The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 127 A flash in the pan

"The Red Devils' good start is more like a sudden win in the lottery. This kind of big explosion is not worth relying on. Ferguson hoped that this big win would allow the Red Devils to get a head start at the start of the league and then run all the way, but the reality obviously disappointed him."

--Inscription

The Red Devils' big win over their opponents in the first game of the new season shocked the entire football world.

But the good times didn't last long, as they struggled in the second league game.

Manchester United's opponent in the second league game is Crystal Palace.

The overall strength of this team is not strong, and its tactical play is a bit erratic.

Ferguson sent out the same starting lineup as in the previous game, and launched a massive attack at the beginning of the away game, with an aggressive momentum. Crystal Palace focused on defense, paying special attention to the space on the two sides, not allowing the Red Devils to break through on the sides, and even sent people to keep a close eye on Lee Sharpe, the fast horse, not allowing him to have enough space. Crystal Palace's defensive strategy was very targeted and did not give the Red Devils too many opportunities. Under the Red Devils' strong attack, in the 15th minute Robson dribbled the ball in the frontcourt to launch an attack. Mark Hughes retreated to receive the ball and passed it to his teammates on the left. Then the Red Devils' wing player made a cross from the opponent's penalty area. McClair headed the ball back from the small penalty area, and Mark Hughes shot from the side at the penalty spot in the penalty area. This kick did not go straight but caused chaos. Robson successfully inserted himself from behind, grabbed the ball in the penalty area, and decisively shot. 1-0, the Red Devils took the lead and temporarily led their opponents.

After scoring the goal, the Red Devils played a little lax, and Crystal Palace found an opportunity to sneak attack and successfully equalized the score. Although the Red Devils then attacked the opponent fiercely and bombarded the opponent's goal in turns, they were ultimately unable to expand the score and could only shake hands with the opponent.

In the third round, the Red Devils challenged Derby County away. Ferguson only changed one starter, replacing Donaghy with Lee Martin, and the formation was still 442. The Red Devils were very unlucky in this game. The opponent seized the only two chances to score two goals, but they wasted a lot of chances in front of the goal. Hughes and McClair both missed the godsend opportunity to score an empty goal. The Red Devils eventually lost 0-2 away, tasting their first defeat of the season.

The stunning burst of brilliance came to an abrupt end, and a defeat made the Red Devils' glory seem short-lived. After being beaten by Derby County, the Red Devils returned to their home ground to face Norwich, their fourth-round opponent. In this match, Phelan and Bruce were both facing their old clubs, and Pallister finally caught up with the starting lineup at the last minute.

This game was Pallister's first start for the Red Devils, and his performance can be called a disaster. Pallister, like Bruce, was put on the starting list by Ferguson as soon as he arrived at the Red Devils, but he was not as bloody and tough as Bruce. The super transfer fee he carried became a huge pressure, and the expectations of Manchester United fans almost crushed him. Pallister was a stranger to all his teammates. He could neither cooperate with Leighton nor form a tacit understanding with Bruce, and his connection with the two full-backs was even more lacking. He had a thin and tall body, not very fast speed, not enough tacit understanding, and could not form a whole with the defense... These were all weaknesses that opponents liked to target. Norwich performed well last season, ranking far higher than the Red Devils, and was a team with very good tactical qualities. Although there were not many famous stars in the team and the strength of individual players was not particularly strong, they played very well as a whole and were very good at catching the weaknesses and loopholes of the opponent. Not long after the start of the game, they discovered the weakness of the Red Devils and attacked the defense area on Pallister's side of the Red Devils very actively.

The game entered a stalemate stage. The Red Devils, playing at home, had the initiative on the field, but were attacked by the opponent first and fell behind by one goal. Although the Red Devils continued to attack actively, they just couldn't break through the opponent's defense. They had a lot of shots and ball possession, but the opponent's two counterattacks broke through the Pallister defense zone and easily defeated the Red Devils.

