacts

This weekend, Millwall is headed to Monaco for the UEFA Super Cup. This season, the Super Cup has been revamped into a single-match showdown held before the new season's main European competition kicks off. It returned to the traditional timing, continuing and concluding the European battles from last season.

To accommodate this, Millwall chose to play their third round league match midweek, instead of postponing to December like their Super Cup opponents, Chelsea. After all, Chelsea had to face Manchester United midweek before taking on Millwall, which would create a grueling schedule for them.

However, Millwall couldn't make such a scheduling adjustment. They still had to participate in the Toyota Cup come winter and couldn't pack all their fixtures into the hectic early Premier League schedule.

Before heading to Coventry for their away match, Aldrich received feedback from Barnett.

Cameron has been found and contacted, the timing is excellent. After losing two consecutive elections in the past two years, his career isn't bottoming out, but it's certainly not on the upswing. This is the perfect time to make connections.

Merkel from Germany was also contacted. As a prominent female politician, her party's recent electoral defeat provided another good opportunity for Barnett's connection.

As for Obama, he is already the governor of the United States. Barnett has joined forces with U.S. partners to focus on funding Obama's initiative, but doubts remain. While it's not uncommon for women and minorities to participate in politics these days, it's another story for someone like Obama to ascend to the top leadership position.

Schneider wanted to invest in wine. Coincidentally, both Larsson and Nedvěd shared a passion for wine collecting. So, the players decided to pool their resources and hire Andrew to help buy a small winery in Bordeaux—a wine-producing region—to store top-tier, investment-worthy wines. Besides these three, Schneider also brought in fellow countrymen Butt and Klose, along with Southgate and Makelele. The seven of them reportedly invested around two million pounds. Klose didn't have enough money, and Schneider generously lent him some, confident that Klose would earn a million pounds in the coming year.

Initially, Schneider invited Aldrich to invest as well, but Aldrich politely declined. He didn't want to enter into business relations outside of football with the players. Besides, he had kept three million pounds in his account for expenses and contingencies, while the rest was invested in a financial portfolio managed by Barnett's company.

On the day Boas reported to the club, Millwall was preparing for their away match. Aldrich had just finished a pre-match press conference when he ran into Boas, dressed sharply in a suit and looking serious.

"Hello."

Aldrich shook hands with Boas, who was only a year younger. Boas clearly respected Aldrich, and after shaking his hand, he seemed too nervous to let go.

Seeing Boas' embarrassment, Aldrich smiled at their clasped hands, prompting Boas to quickly release his grip.

As they entered Aldrich's office, he gestured for Boas to take a seat. "Although you were recommended by Bobby, I'm not hiring you just because of him. I hope you can showcase your talents so that I can trust you."

Boas entered the office and took in the layout. His eyes widened when he spotted a row of five family photos of Millwall on the wall, along with a fresh picture in a frame below, depicting the team before last season's Champions League final.

These images symbolized the history of Aldrich's era at Millwall, inevitably reminding one of the honors the team had achieved.

Aldrich poured a glass of water and placed it on the coffee table. Boas sat on a single sofa while Aldrich took a seat on the larger one. Without preamble, Aldrich asked, "What role did you hold while working with Bobby?"

Boas picked up the water glass, then set it down hurriedly, explaining, "I was responsible for gathering intelligence, observing opponent players, analyzing their individual characteristics, team tactics, strengths, weaknesses, and then compiling this information for the coaching staff."

Aldrich nodded; it was expected of Boas, who excelled in that role.

During Mourinho's successful tenure at Chelsea, it was later revealed that Boas had produced a comprehensive twenty-page intelligence report analyzing opponents, even for lower-tier teams in the Premier League—everyone recognized his dedication to work. Having someone like him on the team assured a higher chance of success, even if the public usually overlooked such roles.

Though Aldrich admired Boas' dedication and capability, he said, "But we already have five people handling intelligence gathering at Millwall."

He gestured with a hand to signal the other party. When he first took charge of the team, there were only three people in the intelligence department. This small team handled everything from data collection and analysis to presenting findings in the first-team tactical meetings. As the team's matches increased, they expanded the staff for such work. Now, there are five people dedicated to gathering intelligence, with two of them focused on international data. For instance, when Millwall played in the Champions League last season, these scouts were present in the stands a month before the match, continuously observing the opponents' performance, playing style, and tactical characteristics.

Boas quickly interjected, "I can also help establish a player database for the team, which is another specialty of mine. This would provide direct assistance during matches if unfamiliar players are fielded by the opponents."

