The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 163: Fighting on Four Fronts

"Ferguson has always insisted on fighting on multiple fronts. He has always believed that his players can hone their will and challenge themselves in a tough environment and intensive schedule to achieve stronger goals."

--Inscription

Two days later, on January 1991, 1, it was New Year's Day. On this day, the Red Devils set out to the White Hart Lane Stadium in London to challenge Tottenham, their opponent in the 1st round of the league.

Tottenham was one of the richest "tycoons" in the entire English football world. To be honest, even the Red Devils and Arsenal were not as rich as them, and Chelsea was even worse. Not only that, the owner of Tottenham was also very generous at the time and was very willing to invest in the football club. This can be seen in the transfer market. Every summer, the most arrogant and willing to chase superstars will always be Tottenham. Although they have not won the championship in recent years, they have always been very arrogant in the transfer market, repeatedly making the Red Devils suffer. The most famous incident was that Manchester United had already negotiated the transfer of Gascoigne, but Tottenham snatched him away with a promise of high salary and generous benefits.

Tottenham Hotspur had a lot of superstars this year and was very strong. Their coach had declared before the game that they must win and "show Ferguson's Manchester United a lesson."

Ferguson had to make up for the losses in the transfer market on the field. In this game, both sides sent out their best players. Ferguson's Hughes and McClair continued to play as the two forwards, Wallace, Webber, Ince and Blackmore were in the midfield, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister and Donaghy were the four defenders, and Healy was guarding the goal. Tactically, the traditional 442 position was used to seize the initiative in the midfield and take the initiative to attack.

Tottenham Hotspur attacked aggressively at the beginning of this home game. They also used a 442 formation. Gascoigne was sent to the attacking midfielder position. Ferguson arranged Webber to mark him and asked McClair to coordinate. After the game started, Tottenham Hotspur pressed forward as a whole, hoping to disrupt the Red Devils' formation through high-intensity pressing and blocking, and then quickly launch an on-the-spot attack to destroy Manchester United's defense in one fell swoop. The Red Devils have dealt with this tactic many times, so they were not in a hurry or at a loss.

In the first 15 minutes of the game, both sides fought fiercely in the midfield area, and then immediately launched attacks after stealing the ball. There were many exchanges of offense and defense, and the rhythm was fast. The scene was also very exciting. Tottenham was very active at White Hart Lane, and the fans' cheers made them even better. However, Ferguson's team is much stronger now. They are also very experienced in dealing with opponents here, and they took advantage of Tottenham's impatience to launch several threatening counterattacks, and kept the front line stable in the midfield area.

Gascoigne was not in good form in this game. He was closely watched by Webber and did not pose any threat on the offensive end. He also seemed lazy on defense and did not actively participate in defense like other players. Not only that, Tottenham's offensive line quickly lost touch with the midfield and backcourt, and problems gradually emerged in the midfield competition.

Manchester United's battle formation has been kept very tight, and they have seized the initiative step by step. In the 23rd minute, Hughes was pressed by the defender in the opponent's penalty area and turned to pass the ball to McClair. This diagonal pass gave the Scottish striker a very good opportunity. McClair quickly got into position and shot directly, but unfortunately he kicked it too straight and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper; in the 27th minute, Tottenham made a cross from the right, but the landing point was not their striker's position, and Manchester United goalkeeper Healy easily got it; in the 33rd minute, Manchester United launched a continuous offensive. Blackmore dribbled into the penalty area from the left and then made a reverse triangle cross. Hughes was blocked by the opponent's defender when he rushed to shoot; in the 34th minute, Manchester United made a cross from a corner kick, and Tottenham's penalty area was in chaos. Pallister rushed to compete for the header, but he did not control the direction well, and finally hit the opponent's defender and went out of the baseline; in the 36th minute, Manchester United continued to take a corner kick. This time, Ince and Hughes, two Manchester United players, competed with the opponent in the penalty area. They were only a penny away from successfully heading the ball, but unfortunately they were kicked out of the danger zone by the opponent.

