The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 165 FA Cup Failure

"Records will definitely be broken, and losses are bound to happen. We just don't know when they will happen, and we don't know how to prepare for them."

--Inscription

After the League Cup came the FA Cup, and the Red Devils faced Norwich in the fifth round of the FA Cup on February 1991, 2.

Before the game, Manchester United players were warned by Ferguson, "We may lose at any time, because once a record is boasted, it is not far from being broken."

"The whole team must work hard to improve our condition and implement our tactics effectively. Norwich is not an easy team to play against. They are more hungry for victory than us, so we must be vigilant."

Before this game, the entire Manchester United team had actually rested for 7 days, and the team returned to the normal game interval. But for the Red Devils players who have been highly nervous and tense, this is not necessarily a good thing.

Ferguson still took the game very seriously. He made some adjustments in the starting lineup, but almost all the main players played. Phelan and Webber were not in the starting lineup, but the old captain Robson was in the midfield, and there were three main players, Ince, Lee Sharp and Blackmore. Bruce and Pallister played as central defenders, Irwin and Lee Martin played as full-backs, and McClair and Hughes were still forwards.

This conventional 442 formation was not very popular after the start of the game. Manchester United continued to take the initiative after the opening, but Robson's speed was relatively slow, and Norwich quickly discovered this. Because Ince was partnered with Robson, he needed to be more involved in the offense in this game, but he forgot the coach's instructions to assist the captain in retreating to defend. He was still too aggressive in the game, often advancing to the opponent's penalty area and not being able to return. And Lee Sharp seemed to have used up his luck against Arsenal. He failed to succeed in several attempts to dribble past the opponent in this game. The shot into the penalty area was not only reckless, but also too impatient and a bit self-righteous. Another midfielder, Blackmore, was also strong in attack but weak in defense. In this game, he continuously attacked the opponent on the wing, but the last pass was always a little lacking.

Norwich has had many highlights in the past few seasons. They have continued to improve under the leadership of head coach Dames. From being a newly promoted team a few seasons ago, to once leading the league standings, to challenging for the cup championship... their rising momentum is really visible to the naked eye. In this game, they faced the Red Devils who were unbeaten in 16 games, and they were not timid at all. Instead, they formulated a strategy of patiently competing with Manchester United in the midfield and waiting for opportunities to sneak attack through set pieces and corner kicks in the frontcourt. After the opening, they also played steadily and basically did not actively launch high-pressure defense in the frontcourt. They always took the initiative to retreat and defended in a very low position.

After the game started, Manchester United did not show the characteristics of the previous few games of fast play and attack. When the opponent consciously gave up the midfield area and retreated to defense, it was difficult to challenge the opponent's penalty area defense with crosses and lobs. The game fell into a stalemate after 15 minutes, and the rhythm of the game began to slow down and become dull. In the 17th minute, Lee Sharp tried to attack from the left, but he was soon tackled to the ground by the opponent's midfielder. Norwich obviously believed that even at the cost of a foul, the Manchester United youngster could not speed up directly, let alone really dribble the ball into the penalty area. In the 19th minute, Manchester United made a free kick from the left, and Bruce headed the ball at the back of the Norwich penalty area, overpowering the opponent's defender on the side. Unfortunately, this powerful shot was off the target. In the 21st minute, Norwich made a long pass from the backcourt, and Manchester United midfielder Robson turned too slowly and was rushed by the opponent's forward, and then dribbled into the penalty area. Fortunately, his shot was also off target. In the 27th minute, Norwich made a comeback and launched an attack from the left. Manchester United defender Irwin also made a tackle about 10 yards outside the penalty area, giving the opponent a free kick.

In the 28th minute, Norwich City took a free kick from the left, and the powerful cross quickly fell into the Manchester United penalty area. In the chaos, Norwich defender Stockton jumped up from the back post, found the right time to pass the ball back, and his teammate Cotton in the middle received the ball and shot directly to score, Norwich City led Manchester United 1-0!

Manchester United did not panic when they fell behind, but their subsequent attack still lacked sharpness. Not only did Robson seem slow today, the central defense often faced huge pressure, and there were many dangerous situations where the opponent rushed in. The two most critical frontcourt attackers Hughes and McClair did not seem to wake up and were in a very low state. Hughes tried to catch the ball and shoot in the penalty area in the 23rd minute, but his stop was too outrageous and turned into a clearance; McClair was also in this game. His position overlapped with Ins, and he also seemed very slow in the penalty area, and he was at a disadvantage in confrontation. In the 31st minute, Manchester United passed the ball to the penalty area. McClair, who was in an excellent position, rushed to the top of the ball, but he actually headed the ball away from 6 yards, which made all Manchester United fans exclaimed a pity.

The two forwards not only wasted opportunities in front of the goal, but also did a poor job in helping the team to strengthen the frontcourt by retreating. McClair and Ings overlapped and weakened each other, and his running back to the midfield was insufficient; while Hughes was almost invisible throughout the game, and it was almost impossible to see him retreating to grab the ball or assist in defense. Even if he had some opportunities to get the ball with his back to the goal, he was intercepted by the opponent early because of his poor condition, and he lost the possibility of developing the next offensive.

The reporters watching the game on the sidelines were puzzled. "It seems that these guys who could run to death before are now really exhausted?"

