The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 179 Dance of the Single Wing

"Ferguson's impressive wing attacking tactics began to shine in this season. With the appearance and brilliance of Sharp and Giggs, the roar of the engine from the wing was heard throughout the British Isles."

--Inscription

The Red Devils won the European Cup Winners' Cup, and Ferguson's public opinion environment improved greatly. He won praise from fans and recognition from the media.

Since he came to the Red Devils, Ferguson has experienced changes in the club's support. From the beginning, the team almost recruited players according to his ideas, and the key positions of the team were updated. The 89-90 season was a very critical node. At that time, the Red Devils board of directors spent a lot of money on buying players, but Ferguson's performance was obviously very poor. Apart from winning the FA Cup by chance, the league results were very bad. Before the start of the 90-91 season, the Red Devils board of directors was busy preparing for the listing, and the transfer budget was greatly overdrawn in the previous season, and no longer gave Ferguson enough transfer fee quota.

It is not an FA Cup that can save the Scots, or allow the board to continue to invest indefinitely. Before the start of this season, Ferguson only got Irwin as a signing, and the board's intentions were self-evident.

This team that won the Cup Winners' Cup is the closest to a mature team since Ferguson rebuilt the Red Devils. From McClair to Irwin, almost all the main players he brought in are still playing in the first team, and Robson, whom he relied on and trusted, is still the captain of the team. Under Ferguson's central axis thinking, his team has a very strong central axis, and it can even be strengthened to the point that every position in the central axis except the goalkeeper is a two-man team: Pallister and Bruce, Robson and Ince, Hughes and McClair. In addition to this fully upgraded central axis, Ferguson's thinking is to optimize and strengthen the wing.

Ferguson has been in English football for more than three seasons. He has learned the ins and outs of the English League One, what kind of lineup is needed to challenge the league championship, and the need to balance injuries and various unexpected factors. As Ferguson's understanding of the English league deepened, he began to build a more offensive team and a tactical system that emphasized offense.

Among the tactical ideas that Ferguson has been exploring and researching, wing attack is an important part that he is very good at and has always insisted on. Considering that the English football environment focuses more on physical confrontation, which requires higher strength and physical strength, if the Red Devils want to achieve higher goals and compete for the league championship, they must develop an effective offensive method that is different from other teams' high-altitude bombing and long-distance and short-distance lobs on the basis of a solid defense. After comprehensive consideration, Ferguson decided to create a fast and flexible wing attack for the Red Devils.

Ferguson spent a lot of time studying the offensive styles of the Dutch national team and Eredivisie teams, and also studied and understood Soviet football, especially the offensive tactics of Dynamo Kyiv and the Soviet national team under the command of the famous coach Lobanovsky. He also studied and learned from the strong teams in Serie A and Bundesliga that were excellent in wing attack tactics, and combined with his own practice in Scottish football, he carefully studied and explored how to play wing attack tactics well for the Red Devils.

Ferguson knew very well that the European giants relied on the strong personal ability of the striker and the comprehensive ability of the offensive organizer in the middle of the midfield to play various tactics in the offense, which was not suitable for the Red Devils. Robson and Ince were not the kind of offensive conductors who could dribble and create opportunities directly through passing. Hughes and McClair were not strikers with outstanding personal breakthrough skills. Therefore, it was difficult for the Red Devils to play the tactics of breaking through the middle and cooperating with multiple players to advance. The team still had to strengthen the advancement of the wing, and break through the opponent's defense system and then return to the opponent's penalty area.

This season, the Red Devils, in addition to midfielders such as Robins, Webber and Phelan, began to have players suitable for advancing and breaking through on the wing. The relative positions of the Red Devils in both midfield and backcourt have been strengthened, and Ferguson's ideas can be tried out.

Ferguson's wing attack is actually rooted in the two wingers in the 442 formation, and the back-up of the full-back. This season, Ferguson only has Lee Sharpe as a single winger, and the Red Devils' wing forward on the other side has no ability to advance. What will Ferguson do in this situation?

If he wants to play offensive tactics, if he insists that wing attack is very effective, but the team lacks the foundation to play two wing attacks, what should he do at this time?

Ferguson's answer was to try one side first, let one side start the fight, and then find a way on the other side.

Regardless of whether there is a real wide attacker or not, the chosen route should not be given up. Ferguson was determined that he would start pushing even if there was only one wing.

The Red Devils' main lineup this season is still 442. The main force is goalkeeper Les Healy, a player known as a "madman". His sometimes effective and sometimes ineffective performance is worrying. Crazy Healy can still insist on playing the game even when his knee is seriously injured, and even roars at the medical staff who come to treat him. His performance on the field will not collapse. But apart from his bloodiness, Les Healy's goalkeeping skills are not excellent. He got the position of the starting goalkeeper mainly because the original goalkeeper Leighton was more unreliable and played worse. The most famous example was Leighton's poor performance in the FA Cup final last season. Les Healy replaced Leighton in the FA Cup replay and played better, so he got Ferguson's trust. But due to Les Healy's own mediocre strength, he can only be regarded as mediocre throughout the season, and only in some games will there be a wonderful performance like a "madman".

