The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 255: Double Wings and Mobile Center

"Ferguson's success in leading the Red Devils to the title this season is inseparable from his tactical innovations."

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Jubilation, celebration, tears, parades, fireworks, dinners... the winning Red Devils club celebrated almost crazily. From old captain Robson to rookie Gary Neville, from the club's board of directors to the security at Carrington base, from Kidd to Harrison, from Charlton to Edwards, everyone was caught up in joy and excitement.

Ferguson received genuine gratitude from the Red Devils fans. At the celebration party held by the Red Devils in Manchester, an old fan drank several glasses of red wine from Ferguson and burst into tears, "Thank you for making my dream come true. I thought I would never see the day when the Red Devils would dominate the league again!"

The Red Devils won the league championship, proving the success of Ferguson's coaching. What kind of a powerful team is this Red Devils team that can proudly stand on the podium and look down on everyone?

Looking at the lineup of this championship team, there may be more puzzles in that era. Manchester United's main lineup list is probably like this: the first goalkeeper is Schmeichel, who just led the Danish national team to the final round of the 1992 European Cup and finally won the championship. He proved his strength in terms of ability and temperament. This season, Schmeichel's performance is extremely outstanding overall. He is the best of the 22 main goalkeepers in the entire Premier League. Schumi has maintained an excellent state throughout the season, and can also show excellent rescue ability in key games, becoming the strongest insurance for the Red Devils to continue to achieve good results. The four defenders Parker, Bruce, Pallister, and Irwin are lined up. Bruce and Pallister have cooperated for many years, and they have a very tacit understanding. In terms of characteristics, they can fully complement each other. They are known as the best central defender combination since Ferguson coached the Red Devils. Although these two central defenders are not as fierce and strong as Arsenal defenders, they have enough strength, sharp reactions and timely cooperation, which lays a good foundation for the defense of the Red Devils. Left back Irwin has always performed well, especially this season. Not only is he good at defense, he is also very strong in offense. He is excellent in breakthroughs, crosses, free kicks and corner kicks. He has made a lot of assists this season. Right-back Parker is relatively stable and focuses on defense.

Ferguson has devoted a lot of effort to the midfield and forward areas. This season, the Red Devils' midfielders include Kanchelskis, Ince, Giggs, Lee Sharpe, Robson, Phelan, Webber, Darren Ferguson, etc. There are outstanding talents in all aspects such as attack, defense, running, confrontation and interception. In particular, several wingers can be called flying wings, with amazing speed and breakthrough ability. This season, because of Cantona's joining and big outbreak, McClair is sometimes used by Ferguson in the midfield to increase the interception effect. Paul Ince focused on interception and sweeping this season, and occasionally went forward to attack. Ferguson's tactical requirements are very clear. Ince actively runs, predicts accurately, kicks fiercely, fights hard, and confronts actively, ensuring the solidity of the first barrier to the back line, becoming the strongest intercepting midfielder in the Red Devils. After McClair returned to the midfield from the forward, he reduced some of his offensive energy, but his defense greatly strengthened the hardness of the Red Devils' midfield. Ings and McClair both have excellent ability to attack from behind and their long-range shots are also very good, which can have a miraculous effect on breaking the opponent's dense defense in a stalemate.