After four rounds of the league, the Red Devils had 1 win, 1 draw and 2 losses. After the first win in the opening game, they have not won in three games. The Red Devils' fans began to express their dissatisfaction.

In September, the Red Devils challenged Everton away, which was the fifth round of the league.

Ferguson was without captain Robson, so Pallister and Bruce started again as central defenders, and the team's formation was still a 442. The Red Devils were not in good shape at the beginning, and Everton stepped up their attack and attacked the Red Devils' midfield. The Red Devils failed to withstand the opponent's momentum at the beginning and were defeated. Everton seized the Red Devils' weakness and invested a lot of strength in the midfield stranglehold, and soon forced the Red Devils' defense to retreat continuously. The Toffees also launched a key attack on Pallister's defense area, repeatedly breaking through from his side, making the Red Devils' defense line clumsy and leaking everywhere.

Everton's home fans were not polite, they were happy to see the tough Red Devils being beaten into pieces, and they kept singing songs to cheer the players. The Red Devils had many problems both in defense and offense, and could not withstand Everton's fierce attack line. As a result, Everton headed and kicked them, and scored three goals as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.

The Red Devils were behind in the score, but the whole team still launched a brave counterattack amid Ferguson's scolding. In the second half, the Red Devils launched many offensives and created many opportunities. In the 57th minute, Phelan made a long pass to the penalty area from the midfield. Mark Hughes fought for the ball with the opponent when he received it. There was chaos in the penalty area. McClair grabbed the ball sharply next to him, made a small adjustment and shot into the goal, narrowing the score to 1-3. Then the Red Devils rushed and bombarded fiercely, constantly using the high-altitude bombing tactics of long rush and short lob. Bruce was also sent to the opponent's goal by Ferguson to play as a striker. In the 83rd minute, the Red Devils made a long pass, and Bruce headed the ball in the opponent's penalty area, causing chaos in the opponent's penalty area, and the ball fell to the side of the small penalty area. Billsmore, who came on as a substitute, shot the ball near the bottom line at a near-zero angle and blasted the ball into the dead corner - the Red Devils 2-3 Everton!

The Red Devils chased the score to 2-3, but unfortunately the game time came to an end. The Red Devils could only swallow their frustration again and swallow this very unacceptable defeat.

The Red Devils have been losing battle after battle, and in a blink of an eye they have suffered three consecutive defeats in the league.

The Red Devils have fallen into the back half of the standings and have been quickly left behind the first group.

This situation made Ferguson very depressed. The media sharply ridiculed the Red Devils for getting carried away after their good start, believing that Ferguson was self-righteous and ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth, and deserved to be beaten by other teams.

Ferguson was not convinced. He thought the team did not play badly, but encountered some problems in details. Ferguson said: "We met bad luck in the second game against Crystal Palace. We missed almost three absolute chances and lost one point to the opponent. We were also the dominant side when we played Norwich and Derby County, creating far more chances than the opponent, but unfortunately we didn't score. We were also the dominant side in our match against Everton, but our defense made continuous mistakes, resulting in three goals. In this kind of game, we are not just taking a beating without the ability to fight back. In fact, we have the advantage and still have the chance to equalize the score until the last moment."

Ferguson expressed his deep apologies to the fans. "Of course I know the current situation is bad. Many fans are not satisfied with the team's performance. I feel deeply guilty about this. Bad luck is not an excuse for us. We should have scored a lot of goals. This must be improved."

Ferguson later said: "Norris and I repeatedly studied the videos of these games, and we couldn't find more reasons for the loss. It wasn't until I showed the game videos to the players that they immediately discovered our shortcomings. Robson said, Boss, are we playing too simply? It's always the traditional 442, which is easy for the opponent to guess and prepare for. This style of play is the most inefficient, and we need to change."

