The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 242 Low-level Mistake

"The Red Devils' journey is not smooth sailing. Challenges are always there, and defeats can come at any time. As long as Manchester United players do not maintain a high level, no matter what kind of opponent they are, they will take advantage of the Red Devils players' low-level mistakes and punish them."

--Inscription

On the day of the victory over Forest, Forest coach Clough was hospitalized again due to heart problems. The team's coaching position was vacant and Pierce had to command the team temporarily.

Pearce had a very high reputation among the players at the time, but Clough's coaching staff did not buy it. Without a leader, the Forest team became even more chaotic and they became increasingly weak in subsequent games.

Ferguson no longer has time to take care of these things at this time. He now has a new task, which is to lead the Red Devils to face Ipswich in the 26th round of the Premier League.

Ipswich Town is not very strong. At this time they are more focused on how to avoid relegation. They did not think about winning against Manchester United, the favorite to win the championship.

Ferguson certainly wanted to win, but his team's initial attack was not easy to achieve. Ipswich's solid defensive strategy still withstood several fierce attacks from Manchester United. In the 7th minute, Kanchelskis broke into the opponent's territory from the right and made a cross. Hughes successfully scored from 6 yards in front of the goal, but his header lacked power and was easily confiscated by the Ipswich goalkeeper. In the 17th minute, Ipswich goalkeeper Norton made another wonderful save. Facing Ince's powerful shot at the top of the penalty area, he made an accurate judgment in advance and caught the shot that went straight to the upper corner with a flying side dive.

Manchester United failed to make many quick attacks in the first half, and the defense slowly began to relax its vigilance, revealing flaws. In the 31st minute, Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel made a low-level mistake. He foolishly let the ball pass by his hand without stopping it. The cross from Ipswich, which was originally not threatening, now caused chaos in the Red Devils' penalty area. After Schmeichel's interception error, there was no one defending the back point of the Red Devils' penalty area, and the opponent's forward easily scored an empty goal, and the Red Devils fell behind 0-1.

Schmeichel's face flushed with regret, but even if he could dig out a three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment with his toes, his regret and embarrassment could not disappear.

Ferguson stared at him viciously on the sidelines. If looks could kill, Schmeichel would have died countless times.

Of course, falling behind was not something the Red Devils could accept. Irwin immediately launched a fast break after the ball was re-served. In the 34th minute, he dribbled the ball to the front court, and after being intercepted by the opponent, he quickly passed it to his teammate Giggs. After receiving the ball, Giggs made a sudden stop and passed the opponent's right back, then dribbled the ball directly to the bottom line, and when he was close to the bottom line, he made a left-footed cross. Manchester United's three arrows fired at the same time, Cantona, Hughes, and McClair all rushed for the ball, and Ince also accelerated to follow up near the top of the penalty area, but unfortunately the pass came too fast and too high, and it slipped directly out of the goal. In the 39th minute, Manchester United made another cross from the left. In the melee, Cantona passed the ball in the penalty area, and Hughes shot the ball, but unfortunately the opponent's central defender blocked his shooting line.

At the end of the first half, Manchester United was trailing their opponents 0 to 1. During the halftime break, Ferguson rarely lost his temper, but he did not say much. He just emphasized the success rate again when explaining the tactics and asked the players not to be careless again.

In the second half, the Red Devils attacked the opponent fiercely. The opponent Ipswich team, under the lead, shrank its defense with all its strength and deployed a double-decker formation. In the 48th minute, Manchester United made a quick attack on the left, and Giggs split the opponent's right defense zone like a flash of lightning, but his final shot into the penalty area was too straight; in the 51st minute, Manchester United made a cross from a corner kick, and there was chaos in the Ipswich penalty area. Bruce and Pallister failed to head the ball, and the ball was cleared by the opponent's defender; in the 63rd minute, Manchester United attacked on the right, Kanchelskis and Hughes made a two-on-two, and passed the ball to Cantona after dribbling into the penalty area. Unfortunately, the opponent's close defender kicked the ball away first. After defending for more than 20 minutes, Ipswich intercepted Manchester United's pass in the penalty area, and then after several transfers, they resolved the pressure of the Red Devils. At this time, Ipswich seized the opportunity that the two central defenders of Manchester United were still in their own hinterland and could not catch up, and quickly made a straight pass over the top. Manchester United's midfielder failed to block the ball, and the Ipswich striker got the ball and advanced to the top of the penalty area, then flashed out of the space and shot hard from the penalty area line. This shot was powerful and hit the dead corner of Manchester United's goal.

This was a world-class goal that even gods could not save. The ball whizzed straight to the upper right corner of the goal, and Schmeichel could only stare in amazement.

Manchester United is trailing 0-2!

In the following time, the Red Devils attacked wildly, creating several opportunities that were infinitely close to scoring. In the 71st minute, Cantona dribbled past the opponent and shot from the point, but the ball hit the opponent's defender and bounced out of the baseline; in the 75th minute, Irwin rushed to the front court from the left and made a cross, but McClair didn't hit the ball well from the back point, and the ball flew directly out of the baseline; in the 77th minute, Manchester United attacked from the middle, Cantona took away the opponent's defender, and Ince fired a powerful shot, but it was still saved by the Ipswich goalkeeper. After the 80th minute, Manchester United let Bruce head into the opponent's penalty area as a center forward and attacked desperately. In the 83rd minute, Bruce headed the ball in the penalty area, but Cantona's shot was unfortunately saved; in the 85th minute, Cantona received the ball in front of the penalty area and used the change of rhythm to pass the opponent's defender and cleverly passed the ball to McClair. McClair shot into the lower right corner of the opponent's goal and scored, helping Manchester United to recover a goal.

