The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 248 Burning Will

"Ferguson now deeply understands Busby's warning. If you want to have the last laugh in English football, you must overcome all kinds of difficulties and withstand all kinds of unexpected blows. Especially in the last stage of the season, you must fight with tenacity and withstand all challenges."

--Inscription

The Red Devils defeated Sheffield Wednesday in adversity and won the crucial 3 points. The victory of this game is too important for Ferguson, and it is also a key battle for the Red Devils in the final sprint of the championship.

A battle that turned the tide.

After Ferguson's team struggled through a series of losing games, they broke free from their inner shackles, overcame all kinds of doubts, rekindled their tenacious fighting spirit and belief in winning the championship, faced huge difficulties without fear, overcame new difficulties in one fell swoop, and demonstrated their powerful dominance.

Martin, a reporter from the Daily Mail, said: "The championship was still in suspense until the last few games, and Ferguson's team showed their strength in time. The victory over Sheffield Wednesday seemed full of impossibilities, but football is so wonderful. Sheffield Wednesday seemed to have almost completed an impossible task, they almost won the game, but at the end of the game, it was Manchester United who had the last laugh."

Now in the standings, Ferguson's team has regained the first place with a 1-point advantage and once again seized the advantage in the sprint.

Two days after defeating Sheffield Wednesday, the Red Devils travelled to face Coventry City.

With the momentum of the comeback against Sheffield Wednesday, Ferguson's team needs to win another game to consolidate their advantage. The biggest challenge for the Red Devils now is the intensive and difficult schedule, as well as the players' worrying physical and mental state.

Almost like last season, Ferguson's team has a chance to win the title, but the difficulties are equally huge.

The Red Devils still occupy the top spot in the standings, with a 1-point advantage over their opponents. Last season, the Red Devils also had a lead in the competition with Leeds United, but suddenly collapsed in the end. Ferguson later admitted that the players could not hold on and had no physical strength.

Has anything changed for Manchester United this season?

Ferguson held a team meeting before the game and raised this question. As a result, everyone was very engaged and found many differences. Irwin first thought that the team's defense had improved. The evidence was that Manchester United now conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League. Such a defense is worthy of everyone's trust. And Cantona said, "The biggest difference? That's my arrival!"

He looked at everyone with his eyes, and all the players were silent for a moment. They didn't want to admit it, but it seemed to be true.

Schmeichel immediately followed up, "And me, and me! The biggest difference is my joining, a great European Cup champion, and an indispensable winning temperament!"

Now the locker room was filled with laughter and a happy atmosphere.

Ferguson made a final summary and encouraged all the players, "We know now that everything is different. Our lineup has changed a lot, our statistics have become better, our defense has become better, our offense has become better. I believe our luck will also get better. Last season, we lost to West Ham and Liverpool when we needed to persevere the most, but this season we beat Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday when we were the most difficult. We are in high spirits and full of confidence, which is the key to winning the championship."

"We have now reached the end of a long season and are about to reach a hopeful goal. The championship? The only way to the championship is to defeat our opponents."

The strength of Coventry City in this game is average, but they also need to grab points to avoid relegation, so it is not easy to play. The Red Devils' victory in the last game boosted the morale of the whole team, and also made Coventry City very afraid, and they put on a defensive posture right away. Facing the turtle formation, the Red Devils were indeed a bit scratching their heads. After the game started, Manchester United players quickly grasped the midfield advantage that the opponent voluntarily gave up, and quickly took the initiative on the court, but it was difficult to launch a sufficiently threatening attack. Coventry City did not have too many ideas at home, and was also cautiously defensive. After successfully defending and stealing, most of them directly cleared the dangerous area, and did not intend to attack Manchester United, let alone try to invest enough troops to counterattack.