Kanchelskis, Lee Sharpe and Giggs are the Red Devils' regular attacking weapons. As the left and right wings, the three of them have completed their tasks very well. Kanchelskis' quick start, dribbling breakthrough, cutting into the ribs, crossing from the bottom, and grabbing shots are almost all excellent. His footwork and starting speed are even stronger than Beckham's later ones, and his physical confrontation is also very good. He is the strongest sharp knife on the right side of the Red Devils. Giggs is even more dazzling. He shined this season and even became the best winger on the left side of the entire league and the most threatening player on the wing. At the beginning of the season, Giggs had a gorgeous performance in which he easily scored after passing several people, which made the former Red Devils legend Best praise him. Later in the league, he had many exquisite feints and quick breakthroughs, as well as clever changes of speed and direction, which made the opponent's defenders unable to intercept and feel helpless. Lee Sharpe, who became a star last season, was unable to play at the beginning of the season due to injury. When he returned to the team after recovering from injury in the middle of the season, he immediately became a key rotation player in the midfield. Lee Sharpe once became a jack of all trades because of his comprehensive skills. Whether it was the midfield wings, the middle of the midfield, or even the right back, he could play at a very good level. Ferguson often used his tricks in the second half of this season, putting all three wing attackers on the field. Kanchelskis, Lee Sharpe and Giggs switched positions freely, leaving the opponent completely confused and not knowing how to defend. The old captain Robson was trapped by long-term injuries, and his physical fitness and condition declined significantly. He only returned to the main force in the middle of the season, but he also started in a few games, which played a role in controlling the morale of the team and stabilizing the situation.

As for the forward line, the combination of Mark Hughes and Cantona was not favored at the beginning, but as time went on, these two sharp knives produced a wonderful chemical reaction, and thanks to Cantona's wonderful stimulation of the team's offensive power, the Red Devils' entire frontcourt offense played a very diverse and complex structure. Various tactical arrangements and mobilizations made the offense extremely tense and also made the Premier League teams terrified.

Thanks to Ferguson's bold exploration and brave deployment, some of the Red Devils' previous hidden dangers have been eradicated. The Red Devils, who had few offensive methods, insufficient midfield organization, insufficient advancement and suppression, and rigid offensive routines, have undergone an amazing transformation during the season.

Ferguson re-adjusted the entire central axis of the Red Devils this season. The new central axis is Schmeichel, Bruce, Ings, and Cantona, and the supporting roles are Pallister, McClair and Hughes. The overall ability of this new central axis exceeds that of the old ones. The central axis rebuilt by Ferguson is strong enough in the entire Premier League. What's more amazing is that Ferguson also specially built two wings to assist the support of the central axis.

In the Red Devils' lineup for the new season, strength, confrontation, technology, awareness, tacit understanding, character and other aspects have reached a high level, which is very conducive to the implementation of Ferguson's offensive guiding ideology.

In addition to the main lineup, Ferguson also carefully built up the team's echelon this season. At the most difficult time at the beginning of the season, Ferguson personally promoted his son to play as a starter. When the team lineup was complete, he was good at using Robson, Webber and other midfielders flexibly to maintain the team's continuous fighting power. Although Ferguson did not use too many players from the 92nd class of youth training this season, many players got the opportunity to debut and gradually began to adapt to the Premier League environment.

The Red Devils played the classic 442 formation this season, which actually ran through Ferguson's entire 90s. This is also a formation with a long history and extremely long life in England. The traditional English 442 formation emphasizes the combination of parallel and diamond positions, and the main style of play is long passes combined with lobs. This is very different from Ferguson's focus on wing attacks, short-distance passes and accurate passes. Ferguson's practice and improvement of overall offensive and defensive tactics further highlighted the control of the Red Devils.

The Red Devils' 442 position and style of play this season can actually be explained from the perspective of defense. When the opponent has the ball and attacks, Ferguson usually instructs the Red Devils to retreat slightly to the midfield to start defensive confrontation. The four Red Devils defenders defend in their respective areas, and the two players in the middle of the midfield return to defense in time, take the initiative to intercept the opponent's forwards and forward core organization, and implement corresponding defense. The two wingers return to the front of the defenders in their respective areas to help defend, and the forwards return to their own half to form the first line of defense.

When attacking, Ferguson is very particular about catching the first touch of the ball from defense to offense and counterattacking. If the attack is launched from the wing, he will ask the two wingers to give full play to their breakthrough advantages, open gaps as quickly as possible, tear open the opponent's defense system, and create opportunities. Ferguson requires the whole team to maintain a changing rhythm when controlling the ball and attacking, pay attention to the transfer and mobilization of the strong and weak sides, and pay more attention to the response and support of the two wingers.

