The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 213 Blooming and Withering

"The story of Leeds United is full of topics. They were promoted from the long-struggling Second Division to the First Division, and succeeded in challenging the First Division championship after just one season. The white rose bloomed amazingly. But since then, it has been difficult for them to maintain their strong character. The blooming of winning the championship was gorgeous, and the passion to challenge the Champions League was fierce, but the speed of withering was also unexpected."

--Inscription

Ferguson felt extremely regretful, but he did not think that Leeds United could continue to be strong, let alone maintain its hegemony over England.

But at that time, no one would pay attention to his opinion. The media and fans were immersed in the legendary progress of Leeds United. You know, this is a team that was still in the second division two seasons ago. Leeds United has been fighting in the English second division for many years and has not succeeded in the first division. But now they have become the incredible top league champions.

How did the once colorless white rose come to life and bloom proudly?

The key time point was October 1988, when Leeds United hired Howard Wilkinson to take over as coach of the team.

Wilkinson is an excellent coach. He is very smart, has a strong personality and has great prestige in the team. After Wilkinson took over as coach, he actively introduced players, including Strachan, Vinnie Jones, Mel Strang, Lee Chapman and Chris Fairclough, and boldly promoted David Batty and Gary Speed ​​from the youth team, thus creating a team that is constantly improving.

In the 1989-90 season, Wilkinson led Leeds United to sweep through the English League Two and returned to the English League One as the champions of the English League Two.

This was a great achievement at the time, as they had been in the second division for eight years before that, but Wilkinson's ambitions were clearly greater than that. In the 8-1990 season they finished fourth in the English First Division.

In the 1991-92 season, Wilkinson continued to recruit players to make the team more competitive. Strachan, Batty, McAllister and Speed ​​formed a strong midfield partnership, and Lee Chapman became a strong striker. In this Leeds United team, there are both old and ambitious superstars, as well as new and sharp killers, and cornerstone players trained by the youth training. Under Wilkinson's coaching, this team has a strong fighting spirit, strong desire and a spirit of willingness to take the initiative.

Leeds United played well at the beginning of this season, and the performance of the midfield was even more shocking. Strachan was the most prominent diamond, mainly responsible for breakthroughs and organizing the attack, while McAllister was responsible for midfield connection and transfer, and also contracted the sweep and coverage. McAllister, who joined the team in 1990, is one of the indispensable cores of the team's offense. He has excellent awareness and good vision, as well as extraordinary predictive ability, and a strong talent for launching attacks and direct assists.

Batistuta and Speed ​​are also extremely dazzling as the youth training results of Leeds United. The two young men lived up to expectations and contributed the running that Leeds United needed most. Whether it was covering and intercepting, assisting defense and filling in positions, they were very outstanding.

Striker Lee Chapman was a real goal-scoring machine. After joining the team on January 1990, 1, he scored 10 goals in 21 games. In the 12-1990 season, Chapman played 91 games and scored 38 goals, becoming the team's strongest scorer. In this season, Chapman suffered a serious injury, but he was still outstanding, scoring 31 goals in the league and helping the team win the championship.

The signing of French striker Eric Cantona was an unexpected one, as Chapman was seriously injured in January 1991 and Wilkinson signed the French striker in February. Cantona soon delighted Wilkinson, not only scoring goals, but also cooperating well with Chapman after his return, creating sparks between them.

In this way, with the whole army fighting hard and all the players striving for the first place, Leeds United finally won the English League One championship.

In the following 1992-93 season, Leeds United beat FA Cup champion Liverpool 4-3 in the Community Shield, making a good start for defending the title. Leeds United then had high ambitions to make achievements in the Champions League, but unfortunately was eliminated by Scottish Premier League powerhouse Glasgow Rangers. The team ran into difficulties in the new season's league, without introducing strong enough players, with serious injuries on the defense line, and also letting Cantona go. Under the blow of all kinds of misfortunes, Leeds United finally ranked only 17th in the standings.

In the 1993-94 season, Leeds United finished fifth in the Premier League, and fifth again the following year. In the 1995-96 season, the team was old and ranked only 13th in the Premier League, and lost to Aston Villa in the League Cup final. In the 1996-97 season, Leeds United did not improve much, and was beaten 4-0 at home by the Red Devils. Coach Wilkinson had to leave.

Leeds United appointed George Graham as the new coach, which caused great controversy. After taking over, Graham made great efforts to transform the team and strengthen the defense, but lost the traditional characteristics of active offense. In the 1996-97 season, the team finally ranked 11th in the Premier League. Graham then introduced Hasselbaink and Ribeiro, and promoted the youth training gems Kewell and Hart. In the 97-98 season, Leeds United improved and finally won the fifth place in the Premier League and won the UEFA Cup.

Shortly after the start of the 1998-99 season, Graham suddenly resigned and joined Tottenham, and assistant coach David O'Leary took over. O'Leary boldly promoted Woodgate, Smith and McPhail from the youth team, reused Kewell and Ian Hart, and recalled Batistuta, who won the championship. This season, Leeds United's performance improved, achieving a good result of fourth in points, and attracted many fans with its positive style of play. In the 4-1999 season, O'Leary was ambitious, and the team was in the league, and it was still in the top of the points until the end of 2000, but it only won third place in the end.

In the summer of 2000, O'Leary attracted striker Viduka and midfielder Dacourt at high prices, opening the way for Leeds United to borrow money to buy players. Dacourt's transfer fee of 720 million pounds set a record in the team's history, and then he spent 1800 million pounds to buy defender Rio Ferdinand.

