The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 100: Fighting in Defeat

"Even though they lost to Arsenal, even though Manchester United was at a disadvantage in both the game and the process, Ferguson was proud in his heart. He did not think that the path Graham had planned for Arsenal was correct. Although he also envied the opponent's team for having so many outstanding players, Ferguson always had a strong confidence in being a strong player."

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After Manchester United lost eight games, The Times analyzed the team's recent situation. Reporter Michelson said: "Ferguson's team played very badly for two months. They were too impatient and played with empty fire. Ferguson wanted the team to defeat the opponent quickly, and the players also wanted to beat the opponent directly in offense and defense, but they did not make a plan for what to do when the team entered a stalemate or a difficult battle."

Michelson said: "Ferguson's tactics are very aggressive. He always emphasizes offense, hoping to use offense and suppression to break the opponent down, but the game is not just about offense and defense, and Manchester United is not so strong that the opponent has no resistance at all. When facing opponents who shrink their defense and face defensive counterattack tactics, Ferguson and his team should have more changes and more backup measures."

Ferguson rejected all interview requests from the media.

The most important thing now is to win. Without victory, whatever Ferguson says will be a sin.

In the 17th round, Manchester United will face a strong opponent as they will travel to London to challenge Arsenal.

This was a game that attracted much media attention. Ferguson's team had not won for many games, while Arsenal had won consecutive games and was in unbelievable good form.

Arsenal is now in the third season under Graham's coaching. The team has formed Graham's style. Arsenal ranked only sixth in the league last season. They did not make any decent signings during the offseason. Instead, they sent away Kenny Sansom, Steve Williams, Graham Ricks and other generals. At the beginning, no media regarded them as the favorites to win the championship in the new season. Before the start of the season, Arsenal only introduced Bould from Stoke City, but the youth players they trained internally have grown up and their overall strength has increased rapidly. Arsenal showed strong competitiveness. They were silent at the beginning of the league in August, but after a short period of integration, the Gunners quickly showed their fangs and began their journey to kill all the opponents. After the end of October, Arsenal's league ranking has never been lower than second, and they have won several big games.

Graham has repeatedly made bold statements about challenging for the championship, and the entire Gunners team is full of passion and fighting spirit.

The contrast between the two clubs' recent performances was so stark that the media hyped up the match as a big battle before it even started. Whether it was Ferguson vs. Graham, Hughes vs. Wright, or Adams vs. Bruce, the competition between the head coach and the players sparked heated discussions.

Before the game started, a large number of Arsenal fans flooded into Highbury Stadium. They cheered for the coach crazily, and the whole stadium was like a boiling pot, with a very hot atmosphere. After the game started, Arsenal played very fiercely and at a very fast pace.

Facing the aggressive Arsenal, Ferguson did not intend to retreat to defense. Despite the injuries, Ferguson still arranged a 442 formation, with McClair and Hughes at the forefront, Strachan leading the midfield, Mullen, Duxbury and Phelan starting together, and Bruce and Donaghy guarding the middle of the defense line, ready to fight. After the game started, Arsenal attacked Manchester United's right side fiercely. Strachan on this side of the Red Devils was a weak point in defense and soon could not withstand the Gunners' attack. The Red Devils were under full pressure and had to switch to defense. As the game progressed, Arsenal's advantage on the field became greater and greater. They put on a posture of going all out and fighting hard in the midfield, strangling Manchester United's attack line and forward line, and launched a strong pressing in the middle, especially on the right, which immediately disrupted Ferguson's team.

Before the game, Ferguson deployed a tactic for the players to fight hard in the midfield and fight for the initiative. The whole Manchester United team implemented this tactic very well. The team played very tenaciously, but the gap in the strength of the players still led to the loss of the midfield. Manchester United's defense could only retreat gradually, resisting the opponent's repeated attacks by compressing the space, and launched a quick counterattack. In the 6th minute, Arsenal quickly advanced on the right, Smith made a cross from the bottom, and Pratt headed the ball in the penalty area to test the Manchester United goalkeeper directly. This shot was very straight and not very threatening, and was firmly saved by the Red Devils goalkeeper Turner. In the 12th minute, Manchester United's midfield moved to the left, Robins took the ball and advanced at high speed, killing the opponent's backcourt near the bottom line and making a cross. Hughes had already stood in position and was ready to head the ball, but he was directly knocked away by Adams who was defending, and fell behind in the power fight, losing this excellent chance to score. Arsenal then launched a series of attacks. In the 17th minute, the Gunners moved from the center to the right. This time, Dixon cut into the ribs and quickly crossed the ball along the penalty area line. Manchester United defender Donaghy blocked it in time to resolve the crisis. In the 19th minute, the Arsenal attacked the Manchester United defense again. This time, they directly crossed the ball to the penalty area just after passing the midfield. Manchester United center back Bruce was highly alert and used a tough header to head the ball out of the danger zone. In the 21st minute, the Gunners launched another attack. Dixon dribbled the ball in the midfield. Wright pulled on the penalty area line in the frontcourt and played a two-on-one with him. He passed two Manchester United defenders and turned and shot successfully after receiving the ball. Arsenal led 1-0.