In the last 5 minutes, Manchester United kept making long passes, but to no avail. In the end, they lost 0-2 and had to swallow the bitter fruit of this unexpected defeat.

After the game, the media really fanned the flames, "Cantona is not invincible!"

"Eric Cantona won't let the Red Devils stay unbeaten!"

"After losing to a relegation team, the Red Devils need more proof of their championship quality."

Ferguson disdained arguing with the media, and so did Cantona.

Schmeichel, the biggest sinner in this game, honestly admitted his mistake after the game. He even waited alone at the door of Ferguson's office for more than an hour before finding a chance to talk to Ferguson alone.

Schmeichel regretted it very much. "Boss, the goal was indeed my negligence. It is indeed my responsibility. I shouldn't have been distracted and shouldn't have been so confident."

Ferguson laughed in anger, his voice rumbling like thunder, Schmeichel even felt some lightning snakes appearing in front of him. Ferguson said, "How can you be careless at this time? How can you make such a low-level mistake at this time? Do you know that one mistake can cause our efforts for the whole season to go to waste?! Do you know that one carelessness can make us lose the possibility of winning the championship?!"

Ferguson became more and more angry. "You are the best goalkeeper in Europe, you are the most oppressive goalkeeper, you are the most trusted defense in the league, but now you do this to me?!"

Schmeichel could only keep his head down and admit his mistakes, not daring to make any excuses.

In February, the Red Devils faced Sheffield United in the 2th round of the Premier League.

Ferguson criticized Schmeichel, but he did not put him aside. Schmeichel made an accidental mistake, not a drop in level or poor condition, so Ferguson just wanted to spur him on, to keep him alert, to keep a high level of attention, and to play well in the next game. The Red Devils, who played all the main players in this game, pressed the opponent at the beginning, but the game seemed to have entered the strange rhythm of the previous game. He could not attack, but the defense was successfully attacked by the opponent. Sheffield United's No. 7 player Toxton attacked Pallister one-on-one in the counterattack. The small man faced the big man. Pallister was not only shaken and lost his defensive position, but it was too late to choose to fall to the ground for a tackle. The opponent easily led the ball past him and directly entered the penalty area. The Sheffield United attacker went to the meeting alone and then easily shot. Schmeichel tried his best to fall to the ground to save but was powerless. Sheffield United led 1-0.

After another goal, Ferguson's face was gloomy and Schmeichel was flustered and didn't know what to do with his hands. Ferguson made a gesture to him from the sidelines, asking him to continue to concentrate on the game.

Schmeichel was very glad that Sheffield United did not attempt more attacks later, and they did not launch any effective offensive. In the remaining ten minutes of the first half, Sheffield United did not have a decent shot, which allowed the trembling Danes to finally survive the first half without any danger.

The Red Devils were eager to attack as they were behind, but they didn't score in the first half. During the halftime break, Ferguson gave instructions in the locker room, repeatedly stressing that they should not be too impatient and should not repeat the same mistakes. He asked the team to strengthen their offensive and try to equalize as soon as possible, but also to do a good job of defense.

Ferguson specifically commented on the goal conceded, "The key to the problem lies in the midfield and the defenders. We were unable to slow down his advance, nor were we able to knock him down outside the penalty area. When our Pallister had to face him alone, the defensive strategy almost failed."

"Peter, don't blame yourself. This goal can't be blamed on you."

The Red Devils started to attack fiercely at the beginning of the second half, and Sheffield United naturally retreated to defend. In the 55th minute, McClair made a hook shot in the penalty area, but it was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper. Then the Red Devils made another high cross, Cantona headed the ball to assist, and this time McClair did not miss it. The Scottish shooter made a flying shovel shot in front of the goal and scored!

The Red Devils equalized the score!

After tying the score, the Red Devils attacked more vigorously, pressing the opponent into the penalty area and completely choking the opponent's will to resist. Cantona scored again at a critical moment. In the 74th minute, he dribbled the ball into the opponent's hinterland, passed the opponent's midfielder and made a pass with Ince, then led the ball sideways in the penalty area, continuing to threaten. Hughes ran sideways and took away a central defender at this time, and McClair ran in another direction and took away another central defender. At this time, Cantona took advantage of the chaos in the penalty area, leaned on the opponent's defensive players, and suddenly shot directly. This shot was not powerful, but it was sudden, and the distance between the ball and the goal was also very short, so the shot was threatening enough. The Sheffield United goalkeeper was stunned and could not see Cantona's movements, and his cold shot directly hit the ball into the upper right corner of the goal.

The Red Devils reversed their opponents 2-1!

Manchester Evening News published a special report after the game, "Ferguson's team held up under pressure, their fighting spirit was very strong, and their spirit was very strong. We witnessed on the spot how a team with super strong willpower was born. They lost the first goal very unexpectedly, but the whole team quickly stabilized the situation. In the following games, Ferguson deployed various offensive tactics, but was also very careful about the opponent's counterattack. In the end, they repeatedly attacked, squeezed, mobilized, forced, and shot, and completely tore the opponent's defense line apart."

"Ferguson's team deserved this victory and they deserve more."

Indeed, Ferguson showed extraordinary tenacity. His team would not be discouraged after suffering setbacks. Instead, they were full of courage to fight under adversity and full of belief to fight to the end for victory.

Regarding Cantona's brilliance, The Times commented: "We should be aware that Cantona has always been excellent and he has always been Manchester United's most critical player. Since joining Manchester United this season, he has become the best performing player. Today's game once again proved that Cantona has always been shining and has always been moving forward. Whether Manchester United will be carried forward by him and keep winning is not his problem. He has now given the answer."