The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

"In the final stages of the league, Ferguson's team was overtaken in the standings. It was now very difficult for them to win the Premier League, but he always maintained his firm confidence."

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In the 34th round of the Premier League, the Red Devils challenged their city rivals Manchester City away.

This match was like a meeting of enemies, and the two sides were extremely jealous. Ferguson had almost lost his position as manager due to a brutal defeat by Manchester City before, and he would never forget the humiliation in history. No matter which time he played against Manchester City, Ferguson always wanted revenge. But this time his team was once again hit by a cold water, and fell into the opponent's rhythm at the beginning, and suddenly fell into a passive position.

Manchester City was not strong at that time, but they had a very outstanding center forward Quinn in their team, and the team's offense almost always revolved around Quinn. Once Manchester City's attack was delivered to Quinn's head, the Blue Moon's offensive power was very huge; but as long as this accurate delivery was intercepted or Quinn's performance was effectively restricted, Manchester City would become a sick tiger. In this game, Manchester City played at home, and with the cheers of the fans, they were as if they had divine help, and the pass was accurate. Quinn's state was also like a tiger with wings, which gave the Red Devils a headache. Not long after the start of the first half, Manchester City played a long pass in the 13th minute. The goalkeeper made a long pass from the backcourt, and the ball fell to the front area of ​​Manchester United's penalty area. In the competition between the two sides, Quinn's header prevailed, and he helped the team win the second landing point after jumping and heading. The Manchester City player then got the ball about 10 yards outside the Manchester United penalty area, and he quickly moved to the left. After receiving the pass, the winger Phillips took two steps forward and then crossed the ball from the side. The cross flew straight to the front of the Manchester United goal, and the Red Devils defenders once again lost in the header. They could not hold off the opponent's center forward Quinn. The strong tall man made an accurate judgment when he received the ball in front of the goal, bypassed Bruce directly, jumped high at the back point and headed the ball directly into the dead corner.

Manchester City took the lead and the Red Devils fell behind 0-1.

Manchester City, who were leading, were aggressive and further strengthened their pressing in the middle and front courts. However, the Red Devils, unwilling to lose, quickly cracked the situation and used their tricks to launch a sharp offensive. In the 21st minute, Lee Sharp on the left of Manchester United encountered a pressing attack and passed the ball to the backcourt. Irwin passed the ball directly to his midfield teammate. At this time, Mark Hughes retreated from the opponent's hinterland to respond. After receiving the ball in the midfield, he carried the opponent's defender and turned around to get rid of him. He quickly looked up and observed. After dribbling the ball across the center line, he made a beautiful through ball in time and hit the opponent behind him. After passing the ball to Irwin, Lee Sharp turned forward and sprinted towards the opponent's hinterland at high speed along the sideline. His speed beat his opponent. After entering the opponent's backcourt, he dribbled the ball all the way to the bottom and then made a precise cross with his left foot. When this cross flew into the Manchester City penalty area, the opponent's defender had no time to effectively deploy defense. Cantona was very sharp and quickly inserted to the front point, rushed to the front of the goal and headed the ball into the opponent's goal.

1-1, the Red Devils tied the score.

In the subsequent games, the Red Devils strengthened their interception of the opponent's passes and the double-team defense of the opponent's center forward Quinn, completely turning Manchester City into a toothless tiger. In the fierce confrontation, Manchester City quickly consumed their physical strength, and their formation was broken into pieces, so they had to shrink their defense. Manchester United launched many fierce attacks in the second half. Cantona had two shooting opportunities in the penalty area, but they were blocked by the dense crowd of opponents; Lee Sharpe performed another high-speed pass in the 53rd minute, but unfortunately this time he couldn't send the opportunity to Hughes; in the 81st minute, McClair took advantage of the opponent's defense of the corner kick and made consecutive shots in the penalty area, but in the end he was only a hair's breadth away from scoring...

Manchester United kept attacking, but Manchester City's defense was very tenacious and did not give the Red Devils too many opportunities. In the transition between offense and defense, Manchester City also launched several quick counterattacks. Quinn's header still caused a lot of trouble for Manchester United's defense. Fortunately, Bruce and Schmeichel focused and continuously resolved the crisis, not giving him more opportunities.

