The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 132: Christmas Express to Hell

"Everyone knows now that Ferguson's days in charge of the Red Devils are numbered. Not only that, Ferguson is now leading this team rumbling towards destruction."

--Inscription

The collapse of the building did not start suddenly.

Ferguson's coaching crisis did not happen suddenly and without reason. Many years later, Ferguson must have regarded the 1-5 defeat to Manchester City as the first spark of the crisis that he and Manchester United had fallen into throughout the season.

Now that it has entered December, Ferguson's Manchester United has suffered two consecutive defeats again. He also feels that the foundation of the building is beginning to loosen and the entire building may be crumbling.

After two consecutive defeats, the Red Devils faced Tottenham in the 17th round of the league.

This was a tough match as expected, but Ferguson did not expect that the team was still very passive even though they had sent all their best players. In this match, the Manchester United team had not recovered from the loss to Crystal Palace and was suppressed by Tottenham from the beginning.

Tottenham was aggressive, with a five-man front line in the midfield and two full-backs frequently joining in, not just bombing Manchester United with long passes. In the 5th minute, Tottenham launched a quick attack. Anderton dribbled the ball from the right to Manchester United's left wing, speeding up all the way past Manchester United's two midfielders and directly reaching the edge of Manchester United's penalty area. Anderton, who came to the dangerous area, controlled the rhythm and waited for his teammates to get in place before he kicked the cross. The cross eventually fell to the feet of Tottenham striker Ferdinand, who took control of the ball and shot straight into the dead corner. This shot almost broke through Manchester United's goal, but fortunately goalkeeper Leighton reacted quickly and flew to the ground to save it.

Tottenham continued to take the initiative, and Manchester United also launched several counterattacks. In the 37th minute, Manchester United attacked from the right, and Hughes received the ball in the opponent's penalty area and faced Adams. He cleverly moved back first, then made a fake move to deceive the opponent, and then immediately shot. Unfortunately, this shot was too straight and the opponent's goalkeeper could not save it in time.

In the 57th minute, Tottenham Hotspur tried many corner kicks and long-distance crosses from the wing, and suddenly attacked Manchester United's flank. Gascoigne showed his inspiration again. He calmly used rhythm and feints to get past Ince, and when Lee Sharpe made up for the defense, he used the change of speed to shake off his opponent and dribbled into Manchester United's hinterland. When Pallister stepped forward to block, Gascoigne passed the ball to Lineker, and then they exchanged the ball again. In the end, Lineker shot from the penalty spot in the Manchester United penalty area and scored, and Tottenham Hotspur led 1-0.

Manchester United, which was behind, quickly launched a counterattack, but the players were physically exhausted and Tottenham's formation remained very stable. Neither Hughes nor McClair got many good opportunities, and Bruce and Ings rushed up to score at the last moment but did not pose much threat.

Manchester United fought till the end but failed to change the score and ultimately had to retreat in defeat.

Then in the 18th round of the league, England's Reds derby, Manchester United challenged Liverpool.

At this time, the Reds' meeting has lost a lot of attention in the media because of the difference in points ranking and season performance. Liverpool also encountered many challenges at the beginning of this season. The return of Ian Rush did not further improve the team's strength, because several players in the team also applied to leave the team; and the loss of the championship caused by the defeat in the last game of last season and the occurrence of the Hillsborough disaster, these major events have affected the progress of the red team. Despite this, Liverpool still used a call to fight for the championship for the victims of the tragedy this season to unite the players and also formed a special fighting atmosphere. In this way, the whole Liverpool team united as one, killing all the way in the league and leading the standings.

In comparison, Manchester United has been in a much worse state this season.

In this game, Ferguson still deployed the traditional 442 formation, with Bruce and Pallister at the back, Ince and Robson in the midfield, and McClair and Hughes in the front to suppress the opponent. This was Ferguson's tactical arrangement at the time. Liverpool coach Dalglish was very familiar with this, and his tactics also deliberately avoided Manchester United's central axis, mainly launching attacks from the ribs and flanks.

Manchester United was suppressed at the beginning of the game and was forced to retreat to defend. Manchester United was very passive on the field. For a long time, they were unable to smoothly control the ball and advance to the midfield, let alone actively launch pressing and attacking in the front field. Ferguson simply gave up the confrontation in the midfield in the 30th minute and ordered the whole team to implement the strategy of defensive counterattack.

Liverpool took the initiative and launched frequent attacks. They created many chances in front of the goal. Barnes and Beardsley even had the opportunity to pass the ball directly to the empty space in front of Manchester United's goal. As long as their teammates appeared in time, they could score an empty goal, but unfortunately the Liverpool forwards missed it. Even so, Beardsley had the opportunity to dodge and pass the ball to Rush in the first half after dodging outside the penalty area, but Rush shot too straight after entering the penalty area; Barnes and Aldridge each had no less than 3 shots, but they did not wear shooting boots today, and many shots did not pose any threat. In addition to these, Liverpool also got more than 10 corner kicks today, and 6 free kicks from outside the penalty area, but they all returned without success.

For Manchester United, only a counterattack in the 75th minute of the second half created an opportunity. Ings intercepted the ball at the edge of the penalty area and moved to the left. Lee Sharp rushed after receiving the ball, Hughes accelerated forward in the middle to respond, and finally Sharp passed the ball near the corner of the penalty area. Hughes received the ball and made a powerful shot after creating space. Unfortunately, the shot was too straight and was easily saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.

