The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 117 Stubborn Exploration

"Ferguson has always insisted on the technical transformation of the Red Devils, and has been exploring the direction of combining technology with offense. His team has been struggling in the British jungle full of physical confrontations and rough fouls. As the saying goes, if you are stubborn, you will inevitably run into obstacles everywhere."

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Looking back at this season, Ferguson encountered great difficulties in rebuilding the Red Devils, and the results were not optimistic. Even so, he still insisted on the principle of technology-based, still insisted on the central axis as the foundation, no matter what difficulties he encountered, he would not change, and stick to his own ideas.

Ferguson's transformation of the Red Devils was very difficult. He adopted a style of play that was completely different from the traditional style of England and was out of tune with the English football world. The team's poor performance this season and obvious decline made Ferguson criticized and put him under great pressure in tactical exploration. What made Ferguson most frustrated was that the offensive end also lost its sharpness this season.

The offense was not on track, which became the focus of fans' doubts and criticisms, believing that Ferguson had abandoned the tradition of the Red Devils.

Ferguson certainly emphasizes offense, and he always hopes that the team will play an aggressive tactical style. He hopes that the Red Devils will play an active offense and also hopes that the Red Devils will increase their technical content.

How to stamp Ferguson's mark on offense is a big problem. Offensiveness does not conflict with his tactical orientation. The trouble lies in his 4411 and 433 formations. The players are not familiar with this relatively special tactical requirement. Unlike the traditional 442, Ferguson's tactical running, coordination, cooperation, and replacement are all unique. Considering that the forwards are not adaptable, the midfield is not strong, and the two wingers have no performance, the team's offense is naturally difficult to play, and the fluency is also hindered.

Ferguson was under all kinds of pressure and suffered from poor performance, but he still insisted on technological transformation.

Ferguson knows that everything needs to be supported by results. In competitive sports, winning is everything and results are the standard for measuring everything. He also knows that the team must have firm beliefs, must have unified thinking, and must continue to work hard on the road of technology, which will eventually bring about comprehensive changes.

Specifically, Ferguson's technical approach is to improve and reform the traditional 442 formation, and to make some new explorations based on tradition. Ferguson did not completely reject the traditional 442 formation. In fact, he was very good at the tactical play of 442, which was Ferguson's ability to gain a foothold in the world of English football. The traditional English 442 formation emphasizes wing attack, speed advantage, and high ball rushing, but does not pay much attention to the success rate or the pursuit of rhythm control. Ferguson has injected more changes and more technical factors into the 442 formation.

The Red Devils' main lineup for the season is as follows: goalkeeper Jim Leighton, defenders Bruce, McGrath, Lee Martin, Anderson, and then Blackmore, Gibson, and Robins are rotation players. The midfielders also changed a lot. Robson was undoubtedly the main force, Strachan only played 21 games, Donaghy played 30 games, Lee Sharp played 19 games, Duxbury, Billsmore, Olsen, and Milne also played a lot of times. Forward Mark Hughes and McClair became the main force, and the original golden boy Whiteside and Davenport became substitutes.

Ferguson insisted on strengthening the ground attack-based style of play, insisting on fast passing, insisting on the effectiveness of the attack, trying to go to the sidelines as much as possible, and cutting into the opponent's sides and ribs. Ferguson emphasized attack, but did not advocate long passes and lobs, but emphasized passing, cutting and receiving. He clearly required that the 45° angle crosses from both wings be reduced, and the high balls and lobs into the penalty area should be reduced. He hoped that the players would keep the ball as much as possible, play more ground passes, and cooperate to advance. This tactic requires high skills and tacit understanding in the midfield, especially the control of the midfield center and the breakthrough of the wing, which are the key to the Red Devils' formation. The combination of Mark Hughes and McClair was a double center at the beginning, but it soon became Hughes rushing forward and McClair retreating. It was also Ferguson's consideration to let McClair connect the midfield and forward more.

Changing from the traditional 442 to 4411 was not too difficult for the Red Devils. The league leaders Arsenal and Liverpool played in a more traditional style, but one emphasized physical strength and confrontation, while the other emphasized technique and speed, which was still a difference. The English teams of this period were similar, and they were even more backward than this style in many cases, only using their physical strength, long passes and lobs, lacking flexibility and changes.

Ferguson has been working hard to optimize the 442 position and tactics for a long time. Sometimes, in addition to 4411, Ferguson also considered playing with 5 defenders, and also played 433, adding Davenport as a forward. These are actually changes of 442, which do not conflict with his emphasis on technical details, emphasis on attack and defense transitions, and emphasis on rhythm control. Sometimes his 433 and 442 change at any time, and he also tried 4231 to put two central midfielders to intercept and stay in the midfield more. For Ferguson, these attempts at different formations are all the same, basically they are deformations and adjustments of 442.

Ferguson wanted to change the 442 formation, but it was difficult for the players to understand Ferguson's requirements and to be flexible in actual combat. The change in position and style of play would cause them to be uncomfortable and thus lead to confusion. In particular, the 433 and 4231 formations also involve changes to the entire system, with multiple players having very different positions and responsibilities, which is extremely difficult.

