The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 198 Free Kick Master

Even though the opponent Oldham Athletic was unknown, this game could be called a classic of the season.

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In the 19th round of the league, the Red Devils visited Stamford Bridge in London to challenge Chelsea.

The Red Devils played a very controlled game. Although Chelsea was not very strong back then, they were not weak either. Under the leadership of owner Bates, Chelsea began to turn to the European tactical system relatively early, and they were willing to put down their pride to defend against strong teams, and they did not feel ashamed to play defensive counterattacks. Chelsea also had fast horses in the midfield and frontcourt. Their quick counterattacks were very sharp. They often took advantage of the opponent's suppression and siege to play a sharp counterattack, directly crossing the midfield and killing into the penalty area, posing a huge threat.

Ferguson attached great importance to Chelsea, but the tactics were still based on self-reliance and the need to strengthen the offense. The Red Devils took the initiative at the beginning of the game and broke the opponent's defense with offense before Chelsea could make any counterattacks. In the 11th minute, Manchester United attacked the opponent on the left and was fouled. They got a free kick opportunity in an excellent position about 10 yards outside the penalty area. Irwin took the free kick. He set the ball, accelerated after a short run-up, and then kicked the ball hard. Irwin's free kick of about 35 yards was very fast and powerful. It directly drew an amazing arc, with rapid rotation, and flew to an extremely tricky angle. In the stunned "still waiting", this free kick whizzed into the opponent's goal!

The commentator on the scene shouted, "Irwin, it's awesome! No one can stop this free kick!"

Indeed, Chelsea's goalkeeper was completely unprepared when the ball flew in, and he didn't have time to react when the ball flew into the goal. He did make a save in the end, but that slow side dive was more like a coping move.

The Red Devils took the lead 1-0 and successfully opened the scoring process.

Irwin's exquisite right-foot loop technique stunned Beckham who was watching the game on the sidelines.

As a kid, Beckham thought, “This is so cool. I must learn it. It would be great if I could score a looping free kick like this one day!”

Beckham later continued to practice his free kick skills and received careful guidance from Irwin. It can be said that Irwin passed on almost everything he learned about free kicks to Beckham, including Beckham's famous arc free kick, which was later named "Crescent Moon Scimitar". The secret tricks were all from Irwin's teachings and Beckham's pursuit of excellence.

There were many free kick experts in the Red Devils team at that time. Giggs could also take looping shots, Robson and Ings could create miracles with great power, Cantona was good at everything but not any one of them in particular, Hughes and McClair also mainly used powerful volleys. If we talk about threat, accuracy, and visual effects, then Irwin's free kick technique is undoubtedly the best.

After taking the lead, the Red Devils continued to use a steady offensive and defensive tactic, neither retreating to defend nor taking risks to attack, which made Chelsea very uncomfortable. The Blues, who were behind, lacked the ability to attack, and they had little chance to create an offensive threat in the face of Manchester United's formation.

Manchester United led 1-0 in the first half, but Chelsea stepped up their offensive in the second half, changing their tactics and pressing forward. In the 49th minute, Lux from the left side of Chelsea made a cross near the midline, and striker Anderson headed the ball back in the penalty area. Midfielder Deeney followed up with a powerful shot, but missed the target and did not pose any threat to Manchester United. In the 53rd minute, Chelsea took consecutive corner kicks and made several crosses, which caused alarm bells to sound in Manchester United's penalty area, but Bruce and Pallister were fully focused and resolved the danger steadily and in time.

Chelsea stepped up their attack, and the entire midfield line pressed forward more, which also gave the Red Devils a good opportunity to counterattack. In the 59th minute, the Red Devils successfully defended and immediately moved to the middle. Ince dribbled the ball at the top of the penalty area and quickly passed it to the right. Kanchelskis was already in position on the right, and Mark Hughes also came to this side to strengthen the attack. Kanchelskis and Hughes cleverly cooperated to pass the Chelsea midfielder, and then accelerated to rush into the opponent's hinterland. When the Eastern European Express reached the opponent's penalty area and went down the sideline, the entire Chelsea defense system was in chaos. After cutting in two steps along the baseline, Kanchelskis attracted two defenders of the opponent to come to block, and he immediately passed the ball to the front of the goal. McClair cut into the space in front of the goal in time, grabbed the middle position of the small penalty area, and shot easily with his right foot, easily and happily sending the ball into the goal!

