The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 229 The result is more important than the scene

"In competitive sports, the key is always the results of the game, not your advantage or overwhelming statistics. You can shoot as much as you want, attack as much as you want, but if you waste too many opportunities during the game, you will be punished in the end."

--Inscription

The Red Devils have a very busy schedule in mid-to-late September, playing a game almost every three days during this period.

In addition to the league, there is also the UEFA Cup, and the domestic League Cup also takes place at this time, requiring Manchester United to play.

On September 9, the Red Devils played in the second round of the League Cup away against Brighton.

In this game, Ferguson continued to choose the strategy of partial rotation. He selected the second goalkeeper Walsh to play, and continued to use youth players Lee Martin and Brighton Moore as the starting defenders. He also used a rotating Donaghy. The midfielders included Webber, Phelan, Robins and Wallace. Giggs was rested, and the frontcourt was McClair and Hughes.

Ferguson's lineup was still very risky, mainly because he sent four players who usually play as forwards to play together. The opponent Brighton was not a strong team at the time, and was playing in a low-level league. After the game started, Manchester United launched a series of attacks, but they did not have much effect. There were many problems with the positioning and cooperation of the frontcourt players, which also made Manchester United's attack always stop at the first pass before entering the penalty area. The opponent Brighton played the game in their own small field, which was very familiar to them. Secondly, it also restricted Manchester United's development and use of large spaces, making the game less controlled by Manchester United. The two sides played with sparks at the beginning of the game, but after 4 minutes, the game became a bit dull.

The two sides were deadlocked in the game. Brighton was quite self-aware and always used long passes to deal with Manchester United. Once they lost the ball, they would shrink their army and defend intensively, not giving Manchester United more space and opportunities. In the 17th minute, Manchester United played a match in the opponent's penalty area. Webber passed the ball, Brighton Moore rushed forward and rushed to the penalty area to receive the ball, and then passed it back to Phelan in the middle. Hughes ran to the other side and immediately shot after receiving Phelan's timely pass. This shot was very powerful, but the ball was too straight and was firmly caught by the opponent's goalkeeper; in the 31st minute, Manchester United made a corner kick and Donaghy was knocked down in the penalty area while trying to get a position, but the referee did not blow the whistle; in the 35th minute, Manchester United took consecutive corner kicks, and several crosses did not pose a threat and were easily cleared by the opponent. In the 37th minute, Manchester United launched an offensive on the left. This time Wallace took the ball and walked a few steps horizontally, and shot directly outside the opponent's penalty area. This was an amazing super long shot. The ball whizzed directly into the upper corner of Brighton's goal, and Manchester United led 1-0.

The long shot was so sharp that the fans at the opponent's home stadium were silent.

As Brighton fell behind, they stepped up their attack. They frequently used long passes to launch attacks, although they were not very threatening. However, in the 64th minute, Manchester United's defense suddenly made a mistake. Two defenders collided with each other in the penalty area and there was no way to clear the ball. The Brighton striker didn't even say thank you and directly shot and scored, tying the score to 1-1.

In the following 20 minutes, Manchester United continued to attack, and Ferguson also replaced new players to launch attacks, but Manchester United players also did not wear shooting boots properly in this game, and did not seize the opportunities that appeared in the game. Blackmore missed a shot from 8 yards in front of the goal, and Phelan missed a volley near the penalty spot... In the last few minutes, the Red Devils once besieged the opponent, but still failed to win.

In this way, the two sides tied 1-1 in this game and needed to replay the game on another day.

Just like he trained Gary Neville against Torpedo Moscow, Ferguson also sent Beckham off the bench in this game. The kids from Class 92 started to get their chances to appear on the field one by one.

Beckham's recollection is very interesting. "I never thought I would appear in this kind of game, because I felt that I was too young to play in this kind of game. When Kidd informed me that I would be included in the squad, I didn't believe it at all. I thought he and Robson and other old buddies were playing a prank on me. When I confirmed that I was really included in the squad, I was so excited that I didn't sleep all night."

In the game, Beckham, who came on as a substitute, learned from Gary Neville's lesson. He tried his best to be more confident, and ran very actively. He played very well in the midfield and was very proactive.

Although the game was not won in the end, and although Ferguson's team had no advantage in the last 10 minutes or so, Beckham completed the task of the game with an outstanding performance.

"What a pity, we were just one goal away!" Beckham thought secretly after the game. He hoped to score a goal in the next game and win victory for the team.

After the game, Robson joked with him, "David, do you pee your pants in front of your opponent?"

"No, I didn't, Brian, you should have seen me tackle him, I even tackled the guy."

"I see. Your courage is commendable. But I also want to tell you that there is no need to irritate the opponent like this during the game. We just need to play our style. We can't do stupid things that will bring trouble to ourselves just to attract the attention of the head coach and assistant coach."

Back in the 10th round of the league, the Red Devils faced Queens Park Rangers at home.

Ferguson's use of players in the league was different. In this game, he let Giggs and Kanchelskis return to the starting lineup. In the midfield, because Phelan and Webber were slightly injured in the previous game, he chose his son Darren Ferguson to play with Ince, and Hughes and McClair were still in the frontcourt.

