The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 193 A Stable Start

"No one in the team is more excited than Ferguson, and no one is looking forward to the start of the season more than Ferguson. Ferguson has gone through so many difficult years, and now he has finally gotten rid of the slump and started to officially launch an impact on the league championship."

--Inscription

In the summer of 1991, the entire training base was in full swing. Especially in mid-August, when the Red Devils returned to the base after completing several pre-season warm-up matches and preparing for the start of the new season, everyone was full of fighting spirit and fighting spirit.

Ferguson was the most excited one among them. He had finally completed the reconstruction of the team. After so many years of signings, iron-fisted cleaning, big-money replacements, and youth training... now all positions were replaced by players selected by him. Not only that, there were many good seedlings in Manchester United's youth training camp who were eager to try and wait for the opportunity to play.

New season, new Manchester United.

Compared with the current Red Devils lineup in 1986, except for the old captain Robson, Ferguson has updated almost all positions, and some positions have even been changed more than once.

Because the time span is more than 5 years, all reporters are used to such changes. After all, the renewal cycle of a normal team is similar. The focus of media attention is whether this team has a hope of winning the championship this year.

The current Red Devils lineup is: goalkeeper Schmeichel, defenders Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, Parker, midfielders Robson, Ince, Kanchelskis, Giggs, forwards Mark Hughes, McClair. It can be said that this is an aggressive and relatively balanced lineup. On the bench are Blackmore, Lee Sharpe, Phelan, Webber, Donaghy and others who are ready to serve at any time, and in the team's youth training camp, there are also seedlings such as Butt, Scholes, Gary Neville, Duxbury and others growing up.

The spiritual leader of the team is still the old captain Robson, who has recovered in the summer this year and is gradually getting back to form. In addition to Robson, Manchester United has strengthened other positions in the core axis, especially the goalkeeper, who has undergone major adjustments. In addition, Ferguson introduced Kanchelskis, an Eastern European express, and the idea of ​​the Red Devils to play wing attack in the new season is imminent. Except for Schmeichel and Kanchelskis, the other positions are not new. After more than two seasons of training, the tacit understanding between the Red Devils players has greatly increased, and the power of team cooperation has gradually been brought into play. The fast wing attack style envisioned by Ferguson can finally be put into practice.

Before the season, the media believed that Arsenal was the favorite to defend the title. Graham's team lost only one game last season and won the championship ahead of schedule by defeating Liverpool twice. The strength of the team was really shocking. The Gunners did not lose any generals before the season. Their five veteran defenders were still in their peak form. Forwards Alan Smith and Wright were also very hot and scored goals in the warm-up matches. Another giant Liverpool was hotly discussed by the media because King Dalglish left. Most people were not optimistic about their title race. After all, Liverpool is now in a rebuilding phase and faces many challenges.

The Red Devils were ignored in the media's discussion of the title race, even worse than Leeds United, which had just been promoted from League Two. The "White Rose" team, led by the famous coach Wilkins, played very well last season, which naturally aroused the interest of the media.

新赛季开锣，红魔在1991-92赛季联赛第一场对阵新军诺茨郡队。他们坐镇主场，在1991年8月17日迎战这个有着传奇色彩的对手。

Notts County Football Club is located in Nottinghamshire and is the oldest existing professional club in the world. The team was founded in 1862 and became one of the founding members of the English Football League in 1888. Notts County has a long history, but its record is average, and it only won the FA Cup in 1894. The most famous team in Nottinghamshire is Nottingham Forest, which is their derby rival in the same city and a historical enemy.

In some ways it's similar to Manchester United and Manchester City.

Notts County spent a long time in the lower leagues. It was only in the 20s that they rose to prominence under the leadership of Jimmy Thriller. In a few years, they leapt from the Fourth Division (the fourth level of English football) to the First Division in 70. Soon after entering the First Division, Notts County fired Jimmy Thriller and replaced him with Wilkinson. Wilkins failed to lead the team to a further step. They were relegated twice in the 1981/1983 and 84/1984 seasons, and fell to the Third Division again. In 85, Derek Purves took over the management and began a new reconstruction. In 1987, Notts County appointed the young Neil Warnock as head coach, bringing a new look. He first led the team to third place, defeated Bolton and Tranmere in the play-offs and was promoted to League Two. Later in the 1989-1990 season, he led the team all the way to a sprint, winning seven consecutive games at the end of the season. After participating in the promotion play-offs as fourth place, they eliminated Middlesbrough and Brighton in succession and entered the League One.

Notts County completed a magical triple jump and was able to challenge the Red Devils at Old Trafford. This was an extraordinary achievement for a team that had been playing in the lower leagues for a long time. Before the game that day, the Red Devils fans who came to the stadium to watch the game applauded their opponents.

In the first league match of the new season, Ferguson sent out goalkeeper Schmeichel, defenders Irwin, Blackmore, Bruce, Parker, midfielders Darren Ferguson, Robson, Ince, Kanchelskis, forwards McClair and Hughes, still in the traditional 442 formation. Giggs and Pallister were substituted because they both felt unwell in training, and Ferguson was cautious. Lee Sharpe was slightly injured and did not appear in the squad.

