The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 135: Escape from Death

"You don't need to care how I won, you just need to know that I won in the end."

--Ferguson

Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United, all the media in England are now focused on this big battle.

The FA Cup is the world's oldest football cup competition. It was officially founded in 1872, which is older than the Olympic Games, which was founded in 1896, and naturally older than the World Cup. The FA Cup has only been interrupted because of the World War. For a hundred years, it has been one of the most influential football events in English football and enjoys a unique reputation in England.

Every year, all professional and non-professional teams can sign up for the FA Cup, and the competition system makes the FA Cup full of the possibility of upsets from the beginning. The charm of the FA Cup is not comparable to that of ordinary cup competitions. More often, the teams represent the community and the city, and represent the face of the fan group. Every year's final is very grand. The winning team is personally awarded by the British royal family. The British royal representative will shake hands with the team one by one to congratulate. This is an honor that league champions do not have, and it is also what the British value most.

The English FA Cup implements the principle of wide participation, with more than 500 teams participating every year, the largest number of matches in the world. The FA Cup is also known as the "hotbed of upsets", "chance for the common people" and "grave of the rich". The knockout rounds are always full of suspense and very attractive to fans.

The FA Cup system stipulates that English League One teams will start playing in the third round of the knockout stage. The Red Devils were scheduled to play in the third round on January 1990, 1, against Nottingham Forest.

At that time, Nottingham Forest was a well-known team, having won the European Championship for two consecutive years. Brian Clough has been the head coach of Nottingham Forest since 1975. He has built a strong team and led the team to be promoted to the English League One in his second season. In the first season of 1977-78, the team won the League One Championship and the League Cup as a newly promoted team, creating a legend of a League Two team winning the double championship in the same year of promotion to the English League One.

While Nottingham fans were rejoicing, Clough went one step further and led the Forest team to an invincible victory in the European arena in the 78-79 season, defeating strong opponents and winning the European Cup.

Not only that, Clough also led the team to successfully defend the European Cup in the 1979-80 season with an invincible attitude, repeating the magical story.

Clough is so scary!

Clough created a miracle by winning the double championship as a newly promoted team in one season and then conquering the European continent twice in two years.

After the 80s, Nottingham Forest's strength fluctuated, and the team under coach Clough also underwent a reorganization, but no one would underestimate him.

Nottingham Forest had knocked the Red Devils out of the FA Cup last season, and this time they were playing against Forest, which put Ferguson under great pressure. Many years later, he recalled, "When I knew that our opponent in the FA Cup was Forest, I felt dizzy and said to Norris, 'This draw is really a jinx, just give me a rope to hang myself, how can we play against Forest?!' Norris rolled his eyes at me."

Robson called his teammates together to discuss, "This game is crucial. The boss (Ferguson)'s future depends on the result of the game. This is the boss's chance and also our chance to wash away the shame. We must find a way to win this game."

McClair, who is usually taciturn, continued, "Forest is not easy to deal with, but we can take advantage of their weakness, which is that they are very proud. Forest may take the initiative to open up their formation to attack us, and we will have a chance."

Bruce said: "We must focus on defense and not always lose some inexplicable balls. We must be highly alert and focused like we are on the battlefield. We must put defense first and then fight for a victory. We must remember that defense is everything!"

Bruce had some unspoken words in his heart. He felt that he was really sorry for Ferguson. For the defense line he and Pallister had conceded too many unnecessary goals this season. He and his partner secretly made up their minds to do their best for Ferguson and the team.

Finally, the match day arrived, and Ferguson led the Red Devils to Nottingham. At that time, the weather in England was extremely cold, with snow and wind blowing everywhere, and the north wind was biting. There was really a tragic atmosphere of "the wind whistles and the Yishui River is cold, and the warriors will never return".

Ferguson tried to make the best of a bad situation and consoled the players by saying, "We always win and lose against Forest. Forest beat us last time, so it's our turn this time. We are fully prepared, but they probably aren't prepared for how to play."

The Manchester Evening News said, "This is the ultimate test. If they lose the game, Ferguson will definitely be fired. If Ferguson does not resign voluntarily, the Manchester United board will definitely fire him. Ferguson has spent more than 1000 million pounds on the board in three seasons, but there has been no improvement, which is really humiliating enough."

The BBC prankly invited Atkinson to make a pre-match prediction. The former Red Devils coach said bluntly: "The Red Devils are in too bad shape now. They can't even beat Crystal Palace, who are trying to stay in the league. They also lost 3 games against Villa. It will be too difficult to play against Forest."

Before the game, the Red Devils suffered from a series of misfortunes, including the loss of injured Ince and captain Robson. Ferguson could only line up the following starting lineup: goalkeeper Leighton, defense line of Anderson, Martin, Bruce, Pallister, midfield of Phelan, Bearsmore, Blackmore, Mark Robins, and forward of Mark Hughes and McClair. In such a crucial game, Ferguson unexpectedly sent young players including Lee Martin, Mark Robins, Bearsmore, etc., which caused heated discussions before the game. With multiple new players in the starting lineup, what exactly was Ferguson planning?

All the main players of the Forest team played in the game and launched a massive attack at the beginning. They played simply and directly, making full use of their bodies and speed, frequently confronting and colliding with the Red Devils players, hoping to take the initiative in the midfield. The Red Devils, who were fighting a desperate battle, also showed no weakness and fought fiercely with their opponents in the midfield, and did not choose to retreat and defend.