Ferguson pushed forward regardless of obstacles. He firmly believed that the Red Devils should adjust and change their formations. Even in the traditional 442, they should reduce the high-altitude balls and increase the short-distance rapid advances. He hoped to see individual players break through with speed or technical advantages, but also with the support of overall running positions.

Compared with Arsenal or Liverpool, Ferguson's Red Devils are obviously closer to Liverpool, but Ferguson also has his own persistence.

Even with the setbacks this season, Ferguson insisted that his style of play was fine. Ferguson believed that the core reason for the lack of good results was the unscientific team structure, the age and injuries of the players affecting their condition, and the entire central axis was falling apart.

Ferguson wanted to strengthen the offense, so he introduced Mark Hughes, wanting this striker who had been immersed in La Liga and Bundesliga to become a fulcrum in the frontcourt, a center forward who could hold the ball, pass the ball, and could hold off the opponent's defender and turn around. He expected that with the help of McClair, Hughes could easily integrate into the Red Devils' offensive system and exert great power. However, Hughes was still an English center forward at heart and did not adapt to Ferguson's tactical requirements. Strachan, who was almost completely blackened, did not create any opportunities. McClair had no problem playing as a wingman, but it was too difficult for him to be the last pass. It might be okay to let McClair charge and tear open the opponent's defense, but it would be quite difficult to give up the penalty area and concentrate on passing and assisting Hughes. There were also many problems between the Red Devils' forwards. The first combination brought unfamiliarity and alienation. Hughes and McClair were both excellent forwards, but they were both center forwards, which was the embarrassment. They often ran to the same position, which led to unfavorable offense. Mark Hughes played as a striker and McClair retreated, which did not make them better. Mark Hughes and McClair basically fought alone and did not create sparks between them.

Delivering ammunition to the front and feeding the forwards, this task was originally Strachan's, but no one could have imagined that Strachan's level dropped sharply and he could no longer do this job. This problem eventually destroyed the Red Devils' offensive system, just as the problem of the Red Devils' defense line eventually completely dragged down Robson and the balance of the entire team. The original Strachan could break through the opponent's defense line with the ball alone, but now after receiving the ball, he doesn't care about the position of his teammates, the layout of the opponent's defense, and doesn't observe the gaps and gaps in the opponent's defense line. He always chooses to break through with the ball and challenge the opponent's entire defense line alone. This kind of single-handed fight could bring huge advantages to the Red Devils before, but now it is doomed to fail. Now Strachan no longer needs the opponent to send more than two players to surround and snatch. Many times, a midfielder can force him to make mistakes. Under the decline of his state, Strachan rushed around like a headless fly, and the Red Devils' offense became a mess.

The performance of other midfielders was not good enough either. Olsen's side basically disappeared, Duxbury could only make some simple connections, Lee Sharp had no chance and space to display his speed and skills, and the other midfielders were also average, and their firepower support for the forward group was difficult to satisfy.

The BBC commented on Ferguson's attempt at a new tactical system in its season summary, saying: "When your players are not ready, they are unable to execute instructions correctly, neither physically nor mentally, and are unable to complete good ball control and complex cooperation. There is also a lack of tacit understanding between the players. It is very difficult to play a new tactic at this time."

"It's impossible to achieve instant success under such circumstances."

Indeed, Ferguson and the Red Devils were not prepared. A new set of tactics is not easy to develop, and it is even more difficult to stick to it in a complex and difficult environment. Ferguson's ideas could not be implemented well on this Red Devils team, and what the fans saw in the end were all kinds of low-level mistakes and embarrassment on both offense and defense. If we only look at the defensive data, the Red Devils only conceded 35 goals throughout the season, but the Red Devils lost nearly twice as many games as last season.

Compared with the 35 goals conceded by the defense, the Red Devils' offensive level also dropped significantly, scoring only 45 goals throughout the season, which is simply terrible. Considering that the Red Devils' forwards were called a "luxury attacking combination" before the season, the two forwards did not even score as many goals as McClair in his first season, which is unacceptable.

The Red Devils' tactics were criticized for this, with poor defense and weak offense. Almost all the media were venting their dissatisfaction, constantly criticizing and mocking Ferguson. At this time, Ferguson did not argue at all. He still insisted on promoting technology, and this point has never changed. Although the results of those power-based teams seemed better, Arsenal snatched the league championship, but this did not shake Ferguson's determination.

After the season ended, Ferguson returned to Carrington to gather the players for training. He once again stressed that the technical requirements should not be relaxed, and emphasized that they should continue to hone simple and efficient techniques, continue to refine detailed and clear cooperation, and create a fast and direct advancement. In various group trainings, Ferguson is still exploring the changes in various formations and positions, and the details of various tactics.

This is a road destined to be difficult. Ferguson did not hesitate to break up with the fans' favorites and clean up the old players who had made great contributions to the FA Cup, just to better implement and execute and open up a new path for British football. He has already felt that sky, and now he has to work on how to stick to his correct direction and move forward without interference.

Ferguson insisted on technical transformation, which was not only implemented in the Red Devils' first team, but also strengthened in teams at all levels. Ferguson worked hard to open up this path. Even though the team's road forward was like a torrent hitting a boulder and encountered huge setbacks, it still remained deep and continued to move forward.