The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 210: The Double Reds Collapse

"We lost to West Ham United and Liverpool. The Red Devils completely collapsed before the end of the season and handed the championship to others. This result shocked everyone."

--Inscription

After losing to Nottingham Forest and then to West Ham United, the Red Devils suffered an unexpected two-game losing streak and lost the initiative in the standings.

Quite a number of reporters and commentators in the media gloated over the incident. They began to say that the Red Devils had lost the ability to win the championship. Some inflammatory reporters even incited fans to hold Ferguson accountable.

The situation has indeed become extremely bad. The Red Devils have their last two games against Liverpool and Tottenham respectively. The Red Devils not only need to win all the games, but also need Leeds United to lose in order to win the championship.

In the 41st round of the league, Leeds United played away against Sheffield United, and the Red Devils played against Liverpool.

Leeds United's game starts at 12:00 noon, while the Red Devils' game kicks off at 3:00 pm.

It was very windy at the stadium on the day of Leeds United's game, and the ball seemed out of control in such weather. Sheffield United adapted to the environment on the field earlier. They dared to attack and kept sending high balls to impact Leeds United's defense. They broke the deadlock in the 28th minute and took the lead 1-0.

After conceding the goal, Leeds United launched a massive attack and directly besieged the opponent's goal. Before halftime, Strachan of Leeds United quickly took a free kick, and the opponent's defender Geller kicked the ball to Speed, which then bounced to Rod Wallace and rolled into the goal. Leeds United was lucky enough to equalize the score.

Leeds United continued to attack in the second half and they got another free kick in the 65th minute. McLister's free kick went to the far post and Newson, who was unguarded, scored in time to overtake the score.

Leeds United's joy lasted only two minutes. Sheffield United's counterattack caused Chapman to accidentally score an own goal when he cleared the ball, and the score became 2-2.

At the last moment, Leeds United kicked a long pass from the backcourt, and the ball flew across half court and landed directly at the top of the opponent's penalty area. Leeds United's two attackers Rod Wallace and Cantona rushed to the ball's landing point. Sheffield United's central defender Geller could have easily headed the ball to his own goalkeeper, but in a hurry he first kicked the ball with his foot and then tried to head the ball to goalkeeper Reece. As a result, the header drew a strange parabola, flew past the goalkeeper and flew straight into the net.

Leeds United 3-2!

The Red Devils will visit Anfield in this round, which is a well-known tough battle. Liverpool has been in a slump this season, but they will obviously not surrender.

Liverpool has not played well this season, but its strength is still strong. Especially considering the historical grudges between the two teams, Liverpool and the Red Devils have always been the biggest rivals and the strongest opponents in the league. This game is also important for the Red Devils. As long as the Red Devils beat their opponents, they still have the possibility of winning the league championship, so Ferguson must win this game.

Ferguson led the Red Devils to play against Liverpool and he took this game very seriously. The old captain Robson returned to the front line, Ince also played with an injury, but unfortunately the defender Parker was injured and missed the game. Ferguson arranged a 442 formation as follows: goalkeeper Schmeichel, back line Donaghy, Irwin, Bruce, Pallister, midfielder Kanchelskis, Robson, Ince, Giggs, forward McClair and Hughes.

The flames of hatred had already spread before the game started. Liverpool fans had been shouting and cursing, and had been wantonly humiliating the Red Devils. Liverpool players were even more rude. They cursed in the locker room, "Red Devils are shit!", "Fuck You!", "Fuck them, kill them!", "Red Devils, these stupid dogs, go to hell!"... Rude shouts and some more unbearable filthy words echoed in the narrow space.

The noises coming from the opponent's locker room were extremely harsh, and the Red Devils players were naturally not to be trifled with, so they also cursed back.

In the game, the Red Devils quickly fell into a passive position due to fatigue. The Red Devils players were indeed too tired. It was not that they were unwilling to fight, but that they really could not run. Both Robson and Ince were no longer as brave as before. Giggs encountered an extremely fierce flying tackle right at the beginning. It can be seen that the opponent was very afraid of him. Giggs was very brave. He broke through repeatedly, but was repeatedly knocked away, and it was difficult to create a real threat. Liverpool also tried every means to obstruct and invade old guns like Hughes and McClair. Hughes said after the game, "I have never seen such a disgusting defense. They used all kinds of tricks to pinch a piece of meat off my waist!"

Faced with the ferocity of the opponent, the Red Devils players also fought back. But in the fierce game, the exhausted state of the Red Devils players really couldn't withstand the constant impact of the opponent. Even if the two midfield cores returned urgently, they couldn't withstand the roughness and arrogance of the opponent. Robson was knocked to the ground by the opponent at the beginning of the game, triggering his old injury. He was almost replaced, and the subsequent games were very difficult. Ins consumed a lot of physical energy in the fierce scramble and almost disappeared in the second half. With the loss of midfield, it was difficult for the Red Devils to find opportunities in the frontcourt. Giggs and Kanchelskis could not get enough space to break through and sprint. Even if there was a chance to go one-on-one, Giggs and Kanchelskis' side breakthroughs also lost their power. Giggs can still pass the opponent's defender, but it is difficult to find teammates when crossing, and the same is true for Kanchelskis. Not only is the Red Devils midfield passive, but the two attackers in the frontcourt have basically disappeared.

Liverpool used this completely physical method, completely relying on body and strength, which just hit the Red Devils' soft spot at that time.