The conditions of the Forest team's home field were poor, and the muddy grass seriously affected the players' technical performance. Both sides fell into a melee at the beginning, but there were many mistakes, no good cooperation, and no good opportunities. In the first half, the Red Devils launched a quick attack. Mark Hughes took the ball on the left side of the front court and passed it to the side. After receiving the ball, left-back Lee Martin immediately cut across the opponent's defender and passed it to Robins. Robins took the ball with his back in the penalty area, and used his body to push the defender away. He turned and shot in time, but unfortunately the ball was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper and flew out of the goal frame.

Nottingham Forest's style of play was mainly long passes, with almost no ground attack and few short passes, which reduced a lot of pressure on the Red Devils' defense. The Red Devils deployed dense defense in the penalty area, Bruce and Pallister were fully focused, and their height also played an advantage, and the cross in the penalty area was cleared in time.

Both sides attacked and defended, but neither had many good opportunities. The two sides were tied 0-0 in the first half.

During the half-time break, Ferguson encouraged his players, "We played very well in the first half. We created the best chances and the opponent posed no threat. In the second half, I believe the opponent will change their style of play and attack more proactively. Their defense will be exposed, and there will be more and more loopholes. They may play more fiercely, but not sustainably. Our counterattack must catch the opponent off guard and make good use of the space they press forward."

Ferguson once again emphasized defense. "We must continue to defend well. Except for trying to sneak attack, we must maintain a tight formation at other times. We must maintain the advantage in numbers and resolve the pressure in the air. Everyone should remind each other to digest the opponent's intensive bombardment. The opponent did not break through the sharp knife and could not play delicate cooperation. As long as we concentrate, we don't need to worry about losing the goal."

At the start of the second half, Ferguson's prediction was very accurate. When Forest's momentum slowed down slightly, the Red Devils immediately launched a fierce attack and sounded the horn of counterattack. In the 55th minute, the Red Devils' Mark Hughes got the ball in the midfield and quickly used a through ball to tear through the opponent's defense, but Robins was a step too late and the opponent's goalkeeper rushed out of the penalty area to clear the ball. In the 56th minute, the Red Devils' high-pressure defense was effective. Lee Martin grabbed the ball from Oligson in the opponent's backcourt and immediately advanced along the left at high speed. When the opponent came up to defend, he passed the ball to his teammates. Hughes then pulled out to a relatively far area outside the Forest team's penalty area to receive the ball. He quickly turned sideways and took the ball with his right foot, turning to face the opponent's goal.

There are no defenders around Mark Hughes. "Hughes has got a lot of space," said BBC commentator Barry Davis. "The Forest team's defense made a mistake and missed Hughes. Now we have to see how Hughes will advance. This is an opportunity."

The two defenders of the Forest team moved sideways from the center and the left, intending to attack from both sides. Hughes was waiting for this opportunity. He flicked the ball to the right front, then rubbed the ball in a small arc and passed it diagonally into the penalty area, passing the most critical defense line of the Forest team. This was a curved ball in the opposite direction. Mark Hughes kicked it perfectly with the back of his right foot. The ball flew into the penalty area in a strange arc with a little outward rotation, and bounced after landing near the penalty spot. This position completely caught the opponent off guard. The goalkeeper could not attack, and the defender could not reach the ball. They were not at this point.

At this time Mark Robins appeared. He inserted himself in front of Pierce at high speed like a god, and then headed the ball into the goal. The Red Devils took the lead 1:0!

Ferguson clenched his fists on the sidelines, and the Red Devils fans who traveled with the team burst into a huge wave of cheers, shouting loudly, "Red Devils! Red Devils!"

The Forest team was unwilling to accept defeat and launched a frenzy of attack. In the last 30 minutes of the game, they pushed the Red Devils back to the half-court defense and bombarded the Red Devils' defense zone. The Red Devils goalkeeper Leighton was like a god, saving three single-handed opportunities for the opponent and performing a heroic double save to keep the opponent's forward's close shot out of the goal.

The referee also came to "help" in the final moments of the game. Forest scored a goal from a free kick, but the referee ultimately ruled the goal invalid.

The final whistle blew and the Red Devils won!

Mark Robins saved Ferguson's career with a miraculous goal, and all this came from Ferguson giving him the opportunity to play. After the game, a reporter asked Ferguson why he dared to send Robins, and Ferguson said angrily, "Why? Because I am Ferguson, and you are not."

Robins said in an interview: "The boss (Ferguson) told us to pay attention to counterattack opportunities and to press forward boldly. I faithfully carried out his arrangements. Why did we have that opportunity? Maybe the Forest team didn't pay any attention to me at all. They were only focused on marking Mark Hughes. I think Pierce looked at me with disgust."

Robins was very happy to be a hero: "This is one of the best goals in my career as a Red Devils player and I will remember it for the rest of my life. I saw my big brother Hughes and knew he would pass the ball to me, so I rushed forward boldly. I didn't expect it to be such a great opportunity. When I rushed into the penalty area, everything was perfect and the goal was easy."

Ferguson said: "We pay great attention to the speed of counterattacks. When Martin launched a counterattack, I realized it was a good opportunity. After Mark Hughes received the ball, I thought he would go it alone, but I didn't expect him to make a difficult assist. This pass was full of imagination. Mark Hughes and Robins cooperated very well and scored a perfect goal."

Mark Hughes, the hero behind the scenes, said: "That pass has been repeated in my mind thousands of times. I told myself to do this. At that moment, I didn't think about anything else. I just wanted to make such a pass. The result is seen by everyone, how wonderful!"

Ferguson finally won a respite, and he later admitted that he had escaped death. This was the most crucial battle in his coaching career as the Red Devils, and this victory saved his precarious position.

Chairman Martin Edwards said, "We can't wield a butcher knife against a winner. The club has no plan B and does not plan to change coaches. We support Ferguson and believe he will lead the team to victory."