The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 101: Defeating Liverpool

"Defeat Liverpool and beat those arrogant bastards, this is what we have to do. We, the Red Devils, must defeat our opponents. We don't need any reason and there are no excuses. We must beat our opponents under any circumstances, no matter whether they are the league champions or have encountered any changes. We must achieve this goal. This is a task that the team must complete!"

--Ferguson

When the time came to January 1989, 1, the English Red Derby was staged again, with the Red Devils playing against Liverpool at home.

This is the 19th round of the league, which is exactly halfway through the schedule. This is the most eye-catching battle between the top teams in the entire English football world. Although the two teams are not the top two at the moment, they themselves have enough gimmicks. Considering that the two teams were the champions and runners-up last season, this confrontation is also a hot topic of media attention. In addition, the media hyped that the Red Devils were defeated in the first encounter of this season, so how Ferguson's team will play against Liverpool at home is even more exciting.

Before the game, the media was still hyping that the recent performance of both teams was not very good and did not meet their respective expectations. Manchester United had almost no hope of making a comeback in the standings, and Liverpool was actually not in line with their status as defending champions. Before this game, Liverpool was not at the top of the table, but was 7 points behind the leading Arsenal. Many media believed that Liverpool must now grab points in order to have a chance to defend the title.

So, was this game Ferguson's revenge or Dalglish's point rush? This was also a topic of great concern to the fans. Reporters continued to exaggerate the history of the two teams and expose the feud between Ferguson and Dalglish, making the game the hottest focus again.

Both teams are full of superstars. Who is better, Hughes or Rush? Who is the best, Beardsley or Robson? Who can withstand Barnes's impact? Can Lee Sharpe show his power?

Will the game be a midfield battle, or a quick attack and defense? Will it be a clamp and targeting, or bombardment and mutual stabbing?

Ferguson must win no matter what.

Ferguson played at home and sent out goalkeeper Leighton, defenders Lee Martin, Bruce, Bearsmore, Donaghy, midfielders Lee Sharp, Robson, Strachan and Milne, and forwards McClair and Mark Hughes. Ferguson's 442 looked completely normal and well-behaved, but it was a tactic that concealed murderous intent.

Before the game started, the Red Devils fans packed the home stadium, the Theatre of Dreams, desperately cheering for the home team. Amid the singing and cheering of the whole stadium, Manchester United quickly entered the attacking state and actively seized the initiative on the field.

Ferguson made some changes in tactics. He was without Strachan in this game and had to find another way to deal with the opponent. He arranged McClair's position more flexibly, and he took the initiative to retreat in the midfield battle. The Red Devils' formation changed to 451, with one more player in the midfield. Although Lee Sharpe and Milne were both immature, they pressed very bravely and quickly suppressed the opponent.

The Red Devils launched a strong attack at the beginning. Liverpool did not expect their opponent to be so crazy at the beginning and fell into a passive position due to being caught off guard.

The Red Devils fans played the role of the 12th player. The more than 4 Red Devils fans who squeezed into Old Trafford set off a huge wave of voices. They sang and shouted crazily, cheering for their own players with songs and shouts, and rhythmically cheered for every fight on the field. The fiery atmosphere inspired the Red Devils players to burst out more energy, move more vigorously, move faster, and have a more fierce momentum.

The ferocity of the Red Devils also inspired the ferocity of their opponents, and the two sides played with sparks flying. Both teams created many offensive opportunities, but they were quickly destroyed in the stranglehold.

The game was evenly matched and the tempo was getting faster and faster. The Red Devils implemented a strategy of using multiple players in the midfield to encircle the opponent. Robson and Strachan were in the middle, and McClair retreated to be the wingman. Through careful mobilization and steady control, they maintained the advantage in the midfield. Lee Sharp played his speed advantage on the wing and used his unique dribbling to attack the opponent's penalty area many times. Unfortunately, the timing and landing point of the pass were wrong, and the teammates who followed up missed it. Although Milne, Lee Martin, Donaghy and other players did not play much in the game, they also had a newborn calf's fearless momentum and were very active under the leadership of McClair and Mark Hughes.

During the halftime break, Ferguson loudly encouraged the players in the locker room, asking them to step up their attack. His roar echoed in the ears of every player, "No matter what, beat them for me. This is the only thing you should do and the only thing you should think about. In this stadium, we have to beat Liverpool. This is the fans' expectation and your mission!"

"Keep the rhythm, increase the confrontation, suppress the opponent, and continue to confront them in the penalty area, and they will definitely reveal their flaws. Increase the strength, improve the speed, and completely destroy the opponent's physical reserves. I firmly believe that the opponent can no longer hold on, they are about to collapse, and we need to bravely tear apart the opponent's defensive system!"

Under the super power of the "Ferguson hair dryer", the souls of the Red Devils players were shouting. They started charging at the beginning, burning their fighting spirit. Ferguson's tactics in the second half were more radical. At the beginning of the game, the two fullbacks were brought forward to strengthen the attack. The Red Devils immediately stepped up their offensive at the beginning of the second half. When the two sides crossed the ball, all the midfielders rushed up. In the stalemate, the two central defenders pressed to the center circle, and the fullbacks also frequently joined. Liverpool's formation immediately shrank and hurriedly dealt with the Red Devils' stranglehold. After withstanding the Red Devils' charge, they also decided to give it a try and continuously increase the firepower input in the front field.

Although the Red Devils took more initiative, the first goal of the game came from Liverpool.