Liverpool fans continued to cheer for their team and constantly insulted the Red Devils. Under the double pressure, the Red Devils players seemed more passive. In the face of Liverpool's torrential shooting and attack, the Red Devils midfield and backcourt seemed fragmented, struggling and unable to resist. Liverpool's frenzied attack destroyed the Red Devils' defense. In the end, Walters and Rush each scored a goal and Liverpool defeated the Red Devils 2:0.

After the game, Liverpool fans and players were jubilant and continued to celebrate this great victory. The Red Devils players could only leave the field in silence and embarrassment, watching their opponents' jubilation with wooden faces.

Ferguson stood on the sidelines throughout the game, watching the game in silence. Ferguson could not change it all. His team was at the end of its rope and it was difficult to escape unscathed from this hellish home stadium. He was not furious because the Red Devils lost, nor did he directly scold the players.

Liverpool fans were extremely involved in the entire game, madly insulting the Red Devils, provoking and ridiculing Ferguson crazily, and showing great hatred. Ferguson didn't care about all this. What really made him angry was that Liverpool fans actually sang loudly in the KOP stands a song satirizing the Red Devils' plane crash, and shouted that all the Red Devils should die!

Liverpool's players were not embarrassed at all, but Ferguson could not stand it any longer. He angrily negotiated with the match supervisor, saying that the referee should control these behaviors that completely crossed the bottom line, but no one paid attention to him. Although Liverpool coach Dalglish was also embarrassed, he did not take the initiative to stop these immoral behaviors. Not only that, under the shouting and cursing of Liverpool's extreme fans, Liverpool's players played harder and more fiercely.

Ferguson deeply felt the immense hatred in this stadium, an extreme emotion of "we are mortal enemies and can use any means to deal with you", "I can't win the championship, and I will never let you win the championship", and also a crazy hatred of "I will destroy you no matter what".

Ferguson was furious about this, and at one point he even wanted the players to go on strike - singing songs that mocked the Red Devils' Munich air crash was absolutely unacceptable, and it had exceeded everyone's bottom line.

The referee stopped him. No one could bear the consequences of the Red Devils' withdrawal from the Red Devils Derby. The referee asked Liverpool to immediately control the fans and promised Ferguson that he would report everything that happened in the game after the game. Ferguson finally let the players continue to participate in the game and accepted the result of failure.

The Red Devils lost their final hope of winning the championship. Ferguson suppressed his emotions and decided to let the Red Devils players have a deep memory. After returning to the locker room, Ferguson asked everyone to remain silent and prohibited everyone from speaking. He asked everyone to listen to the sounds in the Liverpool locker room next door, which were the ridicule and insults of the Liverpool players.

Ferguson watched as everyone's faces turned livid. He concluded, "We encountered a bunch of lunatics. We should have been crazier than them, but today we were defeated by these lunatics!"

There was an awkward silence in the locker room. Ferguson glared at the players who dared not speak, "What the hell are you doing on the field?! Don't you even know how to fight hard?!"

As the hair dryer increased its power, Ferguson's curse turned into a roar, "We will teach them a lesson. No one can step on us like this!"

No one spoke in the locker room. The players who endured the humiliation sat quietly, but anger had already filled their chests.

Many years later, Ferguson said: "I will always remember the whole process of that game. Although I have never been accustomed to watching a game video many times, that game is an exception. I watched the video over and over again until I could remember it without revisiting it. The whole process has been engraved in my heart. Those deep scars will tell me and all of us what happened that night."

Ferguson knew that this was not the players' fault, nor anyone else's. He knew very well that the players had tried their best and now they had to bravely accept the defeat.

Giggs was equally impressed. The young man also became the main target of the opponent's attacks and suffered many rough fouls beyond the boundary. Giggs always remembered the unforgettable scene he experienced in this game. "At that time, a fan stopped me outside the stadium and said that he wanted to take a photo with me. I didn't know he was a Liverpool fan, and I didn't know what he wanted to do. I didn't see any label on him that could indicate that he was a Liverpool fan - I thought he was a Red Devils fan, so I agreed to take a photo."

The photo was taken with a Polaroid camera and came out very quickly. Giggs thought the guy would ask him to sign and then leave, but he will never forget what happened next. "The guy said to me in front of me with a vicious look on his face, 'You are such a fool, a rubbish Red Devil, we Liverpool fans will kill you.' Then he slowly, slowly tore the photo into pieces."

Giggs said, "He threw the smashed photo in front of me and continued to provoke me. I didn't know how to react at first and was shaking all over. I wanted to chase him and hit him, which might have been his intention. Fortunately, my teammates stopped him in time and the guy's conspiracy failed. In the end, he left in dismay."

At the beginning of the 1992-1993 season, Ferguson convened a meeting with the players. He said: "The game we lost to Liverpool last season will be the last lesson we will learn! I swear this is the last time we will be humble in front of our opponents."

Before each subsequent match against Liverpool, Ferguson asked the players to recall the match and the humiliation they had endured. He encouraged the players to burst out with greater strength, more courage, stronger fighting power, more lasting tenacity and resilience, and to fight the opponent to the end and win!

He said, "Everyone should remember how they humiliated us back then! This kind of thing should never happen again. The Red Devils will never bow down to Liverpool no matter what! Go and knock them down now and crush them!"

"Fuck him to death!"

At Anfield, after a victory, Liverpool fans started a new humiliation of the Red Devils. The fans hung a red banner that read "Come back and shout when you win 18 championships...", which fluttered in the wind in the huge stadium and was then displayed in the stands for a long time.