The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 159 Group Fight

"You're welcome to play football, and you're welcome to fight!"

--Ferguson

On October 1990, 10, the Red Devils were about to play a crucial match of the season. Ferguson's team welcomed Arsenal, their opponent in the 20th round of the league, at home.

This is a focus battle, not only involving the previous grievances between the two teams, but also the hatred between the two teams in recent times. Even if it is not as good as the Red Devils and Liverpool's double red meeting, it is also a battle between famous coaches and a competition between two powerful teams.

The conflict between Manchester United and Arsenal is now a hot topic in the media, and the comparison between Ferguson and Graham is the most popular focus of the media. Although the two have a very good personal relationship, Ferguson still often contacts Graham after coaching Manchester United. The two often meet and chat, have a drink together, and exchange ideas on various topics. Both of them are from Scotland, and the same background also gives them a lot of common topics.

Ferguson had long been chasing Graham, especially when Arsenal overturned Liverpool and took away the league title Liverpool was determined to win, which made Ferguson envious. Ferguson believed that Graham had a lot to learn from in terms of competition and team building, and Ferguson was deeply impressed by his familiarity with English football. Because Graham achieved glory as a player in Arsenal, and at the same time led the team to win the league championship, making himself a legendary meritorious player of the club, which was Ferguson's own goal in the Red Devils. At that time, Graham's attitude towards Ferguson was also very kind, and he also hoped that Ferguson could gain a foothold in England. When Ferguson was negotiating a contract extension with the Red Devils, Graham even revealed his salary slip and contract content directly to Ferguson so that he could negotiate a suitable price with the Red Devils management.

Graham specifically reminded Ferguson, "Don't be fooled by that cunning guy Edwards. He will definitely lower your salary. I know him too well. He is a notorious miser."

Ferguson later said: "Graham was very good to me and took good care of me in life. I also respected him very much. He created glory at Arsenal, brought championships to the fans, and won the love and support of the fans. For me, he is a very strong coach and my good friend. For a period of time, he was still my goal and the person I wanted to surpass in work."

The media is certainly interested in these anecdotes, but they are more interested in exposing the contradictions between the two. They focus on the drama of Ferguson being criticized by Graham and Ferguson lashing out at his opponent. In the past few seasons, the two teams have played against each other many times, and the conflicts and contradictions are constantly exposed by the media.

In this way, Graham vs. Ferguson, Red Devils vs. Arsenal, was hyped by the media and became an increasingly hot topic.

Graham failed to lead Arsenal to defend the title last season, while the Red Devils won the FA Cup last season. With the ups and downs, the relationship between Graham and Ferguson became more subtle.

The media is also looking forward to the clash of styles between the two teams. Arsenal's temperament has changed greatly since Graham took over. Its style has become tougher and tougher. It is a strong team that mainly plays long passes and has been nicknamed "the professional lumberjack team" in England. This tactic is very restraining for some teams that pay attention to footwork. Liverpool has also suffered a lot. Even teams like Wimbledon and West Ham United, which are also very brutal, often fail in front of the Arsenal.

Ferguson also found that Graham's success had some experience that could be replicated during his coaching career. He also agreed that players should be encouraged to be confident and domineering, to dare to hurt opponents, and to take the initiative to fight fouls. Especially after the Red Devils suffered a lot in front of the Wimbledon team, Ferguson found that Arsenal's experience was the most effective and direct.

For this match, Ferguson's Red Devils played in a 442 formation, and made a big adjustment to the starting lineup, which was to replace Robins with Lee Sharpe as the left winger, and no longer take risks and be aggressive like against Liverpool. Arsenal played in their familiar 442 formation, which was a head-on confrontation with the Red Devils. The match was hot from the beginning, the confrontation between the two sides was very fierce, and the referee's whistle kept blowing. But the referee would only stop the game, but would not forcefully control the fouls of both sides, and he was not too brave to take out a card to warn. The weakness of the referee destined that the whistle would be useless for the fouls that kept coming one after another, and only cut the game into pieces. The referee did not dare to call the captains of both sides to reprimand, nor did he dare to issue a card in time for the foul, let alone show a red card and expel the troublesome players. After the game, it was considered the core reason why the game was getting more and more out of control.

The game started with a flying tackle by an Arsenal player, and the Red Devils' tit-for-tat made the game a brutal melee. Both teams knew the characteristics of their opponents and were familiar with their own tactics. They fought fiercely in the midfield. As the game progressed, the players of both teams became more and more violent, rough and brutal, and the fouls began to escalate. In the fierce fight, Arsenal took advantage of the game with their strong physical strength, but the Red Devils' defense was also very tight and strong, and did not give the opponent any chance.

The game soon developed into a more intense confrontation. Fouls were seen almost everywhere, and they became more and more violent. Flying tackles, elbows, shoves, and spitting were commonplace, and they never stopped from the beginning. Winterburn first flew a flying tackle on McClair, but McClair dodged it and hurled a bunch of dirty words at him. McClair was certainly not a pushover, and every time he waited for Winterburn to get the ball, he would also fly a flying tackle, regardless of whether it would buy someone's life. Flying tackle against flying tackle, elbow against elbow, the two's actions were very outrageous, and immediately affected their teammates.

