The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 189: One Bloodline

"Both Ferguson and Harrison attached great importance to the training of young players. They began to educate and guide the tactical thinking of young players and focused on the connection and unification of the tactics of the youth team and the adult team from the beginning of youth training. The tactical style emphasized by Ferguson, whether it was wing attack or fast attack, not only affected the style of the first team, but also affected the training direction of the youth team."

--Inscription

Ferguson's investment in youth training was not limited to the Class of 92, and the team's resources were not only on the Class of 92. When Ferguson took over, Manchester United's youth training had already produced talents. In 1988, Lee Sharpe was introduced, and Maiolana was promoted. In 1990, young people such as Lee Martin and Robins won the FA Cup. The new force used that year was impressive. From Giggs' official signing as a member of the first team, to the large-scale promotion of the younger generation in 1991, to the young people starting to emerge in the 1991-92 season, and then to the first season of the Premier League when the Red Devils won the league championship, Ferguson's attempts to reuse young people continued in this process.

In the first season of the Premier League, Ferguson had already enjoyed the sweetness of youth training. In the following seasons, the young Red Devils continued to improve, and in the 95-96 season, they truly became the backbone and main force of the team, helping the team win multiple league championships despite being unpopular. In the 1998-99 season, Ferguson made strategic plans and used his troops like a god, leading the team to achieve the miracle of the treble when public opinion unanimously believed it was impossible. The Red Devils Class of 92 became the most dazzling youth training treasure in Europe, and Ferguson's youth training work became a legend in the entire English football world, and even the entire world football world.

The Red Devils were subject to various restrictions after the Class of 92, and their youth training suffered a huge blow. Under the new policy of the English Football Association, Ferguson's selection of players was too narrow, and the youth training he cultivated was no longer as dazzling, but there were still talents that continued to emerge, helping the Red Devils to continue to maintain their hegemony in the Premier League and continue to impact the Champions League. All of this also proved the success of Ferguson's idea of ​​insisting on youth training as the basis.

The success of the Red Devils' Class of 92 was achieved through the cooperation of Ferguson, Kidd and Harrison. Ferguson certainly deserves the most credit, while Harrison is often placed second by the Red Devils fans. The reasons are complex, but also simple. In addition to Kidd's breakup with Ferguson and leaving to become the assistant coach of the Red Devils' arch-rival Manchester City, which aroused the disgust of the Red Devils fans, the most important thing is that Harrison, as the general manager of youth training, did make important contributions to the overall tactics of the team for the youth team.

Harrison has a unique advantage in coaching youth teams. He is very good at discovering talents. Ferguson discovered Giggs, Kidd insisted on trusting and cultivating Scholes, and Harrison has typical examples such as Mark Hughes, Whiteside, Lee Martin, Gary, Butt, etc. The Red Devils' youth training camps are eager for young talents and have a pair of discerning eyes.

Harrison's outstanding point is the overall tactical training of the youth team. Harrison is able to integrate various tactics and football thinking, and guide the children to a holistic football concept from an early age, which is very suitable for Ferguson to create the tactics of the Red Devils. Harrison can be called a master in training children. Together with Ferguson, he created the off-ball running and overall coordination system throughout the entire Red Devils series of teams.

Harrison knew very clearly what kind of young people Ferguson needed and what kind of tactical style Ferguson wanted. He began to train and forge these young people in the youth training camp from an early age to actively run, obey the team, advance as a whole, and defend collectively. He created a very good off-ball running awareness for the young players and benefited them for life. The system Harrison created in the Red Devils is one of the best off-ball running systems in today's football world, and even Barcelona godfather Cruyff was amazed.

How good is the Red Devils' off-ball running system? The core secret of the Red Devils' ability to stand proudly in the Premier League and become a European giant lies in it. From a horizontal comparison of individual strength, the Red Devils' 11 players are not the best in English football at any time, let alone in European football. Most of the time, many positions of the Red Devils are at a quasi-first-class level of strength, but it is precisely because of the overall and the system awareness that has been cultivated since youth training that they have always stood at the top. In the 98-99 season when the Red Devils were at their peak, the two main forwards Cole and Yorke were not the best forwards in European or world football. Their personal strength was even difficult to rank in the top 20. The level of Shelingham and Solskjaer was also very ordinary among the ranks of excellent forwards. Veteran Irwin on the back line is good, but his state has seriously declined in 99. The central defenders Johnson, David May and Borg are far from first-class, and only Stam is really strong; generally speaking, this Red Devils team only has a few people such as Giggs, Beckham, Schmeichel, Keane, etc. who can be called world-class at that time. But how did the Red Devils win the "Triple Crown" with these not-so-powerful main players? Why did the previous and subsequent generations of the Red Devils, especially when Keane left and the midfield lacked world-class stars, still manage to be invincible in the Premier League? Why did they continue to thrive after the 90s and compete with the European powerhouses?

The secret is that the Red Devils have always insisted on building a fast attacking tactic, which can maintain a strong off-ball movement and overall coordination tactical style in the game. Ferguson's main idea has always been this, and he has maintained this feature in all levels of the Red Devils team. Adhering to speed, confrontation and overall coordination, tacit off-ball movement in the game has become the first rule and iron law that the Red Devils players need to abide by.

Harrison once said: "Why do we make off-ball running the core of the Red Devils' youth training? This is because we clearly see the need for tactical development. There is a significant technical gap between English players and continental European players. Facing the same high-intensity pressure in the game, English players have irreparable technical defects. We must face up to this huge gap in ball ability. If we want to compete with European teams, we must find a way to make up for this gap, so we thought of our advantage, running! Not only running when there is a ball, but also running when there is no ball!"

