The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 10 The Magical New Coach

"The appointment of Busby as manager was an unusual choice for the Red Devils club and a bold adventure for Busby. This decision changed the fate of the Red Devils and led them to a vibrant new life."

--Inscription

The flames of World War II destroyed Old Trafford, but it did not extinguish people's love for football.

After the war, football leagues at all levels in England were restarted in full swing.

On the ruins of Old Trafford, the Red Devils began a difficult reconstruction. The club renovated the stadium, called up players, recruited personnel, and prepared for a new journey.

All preparations are new, from the players to the head coach.

The Red Devils board's choice of head coach has caused a lot of astonishment.

They chose Matt Busby.

Matt Busby was once a professional player who played for Manchester City and Liverpool, and had no connection with the Red Devils. He was only 36 years old when he became the Red Devils coach, and he had no professional club coaching experience, so he was an absolute novice.

At that time, it was the Red Devils fan Louis Roca who strongly recommended his good friend Matt Busby to be the club's head coach, and the chairman of the board agreed immediately.

Although Busby had no outstanding coaching achievements and had previously served as captain of their arch-rivals Liverpool, the Red Devils still boldly chose him.

On February 2, the Red Devils and Busby officially signed the contract.

Before Busby joined the Red Devils, he had received an offer to be an assistant coach for Liverpool FC, but he decisively gave it up and took over the coaching position of the Red Devils.

After Busby took office, he quickly appointed Murphy as assistant coach, which was the beginning of the "Busby + Murphy" partnership.

The first thing Busby did when he took office was to recruit talents. He increased the number of coaches, separated daily training from tactical training, and separated first-team training from echelon training, and assigned specific people to be in charge. Busby expanded the Red Devils' scouting department, added recruitment agencies in many places, and opened up channels for introducing players.

Busby’s second task in restarting youth training was to expand the echelon and select young talents.

Busby attached great importance to training, and his training methods were unique and different from others. At that time, British football training was basically focused on physical fitness and confrontation, without subdivision and specialization. Team training was basically running and simple group cooperation, passing, receiving and shooting, etc. There were no detailed group running and coordination, overall movement, receiving and assisting defense, etc.

Their technical training is also very simple. Passing is based on speed and simple changes of direction, but individual performance is not encouraged. Many coaches even believe that players should not touch the ball during midweek training, "so that they will be hungry for the ball in the weekend games."

Busby brought a whole new concept and method. He attached great importance to the factors of the field and made great efforts to transform the grass field to make it more suitable for running and doing more delicate movements. He insisted that all ball training should be done on the grass field and regarded ball training as the most important project. He added a lot of training methods, changed the previous simple methods, and brought a series of brand-new training contents such as team positioning, group passing, empty running and passing, and multi-person coordination. He increased the number of training subjects, especially emphasized the combination of people and the ball and group cooperation, and emphasized team awareness and running without the ball.

Busby established complete training standards, did not allow players to act on their own, and focused on testing players' physical data. These measures were refreshing for the players.

Busby was also innovative in tactical play. He opened up a new path in the high-profile and hard-line English football environment. In addition to the traditional positions in English football, he actively tried different formations. He was the first to use a magnetic board to explain tactics, emphasizing that it was more important to stand in a good position than to be able to run, and that teamwork, defense and support were equally important; he emphasized technology first and encouraged players to develop skills; he actively collected information before the game and analyzed the opponent in detail, which was completely different from other coaches.

Busby's ideas and methods were out of this world, especially since he had no previous coaching experience.

Another outstanding advantage of Busby is that he is very good at communicating with people, trusting professionals, and has extraordinary coordination skills. He and Jimmy Murphy work well together and handle affairs efficiently. Busby first made people understand the importance of assistant coaches, and he and Murphy became one of the best partners.

Busby's more critical ability was his ability to identify talents. He quickly discovered several strong players and quickly built a new framework for the Red Devils. The back line was composed of Johnny Carey, John Aston and Allenby Chilton, and the forward line was composed of Charlie Mitton, Jack Rowley and Stan Pearson. This lineup made the team full of hope.

The Red Devils, bearing the Busby imprint, began to show their competitiveness. The 1946-47 season was the first restart of the English First Division after the end of World War II. Under Busby's command, the Red Devils made a stunning debut and became the runner-up of the league after Liverpool.

In addition to the main lineup, Busby established an effective youth training system.

He set up a multi-level scouting system and established a well-staffed but highly efficient headhunting team, expanding the scope of selection beyond the British Isles. Busby welcomed young people to join the Red Devils training program, invited talented coaches to coach the youth team, strengthened the guidance of young players' skills and awareness, and enabled young people to grow rapidly.

Busby regarded youth training as an important foundation of the team, and through careful training, he obtained many amazing new stars.

In this season, the Red Devils youth team won the championship in the reserve league. Busby's youth team set off a "youth storm" sweeping the British Isles. They performed so well that they were loved by the Red Devils fans and were nicknamed "Busby Babes".

The Red Devils youth team then ushered in a blowout wave of talent, and they won the FA Youth Cup for five consecutive times!

Busby's team first achieved a breakthrough in the FA Cup. In the 1947-1948 season, the Red Devils team he led won the FA Cup by beating Blackpool 4-2.