The situation was getting more and more out of control. McClair of the Red Devils and Adams of Arsenal even started spitting at each other face to face. If their teammates hadn't rushed over to separate them, they might have started fighting the next second. Winterburn of Arsenal was so angry that he would commit rough fouls on any Red Devils player in front of him, using stomping, scissor kicks...all kinds of brutal actions.

The final out-of-control of the incident was not caused by Winterburn or McClair, although their actions would have been enough to get a red card if handled in a normal game. The fuse was burned between two other people. Arsenal's Limpal suddenly lost control and shoveled into the Red Devils' Irwin. This extremely ugly foul was like a spark thrown into a boiling oil pan, which triggered the subsequent group fight.

Arsenal's Limpal couldn't hold back his anger, and he was pushed to the ground when he was fighting for a 50-50 ball with Irwin. The referee had just blown the whistle, and before he had time to take out the yellow card, he quickly got up and knocked Irwin down with a flying tackle.

Erwin looked gentle and reserved, but that was only his appearance. He was actually very cold and hard. He was attacked without any reason, so he naturally fought back without hesitation. The two of them started fighting.

McClair certainly would not let his teammates suffer, so he came over to help hold Limpal aside, letting him take two punches and kicks from Irvine, and then he and Irvine joined forces to kick Winterburn, who had rushed over, to the ground.

The Arsenal player was knocked down, and of course the other players on their team rushed up to help. The Red Devils players also rushed up, and a big fight broke out.

Almost all the players from both sides joined in the fight and shoving, and the fight that broke out instantly was fierce and brutal. Some people tried to stop the fight, but more people were fighting for the sake of it, and everyone who started the fight just jumped up and beat the other person hard. Paul Ince, a famous tough player in the Red Devils, sent Limpal to the advertising board on the sidelines, and then turned around and punched Winterburn to the ground. Blackmore was short in stature, but he was strong in his feet, but he was also knocked to the ground by Adams; McClair used the invincible throat grab when pushing and shoving with his opponent, of course he was kicked several times by his opponent and was seriously injured. Arsenal's players were tall and strong, and they showed no weakness in the fight. The young and energetic Adams grabbed the two Red Devils players and kicked each of them, and then he and Bruce tore into a ball; Smith rushed to help, but was pulled away by Pallister, and the two also fought into a ball.

The melee became larger and larger, involving all the players on both sides, as well as the substitutes and staff. On the bench, on the grass, and even in the goal, there were people fighting everywhere. The large-scale fight was spectacular. Curses, screams, punches and kicks were heard one after another; shooting star punches, shadowless kicks, and slaps were used one after another. The fans watching on the sidelines also became restless and began to try to rush in to fight. The police and stadium managers quickly intervened to control the situation from getting worse.

Where was the referee? He didn't even blow the whistle or show a card, he just stood there and watched.

Ferguson and Graham were relatively calm. As soon as they saw the situation getting out of control, they intervened immediately. The coach's authority was unquestionable, and the players on both sides quickly "obediently" stopped fighting. More and more police and security personnel came, and they separated the two sides, controlled the few guys who wanted to fight, and finally stopped the fight.

Almost all 22 players from both teams participated in the fight, except for Arsenal goalkeeper Seaman, who was too far away and watched from the sidelines. Manchester United's Schmeichel also showed his opponent the Danish knight's style. Many players from both teams' benches also participated, including Arsenal's assistant coach and some Manchester United staff. In the fight, several players from both sides were injured, and the team doctor immediately bandaged and stopped the bleeding on the spot. In the end, 11 players were sent to the hospital for treatment after the game.

This was undoubtedly the most violent group fight in the history of the two teams, and also a rare fight in England in the past 10 years.

The game resumed after a long time, and Arsenal player Andre Slipper scored the only goal of the game, eventually defeating the Red Devils 1-0.

Arsenal manager Graham was angry and proud. He said, "Arsenal players performed very well, both in football and other aspects. The game was very difficult and the opponent committed a lot of fouls, but we still won."

Ferguson laughed in anger. "It's a shame for Arsenal that the game turned out like this. I don't know what Arsenal should be happy and proud of. We have to see that their players committed malicious fouls and took the initiative to provoke trouble. We had already started to take over the game, but the opponent's conspiracy and bad behavior prevented us from winning."

The incident shocked the English football world. The FA's punishment came out soon. Arsenal was fined 5 pounds and deducted 2 league points. Graham and three Arsenal players were fined 1 pounds and 5000 pounds respectively. The Red Devils were fined 5 pounds, deducted 1 point from the league points, and three players were also fined. The referee involved was also suspended directly because he could not properly control the situation.

Ferguson later said, "We didn't lose. The score loss was nothing. Two opponents should have received red cards in the first 30 minutes of the game. They should have had two more sent off in the subsequent games. Limpal, who caused the conflict, should have been suspended for 2 games. We have always been dominant in the game and created more opportunities."

"I condemn all unprovoked beatings. But I want to remind you that no one can come here to provoke, no one can run wild at the Theatre of Dreams, we will teach every idiot a lesson." Ferguson stressed: "Some guys ask for the embarrassing ending. We are never afraid of fighting, we must win the fight, there is no doubt about that."

The Manchester Evening News also stood on Manchester United's side this time. "The most fundamental reason, or the most direct origin of this group fight, is Arsenal's playing style. This is not the characteristic of our English football. Bravery and strength are what we pursue, while barbarity and viciousness are what we despise."