Manchester United's attack became more and more fierce, getting closer and closer to scoring. In the 38th minute, Manchester United took another corner kick. This time, the corner kick taken by Irwin flew into the penalty area with a fierce rotation. Manchester United's tall central defender Bruce raised his head high at the penalty spot, headed the ball, and hit the ball into the lower left corner of the opponent's goal.

Manchester United leads 1-0!

The goal scored by Red Devils center back Bruce was a perfect performance of a center forward. The media even started to joke, "Ferguson should consider bringing in another center back and put Bruce in front as a striker. This guy's heading skills are so good that the Red Devils' corner kicks and free kicks will be extremely threatening."

In the second half, Manchester United continued their effective strategy and increased midfield control to keep the initiative. Spurs became more and more impatient after falling behind and began to frequently make long passes. This traditional simple tactic is very challenging for the accuracy of the players' passes, but today Spurs players lacked a lot in this aspect, and most of the long passes were not threatening.

After resisting the opponent's offensive, Manchester United also began to launch a fierce and fast counterattack. Ferguson asked the midfielders to retreat slightly, giving up the midfield area, and asked McClair and Hughes to return to the midfield to defend, while Blackmore and Robins waited for the opportunity to move. After 20 minutes of fighting in the second half, Manchester United had gained a double advantage in physical strength and willpower, and the whole team played more confidently and well. In the 67th minute, Manchester United intercepted the ball in the penalty area. Irwin received a long pass from the opponent, controlled the ball and quickly passed it to Ings. Ings connected the ball outside the top of the penalty area and immediately passed it to Robins who started on the wing. Robins dribbled the ball and rushed straight into the opponent's penalty area. Tottenham's formation was very loose. When Robins crossed the midline, they had not chased back in time, and a pair of central defenders were still in the midfield area. Robson's speed was getting faster and faster. He killed all the way to the edge of Tottenham's penalty area before being blocked, but the Manchester United winger who had already started to speed up passed the opponent with a simple change of direction and continued to move forward. Robbins kept going into the opponent's penalty area and when he was blocked by the opponent's central defender, he made a clever cross. Hughes received the ball in the middle and broke the opponent's goal with a clever shot.

Manchester United extended the lead to 2-0 and basically secured the victory.

In the end, Tottenham had no power to counterattack, and the Red Devils won 2-0 away from home.

After the game, the Daily Mail praised the Red Devils, saying, "Ferguson adopted a very effective strategy. Tottenham was like a naive novice, with only the urge to make noise in front of the experienced Manchester United. They were no match for Manchester United at all."

Sky Sports said: "Manchester United played very actively and controlled the situation very easily. This game was a complete victory. Ferguson is very strong and his tactics completely restrained the opponent."

The Sun broke the news after the game: "Gascoigne stayed in a private club for a long time the night before the game, and left around 2 a.m. It is said that a grand banquet was held there, and there was a very luxurious party after the banquet. Gascoigne was photographed hugging and cuddling with two blonde beauties, behaving intimately."

In order to prove the authenticity of this explosive news, The Sun not only released photos of the party, photos of players drinking with beautiful women, but also released a photo of Gascoigne being drunk and being helped into a car.

Webber, who was responsible for marking Gascoigne at Manchester United, was immediately asked by the media after the second day of training, "When you were guarding Gazza closely, did you smell alcohol or powder on him?"

Weber maintained his professional ethics and said nothing.

Tottenham's troubles have nothing to do with Ferguson. What makes him happy is that the Red Devils continue to break their unbeaten record and their ability to end the game has been further improved.

Outside of the league, the Red Devils made their debut in the third round of the FA Cup. They eventually played with a mixed lineup and beat Queens Park Rangers 2-1 at home, successfully advancing.

After the FA Cup, the Red Devils faced Sunderland in the 22nd round of the league.