Manchester United led 2-0 and basically secured the victory.

In the 67th minute, Chelsea attacked Manchester United's left wing. Irwin was pushed back 4 yards outside the penalty area. Giggs returned to defend, but Chelsea had already passed the ball in. Bruce and Pallister did not move in time in the Manchester United penalty area, and the opponent's forward started in the middle of the penalty area in advance, rushed to the front point and headed the ball. Schmeichel flew as fast as he could and stretched his arms but could not save the ball.

Chelsea was 1-2 behind, and the situation suddenly became sensitive. With about 25 minutes left, Chelsea seemed to see some hope again.

After recovering a goal, Chelsea began to invest more players in the full-scale attack, but Manchester United had already begun to shrink their defense and retreated the midfield players deeper into their own half. It was not easy to withstand Chelsea's fierce attack for nearly 15 minutes, but the Red Devils players launched many counterattacks during the period but none of them worked. In the 85th minute, Chelsea attacked from the middle and pushed all the way to Manchester United's penalty area before being intercepted. The opportunity for attack and defense exchange was fleeting, and Manchester United decisively launched a sharp counterattack. Bruce intercepted the ball and passed it to Irwin, who passed it directly to the center circle without stopping the ball, where Mark Hughes was running at full speed towards this line. Hughes had just returned to the top of the arc during defense, and now he immediately acted as the first echelon charge during the counterattack. He was not intercepted when he ran to the center circle, and immediately accelerated with the ball and rushed to the opponent's hinterland after receiving the ball. Chelsea's midfielders and defenders desperately chased back, but they could not keep up with Hughes' speed. Hughes dribbled into the penalty area and made a slight adjustment. The chasing Chelsea defender caught up at this time and tripped him directly in the penalty area.

Penalty kick!

Bruce scored calmly and easily, locking the score at 3-1!

Manchester United defeated their opponents and further consolidated their lead in the standings.

On the first day after Christmas, the Red Devils traveled to Oldham Athletic's Bunderby Park Stadium. This was the 20th round of the English League One, a traditional "Boxing Day" game.

Oldham Athletic is average in strength, but their tactical style is very radical, and they are also active attackers. Ferguson continued the double-wing tactics in this game, with Giggs and Kanchelskis appearing together, Webber and Ings in the middle, and Hughes and McClair at the front. After the start of the game, Manchester United and the opponent made a little test and soon took the advantage. Manchester United stabilized the middle of the midfield in this game and focused on the wing attack. Giggs and Kanchelskis quickly demonstrated the power of the fast wingers. Their skills and speed were unstoppable by the opponent's midfielders and even defenders. Manchester United strengthened the attack, and Oldham also launched a formation attack, which gave Manchester United's wingers more opportunities. Oldham Athletic was tossed to pieces by the two wingers of the Red Devils, and soon revealed a flaw. In the 11th minute of the first half, the Red Devils launched a fast attack on the wing, and Oldham Athletic had to send more people to strengthen the defense. Giggs attracted the two midfielders of the opponent to help defend and passed the ball to Hughes who was retreating. Hughes received the ball and turned around to make a simple pass with Ince, and took away a central defender. Ince immediately passed a diagonal ball after receiving the ball, which passed through the opponent's entire defense line. At this time, the Red Devils' Irwin inserted into the right side of the penalty area. The opponent had no one to defend, and his work was very easy. In this way, the Red Devils played a wonderful tactic within 30 seconds. The players passed from the side to the center, and then the diagonal pass from the center to tear through the opponent's defense line, and finally the Red Devils left back completed an easy shot to score.

