The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 158 The start of multi-task

"Manchester United started competing on four fronts early because of the European competitions. Ferguson's team was under tremendous pressure. This was not just ordinary hardship, but doubly difficult."

--Inscription

After the match against Liverpool, the Red Devils went to the European Cup Winners' Cup with the embarrassment of a crushing defeat and a hint of unwillingness to accept the defeat.

This was the first time that Ferguson led the team to compete in a European competition, and it was also the first time that Manchester United had challenged for the European Cup Winners' Cup again after many years. Many coaches before Ferguson had the opportunity to challenge for the European Cup Winners' Cup, and Atkinson was even very close to the finals. However, due to various factors, Manchester United has never won the European Cup Winners' Cup since its establishment.

Ferguson now has the opportunity to make up for this little regret.

For a famous manager like Matt Busby, a European Cup Winners' Cup title is not as good as the European Champions Cup trophy he once won. For other Manchester United managers, the European Cup Winners' Cup title is already a lofty goal, and they have worked hard for it, but have never succeeded in reaching the top.

Ferguson didn't know how strong the opponents in the European competition were at the time, because Manchester United had not had the opportunity to participate in European competitions for many years. But as a coach who had led his team to win the European Cup Winners' Cup, he knew that it was full of challenges for a British team to travel to Europe to play in the Cup Winners' Cup. It would be dangerous for the Red Devils, whose bench list was not strong enough, and would put them under greater pressure in the domestic league, but neither Ferguson nor the board of directors would give up this opportunity.

The first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup schedule is Manchester United's home game against the cup champions Pecs Menkas from the Hungarian League.

Although Hungarian football once shone in Europe, it has been declining since the 80s. Pecsmenkas, as the cup champion of the Hungarian League, is only average in strength. For Ferguson, the difficulty of this game is actually the first match between the two sides in history, and no one is familiar with it.

Ferguson sent out a stable but offensive lineup, with goalkeeper Healy as the starting player, four defenders Bruce and Pallister in the middle, Irwin and Lee Martin guarding the sides, Ins in the middle, Webber, Phelan and Brighton Moore playing, and McClair and Hughes still as the forwards. This was a mature 442 formation.

The Red Devils played at home and started to press, actively pushing the offensive into the opponent's hinterland. The overall strength of the opponent, the Pekos Menkas team, was average, and they were not used to the physical strength of the English team, and they could not resist once they came into contact. In the 7th minute, Manchester United launched an attack on the left, and Brighton Moore just broke through the opponent's defense and kept passing the ball along the left sideline. Hughes headed the ball in the penalty area, but unfortunately it was too straight and was caught by the opponent's goalkeeper; in the 12th minute, Manchester United made a diagonal pass to the middle from the right, and Ince passed the ball to Webber after taking the ball, and Webber passed it to McClair in the penalty area. At this time, McClair faced two defenders of the opponent, dodged and shot, but the ball was still too straight and there was no threat. After withstanding several waves of Manchester United's attacks, the Pekos Menkas team also launched some counterattacks. The players of this team have good personal skills, are good at dribbling past opponents, and have fine shooting skills, which brought a lot of threats to Manchester United. In the 18th minute, Peques Mencas striker Tolas got the ball 10 yards outside the Manchester United penalty area and easily passed Ince, then made a fake move and passed defender Lee Martin, and almost had a one-on-one chance after entering the penalty area. Fortunately, Manchester United center back Bruce made up for the position in time and directly resolved his subsequent follow-up shot.

After 30 minutes of the game, Manchester United took the initiative through strength and confrontation, suppressing the opponent and returning to the half-court defense. In the 36th minute, Manchester United launched an attack on the right. After Phelan dribbled the ball to the front court from the midfield, he did not go down the bottom, but directly made a 45-degree cross. Brighton Moore rushed into the penalty area and missed the ball. Hughes pressed the opponent's defender with his back near the penalty spot to get the ball, then first exerted force to lean on the opponent, and then suddenly relaxed and turned to shoot. This shot was very tricky and went directly into the lower right corner of the opponent's goal.

Manchester United leads 1-0.

In the second half, Manchester United continued their offensive and did not slacken. The opponent, Perks Mencas, was not physically fit and soon lost the will to counterattack and equalize. In the 73rd minute, Manchester United advanced through the middle, and Ince controlled the ball all the way to the top of the opponent's penalty area and shot hard. This long shot went straight to the upper right corner of the opponent's goal, and the ball whizzed straight into the goal. The opponent's defender and goalkeeper did not make any interception.

Manchester United basically secured the victory with a score of 2 to 0. In the following period, Peques Mencas did not launch any more counterattacks, and Manchester United mainly consumed the opponent's physical strength until the end of the game.

Manchester United defeated their opponent 2-0 and got off to a good start in the European Cup Winners' Cup.

After the game, Ferguson said in an interview, "We will try our best to win every European game until the end to fight for the championship. I believe we have a good lineup and special advantages. I hope to bring more victories to the fans."

Reporters repeatedly asked Ferguson what special advantages he had, but Ferguson mysteriously refused to answer.

Three days later, the Red Devils faced Southampton in the seventh round of the league.

Southampton is still quite strong this season. Their new star Le Tissier has become a shining star in English football. The team's tactics around him are also very smooth and full of flexibility and elasticity. Although Southampton's overall strength is not a top-notch team, they have played well in defeating Liverpool and Arsenal. Forward Le Tissier's movements are smooth and his goals and shots are often full of wild inspiration, which is very different from other forwards in England. Overall, this is not an easy opponent to defeat.

