The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 211 The Championship Belongs to Someone Else

"Ferguson could only watch his opponent take the English First Division title, and his efforts throughout the long season came to nothing. The ecstatic celebrations and unbridled joy of the White Rose fans became a humiliation that he and the Red Devils had to accept."

--Inscription

The Red Devils' loss to Liverpool is equivalent to giving Leeds United the English League One championship in advance.

Leeds United seized the opportunity of the Red Devils' defeat. They beat their opponents in the same round and won the league championship one round in advance.

The entire Leeds United team was ecstatic, and because the captain of Leeds United was former Red Devils player Strachan, the media was hyping up the fact that Leeds United was a dark horse to win the championship. At the same time, they also made a special topic about the conflict between Ferguson and Strachan and continued to hype it up.

Under the media hype, Strachan turned into an exiled prince, while Ferguson was an incompetent tyrant. Strachan left the Red Devils in anger and was elected as the captain of Leeds United, leading the new team to avenge the arrogant and ignorant Ferguson. Faced with these hypes, Ferguson did not mind it too much. He also generously congratulated his former disciple, "I am very happy that Strachan won the league championship. I called him to express my congratulations."

The hot topic of media discussion is naturally the feud between Leeds United and Manchester United, and the fierce competition between the two teams. One of the topics is that Strachan's success contrasts with Ferguson's failure.

Ferguson did not give any explanation for this, and when Strachan was specifically asked about this, he said: "This season Ferguson led the Red Devils to win the League Cup and the European Super Cup. These results have proved his ability. Even if they are second in the league, it is not a failure - you have to know that there are giants like Liverpool and Arsenal behind them. The biggest credit for our Leeds United's championship comes from the club's chairman and management, as well as the excellence of coach Wilkinson. This championship belongs to all of us, and I just happened to be lucky."

Strachan is a Scottish man, born in Edinburgh, Scotland in February 1957. This short man with a height of only 2 cm is a complete outlier in the Scottish football world, which is rich in tall players, and is also a true genius. Strachan has shown excellent talent since he was a child. He has delicate ball control skills and excellent dribbling. He is a rare breakthrough player. Strachan became famous early and soon joined the Dundee team. During his time in Dundee from 163 to 1971, Strachan was radiant and often performed solo on the field. It was common for him to break through the opponent's entire defense line with the ball.

In 1977, Ferguson invited Strachan to join Aberdeen, and the two began to work together. Ferguson valued Strachan very much, and soon made him the core of the Aberdeen team, taking on the task of organizing the offense, and often became the spearhead of the single-soldier assault. Strachan also shined here. He used his excellent footwork to break through the opponent's defense, and he was unstoppable in the frontcourt, repeatedly scoring goals and making great contributions to the team's victory. It was thanks to Strachan's offensive power that Ferguson's Aberdeen team broke the monopoly of the two hegemons in Scotland and won the Scottish League Championship. Not only that, Strachan's brilliance even exceeded Scotland and became a star that European football paid attention to. He performed particularly well in 1983 and was the biggest contributor to Aberdeen's victory in the Cup Winners' Cup. In the final against Real Madrid, Strachan showed no fear, not only completely outclassing his opponent, but also breaking through the entire defense of Real Madrid, tearing apart the opponent's defense system and helping his teammates score. In the European Super Cup against Hamburg, Strachan also dominated the game with his skills, helping Aberdeen win the championship with a 2-0 victory.

During his time at Aberdeen, Strachan made 183 appearances and scored 55 goals, winning the Scottish League and Cup titles, and also helped the team win the European Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup. He was named Scottish Footballer of the Year in 1980 and was praised as Scotland's best attacking midfielder.

Strachan and Ferguson worked very well together and made outstanding contributions to the Aberdeen team. It can be said that under Ferguson's coaching, Strachan became the best player in the entire Scottish football world in the 80s and the best player in the entire Scottish league.

Strachan was shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or that year and ultimately came fourth, behind only Platini and others, which shows how much the world of football recognizes him.

Strachan soon came into conflict with Ferguson after he became famous. His flamboyant personality was totally incompatible with Ferguson's hot temper, and the relationship between the two began to become sensitive and tense. Strachan always had his own thoughts on tactics and techniques, and was not very willing to play according to Ferguson's requirements. He often discussed tactical issues with the coach. To some extent, this was a serious challenge to Ferguson's authority.

This was absolutely unacceptable to Ferguson, but Strachan would not change because of others. The conflict between the two gradually became irreconcilable. Strachan later even bypassed Ferguson and went to the chairman of the Aberdeen team to express his opinion. Ferguson could no longer tolerate this. He said in his autobiography: "I believe that Strachan has a big problem. He has no respect for the coaching staff, likes to play tricks, and is not trustworthy at all. I don't want to turn my back on him for even a second."

Aberdeen management supported Ferguson at a critical moment and sold Strachan to the Red Devils in the summer of 1984.

Joining the Red Devils allowed Strachan to find a new space. In his first season with the Red Devils, he became the team's offensive core and played very well, leading the Red Devils to win the FA Cup. Coincidentally, just two years after Strachan arrived at the Red Devils, Ferguson also became the head coach of the Red Devils. When Ferguson first arrived at the Red Devils, he still regarded Strachan as his old subordinate and trusted him very much. And at that time, Ferguson did need Strachan to provide him with some news about the team.

