The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 214 A Different Double Crown

"The Red Devils did not gain nothing this season. Winning the League Cup and the European Super Cup has given the Red Devils fans fewer regrets and more expectations. It has also made Ferguson full of confidence in the future."

--Inscription

Although they lost the league title to Leeds United, most of the Red Devils fans still supported their manager. At the end of the season, some media produced a special feature titled "Six years without a title, how long does Ferguson have left?" to stir up trouble, but it failed to incite the Red Devils fans.

The Manchester United fans are not blind. Ferguson's Manchester United were not completely trophyless in six years. Ferguson brought the team an FA Cup and a European Cup Winners' Cup, which are both very important championships. The team also finished second in the league twice.

The most important point is that the fans see hope in the current team. The team coached by Ferguson has brought them a different experience. The Scotsman is truly rebuilding a strong team and truly seeing the team getting better. Some Red Devils fans did want to drive Ferguson away in the 1989-90 season, but Ferguson finally led the team to win the FA Cup, stopped the downward trend, and saved his position as coach.

Ferguson also brought hope to the Red Devils management. The Red Devils understood that to revive the glory of the Busby era, it would require long-term investment and patience, and the head coach would need excellent long-term planning and effective coaching. During Ferguson's years at the Red Devils, he completely rebuilt the team. Although it has gone through many twists and turns, the team is indeed making progress and has also demonstrated its unique competitiveness with championships.

This season, Ferguson led the team to win new honors.

First, the European Super Cup in the middle of the season was the first honor that Ferguson led the team to strive for. The European Super Cup is an official competition organized by UEFA to pit the champion of the European Cup Winners' Cup against the champion of the European Champions' Cup. The Red Devils played as the champion of the European Cup Winners' Cup this season, and their opponent was the Yugoslav giants Red Star Belgrade, which had amazed the entire European football world.

The Red Star Belgrade football team has a long history, but its development process has been very bumpy. In 1992, Yugoslavia disintegrated into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Croatia, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to Serbia and Montenegro, and the name of Yugoslavia disappeared completely. In 2006, Montenegro separated and became independent, and Serbia became a landlocked country without access to the sea. In 2008, Kosovo split from Serbia and established an independent country.

In those days, Red Star Belgrade was a unique football team that dominated the Yugoslav league and was a European powerhouse. Around 1990, Red Star Belgrade was an absolute powerhouse, and its strength shocked the European arena. Jugovic, Mihajlovic, Pantsev, Savicevic and Prosinecki were all famous superstars in the team, and their offensive firepower made the whole of Europe bow down. Even after leaving Yugoslavia, these stars later made a name for themselves in the top European leagues.

Liobu Petrovic, who later coached the Shanghai Shenhua team in China, was the head coach of the Red Star team at the time. He led the team to defeat various powerful teams in the European Champions Cup and won the championship in one fell swoop. He is the team's most famous meritorious coach.

The Red Devils faced off against the Champions League winners Red Star Belgrade, just as Ferguson had just celebrated his fifth anniversary as the Red Devils coach. At the time, the European Super Cup system was that the two teams played one round at home, and the final result of the two games was used to determine the champion. However, by this time Yugoslavia had fallen into political turmoil, and UEFA finally decided to only play one game at Old Trafford.

The match was held at the Red Devils' home ground on November 1991, 11. Although most media were more optimistic about the Red Star team before the game, Ferguson was full of confidence. The Red Devils defeated Barcelona in the European Cup Winners' Cup, relying on their strength and fighting spirit to defeat their opponents. Ferguson had no doubts about the Red Devils' fighting power, and the Red Devils were also full of confidence in defeating their opponents and winning the Super Cup.

Before the European Super Cup, Red Star Belgrade was seriously affected by the chaos in the domestic situation. Many stars were concerned about the safety of themselves and their families, the direction of the country and the development of the situation. They were so restless that they almost didn't care about the Super Cup.

This difference ultimately determines the trend and outcome of the game. The Red Devils were in high spirits and played in a very targeted manner. They did not compete with their opponents in terms of individual skills, nor did they fight with their opponents in a certain area. Instead, they retreated to the midfield as a whole and then fought for the initiative with their opponents. Ferguson asked McClair to return to the midfield to increase the strength of the midfield, stabilize the midfield, and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack. The Red Devils started a close fight with their opponents in the midfield at the beginning of the game, using active scrambling to stop the opponent from advancing. The Red Devils' stranglehold in the midfield was very strong. Even if the opponent's style itself was also very tough, they had to be deeply involved in the melee, and the game was constantly interrupted and entered fragmented time. In this way, the Red Star team's concise and smooth offensive style could not be brought into play, and the threat of rapid advancement was completely eliminated. Not only that, the Red Star team was not particularly committed to this game. Their players were obviously more afraid of injuries, and they seemed conservative in scrambling. They were a bit careless about the outcome of the game, which gave the Red Devils more opportunities to seize the initiative.

In this game, the Red Devils' Ings and Kanchelskis performed well in the midfield. Ings was not only fierce in intercepting, but also very efficient in midfield scheduling and offensive organization. Kanchelskis ran back and forth up and down the left road, perfectly utilizing his speed advantage, effectively suppressing the opponent's entire right-wing attack and disrupting the opponent's entire defensive system deployment.