Queens Park Rangers is a team of average strength, good at long passes and quick attacks, and their playing style is very English. Ferguson had a way to deal with this style of play. After the game started, he quickly distributed the ball to both wings and played a quick side attack to suppress the opponent. When defending, he recovered more tightly, trying to reduce the opponent's space, not allowing the opponent's long passes to have a free choice of landing points, and not allowing the opponent to easily respond while running. After the game started, the Red Devils pressed the opponent all over the field, passing the ball from the side many times, and the ball flew back and forth like the windshield wipers of a car, but no attacker could get the ball into the opponent's net.

The most frustrated player in this game was Mark Hughes. Following the missed great opportunities in the previous game, he missed an excellent chance in front of the goal in the 7th minute. Kanchelskis made a cross from the right and almost put the ball in front of him, but his header was incredibly headed off; in the 10th minute, he wasted Ings's through pass in the middle. When he turned with the ball, he adjusted too much. When he shot, he was disturbed by the opponent's central defender. He had to shoot hastily, but was hugged by the opponent's goalkeeper; in the 19th minute, he failed to fight with the opponent's central defender in the penalty area and failed to get in position to shoot; in the 33rd minute, he missed another excellent chance in the middle. This time, Giggs went down the left and dribbled the ball into the penalty area and then made a triangle pass, but Hughes was still a beat late in his rush to the front point and his shot was blocked by the opponent's defender; in the 57th minute, Hughes and McClair cooperated in the penalty area, and finally his shot missed the target, wasting this opportunity. In the 63rd minute, he held off the opponent's central defender, stole the ball and turned to get a single shot, but his shot was not at the right angle and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper! After missing two consecutive single shots in the previous games, he missed two excellent scoring opportunities in front of the goal in this game, and ultimately failed to help the Red Devils win the game.

On September 9, the Red Devils once again faced the challenge of Torpedo Moscow in the UEFA Cup.

In order to ensure promotion, Ferguson sent out all the main players in this game. After the game started, the wing attack tactics formulated by Ferguson before the game were also played very well. Giggs and Kanchelskis had continuous opportunities to attack the opponent one-on-one and create more opportunities. The Red Devils still had absolute possession of the ball on the court, and the offensive once developed to the extent of besieging the opponent's goal. Torpedo Moscow was passive everywhere and retreated to the penalty area to be beaten. The Red Devils were infinitely close to victory, but the forwards missed a single shot and wasted an empty goal opportunity. Not only that, Mark Hughes even received a red card.

At the end of the game, the Red Devils were unexpectedly tied.

In the end, the two sides exchanged penalties. Although Schmeichel saved a penalty kick from his opponent, the shots of Pallister and Parker were saved. The Red Devils were eliminated by Torpedo Moscow with a score of 3-4.

The Red Devils had an absolute advantage, but were eliminated in the first round of the UEFA Cup. The media was in an uproar after the game and the fans also burst into criticism.

The Red Devils were not only in the UEFA Cup, but also in the league and League Cup, which was incomprehensible to the fans. The very depressed fan group wanted to organize a meeting with the club, hoping to meet with the coach and some players who performed poorly, but Ferguson refused.

The Red Devils finally sent club chairman Edwards and captain Robson as representatives to meet with the Red Devils Fans Association. Robson is still recovering from injury, but he still confidently shared the team's internal training and game situation with the fans, conveying a positive attitude and full confidence to the fans.

The fans were not satisfied, but they did not know how to vent their anger as they did not see Ferguson and Mark Hughes. The meeting ended with Edwards' assurance, "We all know that the team's striker Dablin is seriously injured. The team management will actively seek a new striker at the request of the coach."

In October, the Red Devils challenged Middlesbrough away in the 11th round of the league.

In this match, the Red Devils took the initiative from the beginning. In the first half, the Red Devils made a long pass from the right. After Giggs attracted the defender to intercept near the left sideline, Irwin tacitly cut into the penalty area. The Middlesbrough defender knocked Irwin down with a flying tackle, and the referee whistled for a penalty kick. Bruce took the penalty kick and the Red Devils led 1-0.

In the second half, Middlesbrough was unwilling to admit defeat and launched a lot of offensives. They got a free kick in the midfield and sent the ball into the Red Devils penalty area with a long pass. After two headers, the Red Devils were unable to clear the ball and were instead passed to the right side of the penalty area by the opponent with two headers. There was no one defending this side of the Red Devils. After the opponent entered, he faced Schmeichel and shot directly, making the score 1-1. After being tied, the Red Devils continued to launch an offensive, pressing the opponent, but the forwards just couldn't score, missed many opportunities in succession, and ultimately failed to defeat the opponent.

For the depressed Red Devils fans, the only good news came from the old captain. Robson returned from injury and played as a substitute in this game.

The Red Devils started the league with two losses and one draw, then went on a hot streak of five consecutive league wins, and then to a strange six-game losing streak. Ferguson's team's performance fluctuated too much, leaving the Red Devils fans at a loss and unable to remain calm.

The situation that the Red Devils are about to face is even more dangerous, because in addition to the League Cup make-up match, they will also face a strong challenge from Liverpool in a short period of time. Even Ferguson feels the pressure is huge, and the entire Red Devils team is not only busy dealing with the dense schedule of almost one game every three days, but also very difficult to adjust their status.

Just like riding a roller coaster, such a game is extremely exciting, but the huge difference in ups and downs makes it difficult for the players to maintain a good condition, and even more difficult for them to be full of confidence in winning.

Ferguson is now under great pressure. He needs to consider how to narrow the gap and catch up with the teams at the top of the table.