Chapter 448 The second trophy: League Cup
The camera turned back to Smitchell, who was getting together with his teammates, celebrating with excitement.
The commentator of "Sky Sports" talked about Smitchell, "This former Liverpool veteran seems to have ushered in the second spring of his career after joining Millwall. He performed stably and outstandingly and was one of the heroes of Millwall's championship last season."
"This season, Smitchell's number of appearances has decreased, but his performance is still very stable. What's more rare is that he can still help the team turn the tide at critical moments!"
The outside media have a relatively high opinion of Smitchell, thanks to Smitchell's outstanding performance in Millwall.
After helping the team score a goal, Smitchell was also a little excited.
Smitchell is a veteran. He has experienced more things in his career for more than ten years, but in fact, goals are rare for him.
Smitchell is a midfielder and a midfielder with strong overall strength. He can do well in every aspect, but he is not a top-notch. Because of this, he is a versatile midfielder, but it is difficult to score a few goals.
Last season, Smitchell scored nine goals in the league, tying the career single-season goal record.
That goes back to the 1995-1996 season, when Smitchell played for the Slavs Prague in the Czech league. He performed very well in his last season, scoring nine goals in 28 games.
Later, Smitchell joined Lens in Ligue 1 and played for his third season. He scored seven goals in his solo goal, which was already quite amazing.
Smitchell spent his peak at Liverpool. He was a veteran of Liverpool. However, the Premier League is not a Czech league, and it is comparable to Ligue 1. The Premier League pays more attention to defense and has a much higher league level. Most of the time, Smitchell can only act as a player who plays the ball for the front line, and his assists are more than goals.
In the 2001-2002 season, Smitchell performed the best. He helped the team score four goals in the league in the season, and in the next season, Smitchell ushered in a low goal, not a single season.
From the above data, we can see that the goal seems to have little to do with Smitchell.
It is precisely because it is not easy to score goals that it is even more commendable. When Smitchell scored nine league goals, he was considered by the media to usher in his personal "second spring".
This season, Smitchell's number of appearances has decreased and his goals have also decreased relatively a lot, but so far, Smitchell has scored four goals, which is quite amazing.
Smitchell is almost thirty-four years old.
Players of this age are declining very quickly and have already begun to consider retiring. Smitchell never expected that he could perform so stably.
In the current League Cup final, Smitchell also helped the team score a key goal. The excitement in his heart is to imagine. He thinks the most regretful thing he regrets in his career is to choose to join Millwall.
"Milwall would have risen earlier!"
"Zhang Yang became the head coach a few years ago, maybe his career will be even more brilliant!"
Smitchell thought regretfully.
Smitchell didn't know that the goal was a contribution to the ostentatious.
Zhang Yang used his magical powers to help Smitchell score a goal. In fact, the goal was only accompanied by it. He mainly stopped Lampard's goal from happening. "Predict" saw the scene of Lampard's goal and changed Smitchell's shot in advance. Regardless of whether the goal occurred or not, as long as Cech could not put the ball into his arms, Chelsea would not be able to launch a quick counterattack, which prevented Lampard's opportunity from the source.
The use of this "speaking and speaking" is really rewarding.
If it weren't for the 'say and the way' to do it', Lampard would help Chel complete the goal, and the score would correspondingly become 1-1, and now it would become 2-0. Being tied and leading two goals completely reversed the two situations, which would also make the two teams have two mentalities.
Millwall was quite relaxed, they held the trophy in one hand.
Chelsea is very pessimistic.
Since the beginning of the game, Chelsea has a situational advantage, but has not been able to score a goal, while Millwall has two goals. There are more than 20 minutes left in the game. Can they still tie the score?
Looking back on the past matchup with Millwall, the mentality of many players has been affected. They believe that the team has a very small chance of tying, or in other words, Chelsea will definitely lose to Millwall.
This mentality has also affected Chelsea's performance.
Mourinho walked to the sidelines and directed the game with a shout. He hoped that this approach would make the players more motivated to fight, but the result was that Mirwall scored the third goal.
In the 81st minute, Valdy rushed into the penalty area and received a pass from Simpson. She was about to finish something when she tripped to the ground by Carvalho.
Penalty!
Vardy kicked a blind spot with a small force, and Cech made a wrong move and could only watch the football enter the net.
"Three to zero!"
"Valdi helped Mirwall secure the victory, and Chelsea had basically no hope!"