Before the goalkeeper, the Red Devils' four defenders from right to left are Blackmore, Bruce, Pallister, and Irwin, with Parker being one of the important substitutes; the four midfielders from right to left are Phelan, Robson, Ince, and Lee Sharp, with Webber and Wallace becoming substitutes; the two forwards are still Mark Hughes and McClair, with Robins as the substitute. Compared with last season, it can be seen that the personnel changes are not significant. Robson was seriously injured during the World Cup and missed the game before the start of the season, which brought great challenges to Ferguson's coaching, and the hardness and reliability of the Red Devils' midfield were dragged down.

Robson's significance to the Red Devils is too great. His absence caused a lack of creativity in the Red Devils' midfield. Although Ince has a strong desire to attack, he still finds it difficult to control the entire midfield of the Red Devils alone and it is difficult for him to carry the entire attack and defense transition of the Red Devils. After Ince became the commander of the Red Devils' midfield, the Red Devils' offense became simpler and it was easy for the opponent to guess their intentions and prepare for defense. The Red Devils' offense often evolved into a simple positional offense, relying on Ince's through pass very little, and mainly relying on Lee Sharpe's breakthrough. The Red Devils' offense was not good enough during the season. Many times, facing the defense of weak teams, it was difficult to effectively break the defense line and create killing opportunities. Looking at the Red Devils' midfield, except for Ince, Phelan, Webber and others can only be said to play more of an engineer role than a striker role, and they failed to create enough opportunities for the two forwards in the offense.

The Red Devils' attack is not strong, but the source is not the forwards. The two forwards of the Red Devils seem to lack the ability to deal with the opponent's entire defense line, but in the final analysis, it is still the overall offensive strength that is insufficient, and the help from the midfield and the wing behind them is not enough. In the absence of Robson, it is difficult for Ince to carry the burden alone, and Ferguson still let the entire central axis focus more on defense. At Ferguson's request, all the players of the Red Devils actively implemented the requirements of overall defense and full defense. Ince is of great significance in defense. He is a truly all-around "B2 B" midfielder, and he is even better on the defensive end. He has strong running ability, advantages in confrontation power and physical strength, a very large coverage area, very tough defense, and excellent results. The defensive ability of several other midfielders is also trustworthy. Everyone has implemented the concept of solid defense first. In the game, we often see McClair return to the edge of the penalty area to fly and destroy, and Mark Hughes chases back to the edge of the penalty area to intercept. As for the two wingers, they always act as full-backs. When the defense is tight, the Red Devils will even have up to 8 people in the penalty area to defend the city. This also shows how Ferguson's Red Devils focus on defense.

The Red Devils' defense this season is first-rate. The two central defenders are playing steadily, the full-back Blackmore, who made great contributions last season, is also very good, and the newly joined Irwin has shown his great potential. The only hidden danger is that there are no suitable replacement players. Bruce and Pallister have played almost all the games of the whole season, and mistakes are inevitable in some games due to fatigue.

In addition to defense, Ferguson's offensive plan was finally implemented on the two wingers, especially the left wing. The Red Devils welcomed Lee Sharp's brilliance, which was the biggest discovery Ferguson brought to the entire league this season. Lee Sharp is the result of the Red Devils' youth training. His sudden brilliance this season also made Ferguson feel like he had found a treasure. At that time, Lee Sharp had just made his debut, and his opponents were very unfamiliar with him. However, he had a strong breakthrough ability and a fast speed. He was a typical fast horse on the wing with a combination of technology and speed. Lee Sharp's breakthrough on the left was very sharp. He had excellent footwork, changed direction elusive, and had a tacit understanding of the combination of man and ball, becoming a sharp knife for the Red Devils' left-wing attack. The Red Devils played fast wing attacks many times in the league. Lee Sharp was like a flying wing, breaking through the opponent's defense many times. Although he was a newcomer, he was not afraid of confrontation. While showing off his skills, he also focused on cooperation with the team, and his lethality gradually increased. His breakthrough on the wing gradually became a major concern for the opponent, and was heavily guarded by the opponent. Once Lee Sharp attracts multiple defensive players, the Red Devils' offense will be able to break the balance, and the central midfielder's offensive investment will be a natural thing.

The Red Devils' wing tactics were specially created by Ferguson, and he designed and improved them based on the club's reality. Ferguson's idea was not just a single-wing tactic. He hoped that the Red Devils could play a fast offensive tactic with both wings flying together. However, the Red Devils' attack on the right side almost disappeared. Ferguson tried multiple players but it didn't work. Now the Red Devils only have one wing. Whether it is Giggs or Lee Sharpe, they are not familiar with kicking the right side with their back foot at this time. Therefore, the Red Devils' left-leaning tactics still greatly limit the combat effectiveness of the entire team. Ferguson's tactical arrangement is also very passive, which means that the Red Devils have no more ways to tear open the opponent's dense defense line when the team is attacking with all their strength and the opponent is defending with all their strength.

Ferguson still needed to further forge his lineup and make the two wings fly together. So in the final stage of this season, he bought a special player: Kanchelskis.

Not only that, Ferguson also gave Giggs the opportunity to start and outlined a detailed blueprint for his future.

In Ferguson's tactical thinking, offense has always been the main theme. Lee Sharpe's brilliance during the season not only lit up the Red Devils' left wing, but also allowed the team to start the single-wing dance.