After taking the lead, the Red Devils continued to attack without being conservative, and the opponent fell into a brief chaos. In the 17th minute, Manchester United intercepted the ball in the backcourt, and Parker immediately launched a counterattack and passed it directly to his teammates in front. Kanchelskis immediately accelerated after receiving the ball in the frontcourt on the right, dribbling all the way to the opponent's center. Many defensive players of Oldham Athletic followed him and chased hard, watching him twist left and right like a civet cat, easily passing through the defense line, and then facing the goalkeeper alone. Facing the falling block in front of the goal, Kanchelskis continued to dribble the ball and passed the goalkeeper with a fake move. When he reached the edge of the small penalty area, he quickly adjusted his posture and shot with his right foot. Even if the opponent's goalkeeper returned to the goal line in time and flew to save the ball, he still couldn't stop the ball from flying into the goal.

2-0, the Red Devils extended the lead.

In the second half, the Red Devils' free kick tactics were once again powerful. In the 53rd minute, Irwin took a free kick from 5 yards in front of the opponent's penalty area. He once again made a powerful volley that directly broke through the opponent's goal. This shot aroused cheers from the fans. Irwin is not only good at arc free kicks, his powerful volleys are also very powerful.

Manchester United led 3-0, and the fans thought the game was almost over, but no one expected that the game would enter its most exciting part after 50 minutes. After Irwin scored a goal, Oldham Athletic did not give up, they still attacked with all their strength, and aimed at the loopholes in Manchester United's defense, creating many opportunities.

In the 57th minute, Oldham Athletic pushed forward in the middle. Manchester United's Webber failed to defend and was passed by the opponent. Ince went to intercept the opponent's player in the middle, but was easily shaken off by the opponent's 2-on-1 wall-style cooperation, and then shot directly. Bruce failed to block and Schmeichel was unable to save this powerful shot.

1-3, Oldham Athletic scored a goal.

Oldham Athletic continued to intensify their offensive, and the Red Devils continued to stab their opponents. In the 62nd minute, Manchester United got a chance, the midfielder stole the ball from the opponent's feet and quickly launched an attack. Kanchelskis got the ball near the right midfield sideline and immediately advanced at high speed. He and Mark Hughes made a large two-pass wall combination, tearing open the opponent's defense line and crossing the ball at the bottom line. McClair arrived on time and easily shot into the goal, helping the Red Devils score the fourth goal.

Manchester United led by 4 goals again 1-3.

The Red Devils were still not satisfied. Webber received the throw-in on the left side of the frontcourt and made a feint to get rid of the opponent's defender, then made a high cross. This cross was not very threatening at first, because there were three Oldham Athletic defenders watching the landing point, and none of the Red Devils' attacking players were in that position. However, under pressure, the Oldham Athletic defenders headed the ball to McClair next to him. McClair decisively kicked and shot, breaking the opponent's goal again.

Manchester United 5-1!

After the 74th minute, Oldham Athletic took advantage of the slackness of the Manchester United team and scored two goals through long passes, changing the score to 2-3. This score not only made Ferguson unhappy, but also embarrassed Schmeichel. Manchester United's defense line endured the double roaring attack from behind and on the sidelines, and everyone became cautious.

In the final stage of the game, Giggs, still full of energy, tried to attack again. This time, he started from the backcourt of Manchester United. Irwin intercepted the ball and passed it to Ince, who passed it directly to the empty space on the left. Giggs started quickly on the left, successfully beat the offside, easily passed the opponent's midfielder who turned back with difficulty, and then ran all the way on the left. When he arrived at the corner of the opponent's penalty area, there was already an unguarded penalty area in front of him.

The opponent's goalkeeper desperately rushed out to block the shot, but Giggs then deftly used a feint to get past his opponent and easily shot the ball into the dead corner.

Manchester United once again widened the gap to 3 goals, and this score remained until the end of the game. In this way, the Red Devils won a 6-3 victory!

Giggs was shining, McClair was scoring easily, Kanchelskis was roaring, Bruce was scoring, Irwin scored with a free kick... The Red Devils were really powerful and lively. Everyone could score goals, and everyone had their own unique skills. They looked very fast, and they played with ease in both offensive and counterattacks, which made people full of confidence.

A big win boosted the morale of the Red Devils, and they were leading the standings halfway through the league, a great situation that even Ferguson had not expected.

The BBC said, "This game of Manchester United is enough to become a classic of this season. The open attacks of the two teams contributed a wonderful game to the fans. Ferguson's team is obviously stronger and they are more able to deal with various troubles."