“…”
Mourinho must also admit that Chelsea has basically no hope.
Three to zero!
What else can Chelsea do? It is absolutely a fantasy to score three goals in ten minutes.
Mourinho sat back on the position, staring at the field, Drogba on the front line, and Barack and Essin in the midfield, these are the players he believes in, but they did not perform well and help the team defeat Mirwall.
Does this Chelsea have a chance to beat Millwall?
Mourinho recalled past games and carefully considered this issue. He believed in his coaching ability and believed that Chelsea, who was formed by one, had the strength to defeat Mirwall.
But why do you still lose the game again and again?
Mourinho couldn't think of the answer to the question, so he could only turn his head to look at the Millwall coaching seat on the other side. The young man sat relaxed, not seeing even a little concern for the game. Perhaps this was the case since the beginning of the game, and it was like this in every fight.
"What the hell is he thinking?"
"Is it really because his tactical ability is higher? Or is he lucky. Every time he fights Chelsea, the opponent's players are in better shape?" Mourinho thought carefully, and he couldn't answer one question after another.
Finally Mourinho shook his head.
He knew that he could not think of the result, and it was meaningless to consider it.
After losing this game, unless you can lead the team to achieve a league reversal and help Chelsea win the first Champions League trophy in history, the day when the season ends will be the day to leave Chelsea.
But...is that possible?
After the game started again, Chelsea players were still fighting, but just for the sake of face, and they had accepted the result in their hearts.
Millwall didn't pay much attention to the goal. By the end, their desire to attack was gone, so they just waited for the time to pass, and everyone was looking forward to the championship.
"Champion! Champion!"
"Milwall!"
Millwall fans in the stands also began to shout, and the commentator of "Sky Sports" traced Millwall's results. "Milwall won the double championships of the league and the FA Cup last season. Millwall won the Community Shield in August, and now it's the League Cup again, and the number of championships has tied last season."
"Don't forget that Millwall is still the top spot in the league. They have been at the top since the beginning of the season, and it is not surprising that they continue to win the league championship."
"Milwall's performance in the Champions League was also good. He defeated Real Madrid 2-1 in the first round, and the second round was home games. They had a great chance of eliminating Real Madrid..."
"So far this season, Millwall's results are perfect. They have achieved good results in third-tier events. This championship may just be the icing on the cake. We look forward to Millwall continuing its excellent performance..."
“…”
With the expectations of the media, fans and players, time passes minute by minute.
Finally, two minutes of stoppage time ended. The referee blew the ending whistle, and the stadium broadcast announced at the same time-
"Congratulations to Millwall! They defeated Chelsea and became the champion of the 2006-2007 season, the English League Cup!"
"Hula"
Then there was a tsunami shouting sound from the stadium.
Millwall began the championship celebration.
Every player is full of joy in winning the championship. It’s just a league cup, but the champion is the champion after all, which represents the honor of first place and the result of their efforts.
Many people on the court surrounded the city and made cheers and celebrations together. Zhang Yang also participated in it and felt the enthusiasm brought by the championship.
After a simple celebration, all Millwall players bowed to thank the fans present.
Then there is the award ceremony.
Darren Ward won the trophy symbolizing the championship on behalf of the team. The atmosphere on the court reached its climax when he lifted the trophy.
This moment belongs to Millwall—
"This is Millwall's second trophy. At the beginning of the season, they already had the Community Shield Cup, and now the League Cup. Interestingly, when they mentioned two trophys, they had to mention Chelsea. Whether it was the Community Shield or the League Cup, the opponents were Chelsea."
"Maybe Chelsea fans hate Millwall. Every time they play to the final, they will meet Millwall and be defeated by Millwall every time. Since Millwall rose, they seem to have become the second in a thousand years..."
"I don't know what Mourinho is thinking, but what is certain is that Mourinho and Chelsea lost to Zhang Yang and Mirwall."
"Before the season, Millwall coach Zhang Yang once talked about the team's goal. He said he would work hard to win the European competition quota, which is the top six, and the highest is only the top four, but it has proven that it is just the humble words of the Chinese, and it is very modest... Millwall can definitely focus on the league championship because their advantage in the league is very obvious. They can even be put in the Champions League. After defeating Real Madrid in the first round, it seems not difficult to enter the quarterfinals..."
"But no matter what, this season may be the season that Millwall gets."
"Next, Millwall will work hard for all the championships!"
Chapter completed!