After Norwich took the lead, they were even more confident and executed the defensive counterattack tactics more thoroughly. Manchester United had few options for dealing with such a weak opponent, and it was even more difficult to deal with the team's poor form. Ins tried long shots from the top of the penalty area in the 63rd minute of the second half. His powerful shots were indeed threatening, but after he scored a goal in the 77th minute, Norwich did not dare to neglect it and blocked the area with all their strength. Four minutes before Manchester United scored, Norwich successfully counterattacked and almost scored a goal. After being cleared by Manchester United, they created a killing opportunity through a corner kick. Finally, in the 1rd minute, they used a lob to break through Manchester United's defense again, rewriting the score to 4-73.

After Ings scored, Manchester United launched multiple attacks. Lee Sharpe and Blackmore tried to deliver crosses from the wing, but unfortunately the opponent's penalty area in the middle was too crowded. Manchester United had 6 players rushing into the penalty area, while Norwich had nearly 10 players returning to the penalty area to defend, and one was also marking outside the penalty area line, so there was no space in the small penalty area. Even though Pallister received the cross with his height advantage, he had no way to exert force, and his header into the penalty area was quickly cleared out; Bruce also had a chance to compete for a header in the penalty area, but he was squeezed and couldn't adjust at all, and couldn't play the power of the sword guard.

In the 81st minute, Manchester United attacked from the left. Lee Sharpe dribbled the ball to the corner of the opponent's penalty area and passed it to Ince. Ince made a diagonal pass outside the penalty area. McClair received the pass with his back to the goal in the penalty area, but when he turned around, he was held by the opponent's close defender and was very passive. In the end, he could only shoot the ball with difficulty, but he missed the target and the shot slipped past the goal. In the 83rd minute, Manchester United made continuous crosses and launched a high-altitude bombing tactic. Unfortunately, neither Hughes nor Robson, neither Bruce nor Irwin had a good chance to score with a header.

In this way, Norwich's defense persisted until the end of the game. Manchester United, which finally showed signs of fatigue, was beaten 1-2 by the opponent and had to lose the game, and was eliminated from the FA Cup.

This match also ended the previous unbeaten record of Ferguson's team. After the match, Ferguson accepted an interview very calmly and said: "This is not surprising, records are always broken. 16 unbeaten games and 17 unbeaten games don't mean much, and this loss doesn't mean anything either. We played 90 games in less than 17 days, and this intensive schedule is a terrifying challenge for any team. My players are all very good, they brought passion and a sense of victory to the fans, which is what we value most."

The 16-game unbeaten streak came to an end, but this was no regret for Ferguson.

In fact, Ferguson is not concerned about these things. Although this is a milestone progress for him, Ferguson is more concerned about the overall strength of the team, how to control it in the face of difficulties, and how to find ways to get out of the predicament and get out of the downturn.

Ferguson was not particularly angry after the game. He calmly accepted the team's defeat. Although he had analyzed the overall strength of his team and determined that it was far superior to Norwich, accidents always happen occasionally.

Ferguson firmly believes that his efforts to rebuild the team are correct, and his current firm attitude has also been praised by some media. After reporting the gossip about Ferguson's late-night bar inspections, the Sun praised the Scotsman for turning the Red Devils into a strong team with "personal style". The Manchester Evening News said, "Ferguson has carried out a self-revolution. The team he reassembled has passed the unfamiliar stage, experienced difficult tests, and has begun to show real fighting power."

The Times has a unique perspective. They specifically analyzed the changes in Ferguson's team's playing style and believe that the Red Devils' starting lineup is now better than Atkinson's era in terms of running distance, ball possession time, number of attacks, and chances in front of the goal, and even better than the best period of his predecessor. This is the reason for the Red Devils' progress. The Times concluded: "Red Devils fans will now cheer for the team even if the team does not score. The Red Devils' players have undergone a visible change in their mental state. The players are filled with the desire to win, and their faces are full of confidence and high spirits. They play very actively and confidently. This kind of team will certainly continue to improve."

After the Red Devils lost to Norwich, the FA Cup was eliminated in the fifth round. After the game, Ferguson was asked whether the team would win a championship trophy. He replied humorously, "I can't answer you whether I can win a trophy, but now I have lost one. I can answer you now."

Ferguson said: "We are still in the most intense schedule. In theory, we may win the League Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup. You may even say that we may compete for the league championship. You reporters just want to make a big news. I can only tell you that everything is possible. You can guess it yourself."

Many media seem to think that the most accessible championship for the Red Devils is the League Cup.

The media was optimistic about the Red Devils when they defeated Liverpool and Arsenal at the beginning. After all, the teams that made it to the semi-finals were not particularly strong opponents. Ferguson eliminated the two strongest teams at the time, and he was obviously the favorite to win the championship. Now that they lost to Norwich and were eliminated from the FA Cup, many reporters started to make a fuss, thinking that Ferguson's team was likely to be empty-handed.

After the match against Norwich, the Red Devils briefly enjoyed a normal February schedule of one game per week, and then the team started a new crazy schedule. From then until the end of the season, it was normal for the Red Devils to play a game every three days, and occasionally play a game every six days. In extreme cases, there was a schedule of playing a game after only one day of rest.

For the Red Devils, who have an additional European Cup Winners' Cup competition front, not only are there more games to play, but some of them also require traveling around Europe, which is extremely hard and cruel.