Ferguson was certainly familiar with such scenes, but he was also a little helpless. In the 11th minute, Red Devils midfielder Ince controlled the ball and advanced to the front court, passing it to McClair who retreated from the penalty area. He took two steps with the ball and was blocked by the opponent's defender, and then passed it to the empty space on the left. Lee Sharp tried to fake a pass after getting the ball on the left, and then quickly crossed the ball from the bottom. In the Coventry penalty area, Ince and Hughes fought with the opponent's defender for the first landing point, while Cantona was waiting at the back point. As a result, the cross was headed by Hughes, but unfortunately it was cleared by the opponent's defender before it could form an attack; in the 17th minute, Cantona got the ball 20 yards outside the penalty area, and he immediately made a two-on-one cooperation with Ince, and after getting the ball again, he broke into the penalty area, and then immediately kicked a powerful shot, which went straight to the opponent's goal corner. The opponent's goalkeeper flew to catch the ball, but Hughes, who followed up, was a step slower and was cleared again by the opponent's central defender. Coventry had a counterattack opportunity in the 26th minute. They intercepted the ball in the backcourt and made a long pass. The battle spread to Manchester United's penalty area, but in the end the Coventry striker's shot was too straight and was saved by Schmeichel.

The Red Devils had an advantage in the first half, but they were unable to break through the opponent's defense. In the second half, Ferguson added more offensive means, and even used Bruce as a center forward, increasing the high-altitude bombing style, constantly trying to tear open the opponent's defense. In the 72nd minute, Manchester United played a simple routine in the frontcourt. Cantona passed the ball, Hughes cut and took away the opponent's defender, Ince received the ball and then passed it to McClair. The coordination and movement between several attackers was like flowing water, but unfortunately McClair's shot about 15 yards in front of the goal was a hair's breadth away from the goal. In the 77th minute, Manchester United's Giggs dribbled the ball on the left and attacked the opponent's defense. He was knocked down by the Coventry midfielder about 10 meters outside the penalty area, and the referee awarded a free kick. Giggs himself took the penalty and shot a sharp turn, but the angle was too bad and missed the goal. The Red Devils have been pressing the opponent's attack, patiently holding off the opponent, patiently waiting for the opponent's physical strength to decline, and constantly testing the opponent with crosses and long shots. Manchester United's patience was not rewarded until the 81st minute. Lee Sharpe took the ball in the front court on the left. After two steps, he did not choose to break through, but chose to pass horizontally. Coventry's defense in this area had loopholes, because Manchester United's ball was now held by Irwin, who rarely appeared here. Coventry had not thought of who to send to intercept for a while. Several midfielders were taken away by their respective targets. The wing forward who was originally in the opposite position now had to keep an eye on Lee Sharpe, and there was no way to move to block. Just as the opponent hesitated, Irwin quickly adjusted the rhythm after taking the ball, and kicked directly in the area 10 yards outside the penalty area line, hitting a very vicious long shot. The power of this shot was not too great, but the angle was tricky, aiming directly at the lower right corner of the goal. It was too late for the Coventry goalkeeper to fall to the ground to save the ball, and he could only watch the ball go into the net. Manchester United led 1-0!

In this way, Ferguson's team fought with the opponent for a full 90 minutes, and finally relied on patience and calmness, and Irwin's excellent footwork, to score the only goal, and the team won the opponent 1-0.

Including this victory, the Red Devils have won three consecutive games and the team continues to maintain the top of the standings.

The day after the game, Cantona stayed behind to practice more after the recovery training. In the expectant eyes of young players like Beckham and Gary, this Frenchman who lived alone in Manchester (his wife didn't want to move from Paris, France to Manchester) always used training to relieve loneliness and consume excess energy.

Cantona practiced nearly 100 shots, and then invited Gary and Beckham to practice cross-field passes. The boys were very happy to join in.

On the empty training ground at Carrington, on that stretch of lush green grass, Cantona and his partners sweated profusely, striving for perfection, practicing boring movements over and over again, honing their skills and improving their understanding of football.

