The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 166 Elimination of White Rose

"Ferguson's team had reached the League Cup final, where they defeated their Rose Derby rivals. But the game almost drained the Red Devils' energy, and the victory cost them a huge price."

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On February 1991, 2, the Red Devils played away against Leeds United in the second leg of the League Cup semi-final.

With a 2-1 advantage in the first round, Ferguson was confident about this match. Ferguson also knew that Leeds United was his team's mortal enemy and that they would inevitably face a tougher opponent in the away game. After all, the gap in the first game was not big, and the White Rose Army was still full of fighting spirit, hoping to make a full effort to turn defeat into victory.

Before the game, the media exaggerated this match as the "War of the Roses" in the League Cup. On one side was Leeds United, which had just been promoted to the First Division, was on an upward track and full of vigor. On the other side was Manchester United, the FA Cup champion. The two teams have always had a deep hatred in history, and the fans' emotional confrontation was very intense. It is obvious that this confrontation will be a life-and-death war.

The media also did not forget to hype up the feud between Strachan and Ferguson. The two were excellent figures in Scottish football. They had previously worked together to create glory in Aberdeen, but after reuniting at Manchester United, they had constant conflicts, which eventually intensified to the point that Strachan was driven away by Ferguson to Leeds United. This is the second time the two have met, but they have become strong opponents.

Ferguson and his coaching staff did a careful study, made a pre-match tactical deployment for this opponent, and sent out a very special starting lineup. As soon as the media got the starting list, they began to study it, and almost everyone thought it was very strange. Ferguson's starting lineup had Healy as the goalkeeper, Donaghy, Blackmore, and Pallister as the three defenders; Webber, Phelan, Robson, Ince and young player Lee Sharp as the five midfielders; and McClair and Hughes as the two forwards. This 352 formation surprised the media, because Bruce's absence due to injury was already worrying, and now Irwin was even more confusing. Not only that, this Manchester United starting lineup was a three-back formation. Would they play such a special formation? What kind of tactics should be played with such a position?

Facts have proved that the media and fans were all in a false alarm. In actual combat, the Red Devils still played with four defenders. Ferguson first let Lee Sharpe play as a left back. The formation was still a clear four-back formation. McClair in the frontcourt would often retreat to help the midfield defense.

Lee Sharpe was obviously not very good at playing as a full-back. As a midfielder trained as a winger, he was still too unfamiliar with the position of defender, and his defensive skills and awareness of supporting and assisting defense were also very poor. In view of this, Ferguson later asked Webber to play as a full-back instead, and in the second half, he also replaced Lee Martin who had returned from injury.

Ferguson tried three players in a row in one game for one position. On the one hand, it can be seen that Ferguson's lineup is still thin, and on the other hand, he is really confident that he dares to keep trying new players in such an important game.

The opponent Leeds United sent out their full lineup and attacked with all their strength at the beginning, hoping to score an early goal to equalize the total score and then seek the final victory. Leeds United's idea was good, and they did launch a fierce attack, but they did not let the Red Devils reveal any flaws. Ferguson's team was well prepared for this.

Ferguson's strategy is to use the depth of the midfield and the personal abilities of excellent players to patiently confront and strangle the opponent in the midfield area. When appropriate, he can also retreat and shrink the defense step by step to defuse the opponent's arrogance. Ferguson's team now has the lead in the first game and does not need to fight in this game. Even if Ferguson wants to win this game, he also knows that he does not need to compete with the opponent for a short time. He only needs to stabilize the midfield and protect the defense line to be able to do everything without worrying.

Although Ferguson only sent out three regular defenders, Lee Sharpe would return to the full-back position at the beginning of the game, so his four-man defense line was not short of people. Not only that, he also asked Phelan and Webber to strengthen the interception and sweeping of the midfield, and did not allow the two midfielders to press too much into the opponent's half to attack after stealing the ball. Even McClair was asked to retreat again and again, and at one point he returned to the front of the penalty area to help defend.

In the first 30 minutes of the game, Manchester United unsurprisingly gave up the initiative and the frontcourt, focusing on dealing with the opponent in the midfield and backcourt.

The Red Devils' tactics made Leeds United very helpless. They passed the ball around the Red Devils' defense zone, but they couldn't kick the ball into the Red Devils' penalty area, let alone create any good shooting opportunities. In most cases, they could only rely on crosses and long shots to try their luck. In the first 30 minutes, Leeds United only had 2 shots and 5 crosses, but none of them hit the target. In the 33rd minute, Leeds United launched an attack on the left. After being intercepted by Manchester United's midfielder, they grabbed the ball in the melee and immediately moved to the right. Lee Sharp started early to prepare for a counterattack, but he leaked the gap in his own defense area. Leeds United quickly advanced on the right, quickly killed to the bottom line of Manchester United, and cut into the penalty area. Manchester United's central defender Donaghy stepped forward to block, and Leeds United passed a reverse triangle cross. The striker Chapman who inserted later almost succeeded in volleying. Fortunately, Bruce, the core of Manchester United's defense, squeezed him with his body, disrupting his balance and making his shot miss.

In the 37th minute, Leeds United advanced in the middle and after several passes, they came to the top of the penalty area. Manchester United's old player Strachan dribbled the ball to the left corner of the penalty area. He wanted to get past Webber but failed. After a transition with his teammates, Strachan got the ball again. He then shot hard and made a wonderful long shot. This long shot went straight to the dead corner of Manchester United's goal, but because the distance was too far, the Manchester United goalkeeper accurately judged it and Healy jumped up to save the ball.

