The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 238: Defeating the Top Team

Cantona showed strong plug-and-play ability. He didn't even need any adaptation period. He seamlessly connected the Red Devils' midfield and frontcourt, and showed effective control, which quickly improved the Red Devils' attack level.

--Inscription

After Cantona joined the Red Devils, Ferguson did not start him immediately for the sake of caution. Instead, he let him adapt to the team's training first, then arranged a friendly match to warm up before letting him play in the official game.

Cantona is a little impatient and is ready to play for the Red Devils.

It was normal for Ferguson to send him on the field, but he couldn't believe that Cantona would bring such a huge change to the team, as if a war behemoth was suddenly unsealed.

On December 1992, 12, the Red Devils played against their city rivals Manchester City at home.

The game was exciting. Cantona did not start but came on as a substitute in the second half. Cantona did not touch the ball too many times in a short period of time and was not able to score a goal, but he quickly and effectively changed the situation on the field and reversed the passive situation of the Red Devils. He regained the advantage of ball possession, controlled the rhythm, and helped the team no longer be in the embarrassing situation of being attacked by the opponent. Before Cantona came on the court, the Red Devils had already scored two goals by Hughes and Ince, and the team had already switched to defense. The frontcourt attack became scarce, and Cantona did not get enough shooting opportunities. Even so, Cantona was very confident in ball control and transfer, and it was difficult for the opponent's midfielder to steal the ball from his feet. Even in the face of the opponent's fierce attack, Cantona also made active efforts to fight back to his own half to assist in defense and share the pressure of the defense. Thanks to the outstanding performance of the Red Devils' defense, especially Schmeichel's heroic performance and continuous saves, the team finally won the opponent 2-1.

After the game, a reporter commented, "Cantona didn't score a goal, but he stabilized the team after he came on the field and eventually helped the Red Devils win three points. Cantona's performance is worth looking forward to. The Red Devils haven't played so confidently for a long time, and the midfield and frontcourt haven't been so organized for a long time."

A week later, the Red Devils faced the challenge of the top team Norwich at home, with Cantona starting.

Cantona performed very well in the pre-match training. After the training, he immediately went to Ferguson and actively asked for the game. Ferguson made a decision early and arranged Cantona to start.

This match was extremely important for the Red Devils to catch up with the points. It was a match worth 6 points. Ferguson boldly changed the lineup and formation deployment of the previous game. Not only did he let Cantona start, but he also replaced Kanchelskis with Lee Sharpe. The formation was changed to a rare swinging position of 4231 and 433. In Ferguson's tactical arrangement, Hughes was in the center forward position, with Cantona behind him, and Giggs and Lee Sharpe on both sides of Cantona. The front formation could evolve into three forwards with Giggs and Lee Sharpe one step forward at any time, or it could become two forwards with Cantona and Hughes cooperating and four midfielders. There were many changes in formation and tactics, which required a very high level of players.

Cantona played very well in this game, but after the game he said, "I am still not satisfied with my performance. I can score a goal and I should have created an assist." Reporters and fans once again applauded Cantona's performance. He showed elegant skills in the game and fully exerted his impact. It was because the opponent attached great importance to defending him that the defense line was leaked. The Red Devils firmly held the advantage throughout the game. Under Cantona's control and command, the front court played well. Lee Sharpe made a cross from the left, and the opponent's defender made a mistake in clearing the ball. Mark Hughes seized the opportunity and easily scored a goal in front of the goal. The Red Devils defeated the powerful opponent 1-0.

The happiest person in the Red Devils team after winning this game was not Cantona, but central defender Bruce. Norwich was the club Bruce played for before, but after leaving here, Bruce suffered humiliation and abuse from the Canary fans, which made him feel under great pressure. The two teams had won and lost in the previous matches. The coach of Norwich was very familiar with Bruce's characteristics and always used small and fast players to attack his defense, which made him miserable. Only after Pallister's rapid growth in the past two years did Bruce truly show a strong dominance. In addition, with the joining of Cantona this season, the overall strength of the team has been significantly improved. After this fierce battle, the defense led by Bruce played stably without any loopholes, and it was considered a smooth win over the opponent.

After beating Manchester City and Norwich, the Red Devils climbed to the top of the standings. Cantona's statistics were not impressive, but his teammates in the game had already felt the huge change. When Cantona was on the field, the game became less difficult and scoring opportunities came easily.

On December 12, the Red Devils played away against Chelsea, and Cantona continued to start. In this game, the Red Devils made a mistake in the backcourt and the opponent scored a goal. After falling behind, the Red Devils launched a large-scale attack, while Chelsea fully contracted their defense. In the 19th minute, Cantona found an opportunity in the opponent's penalty area, took advantage of the chaos and made a supplementary shot in front of the goal to help the Red Devils get 79 point with difficulty. Cantona scored the first goal of his Red Devils career. This goal was not beautiful, but Cantona was sharp and quick in the penalty area, and his ability to find and seize opportunities was very strong.

The door to goal opened and Cantona began to perform better.

On December 12, the Red Devils will challenge Sheffield Wednesday away.