The four midfielders of the Red Devils can be said to be biased towards attacking. Whether it is Giggs or Kanchelskis, whether it is McClair or Lee Sharpe, even if Ings is included, they all have a strong sense of forward attacking. At some point, Ferguson even had to ask Ings to retreat more, not to press too far forward in the midfield, reduce attacking and shooting, and honestly do a good job of understanding and defending. Generally speaking, the Red Devils' attack is launched very quickly. Whether it is the central defender or the full-back, they will quickly pass the ball to the wing. When the two midfielders control the ball, they will directly pass it to the wing, and occasionally help to play a two-on-one. Even if the Red Devils' wing players are extremely sharp, if the opponent's midfield is loose, too much attention is paid to the wing defense, and there is a large gap between the defenders, the Red Devils will pass the ball directly behind the midfield and break through the opponent's defense.

The Red Devils had a very complex arrangement in their attack. The two forwards were the best in terms of technique, awareness, judgment, reaction, and physical strength, and were very powerful. Mark Hughes's point-blank shot, Cantona's excellent prediction and early reaction, and superior skills all made it easy for the Red Devils' attack to hit the opponent's hinterland, with a high success rate and easy to bear fruit. More importantly, Cantona was physically strong, and his technique and awareness almost surpassed all the midfielders and backfielders of other Premier League teams at that time. He and Mark Hughes quickly formed a tacit understanding, and the Frenchman who retreated slightly and had an extremely flexible position often made it impossible for the opponent to mark him. Cantona opened up a variety of offensive modes for the Red Devils, injected more technical factors into the Red Devils' offense, and greatly improved the Red Devils' efficiency in offense.

This is why the Red Devils were in a tough battle before Cantona came. The Red Devils were reborn immediately after the Frenchman came. The Frenchman was like turning on a wonderful switch for the Red Devils, inspiring the whole team and triggering a qualitative change in the Red Devils. He activated the Red Devils' attack line, making the Red Devils' offense sharp and unstoppable again. His momentum also promoted the formation of the Red Devils' dominance. Such a Cantona can only shine so brightly in the hands of the Red Devils and Ferguson. If it weren't for his wonderful performance in only half a season, Cantona should have won the honor of the league's best player of the season.

With solid defense, sharp offense, fast tempo, outstanding skills, tacit cooperation, and activeness, the Red Devils played better and better in the long Premier League season, especially when facing the championship opponents, they played a game with enough suppression advantage, laying a key foundation for the final victory. It can be said that the Red Devils won the first Premier League championship without any luck. It was Ferguson who led all the soldiers through various hardships and finally broke through the battle of 22 teams with tenacious fighting spirit, tenacious spirit, and outstanding overall performance.

Since the 90s, Ferguson has led the Red Devils to rise rapidly. From winning at least one championship a year to the current Premier League champion, the changes Ferguson has brought to the team are very significant. The team has continued to advance in the fields of cup competitions and leagues, making continuous breakthroughs and reaching the pinnacle of winning championships. The rise of the Red Devils can almost be said to be the work of Ferguson alone. In terms of financial resources and lineup, Manchester United is not actually the strongest among the 22 Premier League teams. In terms of individual positions, Manchester United's players are not even among the top ten of the Premier League. However, such a team has been unusually strengthened under Ferguson's coaching. In Ferguson's system, everyone has been blessed, and everyone has been given extra points in his tactics. The team has defeated other strong teams through overall operations, and relied on overall excellence and stability to survive the impact of player injuries.

From cup champions to league champions, this is a major breakthrough, but it is not just a simple display of Ferguson's coaching ability, but also an ideal of Ferguson to continue pursuing progress after adapting to the ins and outs of English football.

Ferguson imposed his own tactical style on this team, making the team's style extremely distinctive.

Many years later, even Ferguson himself still believed that the Red Devils in the 1992-93 season were the team that met his inner hopes. Although it was not the strongest in terms of strength, the team's temperament was Ferguson's standard.