The two sides were tied in the first half. In the second half, Leeds United continued to attack, while Manchester United patiently fought with the White Army. Leeds United players were impatient after failing to attack for a long time, and the defense line gradually pressed forward, leaving a large space in their backcourt. The Red Devils team found an opportunity to launch a counterattack after 72 minutes. Webber intercepted the opponent's pass in the back position of the midfield and immediately launched a counterattack. He passed the ball to his teammates, and then ran to the gap and received the ball from his teammates. At this time, most of the Leeds United team were not in the correct defensive position, and the goal was wide open. Webber easily advanced to the left position of the frontcourt and passed the ball to Lee Sharp who had already started on the wing. Manchester United quickly dribbled the ball to the frontcourt, accelerated all the way to pass many Leeds United players who could not catch up, easily broke through the barrier alone, and calmly shot the ball into the lower right corner in front of the goalkeeper who came out to meet him.

Manchester United leads Leeds United 1-0.

After this blow, Leeds United's morale could no longer be maintained, and they were ultimately unable to launch another attack. The game ended with the Red Devils winning 1-0.

The Red Devils eliminated Leeds United 3-1 in two rounds and reached the League Cup final.

The championship is in sight!

Ferguson's team seemed to be assisted by God in the League Cup journey. They eliminated Liverpool at the beginning, then defeated Arsenal by a landslide, and eliminated Leeds United again in the semi-finals without any suspense. It can be said that they withstood the test of several super giants and derby rivals, and the call for winning the championship suddenly rose.

The other semi-final was a big upset. Sheffield Wednesday, which had been relegated from the English League One, unexpectedly performed well and defeated their opponents unexpectedly, reaching the final in one fell swoop.

Manchester United vs. Sheffield Wednesday, the media's attention is rapidly increasing because Sheffield Wednesday's coach is Atkinson, who was the Red Devils coach before Ferguson!

Is Ferguson better than Atkinson? This is the best chance.

Although many media are still arguing, the bookmakers have predicted in advance that the Red Devils will win the League Cup final. The handicap they set is so outrageous that they are simply tempting fans to bet on Atkinson's upset.

The League Cup final is still a long time away, and what Manchester United now needs to deal with is the difficulty of playing consecutive games.

One day after eliminating Leeds United, the Red Devils will go to Bramall Lane to challenge Sheffield United in the 25th round of the league.

The media reporters were stunned by the Red Devils' schedule, because the Red Devils' last game against Leeds United was on February 2, and this league match was scheduled on February 24, just one day apart. Two high-intensity games within three days, and what's even more terrifying is that both of them are away games for the Red Devils.

Ferguson had called for a change in the match date before the match against Leeds United, but the FA was arrogant and rejected the Red Devils' request. Ferguson said in an interview with reporters, "I won't speculate whether some people have bad intentions, but this inhumane schedule is obviously unacceptable. I don't know if some people are stupid, but it is obviously illogical. After we made a formal negotiation, the FA officials said that this was a pre-arranged match schedule and it cannot be changed now. I want to ask, did they know in advance that we would beat Liverpool and Arsenal? Did they know in advance that we could reach the semi-finals and finals?"

"Isn't this ridiculous?"

After this interview, the English Football Association announced an internal review of the people who arranged the schedule. In the end, they did not change the schedule, but only imposed internal penalties on the person who arranged the schedule and the person who responded to Ferguson.

Faced with this inhumane arrangement, the Red Devils could only muster up their spirits and fight back.

Ferguson did not want to take any risks, so he rotated the goalkeeper, central defender, midfielder and forward, and put a lot of substitutes on the field. In the end, Manchester United's second-tier team, which had to be temporarily formed, lost to the opponent in the game, 1-2.

The media were also very dissatisfied with the fact that the team could not field the strongest lineup in the crucial league.

Taylor, a reporter from the Manchester Evening News, said: "When the schedule is so dense that there is no time to breathe, when the physical strength exceeds the limit and is over-consumed, the Red Devils will fall into a sudden predicament. This is not because they are not good enough, but the English Football Association is committing a crime."

Three days later, on March 3, the Red Devils faced Everton in the 2th round of the league.

Although it was a home game, Ferguson continued to rotate players, even sending his son Darren Ferguson to the field. Core players Bruce, Robson, Phelan, Webber, and Hughes continued to rest because they had reached their limits. With such a large rotation, the Red Devils were greatly weakened, completely lost the initiative on the field, and finally lost to the opponent 0-2.

Manchester United lost two games in a row, Ferguson's face was livid, and he didn't want to comment on the schedule anymore. Everyone could see the damage Manchester United suffered, and the media had to become dumb because these two consecutive defeats were entirely due to the FA's schedule arrangement.

Fans across the English football world expressed sympathy for the Red Devils, but this sympathy was the least valuable.

For Ferguson and the Red Devils fans, the only bright spot in the loss to Everton was the appearance of Giggs. This prestigious youth training gem, the young player who has always been regarded as a treasure by Ferguson, the 17-year-old Welsh winger came on as a substitute in the second half and made his first official appearance in the league.

There was another youth player who came on the bench in the same game, the slightly older Billsmore.

Ferguson was constrained by the fatigue of the main players and had to make adjustments to the starting lineup and the starting lineup, which was understandable. He dared to send Darren Ferguson, Lee Martin, Lee Sharpe, Blackmore and other youth training players to start in a row under difficult circumstances, and let Giggs and Billsmore, who were directly trained by the youth training system, come on as substitutes, which still won warm applause from the fans.

Ferguson's courage to rely on and trust youth players in difficult times, and his courage to give young people opportunities to perform, is also the basis for his continued success in youth training.