"After training, our players are able to maintain a certain intensity of running advantage, which is not only an advantage in distance, but also an advantage in space. Our idea is to disrupt the opponent's defense through orderly running, help reduce the pressure on the ball holder, and increase the receiving points for teammates without the ball. This can minimize the possibility that our shortcomings in ball ability are exploited by the opponent. Once we run more, there will be more routes for passing the ball, and the pressure on ball control and advancement will naturally decrease. So we use the receiving ability of running without the ball to make up for the shortcomings in ball control ability."

"We should not only emphasize running without the ball, but also continuous running without the ball at a fast pace and running without the ball with a reasonable purpose." Harrison emphasized the basic advantages of Premier League teams in confrontation. "Our local players often have an advantage in physical confrontation, because the players have been instilled with a brave will since childhood. We are used to this kind of collision and confrontation since childhood. We need to play to this advantage, then snatch the ball in confrontation, expand space in confrontation, and win time in confrontation. We emphasize running without the ball, but we have always insisted on running with strong physical output. This is our core advantage."

The overall characteristics of the Premier League teams are that they advocate speed and confrontation. In fact, it is because they know that they lack ball skills and cannot control the ball for a long time like the mainland teams. The individual footwork is not the opponent of the players in the Brazilian and Spanish systems. The Red Devils think more about facing the defensive system of strong teams. Even if you can run, fighting alone is not a solution. It is impossible to move quickly for a long time, so more players need to participate in running and supporting, and open up more possible routes. In this way, it is possible to use fast passes to send the ball to the most threatening area, and teammates can open up space by running, so that they can directly pose a threat!

Harrison pays attention to running, but also to individual technical training. The Red Devils Class of 92 created by Harrison is the most outstanding generation of youth training in terms of technical level. This youth team includes wingers like Giggs who are extremely sharp in individual attacks, as well as players with superb passing and shooting skills like Beckham and Scholes. Harrison can be said to have a two-pronged approach, paying more attention to the cultivation of players' thinking and strengthening their team spirit. He wants them to strengthen their overall awareness, build tacit understanding, and strengthen the training of running without the ball after they have a good technical foundation and physical conditions. The young people of the Red Devils Class of 92 will be able to shine.

This is also Ferguson's tactical concept: a fast attack based on overall tacit understanding, a combination of powerful two-wing attacks and distinct off-ball running. Ferguson has been constantly trying to integrate continental technical and tactical play with the traditional English style over the years, and he has achieved success on this path.

Harrison insisted on implementing off-ball running tactics training in the youth team, which even caused panic in the Red Devils' first team at the beginning. If the main players of the first team were absent due to injuries and resumed training with the reserve team, they would find that in the game between the reserve team and the youth team, they would be defeated by the tacit passing and running of the youth team, and even had no ability to fight back.

The reserve team is often bullied by the youth team, but this does not mean that the first team cannot beat them either - the two requirements of running without the ball and overall football are the common ideas of Ferguson and Harrison. In addition to being busy leading the team, Ferguson also pays close attention to the youth team's games. Ferguson starts work very early every day, but in the evening he still walks through the vast parking lot to the training grounds of the youth and junior teams to check on the teenagers who are still training in the cold gymnasium. Ferguson usually doesn't talk much on the sidelines. He carefully observes the performance of the young players, analyzes their potential, and sometimes specifically exchanges opinions with Kidd and Harrison on some youth team players.

Ferguson's attention to detail was so impressive to the young players who were growing up. Gary Neville came on as a substitute in the match against Torpedo Moscow and played only the last few minutes. The Red Devils got a chance to throw in a throw-in, but Pallister failed to catch the ball in time, causing the Red Devils to miss their last chance to attack.

After the game the players returned to the locker room, where Gary was stunned to see Ferguson starting up the hair dryer and cursing.

Ferguson's eyes widened and he angrily scolded Pallister, "Parry, have you ever watched the youth team's game? Haven't you seen the sideline ball he sent?"

"Seen."

"Then why weren't you in the restricted area?!"

"I thought we had to defend..."

"Who the hell told you to defend?! What you need to do is run over to meet him and provide him with a receiving point, even if he doesn't even look at you. Run without the ball! Run without the ball! Run without the ball!"

……

Ferguson was not satisfied with the draw. In addition to being angry at Pallister, many other players were criticized. Every time he pointed out the details, those details that he thought were related to the victory or defeat. The players were submissive and blushing, and no one dared to refute.

That scene was something Gary, who was participating in the team's official game for the first time, will remember for the rest of his life.

Harrison did not have as bad temper as Ferguson, but his requirements were equally strict, his standards were equally high, and the talents he cultivated were highly recognized by Ferguson.

No matter how Ferguson chooses the starting lineup to play the game, Harrison always works diligently to carry out youth training and integrate more young people into the Red Devils team.

Ferguson and Harrison both insisted on the rules that have been used for the Red Devils' youth training. On the basis of youth training, they maintained the same team building ideas as the first team, fully trusted young people, actively cultivated young people, and always gave young people opportunities.

Ferguson used youth players as the basis for team building, which was the result of this set of ideas. This is also the result of the Red Devils' youth training tradition since Busby established it, and it is also the reason why the Red Devils have always enjoyed a high reputation in the field of youth training.