Ferguson sent out Hughes and McClair as double forwards, Lee Sharp and Phelan as two wingers, Ings and Brightonmore as middle midfielders, the four-man defense line of Blackmore, Irwin, Bruce and Pallister, and Hilly as goalkeeper, actively deployed tactics amid the cheers of the home fans and tried to launch a fierce charge at the start of the game.

In the first 15 minutes of the game, the two sides played back and forth, and the tempo was not very fast. Southampton was very good at controlling the tempo, and they did not fight with Manchester United's midfield advantage. When defending, they retreated deep to defend, and when attacking, they often quickly passed through the midfield first, and then considered launching an attack in the frontcourt. This strategy once made Manchester United very uncomfortable, because Ferguson wanted to form an effective stranglehold in the midfield, block the opponent's offensive, and force the opponent to return to defense, but this goal was obviously not achieved.

Around 20 minutes into the match, Manchester United was leading the attack, but Southampton was trying to counterattack. In the 29th minute, Manchester United's Blackmore made a cross from the left, and Hughes scored a header in front of the goal, giving Manchester United a 1-0 lead. In the 36th minute, Manchester United's midfielder intercepted the ball and quickly counterattacked, attacking from the wing again. This time, Irwin made a cross from the bottom, and the ball was cleared out of the opponent's penalty area. Manchester United then controlled the ball 8 yards outside the penalty area and resumed the attack. Ince pretended to shoot to lure the opponent's defender to block, but the ball was passed to McClair on the right side of the penalty area. The Scottish shooter easily caught the ball and shot it into the dead corner of the goal.

Manchester United led 2-0 at halftime.

In the second half, Manchester United slightly reduced their offensive, while Southampton launched a series of concise counterattacks. In the 51st minute, Le Tissier got the ball in the frontcourt and passed the Manchester United defenders, then passed it to teammate Taunton who shot in, and the score became 1-2.

Manchester United regained their morale when the atmosphere of the game became tense again. Brighton & Moore's midfielder took the ball and rushed into the opponent's territory. After making a one-two pass with Ings, he shot directly. The shot was powerful and the angle was tricky enough. The opponent's goalkeeper was unable to save it. The score was widened again to 3-1.

Southampton launched a number of attacks in the following 25 minutes and eventually scored a goal, but it still couldn't change the result of a 2-3 loss.

Three days later, the Red Devils made their debut in the League Cup.

The Red Devils played away in this game, and they played against Halifax of the third division at the Sai Stadium. McLair, Ince and Robins each scored a goal, helping the team beat their opponents 3-1 and successfully advance to the next round.

The next game is Manchester United facing Forest at Old Trafford, which is the 8th round of the league.

In this match, Ferguson used Hughes as a substitute. Brighton Moore, who had performed well in the previous period, was injured and missed the game. Ferguson used Wallace and McClair as double strikers, Ince was still the core of the midfield, and Donaghy replaced Lee Martin on the defensive line. Manchester United, who made a lot of rotations, was not in good form. Facing the strong pressure and aggressive attack of the Forest team, the midfield soon couldn't resist. Ince and Phelan were in no form in this game, and Lee Sharpe played a little slack. As a result, they were completely suppressed by the midfield of the opponent Pearce and the rising star Roy Keane, and the forwards didn't get any supply opportunities.

Although the score was still 0-0, Manchester United played very poorly in the first half. Many players had problems in the confrontation, and the advantage on the field was completely occupied by the opponent Forest team. Ferguson's Mark Hughes came on as a substitute in the second half, but he was unable to improve the offense. It was difficult to grab opportunities when the opponent was in full momentum. The Forest team continued to attack fiercely in the second half. They completely turned the tables. Clough, who was in excellent form, kept rushing into the Manchester United defense line, tried to shoot many times, and almost defeated the Manchester United goalkeeper. After the 70th minute, several young players of the Forest team played more sharply and directly, and the Manchester United defense line was exhausted. Walker, Pierce and Clough of the Forest team played very well and launched a wave of offensive against the Red Devils. After the Manchester United team struggled for more than an hour, the defense was torn apart and finally lost 0-1.

This game left Ferguson with a deep impression of the performance of a new player from the Forest team. This young man was aggressive and active in the midfield, with endless energy to run.

He is Roy Keane, the new player that Forest has just trained.

On October 10, the Red Devils flew across the English Channel to play their second game in the first knockout round of the European Cup Winners' Cup away to challenge Pequeña Mencas.

There was not much suspense in this game. Peques Mencas was not strong and had no chance to turn the tables even at home. They played more actively than in the previous game with the cheers of the home fans, but many attacks did not have the opportunity to develop into Manchester United's penalty area. Most passes were ineffective transfers outside the penalty area or repeated passes back and forth in the midfield.

Manchester United continued to rotate the lineup, and at the beginning of the game, they focused on stabilizing the midfield and wasting time with the opponent. After withstanding several "scratch-the-itch" attacks from the opponent, Ferguson waved the flag and the Red Devils launched a fierce offensive. In the 36th minute, Manchester United made a cross from the left, and there was chaos in the penalty area with Perks Mencas. McClair got in front of the goal, but his shot was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper. Then Manchester United continued to organize an attack outside the penalty area. Hughes passed the ball to Robins, and the Manchester United youngster made a cross from the bottom of the goal. Hughes took advantage of the chaos and shot in front of the goal, 1-0.

Manchester United extended the score in both rounds to 3-0, and the game ended without any suspense.

Manchester United advance to the next round of the European winners.

Then came the second match of the second round of the League Cup. The Red Devils sent out a full rotation lineup at home. As a result, the Red Devils, mainly composed of young people, were full of vigor and vitality, defeating Halifax 2-1 and successfully advancing to the third round.