In the end, the two sides tied 0-0 and each got one point.

Manchester United's draw with Liverpool was not a bad result, but the scene and process were indeed nothing to be proud of.

After the game, the Manchester Evening News said: "In this game we saw a huge gap in strength between the two teams. If Ferguson's Manchester United wants to catch up with their opponents, it is almost impossible given the current players and coaching ability."

Ferguson didn't want to pay attention to these guys, his team now faces Villa in the 19th round of the league.

Before this game, Manchester United suffered another blow. Lee Martin and Garton, two full-backs, were injured. Anderson had not yet recovered from a long-term injury. Midfielder Robson also had a thigh muscle strain and would have to miss this game. Ferguson finally had to send more rotation players to play.

At the beginning of the game, Manchester United, which was short of players, still wanted to launch a fierce attack to defeat their opponents, but Villa's defense was very solid. They did not compete with Manchester United for the midfield, but instead contracted their defense in time to withstand Manchester United's false fire.

Manchester United's attack came and went quickly, and Villa quickly launched a counterattack. In the 27th minute of the first half, a long pass was made to the Manchester United penalty area. Bruce and Pallister could not catch up in time, and Villa striker Newbiton easily shot and scored in the penalty area, and Manchester United fell behind 0-1. In the subsequent games, Manchester United seemed even more impatient and chaotic. The attack was too simple and rigid. McClair's impact was strictly guarded by the opponent, and Hughes was in poor condition and did not pose much threat. When Manchester United was eager to equalize the score, the problem of midfielder Ins focusing on offense and neglecting defense appeared again. His position was too forward, and there were continuous problems with interception and coverage in the midfield and backcourt, and Manchester United's entire defensive system was also disrupted. After taking the lead, Villa continued to defend and counterattack, scoring two goals in a row in the subsequent time, and finally gave Manchester United a big defeat of 3-0.

Ferguson was furious during this game. "Ince, you are such an idiot! Who told you to rush into the opponent's penalty area alone? Who told you to play as a striker? You didn't hear Bruce calling you? I told you to retreat and you ignored me?! I have never seen a piece of rubbish like you. You think you are so powerful every day and can destroy the opponent's entire defense by yourself? What do you want?"

Ins, who had always been rebellious, knew that it was his fault. He sat there with a red face and dared not to defend himself.

In the 20th round of the league, the Red Devils faced their old rival Wimbledon. Ferguson temporarily pulled Ings for this match, and Robson had not yet recovered from his injury, which greatly affected the overall strength of the team. But even so, Ferguson still played tough enough in this game. McClair and Phelan made continuous tackles in the midfield, even if they received yellow cards. Bruce and Pallister fully demonstrated their wildness on the defensive line, directly fighting back against the opponent's provocations and various dirty tricks. Pallister even knocked down the opponent's striker Chris with his head, and Bruce was hit in the face by the opponent's elbow and the next second he used his knee to hit back fiercely.

The game was played with great enthusiasm, with sparks flying on both the offensive and defensive ends. Both teams played savagely and fiercely, and finally shook hands in a draw of 2-2.

Ferguson praised the team's fighting spirit in his post-match summary. "Wimbledon is very difficult to play against. They often use roughness and fouls to intimidate people and gain an advantage in the confrontation. I am very pleased that from 1986 to today, we finally don't have fear when facing these guys."

"We were the better team today, creating more chances, playing our tactics and showing our courage. More importantly, we did not collapse under the pressure of our opponents. Even before the end of the game, we were still attacking."

"I want to emphasize that this is the style I want to see. Even if our results are not good now, I always believe that as long as we have this spirit and fighting spirit, we will have hope!"

In the following 21st round of the league, Manchester United was a bit tired and not in very good shape, and could only draw 0-0 with Queens Park Rangers.

从1989年11月底开始到12月31日结束，红魔已经连续6场未尝胜绩。再往前算的话则是9场只有1场取胜，而且在杯赛中也狼狈出局。

Halfway through the season, Manchester United's current results are not much better than those of Atkinson's time. Fans don't care that you have also tied with Liverpool during this period, they just think that no matter how bad the Red Devils are, they can't be so rubbish. The eight consecutive games without a win have once again set the worst record for Ferguson's coaching of Manchester United, and the team is now ranked the worst in the standings.

All of this points to one thing: Ferguson is a fake.

In the eyes of many media, his coaching ability is not good enough, he just can't make the team maintain a stable high level. Only the league runner-up in the 1987-88 season is definitely not enough. The cruel facts prove that he is a boastful guy who is completely unsuited to the English football environment. At best, he can only play in the Scottish league, not the English league, let alone the Manchester United coach.

The Red Devils struggled all the way, and the team and Ferguson fell into a vicious circle. The consecutive defeats and the tough battles also caused the players to start to have emotional fluctuations, and some players lost their confidence.

The Times' comment was extremely scathing, "The Red Devils should be relegated in December. If they have any self-knowledge, they should not keep a coach like Ferguson, but should immediately change their strategy and fire the coach immediately!"

BBC's comment said: "Manchester United is now the worst team in the entire league. There is no worst, only worse!"

The media news is counting down day by day to see when this guy Ferguson will be fired.