Bruce said: "I think the team was too confident. The big win in the first game made us a little proud and we didn't pay enough attention to the opponent. In addition, we didn't pay enough attention to defense. The defensive system was immature and we were too eager to attack, so we suffered a lot."

The Red Devils felt frustrated. Everyone kept analyzing the reasons for the defeat, identifying the problems, and further unified their thoughts and changed their playing style.

In the 6th round of the league, the Red Devils returned to their home ground to face their opponents Millwall.

Millwall was certainly a weak team in the eyes of future fans and was not at all a rival of the Red Devils, but at that time they actually came to the Theatre of Dreams to challenge an opponent who had lost three games in a row, as they had ranked higher than Manchester United in the previous season, so they were the more arrogant side.

In this game, Robson returned and Paul Ince also got a chance to start, working with Robson to manage the midfield. Ferguson paid great attention to the opponent and said in the locker room: "We are now a team that has lost three games in a row. We must abandon those arrogant mindsets and never be arrogant again. We must be down-to-earth and pay attention to the details. The success rate of the attack in the front court must be paid attention to, and there must be enough patience. Ince and Lee Sharpe must participate more in the attack, and the captain must control the overall situation and command the midfield. Bruce, your previous opinion is very correct. You will coordinate the defense in this game. You must do a good job of assisting defense and not allow each team to fight alone."

The Red Devils fought hard, determined to wash away the humiliation of the previous three consecutive defeats, and were determined to win this game. Under the control of Robson and Ince, the Red Devils controlled the game very well. The players also became more patient, and even when facing Millwall, they did not rush and attack like in previous games. It was the patient maneuvering that paid off. In the first half, goalkeeper Leighton made a long pass in the penalty area, and Mark Hughes got the ball outside the opponent's penalty area, turned around, controlled the ball, and shot. This long shot of more than 30 yards directly blasted the opponent's goal, and the Red Devils led 1-0.

After breaking the deadlock, the Red Devils played more freely. Soon, the Red Devils launched another offensive. Mark Hughes got the ball in the opponent's penalty area and pretended to shoot. He deceived the opponent's defender and passed it to Robson in the middle. The Red Devils captain shot a wonderful arc shot on the penalty area line and directly hit the ball into the upper right corner of the opponent's goal. The Red Devils led 2-0!

In the second half, the Red Devils continued to control the situation. The opponent Millwall had limited strength and it was difficult to create too many opportunities. After the Red Devils controlled the ball in the backcourt, Phelan kicked a long pass of nearly 60 yards to find his teammate Hughes. Hughes dribbled forward, attracted the defense, and then passed the ball to Lee Sharpe who was cruising on the penalty area line. Lee Sharpe quickly dribbled into the penalty area and easily scored with a clever shot!

The Red Devils fought harder and harder. Robson controlled the ball in the frontcourt and then passed it to McClair in the penalty area. McClair took a step after receiving the ball and immediately shot. The shot was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, but it fell to Hughes who was picking up the ball in front of the goal. Hughes fell to the ground and shot the ball into the empty goal easily!

At the end of the game, Robson successfully defended and launched a counterattack with a long pass. The Millwall defenders could have easily cleared the ball, but they failed to head or kick the ball, allowing Hughes to get the ball. Hughes then rushed forward with the ball, broke into the penalty area, passed the goalkeeper, and easily scored his third goal.

In the end, the Red Devils defeated Millwall 5-1 and won a resounding victory!

Mark Hughes scored a hat-trick and an assist, Robson made an assist and a goal, and rookie Lee Sharp also scored a goal. The whole team played with great style and elegance.

A big win over a weak team is not enough to prove that the Red Devils have finally gained a foothold. There are more challenges ahead. What Ferguson's team needs most now is stability.

On September 9, the Red Devils played at Fratton Park against Portsmouth in the first game of the second round of the League Cup. This game was also a goal-scoring battle, and the Red Devils finally beat their opponents 20-3 away from home and took the lead.