The Red Devils, who were at home, played in a traditional 442 formation. Robson and Ince guarded the middle together, Bruce and Pallister were the twin towers on the defensive line, Irwin and Blackmore became left and right full-backs, Wallace and Webber played, and Hughes and McClair were still the forwards. In this game, Ferguson's team still played steadily and did not seek to break the opponent with a fierce attack at the beginning. The Red Devils played smoothly. Wallace played well. His passing on the wing was very sharp. He messed up the opponent's defense alone. Robson easily held the position, Ince also got a lot of attack time, and Webber and Blackmore's powerful long-range shots also began to show their power. After Manchester United controlled the initiative in the midfield, the central attack first tore through the opponent's defense. In the 23rd minute, Wallace's breakthrough caused the opponent's central defender to sprain himself. Then in the 26th minute, Manchester United passed the ball continuously in the opponent's penalty area to create a chance to kill. Hughes easily pushed the ball into the goal from 3 yards outside the small penalty area. In the 32nd minute, Manchester United got a free kick in the frontcourt. Irwin's arcing ball went straight to the dead corner, but unfortunately it flew out of the upper corner of the goal frame. In the 37th minute, Hughes received a straight pass from Ince at the edge of the penalty area and then turned to face the opponent's goal. In this game, he was very comfortable in the opponent's penalty area and had the upper hand in many fights with the opponent's central defender. This time, he made continuous feints in front of the goal, shook off the opponent's defender and shot into the lower right corner of the goal, and Manchester United led 1-0.

After opening the game, Manchester United played more smoothly. Both forwards scored goals, Hughes scored twice, and McClair scored one goal. Ferguson's team finally won easily 3-0.

Manchester United once again set a new record for winning streak!

The FA Cup, the League, and the League Cup were played alternately. The Red Devils faced Southampton in the fifth round of the League Cup. At the opponent's home ground, the Dell Stadium, the opponent's striker Le Tissier was too brave. He disrupted the Red Devils' defense and Ferguson had to let Irwin come on as a substitute to strengthen the defense. Even so, the Red Devils could not prevent the opponent's goal. Fortunately, their own striker was also powerful and helped the team to draw 1-1 with the opponent.

Then in the 23rd round of the league, the Red Devils challenged Queens Park Rangers away.

Manchester United played with all their main players in this match, but it was not as easy as the last FA Cup match. Queens Park Rangers' strength has not become stronger, and their playing style and lineup have not changed much. Naturally, the two teams quickly fell into a disadvantage when they met. Queens Park Rangers continued to defend passively, but Manchester United's forwards kept wasting opportunities. In the 17th minute, Hughes missed the empty goal, and in the 19th minute, Ings's unguarded shot in the penalty area line was also missed... After missing the chance to score in succession, Manchester United fell into a tough battle. Finally, after a difficult attempt, the Red Devils midfielder Phelan started at the corner of the penalty area, dribbled into the opponent's hinterland, and then shot directly into the goal, helping the team lead 1-0. Phelan, who scored a goal, can be regarded as starting his goal account, and his outstanding performance also made other attackers ashamed. Manchester United continued to attack fiercely, thinking of expanding the score, but the opponent's defense was very stable and did not give Manchester United's forwards too much face. Manchester United's defense was stretched too thin during their rapid attack, and their opponents, Queens Park Rangers, launched a quick counterattack in the 65th minute of the second half. A long pass directly broke through Manchester United's defense and they finally scored easily in front of the goal.

1 to 1 - the two sides tied.

After this game, the Red Devils continued to stay at the top of the standings. After several consecutive unbeaten games, Ferguson's team was finally able to shake off the slump and received praise from the media for its outstanding performance.

The hard work of fighting on four fronts must have had a huge effect. After a series of fierce battles, the Red Devils became a strong team that can fight hard battles and defeat strong enemies. The team's performance surprised all the Red Devils fans.

The disadvantages or hidden dangers are also obvious. Ferguson's current team has a thin lineup and the main players are frequently injured. Participating in too many games will obviously seriously weaken the team's combat effectiveness and cannot maintain sufficient competitiveness in the league.