Under the pressure of the Red Devils, Liverpool's defense did not have many flaws. On the contrary, the Red Devils' defense line leaked gaps during the continuous attack, and Liverpool successfully intercepted the ball in the midfield in the 70th minute and quickly organized a quick counterattack. Liverpool's offensive commander Beardsley dribbled the ball all the way and rushed into the top of the penalty area like a gust of wind. At this time, two players from the Red Devils came up to intercept, but Beardsley cleverly passed the ball to the left. Barnes, who was waiting there, understood the intention, dribbled the ball to shake off the Red Devils' defender, and then seized the opportunity to shoot vigorously, and the ball flew into the Red Devils' goal.

1-0, Liverpool leads.

The Red Devils attacked wildly for almost the entire game, but were caught by a surprise attack from the opponent? !

The Red Devils players would never accept this! This goal was not the straw that broke the Red Devils' back, but instead stimulated them to launch an even more frantic counterattack. Ferguson shouted at the players to continue the attack, and his furious expression shocked everyone.

Like water drops sprinkled in hot oil, the Red Devils' offensive became more fierce. The Red Devils players in red jerseys were like a group of enraged lions, launching powerful attacks one after another towards their opponents.

The Red Devils' attack put Liverpool in a tough fight. They finally couldn't resist the fierce attack and the defense began to be in chaos. The Red Devils launched a fierce attack on the right in the 73rd minute. After a series of breakthroughs and wall-to-wall cooperation, the ball was hit to the edge of the opponent's penalty area. Strachan, the frontcourt commander, controlled the ball and then decisively crossed the ball from the bottom. This decision caused the Liverpool defenders to fall into chaos. No one would have thought that Strachan, who almost never went to the bottom, would also rush to the bottom line to cross. The Liverpool defenders were crowded in the penalty area, densely packed like chaotic ants. When Strachan crossed the ball, the Liverpool defenders did not have a clear man-to-man target, nor did they provide assistance. This fast low ball flew into the middle of the penalty area. McClair got stuck in the Liverpool penalty area, unloaded the ball, and then risked a broken leg to hit a volley side shot, and scored the ball into the Liverpool goal in the chaos, 1-1!

A brilliant goal!

McClair equalized the score for the Red Devils, which made the Red Devils even more excited and launched a more frantic offensive. In the 83rd minute, Mark Hughes intercepted the opponent's clearance in the right penalty area, immediately dribbled the ball horizontally, flashed into the gap while moving, aimed at the gap of the opponent's goalkeeper, and shot a life shot from about 18 yards on the right side of the penalty area, hitting the ball into the dead corner!

2 is better than 1!

Mark Hughes reversed the score and Old Trafford was filled with applause.

Liverpool still wanted to fight back in the final moments, but the Red Devils played a two-wing tactic. Lee Martin passed the ball on the left and then entered the penalty area. He then passed the ball to the back post. The high and floating ball flew over a large crowd in front of Liverpool's goal. Billsmore rushed to the back post at high speed and shot the ball.

The ball was hit into the far corner, 3 to 1!

The attacking Red Devils won this classic Red Derby!

They fought back against adversity when falling behind, and reversed the situation to win after great efforts. This is the Red Devils.

Ferguson said in an interview after the game: "Many media believe that the Red Devils are not as strong as Liverpool. I only have one word to say, 'shit'. We played very tenaciously and tried very hard, and we did not get discouraged until the end. We created nearly 10 scoring opportunities and completely defeated Liverpool."

"So, you're telling me the Red Devils are not as good as Liverpool?"

Many years later, the retired Ferguson accepted an interview with Gary and talked about the competition with Liverpool and this game. Ferguson said: "I have always emphasized that I want to beat Liverpool. This can be announced publicly. Historically, the Red Devils and Liverpool have always been mortal enemies. Our competition is always fierce and the contradiction is unsolvable. Mortal enemy, this is not an ordinary word. I have no contradiction with Dalglish, but as the head coach of the Red Devils, defeating the strongest enemy and defeating the opponent's head coach is my respect for Liverpool."

Ferguson said: "I remember every game against Liverpool after I coached the Red Devils, really. I remember almost every game very clearly, all the details. This does not need to be very deliberate, just like I always remember the victory in the 1988-89 season.

When Ferguson was in Aberdeen, he knew how strong the Liverpool team was. When he was still the head coach of St. Mirren, he personally went to Liverpool for a week. Ferguson said: "I saw the intensity of their training, their stability, and their strong strength. They have won all the championships. I emphasized this point when I came to the Red Devils. We have to succeed, that is to beat Liverpool. When I was in Aberdeen, I needed to beat Rangers and Celtic. When I came to the Red Devils, I thought I had to beat Liverpool to win the league championship. To beat Liverpool is one of my missions as the coach of the Red Devils."

"Believe me, this is no harder than my job in Scotland. Beat the strongest enemy, this is my belief. This is my motivation. I have to do my best to build a team to beat their team. Of course I know that I may not win every game, but I have to play with this momentum in the game."

Ferguson shared how he motivated his players to challenge Liverpool, "When we played Liverpool, I always told the players that if you can't win, we're done. I'll take the best team there and we have to go all out. We're focused, we're on high alert, and if there's even the slightest mistake, we lose. We've been competing with Liverpool, from every inch of the pitch to every minute of the game, every single game. I know if we beat Liverpool, we're on the right track."

The Red Devils' big win over Liverpool was a great relief.

The league is almost halfway through now, what is the situation in the standings?

No one thought that Arsenal would be ranked first.

Arsenal was not favored before the start of the season, but they started the season with a winning streak. Although they made mistakes later, the form of the top teams in English Football League One was not very good this season, giving Arsenal a chance to catch up. Arsenal then played well for more than a month and topped the standings for the first time on Boxing Day, leading the defending champion Liverpool by 11 points.

At this time, Liverpool was only ranked sixth in points.