The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 139 FA Cup Semi-Final Thriller

"The Red Devils almost failed to win a community team and almost lost in the FA Cup semi-final, which seemed very easy. Ferguson was fed up with the media's ridicule, but he could only bite his teeth and swallow it."

--Inscription

The Red Devils played in the FA Cup semi-finals, and their opponent was a dark horse, Oldham Athletic, a grassroots community team.

Oldham Athletic was unknown at the time. According to the general imagination and cognition, it was a team with no stars and no sense of existence. Oldham Athletic came from the Oldham community. It was an amateur team belonging to a community in Manchester. It was composed of football enthusiasts in the community and was not a professional team participating in the league.

Even as a community team, Oldham Athletic is very close to a professional team. They also have an almost fixed team lineup, although the players are not purely professional; they also have a head coach, their own training ground, and their own home stadium (although the home stadium belongs to the community, they rent it for a long time), and they also sell season tickets and tickets, as well as special jerseys and corresponding merchandise sales. This team actually has a lot of connections with the Red Devils. It has always been the nursery of the Red Devils' youth training, recommending and providing young players to the Red Devils' youth training camp. In addition, their daily training and games, although most of them are amateur, are also full of schedules for each season. When it comes to participating in events such as the FA Cup, they will become one of the officially registered teams.

There is another story between Oldham and the Red Devils. One of their famous fans is the Red Devils star, Paul Scholes. Scholes has been a die-hard fan of Oldham Athletic since he was a child. He even trained here when he was very young. After becoming famous, Scholes has been supporting this community team and donated various jerseys, shoes and training equipment to them. He also communicated with their players.

Many years later, Scholes was asked by a reporter, if the Red Devils and Oldham met, which side would he support? Scholes said: "Now I will stand on the side of the Red Devils, but in the 1990 game I supported Oldham Athletic. I have always been a fan of Oldham Athletic. This is the team I have supported since I was a child, and I will not give up this complex. I also loved the Red Devils when I was a child, but my father had no money to take me to Old Trafford to watch the game. Their games are too expensive."

When Scholes was a child, his family lived in the Oldham community and were very familiar with Oldham Athletic. Scholes said: "Oldham's season tickets are very cheap, and we have no problem watching the game. I am a native of Oldham, and their stadium is just north of my home. I grew up watching their training and games. My family are all their fans, and my family has always kept their season tickets. I also like their games. They always play very passionately. Although the routine is simple, that is the charm of football."

Scholes said: "I actually always remember that FA Cup semi-final because my dad and I went to watch the whole game. The Red Devils were very strong, but Oldham Athletic also played very well. They played beyond their level and ended up drawing with the Red Devils. Both teams presented a wonderful game to the fans, which was perfect for me!"

Before the game, all the media thought that Manchester United would easily win, but Ferguson didn't think so. At the pre-match mobilization meeting, he said, "We must respect our opponents. They are not a weak team. We must not think that they will surrender and will not fight us with real swords and guns. It is definitely not easy for Oldham Athletic to reach the semi-finals and win 5 or even 6 rounds in a row."

Ferguson sent out all the main players for this game, without holding back. Before the game, he specifically told Ince to be less impulsive and not to let the opponent attack from the center. Even so, Ferguson did not expect the opponent to be so difficult. Oldham Athletic showed courage in the game. They started with great momentum and fought the Red Devils on equal terms. Facing such a low-level team that was fearless, the Red Devils had enough ways to deal with it, but the Red Devils players fell into the embarrassment of poor form in this game. The old captain Robson had not recovered yet and seemed a little tired in confrontation and running. The other players had their own problems, so Manchester United as a whole did not produce much power.

Oldham Athletic launched a blitzkrieg at the start. Their simple long pass tactic was very direct. A long pass sent the ball to the Red Devils' hinterland. Barrett got rid of the defense after receiving the ball, dribbled into the penalty area and shot from less than 9 yards away from the goal. Manchester United goalkeeper Jim Leighton tried his best to block it, but the ball still hit his chest and bounced into the net. Oldham Athletic led 1-0!

The Red Devils players were completely stunned and couldn't believe what was happening on the field.

The Red Devils suddenly fell behind and had to counterattack, which made the whole team anxious. The Red Devils then pressed the opponent to attack fiercely, but most of these attacks were empty fire. Oldham Athletic was not panicked even when they were leading. They played more confidently and were less afraid of their opponents. Manchester United's attack was very urgent. In the 27th minute, McClair tried to score in the penalty area, but he barely kicked it away. In the 31st minute, Ings's powerful shot from the top of the penalty area also flew out of the goal. In the 35th minute, Hughes' header in the penalty area was off the target and did not threaten the opponent's goal. It was not until the end of the first half that Manchester United's fierce attack found an opportunity. Hughes received a cross in the penalty area and passed it back to the captain. Robson protected the ball sideways under the entanglement of the opponent, then calmly got rid of it, flashed out of the gap and shot hard. This life shot hit the far corner of the opponent's goal, leaving the opponent's goalkeeper helpless.

1-1, the Red Devils equalized the score.