In the 1951-1952 season, Busby boldly used Brown Chiffler and Roger Byrne, two players under 20 years old, to start in the league, even against opponents of Liverpool's level.

The Red Devils of Spitfire began to show a new look, with youthful vigor surging. The spirited players brought unlimited pressure to the opponents, and the new Red Devils were like a fierce tornado, roaring across the British Isles. With the passion and enthusiasm of the young people, and the bravery and drive of the new stars, the Red Devils soared all the way after the start, and won the league championship with an unstoppable attitude!

The Red Devils regained their place in the top league and tasted victory again after more than 40 years.

Busby created miracles for the Red Devils!

Under Busby's command, the Red Devils produced a large number of outstanding players who continued to shine in England.

The Red Devils' talents emerged like a fountain. Jackie Blanchett and Fowler grew rapidly, while Roger Byrne became the core player and served as captain in February 1954. Although he was only 2 years old at that time, he had already shown amazing leadership. Tommy Taylor, Ray Wood and Dennis Viollet began to become regulars in the first team, and Duncan Edwards, Bill Fox and others also began to train with the first team.

In April 1953, Busby allowed Duncan Edwards, who was only 4 years and 16 days old, to play in the league, becoming the youngest player in the history of the English Football League. Edwards caused a sensation as soon as he appeared and was hailed as the most anticipated talent in the English Football League!

The red youth storm swept across England, bringing a new wave.

Tom Jackson of the Manchester Evening News wrote: "These 'The Busby's Babes' are amazing. They are full of fighting spirit and confidence. They are full of dreams and have great energy. They are youthful and shining. They perform all kinds of dazzling skills, their cooperation is extremely tacit, their games are always passionate, they are not afraid of injuries at all, and never worry about setbacks. They never get tired and always run so happily. They are like a whirlwind of youth..."

From then on, "Busby Babes" became the nickname of the Red Devils youth team.

Busby's football has a unique style. His players are full of imagination. They play dazzling cooperation and show dazzling and colorful skills. They combine speed and technology. They play the most passionate football in England and win with vitality and passion. This is simply irresistible to fans. The talented young players have won the love of fans, and the Red Devils have become an increasingly outstanding team.

The youthful Red Devils conquered the audience. In the 1955-1956 season, the energetic Red Devils won the championship with a huge advantage of 11 points over Blackpool. The average age of the players was only 22 years old! In the 1956-57 season, the Red Devils defeated all the giants and finally successfully defended the title. This season, the Red Devils were even more unstoppable. They won the highest score of 64 points (2 points system) in the league and scored the most goals in the league with 103 goals.

Two consecutive championships! This team, which included Duncan Edwards, Tommy Taylor, Violet, Roger Byrne, Eddie Coleman and other talented players, swept across England with youthful vigor and conquered the English football world.

"Busby's light shines bright on England!"

"Glory to the Red Devils, glory to the Busby Babes!"

"Red Devil, young Red Devil, victorious Red Devil, invincible Red Devil!"

……

The Red Devils fans simply love this young team.

The Red Devils became a phenomenal team that swept the English football scene. Busby's youth team brought a new trend, a new fashion and a new charm.

Busby said, "I hope the team will become a team full of enthusiasm and vigor. We will move forward actively and fight for victory to the end. We will build a dynamic team, pursue wonderful scenes, and always strive for victory. This makes us full of motivation, and excellent results will come naturally."

Busby's football philosophy was so extraordinary that the Red Devils' challenge to Arsenal on February 1958, 2 was a perfect display of this.

In front of 63,578 spectators, both sides were constantly exchanging offense and defense at a fast pace, enjoying the attack, creating opportunities, and showing inspiration and passion. Arsenal was known for its fierce firepower, while the Red Devils were even more amazing in attack. The competition between the two teams made every inch of the grass burn. Under the high-speed attack and defense conversion, the game was always carried out at a fast pace, and the two teams played a hearty offensive battle. Arsenal scored continuously, but the Red Devils had more fierce firepower. Edwards, Taylor, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Viollet scored a total of 5 goals. The Red Devils' offense was so gorgeous, Edwards and Charlton were so amazing, and their performance was full of imagination and beauty, which forced the Gunners fans to shut up their noisy mouths.

This was a great game that perfectly illustrated Busby's football philosophy and also demonstrated the Red Devils' football style.

Busby emphasized a fast pace, hoping that the team would attack aggressively, show courage and fighting spirit, and never give up for the sake of victory. This was Busby's insistence on the Red Devils.

Under Busby's guidance, the Red Devils players took the initiative to pursue the perfect combination of offense and gorgeous scenes, which eventually became the characteristic of the Red Devils.

Renowned football journalist James Walwyn wrote: "Before Matt Busby, any discussion about the Red Devils was meaningless." In his eyes, it was Busby who truly brought the Red Devils into the hall of football and became a super giant; only Busby truly gave the Red Devils club a unique charm.

From a dull style to exciting scenes, from active attacking to gorgeous and dazzling scenes, Busby led the Red Devils to rise again and also triggered a new trend in English football.

The horn of youth sounded, the young Red Devils shone, and Busby was ready to lead the Red Devils to climb higher goals.