In the 2000-01 season, Leeds United participated in the UEFA Champions League. Their opponents in the same group were AC Milan and Barcelona. O'Leary's team was seen as a runner-up. After losing 0-4 to Barcelona in the first round, Leeds United won a narrow victory over Milan by 1 goal in the second game, and then won a big victory over Besiktas. After two consecutive wins, Leeds United played steadily, played three consecutive draws, and successfully entered the second stage of the group stage.

Leeds United's opponents in the second stage of the group stage were Real Madrid, Anderlecht and Lazio. Leeds United lost both games against Real Madrid, but won two games against Anderlecht, won one game against Lazio and tied one game, successfully getting a ticket to the quarterfinals. In the quarter-finals, Leeds United eliminated Super Laco 1-4 in two games and entered the semi-finals. In the first leg, Leeds United and Valencia played 3-2, and they had the upper hand at one point. Unfortunately, Valencia played well in the second leg, and goals from Mendieta and Sanchez ended Leeds United's Champions League journey.

The White Roses' youthful demeanor has won wide acclaim, and many talented young players in the team have also attracted widespread attention from the entire European football world.

Leeds United played wonderful football, but the team was in financial crisis. Chairman Peter Ridsdale operated in debt, hoping to fill the funding gap with TV broadcasting fees and sponsorship income after winning the championship, but this risk was unlikely to succeed. Leeds United ranked only fifth in the Premier League and was defeated in the semi-finals of the Champions League. It could not participate in the next Champions League, which completely triggered the team's debt crisis.

In the summer of 2002, Leeds United had to sell Ferdinand to their arch-rivals Manchester United for £3000 million. Other players were also put on the shelf, including Woodgate, Bowyer, Fowler, Keane, Martin and Kewell, who were all transferred at low prices. At the same time, O'Leary was fired and Venables took over. Venables was unable to lead the team out of the quagmire and was soon replaced by Peter Reid. Leeds United ranked 2002th in the 03-15 season and barely avoided relegation. The youthful white army of the past had completely disappeared.

In the 2003-04 season, Leeds United's misfortunes worsened. Reid was quickly fired by the team and Gray took over as a caretaker coach. Due to the huge debts that led to serious deficits, the original board of directors and major shareholders were embarrassedly kicked out, and the team was directly relegated at the end of the season.

From being the champion of English Football League One to being relegated to the Premier League, from being in the top four of the Champions League to being bullied by everyone, Leeds United's decline is shocking.

A passionate time for young people in white clothes, an era of dreams for youth football, has ended just like that.

In the summer of 2004, Leeds United was still in debt and had to sell its home stadium for £420 million. In a time of crisis, wealthy businessman Bates offered £1000 million to buy the club's ownership.

In the 2004-05 season, Leeds United ranked in the middle of the Championship. In the 2005-06 season, they rose to the top six in the standings and were able to participate in the promotion play-offs, but were defeated by Watford 3-0. In the 2006-07 season, Leeds United had a bad start and the board had to change coaches. After Blackwell and Carver were fired one after another, legendary player Wise became the new coach. This season, Leeds United's financial crisis broke out again. On May 2007, 5, the team was placed under financial administration. Due to financial violations, 4 league points were deducted and the team was relegated to the third-tier league for the first time in history.

In the summer of 2007, Leeds United was put up for sale after the end of the trusteeship, and no one was interested in it. In the 2007-08 season, Leeds United was deducted 15 league points before the start of the season due to financial irregularities. Head coach Wise and his assistant coach Poyet completely rebuilt the team. Although Poyet and Wise left the team during the season, the team's meritorious McAllister took over the coaching position and led the team to the final of the League One promotion play-offs at the end of the season, but unfortunately lost 0-1 to Doncaster.

In the summer of 2008, McAllister signed several heavyweight players in succession to continue rebuilding the team. McAllister was too aggressive in his coaching, and the team lost a series of games, so he was fired midway. The club appointed Grayson as head coach, who led Leeds United to quickly turn the situation around, ranking fourth in the points at the end of the season and participating in the promotion play-offs, but was eliminated by Millwall in the semi-finals with a total score of 2-1.

In the 2009-10 season, Leeds United finally reaped the rewards of their hard work. After the start of the season, the team won eight consecutive games and set an amazing 26-game unbeaten streak at home, and was directly promoted to the Championship.

In the first season after being promoted to the Championship, the White Army made a large-scale signing to strengthen the team. In the 2011-12 season, the club owner Bates and the fans had a conflict, which seriously affected the team's preparations and overall state. After losing 2012-2 to Birmingham at home on February 1, 1, the meritorious coach Grayson was fired and Warnock took over as the new coach, but ultimately there was no hope of promotion to the Premier League.

In the middle of the 2012-13 season, Leeds United owner Bates became disheartened and sold the club to the Middle Eastern tycoon Gulf Financial Capital on December 12.

Leeds United joined the Middle East tycoon, but has always been fighting in the second-tier league. In the summer of 2018, Bielsa took over the coaching of Leeds United. He spent two years carefully polishing and building a team with a strong offensive spirit. In the 2-2018 season, Leeds United lost in the play-offs, but in the 19-2019 season, they performed well and locked the championship of this season in advance, returning to the Premier League after 2020 years.

After successfully reaching the Premier League, Bielsa became the hero of the entire Leeds United team. Not only did the Argentine Football Association send a congratulatory letter, but even Guardiola also congratulated Bielsa, saying that "the best coach in the world has come to the Premier League."