At the end of the game, the scores of the two teams did not change until the end, and it ended in a draw.

Ferguson said: "We played a very exciting game. Objectively speaking, it was a collision of two tactical styles. Both sides had many scoring opportunities, but failed to win for various reasons. I am very happy that Schmeichel was the best player of the game. He deserved it and performed very well."

After this game, Manchester United has not won many league games, and its leading advantage in the standings has disappeared. Reporters are now paying attention to whether Manchester United can break the vicious circle of consecutive draws. A reporter from the Manchester Evening News asked, "Manchester United has not won for a long time, including this game. The victory effect of defeating Liverpool did not appear, and the defeat by Oldham Athletic was a key event. Has Manchester United lost its advantage in winning the championship? Will Villa take the lead and quickly leave the Red Devils behind?"

Ferguson stressed, "Do we have every confidence that we can win the Premier League? This is not a good question, but I am willing to answer it affirmatively. Do the Red Devils need to win all the remaining games? Not really, we just need to win more than our opponents. Of course we are confident that we can win the championship! What is our current state? I think our players are still very good. They have not been defeated by fatigue, nor have they been intimidated by opponents who are desperately trying to avoid relegation. This is extremely important for future games."

In the 35th round of the Premier League, Ferguson faced another crucial battle - the Red Devils returned to their home ground to face Arsenal. Before the game, the media unanimously believed that this match would be another fierce fight. The hatred between the two teams has been growing in recent seasons. The last time the players from both sides had a group fight, they also brought shame to their respective clubs, but the hatred for the opponent has deepened. At this point in the game, Manchester United was marching rapidly towards the league championship, while Arsenal had already lost the possibility of competing for the championship. Before the start of this season, Arsenal fell into a long-term dilemma of team reorganization. Graham had gradually lost control of the locker room and the trust of the board of directors. These troubles were reflected on the field, that is, the team's strength was affected and the fighting spirit was disturbed.

But even if Arsenal didn't have a chance to win the championship, they would not let the Red Devils pass easily. In this game, the Gunners played their best players, they deployed the traditional 442 formation, started the woodcutting method, and used the long charge and short lob tactics that they had honed to a very mature level, seizing the initiative in the game.

The challenge for the Red Devils is that the games are too intensive, the players are always mentally tense, and it is very difficult to maintain the overall state. In Ferguson's preset tactics, the team must remain tough overall, must fight in the midfield, but also play to the advantages of the two flanks, and make full use of Cantona's technical ability in the frontcourt, so that the Frenchman can better organize the attack and play a greater threat.

After the game started, Manchester United's hard-line approach did not gain an advantage. The opponent's more sturdy momentum and more aggressive interceptions soon made the Red Devils midfield suffer. Despite this, Manchester United did not lose its composure, but instead retreated on the spot, continued to compete with the Gunners for the initiative, and strengthened interceptions in the midfield and backcourt by increasing manpower. After Manchester United retreated, Arsenal's long passes also lost enough impact space. The two sides played more than fiercely, and the battle of strangulation unfolded on every inch of the grass on the field, with swords and shadows everywhere.

Arsenal's best chance in the first half came in the 23rd minute. After calmly passing the ball back in the backcourt, they got rid of Manchester United's overly impatient rush, and then directly played a super long-distance diagonal pass from the right midfield. This long pass tore through Manchester United's entire left side of the defense and also cut into Manchester United's central space. Gunners striker Wright started early, beat Manchester United's central defender in a race, and directly cut into Manchester United's penalty area to form a single shot. Just as Wright stopped the ball with his chest and was about to adjust and kick the ball, Schmeichel left the goal and flew to block the opponent's attack. Schmeichel's prediction was very good. When he fell to the ground, he stretched out his foot to sweep away the ball that Wright's chest pushed forward, and declared with his teeth and claws that this dialogue with the opponent was successful, leaving Wright alone in the wind.