Aldrich held up his hands, "But we already have such a database."

Boas looked stunned. It seemed his strengths weren't particularly unique at Millwall.

Many clubs and private coaches already maintained player databases.

Boas's player database was later noted to be more detailed than any professional institution in the football world. Had he not pursued a coaching career, he could have easily worked for a football-related organization or compiled data for a video game company.

Aldrich didn't intend to discourage Boas. Seeing him momentarily speechless, he smiled and asked, "Do you only want to be a scout at Millwall?"

Boas paused before answering, "No, I want to learn how to be a coach, but I need to contribute first to earn that opportunity."

Aldrich replied, "In that case, when you join the club, you won't have to gather intel, but after the club compiles the information for the first team, you can review it first. If you find any deficiencies or areas for improvement, feel free to suggest them to enhance our intelligence-gathering process. Once you're familiar with everything, you could also help update the player database. Finally, during first team training, you can oversee specific training segments."

Boas took a few seconds to process this, finally saying, "You—you're hiring me?"

Aldridge smiled and nodded, and said: "If you want to be a coach, you must start with the simplest coaching tasks as much as possible. If I just let you do what you were good at before, when can you Realize your dream?"

Boas felt a wave of emotion and quickly promised to excel in all his tasks. Aldrich stood and shook his hand again, giving a feel of mutual encouragement.

After completing the onboarding paperwork, Boas expressed his desire to accompany the team to their away match. Aldrich happily agreed. His enthusiasm to be involved was a positive factor.

Youth had never been an issue for Millwall.

In the away game against Coventry, Millwall deployed a new formation, 4-4-2, or 4-4-1-1.

Aldrich had to alter the team's setup due to a distressing report from the medical staff.

Pirlo was sidelined for three months due to injury, and Larsson was out even longer, for four months.

That means two key players are out for at least the first half of the season...

For their away game, Coventry's game plan was straightforward: defend and counterattack. They had shocked Chelsea in their opening match with a victory, but then suffered an unlucky loss to Nottingham Forest in their second game. Now facing a Millwall side that had just defeated Manchester United, Coventry retreated into a defensive shell, aiming for a draw.

Their cautious approach was fortuitous, given Millwall's lack of attacking power due to two injured key players. Coupled with Aldrich's tactical change, the game saw Lampard and Makelele in central midfield—one as a defensive midfielder and the other as a playmaker. The attack relied on wingers Ronaldinho and Gronkjaer, with Van Nistelrooy and Nedvěd up front, and Nedvěd playing more like a shadow striker.

While their defense held firm, their offensive play left much to be desired. In a tough match with low efficiency in the final attacking phase, Millwall and Coventry ended the 90 minutes with a goalless draw, each team taking a point.

Trialing a new formation and tactics invariably comes at a competitive cost; practices are necessary. Weak teams may not expose problems, but against strong opponents, Millwall's summer changes combined with key injuries would certainly not yield the previous season's success with an exuberant 4-3-3 formation.

After completing their third round of matches earlier than scheduled, Millwall headed to Monaco, while Aldrich first traveled to Switzerland for the Champions League group stage draw.

Simultaneously, Millwall submitted a request to the FA to hire Klinsmann as the team's assistant coach. However, Klinsmann lacked a coaching license, and Millwall hoped the FA would be lenient.

Klinsmann was quite well-known in the Premier League, and the FA needed more internationally recognized football figures in England, so they didn't challenge Millwall's application. Klinsmann could work while pursuing his qualifications, and once he was ready, he could take the exam.

Before the Champions League group draw took place, the FA had already approved Millwall's request.

This decision frustrated two other clubs in London.

Tottenham was one. Klinsmann had just left White Hart Lane, only to take up work with Millwall after retiring.

Arsenal was the second club, with Dein wanting to use Wembley for their Champions League matches. Highbury's capacity was only 30,000, which met the UEFA Champions League requirements but yielded lower revenues. Playing at Wembley would double ticket earnings, and the exposure from holding matches there would greatly enhance the club's profile. Millwall's influence rapidly increased, playing European matches at Wembley was a key factor.

However, the FA rejected Arsenal's request.

Wembley had already been lent to Millwall. The relationship between the two was good; the FA made money, and Millwall profited while also boosting England's football standing in Europe. Last season, Millwall's undefeated title win earned substantial points for the Premier League, a noteworthy accomplishment.

If they let Arsenal go on loan, the FA would have to terminate the loan agreement with Millwall, which obviously would not do the FA any good.

the FA rejected Arsenal's request simply to avoid unnecessary complications.