At first everyone thought Strachan was Ferguson's confidant, but soon everyone found out that this was not the case. The original conflict between the two still existed and soon broke out in the Red Devils.

The conflict in the locker room was on the verge of breaking out. Strachan publicly expressed his opinions against Ferguson's rough temper, unreasonable scolding, and some unreasonable management measures. Ferguson had just arrived at the Red Devils, and he must have used some thundering methods in management. When the coaching was not going well, his hot temper was naturally out of control, but no matter what, Ferguson could not tolerate such disobedience from Strachan. In 1987, Ferguson talked to Strachan alone, "I very much hope that you can give full play to your technical advantages, find a breakthrough in the area on the left side of the midfield, and promote the team's offense to develop in depth and into the opponent's penalty area. In addition, I hope that you can return to our defense zone in time when defending, and also help the left back defend on the left side of the -meter area to delay the opponent's advancement."

Strachan said: "Boss, I will definitely implement your request. I would like to express my personal opinion. The technical elements of the current team are getting worse and worse. The players' running is very bad. There are a lot of blind running and not being in place. I hope that in daily training, the coaching staff will listen to more suggestions and organize more short-distance passes. The Red Devils are becoming more and more like an English team. Without technology, there is no soul."

Ferguson: "Your suggestion is very good, but I hope you remember your activity area and don't run around."

Strachan: "Boss, I don't run around, I'm a free man, that's my best position."

After Ferguson finished talking with Strachan, he found that Strachan did not strictly follow the tactical requirements, and his habits at Aberdeen returned. Not only that, Strachan even relied on the fact that he came first and was the hero of the Red Devils' FA Cup victory, and began to compete with Ferguson everywhere, constantly making Ferguson uncomfortable.

The conflict soon came. Ferguson often played some music in the player's lounge, which Strachan didn't like very much. He later threw the tape into the trash can on the grounds that it was not good to listen to and would disturb the players' mood. Ferguson was furious, but Strachan refused to apologize.

The conflict finally broke out. During the halftime of a league match, Ferguson was furious because of the team's poor performance. The hair dryer in the locker room was blasting. Strachan did not intend to listen silently, but directly contradicted and spoke rudely. Ferguson was furious and threw a kettle at Strachan's head. The kettle did not hit the target, but the boiling water splashed everywhere, and Strachan was also soaked.

Strachan was so angry that he rushed over to fight with Ferguson, but fortunately the staff quickly separated the two sides. After the halftime break, Ferguson directly replaced Strachan and did not let him play in the second half of the game.

Ferguson's authority on the court cannot be challenged. Strachan did not agree with Ferguson's requirements and did what he wanted on the court, which was unacceptable to Ferguson. Even though Strachan was over 30 and still in good physical condition, Ferguson decided to replace him with a new player.

Ferguson eventually sent Strachan to Leeds United, and the two sides parted ways unhappily again.

When Strachan came to Leeds United, the team was still playing in the English League Two, but the head coach Wilkinson respected him very much and immediately appointed him as the captain. Strachan was determined to make a new world here. He began to talk to his teammates and motivate them to fight. He quickly won the support of his teammates and promoted the team's continuous progress. His superb ball control, flexible running and sharp passing organization were all very lacking in Leeds United. And his strong ability to create opportunities has become the key weapon for Leeds to score goals.

After joining Leeds United, Strachan quickly helped the team to be promoted back to the First Division. After the promotion, Strachan led the team to the fourth place in the First Division in the 1990-91 season, and he also won the honor of England Footballer of the Year. In this season, Leeds United continued to work hard and rushed towards the championship goal. Strachan said: "I didn't expect the team to perform so strongly at first, but we worked very hard and the team has been united and fighting, so we finally created a miracle. Thanks to the new players who joined, and even more thanks to our old friends who have been fighting together, we are the hardest working team in the league."

After losing to the Red Devils in both cup competitions, Leeds United put aside all distractions and focused on winning the league title. In the end, they won the league title, and Strachan also reached the pinnacle of honor. The championship was also the best recognition of his outstanding leadership ability.

Ferguson was of course not happy about the Red Devils losing to Leeds United, but he was still very generous to congratulate his opponent. When talking about Strachan, Ferguson said: "I want to sincerely congratulate Strachan. He proved the greatness of Scottish players and his extraordinary ability. The league title won by Leeds United is Strachan's achievement and his greatest contribution."

Strachan thanked Ferguson in an interview. He said: "I want to thank many people, including Ferguson. The best years of my career were spent working with him. Without his command and guidance, I would not have the success I have today. I am not being sarcastic. I have gained a lot in Aberdeen and Manchester United, and of course I have learned a lot in Leeds United now. Dedicating to a team requires a lot of personal sacrifices, and I can understand Ferguson."

Strachan did not retire from the Premier League until 1995 at the age of 38. Strachan later served as head coach for Coventry, Southampton, Celtic, Middlesbrough and other teams. He returned to the Scottish Premier League to coach Celtic and won the honor of the best coach in the Scottish Premier League. He served as an ambassador for FIFA and the Scottish SOS program.

Strachan has a lot of connections with Chinese football. When he was coaching Celtic, he brought in Chinese defender Du Wei, making it the first time for a Chinese player to play for a Scottish Premier League giant.

Strachan was later invited to comment on football matches for the media. He was very popular for his dry humor and wise analytical ability. The most famous of his work with Adrian Chiles on the BBC was Strachan's witty remarks and unique insights, which made the fans very excited.