In this match, the Red Devils fell behind from the start. The Red Devils were scored by the opponent in the second minute of the first half, and fell behind by two goals in the sixth minute. The defeat was almost inevitable. The Red Devils' defense in this match was scumbag. The two goals were lost because the defenders completely lost their positions and missed the opponent's attackers. They were defeated by the opponent's two simple high balls from the backcourt. The Red Devils' defense was scumbag, and their offense was not lucky enough. In the first half, the Red Devils' forwards missed at least three excellent opportunities in front of the opponent's goal. First, a corner kick was passed to the front of the goal. McClair attacked the goal with almost no pressure three meters in front of the goal, but headed the ball to the opponent's goalkeeper. Then, after the side attack was passed into the penalty area, Giggs also lost a good opportunity in the rush for the ball. The volley shot on the small penalty area line slipped out of the goal! Then the Red Devils corner kick was broken out of the penalty area by the opponent, and Lee Sharp made another accurate cross. McClair once again jumped high and headed the ball in front of the opponent's goalkeeper without any defense, but the ball hit the crossbar again!

The Red Devils seemed unable to break through the opponent's goal no matter what, and not long after the start of the second half, the Red Devils' defense made another mistake. The opponent made a high cross into the penalty area. A Sheffield Wednesday player received the pass at the back post, and another attacker quickly broke through the Red Devils' defense and easily scored. Sheffield 3-0 Red Devils!

The situation of falling behind by three goals deeply stimulated Ferguson. At that moment, he was not thinking about the painful defeat, the chaos under tremendous pressure, or the powerlessness of the result. He was unwilling to admit defeat and did not accept everything in front of him. He firmly believed that his team should respond and must not be so cowardly and must not lose in such a muddle.

Ferguson roared on the sidelines, "Charge, charge everyone! We must intensify our attack, hit them, hit them hard, they can't stand it, they will collapse soon!"

The commentator on the sidelines asked a soul-searching question: "Will the Red Devils give up? Will they voluntarily admit defeat?"

They themselves quickly gave their answer: "No way, Ferguson will never admit defeat, and the Red Devils will never accept defeat."

The Red Devils players certainly couldn't give up, and they didn't believe that they would always have bad luck and fail to score. The Red Devils have always been known for their comebacks, and with Cantona, they are now even more determined to turn the situation around in the face of despair, launching an even more fierce offensive.

The Red Devils' continued onslaught once again flustered the opponent. Lee Sharpe made a cross from the right, and six Red Devils players in red jerseys rushed to attack the goal in the penalty area. In the chaos, McClair scored with a powerful header, 1 to 3. Soon the Red Devils made a comeback, and this time Lee Sharpe broke through the opponent's defense. He made a fake move on the left and passed the opponent's defender before making an accurate cross. McClair, who was ambushing in front of the goal, successfully rushed to the front point and scored again with a header!

The score became 2 to 3!

The Red Devils still attacked with all their might at the last moment. Lee Sharpe shined again. The magical Red Devils winger got the ball on the left again. He quickly advanced into the opponent's penalty area and swept a cross to the middle of the penalty area. This assist caused confusion for the opponent. Cantona stood up at the critical moment. He first retreated to the back point to wait for an opportunity, received the cross pass at the edge of the small penalty area, and directly shot a cushion. This cushion shot was not kicked correctly and was intercepted by the opponent's goalkeeper and defender who fell to the ground. In a flash, Cantona quickly started forward, fell to the ground and slid in the penalty area to make up the shot, and poked the ball into the net!

The Red Devils fell behind by 3 goals, but came back with 3 goals!

The whole stadium went crazy, and the fans could hardly believe what they saw. In a desperate situation, the Red Devils completed a stunning comeback. No matter how they played before, no matter who the opponent was, no matter how many goals they were behind, Ferguson and his players would never give up the fight and take the initiative to accept defeat. The Red Devils showed a spirit of never giving up, fighting tenaciously to the end, and almost completed the comeback.

Lee Sharp was the best player with three assists in the game, Cantona scored the equalizer for the Red Devils, and his outstanding performance won crazy applause from the fans.

This game, in which the team fell behind by three goals but eventually came back to win by three goals, had a great impact on Cantona. He began to re-recognize this team, the coach Ferguson, and his teammates. It turned out that Ferguson was such a coach that even if the team played badly, the tactics were poorly executed, or the luck was bad, which led to the situation being out of control and the score falling behind, he would never admit defeat, would never be willing to fail, and would fight to the end. Not only that, Cantona also got to know his teammates for the first time. They were so iron-blooded and unyielding, so tenacious, and so brave. These guys may have had some lazy thoughts on the training ground, these guys may also be at a loss when they encounter a blow, and they may fall into a brief chaos of fighting on their own when the score falls behind, but these guys all have a stubbornness, a fighting spirit that refuses to admit defeat, a will to fight to the death with the opponent, and a spirit of trying their best to fight for a comeback and win. Sometimes the Red Devils players really mess up their performance on the field, but no matter what they will never give up voluntarily. No matter what they will unite and become a fighting collective.

Cantona felt that he had come to the right place. He felt free here and felt that his inspiration and energy had the best space to be released. Not only that, for the first time, he found that he had teammates to help him. For the first time, he found that he didn't need to fight alone. He just needed to play to his heart's content, lead and guide his teammates to fight together, and victory and happiness would come.

Cantona said: "The Red Devils club will create miracles and we will definitely win the championship."