Although not all the main players were sent, Ferguson's team was still far stronger than the opponent. Kanchelskis' performance in this game was amazing. He alone broke through the opponent's entire defense on the right side, becoming the most important direction for Manchester United to launch an offensive. Notts County had never encountered a fast attacker like Kanchelskis before, so their 442 position seemed very sparse, and the two layers of defense were broken with a single poke. In the 21st minute of the first half, Kanchelskis broke through the right and launched an offensive. He went all the way into the penalty area before making a cross, but unfortunately McClair wasted this shot that was delivered to his mouth; in the 26th minute, Kanchelskis made a comeback. He once again broke through the opponent's full-back like the wind, and made another cross from the bottom. Hughes responded in front of the goal and scored. In the second half, Manchester United still had a firm advantage, and Kanchelskis was still extremely sharp. Notts County had to shrink its defense and not give Kanchelski the distance to charge and speed up. Even with their defensive efforts, Notts County still couldn't withstand the pressure from the Red Devils. Robson got the ball in the midfield and, after cooperating with Ings and Ferguson, he advanced to the top of the opponent's penalty area, then shot from the edge of the penalty area and hit the ball into the far corner.

In this way, with Hughes and Robson each scoring a goal, Manchester United calmly defeated the newly promoted team 2-0 and got off to a good start in the season.

Ferguson said: "We played well and won. I have to respect Notts County here. Warnock's coaching is successful and they are full of courage. We played well in the game. Hughes and Robson played very well. Especially Robson, he is really a magical captain. I admire his wonderful performance."

In the second round of the league, the Red Devils played away against Villa.

Villa is not a weak team, but this season, due to internal changes, the team's strength has fluctuated greatly. In this game, Manchester United still started with all the main players. Pallister was able to join forces with Bruce to defend the middle, and Robson was still the core of the formation in the midfield. After the start of the game, Kanchelskis showed his strength again. His impact on the right quickly put Villa in trouble. In the 7th minute, Kanchelskis passed Villa midfielder Stinson on the wing and easily dribbled the ball to the corner of the penalty area. Villa defender Kanters had to tackle him down, giving Manchester United a free kick in an excellent position. Ins took the free kick and shot hard, but unfortunately it was blocked by the opponent's wall. In the 16th minute, Kanchelskis made a cross from the bottom of the right, but when the pass fell into the Villa penalty area, McClair did not head it straight and missed the goal again. Manchester United's offensive became more and more fierce, and Villa had to gradually retreat and defend, giving all the initiative in the midfield to the opponent. In the 37th minute, Manchester United advanced to the left side of the center of the frontcourt, and Ins made a diagonal pass into the penalty area.

It was Robson again! The Red Devils captain received a short pass from his teammate near the penalty area line and immediately accelerated into the penalty area. He dribbled past his opponent and broke into the penalty area. Another Villa defender had to pull him down and fouled him. Penalty! Bruce took the penalty and scored with a powerful volley, helping the Red Devils win 1-0.

Manchester United won two consecutive league games. Three days later, in the third round of the league, the Red Devils tied Everton 0-0 away. Manchester United sent the youngest player Giggs to the starting lineup. The young player performed very well and created many offensive opportunities on the wing, but his tacit understanding with his teammates needs to be improved, and a single-player breakthrough could not break the opponent's dense defense.

Three days later, the Red Devils faced Oldham at home in the fourth round of the league.

Ferguson fielded the same starting lineup as in the previous match, and did not underestimate the opponent because of its lack of fame and strength. Giggs also got consecutive starting opportunities and played brilliantly on the left. Although still a little immature, his clever and fast dribbling and breakthroughs constantly tore through the opponent's defense, which made the Red Devils fans cheer and cheer again and again. The Red Devils suppressed the opponent's fierce attack, and finally relied on Webber's cross in the penalty area to assist McClair's header in the small penalty area, and defeated the opponent 1-0.

In the fifth round of the league on August 8, the Red Devils faced Leeds United at home.

This is Manchester United's first tough battle since the start of the season.

Ferguson was very afraid of Strachan and Lee Chapman in the opponent's team. He made some adjustments to his formation, giving up the fast wingers Giggs and Kanchelskis, and not letting Lee Sharpe play. The midfield set up a strangling formation. In the end, the Red Devils' tactics had a miraculous effect. Leeds United did nothing in the first half.

Ferguson made a bold change in the second half, and Giggs came on as a substitute. The young player failed to dribble past the defense at the beginning of the game, but he was not frustrated by this setback. Instead, he was more eager to try again and again. In the 63rd minute, Giggs scored. He passed the opponent's full-back on the wing, causing the opponent's center back to come out to intercept and make an accurate cross, creating an opportunity for Robson. The Red Devils captain broke into the opponent's penalty area and completely disrupted the opponent's defensive formation, and then made a cross to the front of the goal. In the melee, McClair rushed to the front point and shot in front of the goal, but unfortunately it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper. Robson followed up with a powerful shot and scored successfully!

Manchester United leads 1-0!

With the Red Devils leading, Leeds United launched a fierce attack in the remaining time in an effort to equalize the score. In the 79th minute, Chapman received a cross from Speed ​​in front of the goal and took the ball with his back, then made a small diagonal fake move and turned to pass Pallister, then seized the opportunity to volley into the lower right corner and helped Leeds United score a goal.

The Red Devils had to finally draw with their opponents 1-1.

From August 8 to August 17, the Red Devils played 8 games in 31 days, with a very tight schedule, basically one game every three days. The Red Devils were in excellent form, with the old captain Robson suddenly showing his power, and the two wingers began to take off, scoring goals and assists one after another, and finally helped the Red Devils to achieve an unbeaten record of 15 wins and 5 draws.

Ferguson is full of confidence and is satisfied with the team's performance at the start of the season.