After the start of the second half, the Red Devils gradually gained the upper hand, while Oldham Athletic fell into trouble due to physical problems. In the 57th minute, Manchester United made a cross from the left, and McClair received a pass from his teammate Phelan in the middle, but his shot missed the target; in the 61st minute, Manchester United made another cross from the left, but this time the opponent easily headed it out; in the 65th minute, Manchester United made a long shot outside the penalty area, and the ball flew out again; in the 69th minute, Manchester United made a cross from the right, but it was blocked by the Oldham defender's flying tackle and went out of the baseline... Manchester United's fierce attack continued to consume the opponent's energy. In the 71st minute, the Red Devils played a wing attack tactic again, and Neil Webber received Robson's cross and scored a powerful header to help the Red Devils take the lead.

After being overtaken, Oldham Athletic was very tenacious. They were also unwilling to lose and quickly organized a wave of attacks. In the 79th minute, Oldham Athletic played a quick attack on the left, and after three simple passes, the attack was pushed to the edge of Manchester United's penalty area. Striker Ian Marshall's volley shot went straight to the goal, and the score was caught up to 2-2!

The 90-minute match ended quickly and entered extra time. The Oldham Athletic fans who travelled with the team were already singing and dancing, as if they had won a great victory.

Not long into the extra time, several Oldham Athletic players began to suffer cramps. They were too exhausted and gradually could not keep up with the Red Devils' rhythm and confrontation. Ferguson replaced Danny Wallace to strengthen the attack. The short winger played to his speed advantage after coming on the court. He successfully sneaked into the opponent's defense with a counter-attack, accelerated into the penalty area and made a single shot, and then shot a tricky angle to score, and the Red Devils took the lead for the second time 3-2.

Oldham Athletic did not give up at the last moment. They launched a quick attack in the 115th minute and quickly advanced on the left side of the frontcourt. Forward Roger Palmer received a pass from Marshall and quickly dribbled the ball to the edge of the Red Devils penalty area. Just as the Manchester United central defender was about to block, Palmer shot a powerful shot from this position and scored, 3-3!

Oldham Athletic miraculously drew with the Red Devils, and the result shocked everyone.

"Well done to Oldham Athletic, they made the Red Devils look ridiculous!" This was the headline of the News of the World after the game. People who didn't know would have thought that the Red Devils had lost.

"We were able to be tied twice after leading?"

The entire English football world was mocking and ridiculing Ferguson, saying, "He was helpless against a weak team two levels lower than him."

The Sun even broke the news that several Red Devils players went out to the bar late at night to fool around before the semi-final. Although no names were mentioned, Ferguson's strict management became a joke.

The BBC commentator believes that "the Red Devils should have won easily, as there is a huge gap in strength between the two teams. But now the result is that Oldham Athletic not only took the lead but also tied the Red Devils at the last minute of the game. The situation may become very interesting, and Ferguson's good luck in the FA Cup may be coming to an end..."

Ferguson rarely turned on the hair dryer, but calmly warned the players not to deal with it casually anymore.

Ferguson said: "I am very clear about the strength of our team. Oldham Athletic is a respectable team. We played a thrilling game and the result was not good. What I want to say is that this is not the game I want. I hope we can play better in the next game and everyone should not be too relaxed."

Ferguson did not want to refute the media's ridicule and various attacks after the game, nor did he have the extra energy to defend himself.

In the rematch, Ferguson asked the players to be alert and vigilant, and never let down their guard and lose the ball again. He continued to let Robson start, basically maintaining the starting lineup of the previous game, and there was no change in tactics.

The Red Devils players, who were shocked by the 3-3 draw in the previous game, were very cautious this time, even to the point of being laughable. It was not until the 15th minute of the first half that the Red Devils made their first shot attempt, and then gradually showed an aggressive momentum. Even though they were aggressive in attacking, they also attached great importance to defense, and Robson stayed at the top of the penalty area in their own half for a long time.

The Red Devils finally found an opportunity in the 33rd minute after patience and maneuvering with their opponents. Their cross from the right caused chaos in the opponent's penalty area. Mark Hughes took advantage of the chaos to gain position in the penalty area, pushed his opponent away and shot directly, helping the team break the deadlock and lead 1-0.

In the 57th minute of the second half, Manchester United launched another concise attack. Robson passed the ball from the backcourt, Webber made a transition, McClair received the ball and broke into the penalty area, then took a powerful shot and scored. Manchester United basically secured the victory 2-0.

Although Oldham Athletic launched several attacks in the subsequent games, none of them posed much threat. They only scored a goal through a long pass in the final stages of the game, but were eventually eliminated by the Red Devils 1-2.

In this way, Ferguson's team overcame the small pond of Oldham Athletic and advanced to the final.

It was certainly not a glorious thing for the Red Devils to be tied by a community team, but Ferguson's strength lies in his ability to quickly put it all aside and finally defeat his opponent in the replay.

After reaching the final, Ferguson said in an interview, "I know that many media are not optimistic about the Red Devils, especially there are a lot of criticisms against me. I accept all of this, but I want to tell all the Red Devils fans that we are not afraid of failure, but we always maintain the will to fight and strive towards the goal of victory. We can withstand setbacks, but we always have to strive for victory."

"Oldham Athletic is a respectable team, I have always stressed this. I also want to emphasize that their tactical execution is actually very good, they played with fighting spirit and courage. It is not easy for us to play against such a team. I have no intention of emphasizing their strength to defend us. The fact that they have reached the semi-finals, this result itself says a lot."

The season is coming to an end soon. In another FA Cup semi-final, Liverpool was unexpectedly eliminated by Crystal Palace, a team they had beaten 9-0 in the league. Ferguson finally got good news.

Ferguson's team has gone through a nightmare-like long season and now finally sees the light of winning the championship.