Arsenal's offense missed many chances, but their defense did not give Manchester United players any space. Central defender Adams played extremely well. His defense was extremely solid, and he did not let Mark Hughes or McClair take any advantage in one-on-one confrontations. Only Cantona made him very afraid, but Arsenal had a plan for this game. They sent a midfielder and a defender to defend the Frenchman closely, greatly reducing his threat. The Gunners' defense only had a flaw in the 34th minute of the first half. Giggs dribbled the ball quickly on the left and attacked the Gunners' camp. He passed two Gunners defenders in a row, tore open the Gunners' defense, and completely disturbed the opponent's entire defense system. Giggs rushed to the opponent's baseline and made a left-footed cross, almost assisting Cantona to score a goal from behind the penalty area. It was a pity that the shot was not at a good angle and was saved by Arsenal goalkeeper Seaman.

The game was played with extreme tension. The Red Devils took the initiative to attack, and the opponents also did not give up, actively competing with the Red Devils for the midfield area. Manchester United's defense in this game was also very good. Although they were under pressure when dealing with the opponent's long and short passes, there were no loopholes. In addition to Bruce and Pallister's frequent rescues, Schmeichel played extremely well in this game. In addition to his wonderful performance in the first half, he took the initiative to block the opponent's single knife, and in the second half, he made many timely saves, saving left and right when the danger was extremely dangerous, turning the tide.

Arsenal's other closest chance to score came from Dixon's long-range volley. In the 72nd minute of the second half, Arsenal's long pass from the backcourt hit the backcourt area on the right side of Manchester United. After several headers, the ball fell to the 20-yard area at the top of the penalty area. At this time, Dixon had his back to the Manchester United goal and was under the supervision of two Red Devils players, but he hooked the ball behind him with his back and then turned around to face the direction of the Manchester United goal. Before the Manchester United defender could intercept him, Dixon volleyed hard and hit a shocking arc. Just as everyone was stunned, this shot that almost became the best shot of the season hit the door frame hard, and the Red Devils survived the disaster and escaped.

The Red Devils finally kept the goal intact and the two sides tied 0-0.

After this round, the Red Devils, who had not won in four games, have been overtaken by their rivals Villa in the league standings and have lost the top spot.

After the 35th round, the Red Devils still had 7 league games to play (there were 22 teams in the league that year, and 42 rounds of games were needed). The opponents behind included Norwich, the title rival, Sheffield Wednesday, and Blackburn Rovers. Ferguson's team was now in a state of turmoil, from a run to four consecutive defeats, from leading in points to being overtaken by opponents, from winning easily away from home to being unable to beat direct opponents at home. The Red Devils looked a bit dangerous.

Ferguson always has a big heart. When answering the question about the possibility of winning the championship, his voice was low but firm: "Just like many media believed that the Red Devils would win the championship before, we don't care about the outside voices. The Red Devils are not struggling in the relegation zone, nor are they doing nothing in the middle of the points. We are still at the top of the points and are a strong contender for the championship."

Ferguson said in the locker room: "I have full confidence in the team and in you. Just as our fans have always had hope for the team, we should have the confidence to become the strongest team. Inspired by the fans, we have played many wonderful games this season. The fans have witnessed our strength and supported our struggle, so we will never give up and will fight to the end."

Ferguson ended with a rhetorical question: "Why is the championship impossible?!"

"Why can't the Red Devils win the championship?!"

On another football program, Cantona was annoyed by the questioning of a group of reporters. He sneered and put on an unfathomable expression, but refused to answer the reporters' questions and did not participate in the discussion on the program.

When Cantona returned to the Red Devils, after closing the door in the locker room, Cantona gave a speech to all his teammates: "We must beat the shit out of those bastards. I am very unhappy. These teams that block our way have already irritated me. I just think we must win the championship."

Cantona said: "The buzzing ones are always the mediocre worker bees. Only the queen bee can sit on the throne and look down on everything. We are going to be the king of the league now!"

The kids from Red Devils Class 92 in the locker room were all confused. What was the boss talking about?

Cantona patiently explained to Gary and the others, "It is inevitable to encounter difficulties, but they are also temporary. We Red Devils will not stop. The more difficult the time, the more confident we must be. The more we encounter setbacks, the harder we must fight. This is the true fighting spirit of the Red Devils."

"Remember, our goal is to be the champion!"