After falling behind, Manchester United launched several counterattacks, but none of them had much effect. Arsenal was not conservative after taking the lead. The two sides fought fiercely. In the 28th minute, Manchester United's Robins controlled the ball on the right and accelerated all the way to the bottom. Then he quickly passed the ball to the Gunners' penalty area. Hughes successfully grabbed the ball at the front point, but his header did not hit the right direction and he eventually missed this great opportunity. In the 39th minute, Arsenal made a comeback. Pratt retreated to attract the defense of Manchester United's defenders, and midfielder Dixon sent the ball to Manchester United's penalty area with a long pass. This cross was transferred by Pratt's header and passed to the penalty spot near Manchester United's penalty area. Smith won the first opportunity in the fight with Manchester United's central defender. After he got the position, he immediately shot and shot the ball into the lower left corner of Manchester United.

Arsenal leads 2-0!

After Arsenal took the lead in the first half, they were slightly conservative in the second half, but they still focused on the balance of offense and defense, fighting with Manchester United in the midfield, and did not switch to pure defense. Not only that, they also played very actively in counterattacks, seizing the opportunity that Manchester United's midfield pressed too far forward and exposed the gap behind. Winterburn also had several counterattacks with the ball into Manchester United's penalty area, and their shots were also threatening. After Manchester United fell behind, they launched a fierce attack. Hughes first tried a long shot in the midfield, and then the two wingers strengthened the impact, but Robins and Lee Martin's passes were not accurate. In the end, it was Hughes and McClair who played their personal abilities in the melee and found opportunities to shoot in the penalty area. Hughes was intercepted in the penalty area in the 71st minute, but he then grabbed the ball and immediately shot in the penalty area and scored a goal.

In the final moments, Manchester United launched a fierce attack, and even Bruce played as a center forward and rushed into the opponent's penalty area to look for opportunities, but Arsenal's defense was solid and did not panic. Manchester United frequently launched high balls, but still could not do anything to the opponent and could only lose with a score of 1-2.

Manchester United suffered two consecutive defeats.

The media's criticism after the game seemed very objective. "Ferguson had already used all his abilities and he had planned the course of the game, but the team was not as strong as the Gunners and could not beat the Gunners in a full-scale attack and defense."

Ferguson was very disgusted with the criticism, but he barely suppressed his emotions. He told his assistant coach Norris: "We did lose the game, but the reason has nothing to do with what the media said."

"Then what is the real reason why we lost, Boss?"

"It's injuries. We can't put out our strongest lineup or play our best tactics. That's the key. How do we compare our own strength with Arsenal? I think every game is different. We have won against our opponents and also lost. We are not afraid of Arsenal, nor do we have no way to deal with them. How to play each game requires a lot of work and preparation."

Manchester United return home on Boxing Day to face Nottingham Forest.

Manchester United welcomed back Robson and McGrath before the game, and Ferguson's confidence was greatly increased. And with the captain back at home, the Red Devils players also had a lot more confidence. Manchester United played at a fast pace with the fans' cheers, and the players boosted their morale. Robson controlled the pace in the midfield, and Strachan showed his sharpness in the offensive end, constantly creating opportunities. Hughes and Davenport each scored a goal, helping the team beat Nottingham Forest 2-0, which was a gift to the Red Devils fans who came to Old Trafford to support them during the Christmas holiday.

After playing against Forest, 1988 was almost over and the league was about halfway through.

At this time, Manchester United was still in the top half of the standings, but only ranked 8th. Ferguson's team did not lose many games, but the embarrassing thing was that they won too few games. Ferguson's team lineup was still too fragile, with too few players with sufficient strength, and the overall structure was about to collapse after multiple injuries. Because of the injuries, Robson and Strachan did not play well. The team failed to play the strong impact that Ferguson envisioned in many games, and even the midfielder's fighting was at a disadvantage.

At this time, the two top teams in English League One are Arsenal and Tottenham, and there is a big gap between Manchester United and them.

The Sun's comments were scathing, "Like Everton, Manchester United has been excluded from the list of contenders for the league title. Ferguson is indeed ambitious, but a team that can't withstand injuries can forget about winning the title. Did Ferguson encounter new problems as Manchester United coach? Not really. Injuries are a familiar face at every club and a challenge that every coach hoping to make a breakthrough must meet."

The BBC paid attention to Manchester United's structural problems. "There are many veterans in this Manchester United team, and they are all in key positions. There is no one on the bench who can replace them. These veterans cannot maintain a high level for a long time, and it is even more impossible for them not to get injured. The reality is that they are often in an ups and downs state, and generally they are falling from the peak. This is the difficulty Ferguson faces. It is difficult for him to succeed in such a reconstruction."

Manchester United reporter Mitten said, "Manchester United has three problems. The first is that Robson and Strachan have lost their power, which is the most fatal. Compared with last season, Manchester United's offense has become weak and lacks dominance and deterrence; the second is that McClair has entered his second year, his technical characteristics are familiar to opponents and targeted, and the number of goals has dropped significantly. The third is naturally Ferguson's stubbornness. He has blind confidence in the team and his tactics are too radical. He often uses a 433 formation, which makes the players themselves confused. He doesn't care about the blows of too many injuries. When the lineup is not complete, he always asks the team to attack actively and speed up the pass, which is difficult for their new players to do."

The Daily Mail criticized Ferguson for not keeping a low profile. "Manchester United has lost nearly half of its main players, but their coach is still shouting as if they are still the strongest team in the world, and keeps claiming that he wants to attack and be proactive. This is not a good thing."

Ferguson was equally dismissive. "If I keep a low profile, they will say I have accepted my fate and given up. Whatever the media says is just a bunch of lies. Only victory can stop them from talking trash."