The two sides were tied 0-0 in the first half, but the Red Devils gradually took control of the situation in the second half. In the 67th minute, the Red Devils won a free kick, and McClair scored in the melee. The Red Devils eventually won 1-0 and had the last laugh in the game.

In this way, the Red Devils won the European Super Cup.

Soon after the Super Cup, Yugoslavia also disintegrated. The national disaster hit Red Star extremely hard, and even destroyed this powerful team composed of stars from all over Eastern Europe. They had to disband the entire club. Later, Red Star rebuilt with great difficulty and became the league leader again, but it was difficult to regain its previous status in European football.

Later, the Bosman rule was implemented in European football, which soon put Red Star into a crisis of losing excellent players. Under the dual temptation of money and honor, it is difficult for anyone to resist. The top clubs in the five major European leagues plundered the Red Star team, and the outstanding players of the Red Star team left one after another. Red Star suffered a serious blow, and its strength plummeted, and it could no longer compete with the top clubs in the five major European leagues. Even though it later cultivated new talents such as Stankovic and Kovacevic, it could only maintain its dominant position in the country and could not compete with the top clubs in the five major leagues.

The subsequent development of the Red Star team was full of ups and downs. Relying on loyal and dedicated players and coaches, relying on the youth training system and tapping domestic talents, it still developed with difficulty. Even after the 90s, the country was torn apart and Belgrade was caught in the flames of war. Many young players moved abroad early and famous stars left the country one after another. The team has always been persevering and struggling to survive and develop. Under the protection of this tenacious will, the Red Star team quickly restored its strong combat effectiveness. They also returned to their dominant position in the domestic league. This team, founded in 1945, has a glorious history. It has won 1 European Cup, 29 domestic league championships, and 24 domestic cup championships. It is truly the strongest overlord in the domestic league.

After years of being strong in the domestic league, Red Star once again entered the Champions League in the 2018-19 season, reappearing in the highest level of European competition. But even so, with the turmoil in Yugoslavia, the team has stumbled to where it is today. Eastern Europe, including Yugoslavia, has been in economic difficulties and social unrest for a long time, and their domestic football level has plummeted. Even if Red Star appears in the European arena again, their strength has long been greatly weakened.

Back in 1992, the Red Devils won the European Super Cup after a difficult victory over Red Star. Ferguson once again added a rare championship trophy to the Red Devils' honors room.

Ferguson himself did not expect that this European Super Cup would be the only one he won in his Red Devils career. Although he later led the Red Devils to win the Champions League twice, the team lost in the subsequent European Super Cup.

In addition to the European Super Cup, Ferguson also made a breakthrough in the English League Cup this season.

The Red Devils began their League Cup journey in September 1991. Ferguson also went all out in the League Cup, sending out all the main players to fight and marching all the way to the final.

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The Red Devils' opponent in the quarter-finals was Leeds United, and the match was determined by the "draw" of the future US President Trump. He was invited to participate in the draw ceremony when he was still the owner of the US Trump Company, and he eventually drew the Red Devils himself, while another guest drew Leeds United first.

Against the White Roses, Ferguson's team took the lead at the opponent's home ground and played vigorously, suppressing the opponent's fierce attack. The young Giggs had a very eye-catching performance in this game, not only scoring goals, but also assists, and finally helped the Red Devils eliminate Leeds United 3-1.

In the semi-finals, the Red Devils' opponent was Middlesbrough. The two sides ended in a 0-0 draw in the first game. In the second game, the Red Devils defeated their opponents 2-1 with the cheers of home fans. The young Giggs and Lee Sharpe helped the Red Devils score goals.

The Red Devils made it to the final and faced their final opponent, Nottingham Forest, at Wimbledon Stadium.

Before this final, the Forest team was in turmoil, while the Red Devils were in high spirits and had an extremely strong desire to win the championship.

At the start of the final, Ferguson's Red Devils quickly took the initiative. Although captain Robson was absent due to injury, the team suppressed the opponent from the beginning. Ferguson also sent Giggs to start. The Welsh winger continued to make extremely sharp breakthroughs and actively attacked the opponent's right wing. Forest did not play well in this game. Their hard-core long-rush and short-hang style of play had long been familiar to the Red Devils and they were ready. In view of the opponent's preference to directly cross the midfield, Bruce and Pallister completely controlled the high ball landing point in the penalty area, and the two wingers restricted the opponent's bottom cross, leaving only a 45-degree diagonal lob for the opponent, which ultimately did not pose any threat. After the Red Devils strengthened their defense, they also played to the fullest with their characteristics of wing attack and rapid advancement. When the Forest team retreated across the board, Giggs assisted and Brian McClair scored a key goal. The Red Devils defeated Nottingham Forest 1-0 and won the League Cup championship trophy.

This was Ferguson's first League Cup title with the Red Devils. He said: "We have just experienced an intense and tense game and we have won a well-deserved victory. We have won a new championship honor, which is an important success. Although the opponent performed well, we always controlled the situation. Our offense was far better than that of the opponent. Although we only scored one goal, we created a lot of opportunities."

The European Super Cup and League Cup are the latest two honors that Ferguson has won for the Red Devils. From the FA Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup to the European Super Cup and League Cup, all the fans are excited about the achievements that Ferguson has made. They are all waiting for the day when Ferguson's Red Devils will successfully hit the league title, and they strongly hope that day will come sooner.