Many years later, Gary and Beckham recalled the past in an interview. They did not think it was hard at all. Instead, they felt that the experience during that time was sweet and warm. Gary said, "We were in adolescence at that time. We had no place to vent our energy, but we did not have many opportunities to play games, so we had a lot of time. Beckham and I often accompanied Cantona to practice more. Even after everyone finished training and went home, we stayed at the training ground to practice more. I would practice long passes with them repeatedly, practice crosses, practice shooting angles, and practice long pass accuracy."

Beckham said: "I am very grateful to Gary and Cantona at that time. They pulled me to train hard and improve my abilities together. My long passes, my curve balls, and my free kicks all improved in training again and again. I remember that the base was very quiet at that time, with only the voices of a few of us talking, and every time we talked, the sound would be heard very far. We played football in such a quiet atmosphere, and our understanding of football skills and pursuit of improving accuracy were all injected into passing exercises again and again."

On April 1993, 4, the Red Devils returned to their home ground to face Chelsea in the 17th round of the league.

Before the game, the Red Devils had a rare 6-day break. Everyone was full of energy and had a brand new spirit. After the game started, the Red Devils pressed the opponent and attacked fiercely. Cantona's distraction was obvious. Lee Sharpe was full of energy. In the 17th minute, he attacked with the ball on the right. After using fake moves to pass two people, he was intercepted by the opponent's defender. However, he immediately stepped forward and fought back on the spot without being discouraged. He even risked breaking his leg to fly and intercept the ball at the feet of the opponent's defender, and then passed it to Mark Hughes who cut to the front of the penalty area. Mark Hughes took two steps forward and shot the ball into the near corner of the goal. The opponent's goalkeeper was unable to save it. The Red Devils started smoothly with a score of 1-0.

Lee Sharp continued to make progress. In the 31st minute, he advanced on the right, changed his rhythm and passed the opponent's midfielder. Then he accelerated and killed the opponent's bottom line. He then made a powerful cross. This cross fell into the Chelsea penalty area with a rapid rotation, which immediately caused a panic among the opponents. There were many people in the Chelsea penalty area, and only one Red Devils attacking player Hughes was moving at the back point, so the defensive pressure was not great. There were at least three Chelsea defenders staring at Hughes, and the goalkeeper was also attacking. But even so, after Lee Sharp's pass flew into the penalty area with a rotation, the attacking goalkeeper saw that it was out of his control range, and immediately stepped back and shouted loudly, making his teammates more panicked. Chelsea defender Blake actually made a mistake under pressure, and the ball hit his head in the chaos. He wanted to head the ball out to clear the ball, but he exerted force in the direction of his own goal. The result? This clearance flew into his own goal incredibly, and the Chelsea goalkeeper was left dumbfounded.

When luck comes, nothing can stop it. Red Devils 2-0, Lee Sharp scores again!

In the second half, the Red Devils were even more aggressive and launched a series of fierce attacks. Chelsea was a little reluctant to fight and had no intention of catching up. It was very difficult to fight against the Red Devils. In the 56th minute, the Red Devils sent a throw-in from the left frontcourt. Giggs got the ball and advanced. He made a two-on-two wall-to-wall match with Hughes outside the penalty area line, and broke through the opponent's entire defense line in one go. Giggs, who broke into the penalty area, faced the Chelsea goalkeeper who came out to block the ball, and kicked a pass in front of the goal. The ball flew over the goalkeeper who was baring his teeth and claws and flew to the front of the goal. Cantona started early, jumped high under the siege of three opponent defenders, and headed the ball directly into the empty goal!

By beating Chelsea, the Red Devils achieved four consecutive league wins and firmly grasped their advantage in the standings.

The media is now almost all praising them. After all, the Red Devils won the match against Chelsea too easily and it didn’t consume much energy. The Times said: “If there were still some doubts about whether the Red Devils could win the championship when they beat Sheffield Wednesday, then after the victory over Chelsea, there is basically no controversy surrounding the Red Devils.”

They believe that the four-game winning streak is convincing. "The Red Devils have shown their unstoppable dominance through a hearty victory. Ferguson will most likely win the Premier League title. Although there are still a few games to play, their momentum is very strong now. I don't think any team can pose a threat to them."