The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 266: Prosperity

"Manchester United played very well in the domestic arena. They showed their superiority over their opponents and played dominant football, which made all opponents feel irresistible and further expanded their lead."

--Inscription

After the September games, Manchester United ranked first in the standings, with Arsenal second with 9 points.

The Red Devils have an extremely tight schedule in October, with seven games to play, four in the league and three in the cup, an average of one game every four days. This is already a normal thing for Ferguson, and the frequent games are also a test. Whether they can take advantage of the points depends on whether they can win in the intensive schedule.

The Red Devils first played away against Sheffield Wednesday on October 10. This game seemed easy, but Ferguson's team almost capsized. In the 2nd minute of the first half, Keane fouled when he tackled his opponent in the backcourt on the right. Sheffield Wednesday quickly sent a free kick, and two short passes reached the edge of the Manchester United penalty area. Attacker Toddison shot from outside the penalty area and hit the bottom right corner of the goal. Schmeichel's flying save was not blocked, and the ball was directly hit into the near corner. Manchester United fell behind 22-0!

Schmeichel was humiliated on the edge of the North Sea. A near corner shot is always a taboo for goalkeepers. From a distance, Schmeichel even felt the burning look of Ferguson, the coach standing on the sidelines, as if he wanted to eat him up.

Manchester United reacted quickly and launched a quick counterattack. Keane led the ball forward from the middle of the back and then passed it to Sharp who was speeding up on the left. Sharp started to accelerate from near the midline and dribbled the ball all the way to the 8-yard position in front of the opponent's penalty area and crossed it. This assist first passed the front point. Cantona did not get a chance to shoot due to the competition with the opponent, but Hughes rushed to the back point. He faced the opponent's goalkeeper who fell to the ground to block the ball and gently rubbed the ball with his foot, easily cushioning the ball into the opponent's goal.

Manchester United tied the score 1-1.

The Red Devils continued to attack after equalizing the score. In the 32nd minute, Cantona dribbled the ball in the midfield. He dodged and moved in the encirclement of three opponents, cleverly taking the ball out of the encirclement, and then cooperated with Keane. Keane led another defender away and dribbled into the penalty area. Two Sheffield Wednesday players came up to block, and Cantona adjusted the rhythm and passed the ball to his teammates. Hughes responded in time and shot the ball into the lower right corner of the goal, helping Manchester United to overtake the score to 2-1!

Manchester United continued to attack. In the 37th minute, Cantona attacked again in the middle. He received a pass from Ince in the midfield and passed it to Hughes with a back heel. Then he dodged the opponent's close-range attack and received Hughes' pass. Cantona attracted the attention of the opponent's two central defenders at this time, but he immediately passed the ball to the space behind the opponent, which surprised the opponent. Giggs accelerated and penetrated the opponent's defense line, dribbled into the single-handed attack, and easily shot and scored when the Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper attacked, and Manchester United expanded the score to 3-1.

Although Sheffield Wednesday was unwilling to accept defeat and they scored again from a free kick, Manchester United still defeated their opponents with a score of 3-2.

After a thrilling victory over Sheffield Wednesday, Manchester United returned to their home ground to play a League Cup match against Stoke City. Ferguson sent some of the rotation players to play in this match, and although the scene was not particularly good, they still won with a score of 1-0.

On October 10, the Red Devils will face Tottenham at home in the league.

At this time, Manchester United was the defending champions and Ferguson was the best coach in the Premier League last season and was also named the best last month. Their status and position were very different. At this time, Tottenham began to be overtaken by all the Premier League rivals in terms of business revenue, profit and other influence. In terms of competition, it had been stagnant for many years. With a luxurious lineup but no good results for many years, not only the fans were dissatisfied, but the club owner was also quite resentful.

This battle was of great significance. Ferguson naturally sent all the main players and launched an attack at the beginning. The opponent Tottenham was also unwilling to be outdone and actively launched an attack after the opening. In the 7th minute, Cantona took the ball from the opponent's midfielder on the left side of the backcourt and immediately rushed forward with the ball. He passed two people in the midfield and dribbled all the way to the opponent's center. When attracting three defenders of the opponent to prepare for siege, Cantona cleverly passed the ball to Giggs next to him with a back heel. Giggs controlled the ball and changed direction, passed an intercepting guy and then passed it diagonally to his teammate on the left. At this time, Hughes accelerated to meet the ball and headed straight for the goal. Hughes, who entered the penalty area, did not encounter any defense at all, but his single shot was too straight and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper. When he and Giggs were about to steal the ball in front of the opponent's goalkeeper again, the opponent's goalkeeper was quick to slap the ball away, and Lee Sharp, who came in from behind, pushed the ball, but he missed the chance to score an empty goal!

Five minutes later, Manchester United sent a throw-in from the left sideline. Lee Sharpe made up for his mistake. He received the ball with his back to the goalkeeper and was interfered by the opponent. He used his superb skills to get rid of the entanglement and passed the ball to the front of the goal. The Tottenham defender blocked the ball in the penalty area, and the ball jumped high to the top of the penalty area. At this time, Roy Keane was looking for an opportunity in this position. He waited for the ball to come down and shot directly. Although this shot did not have much power, the angle was tricky enough, and the ball also had a little outward rotation, brushing the opponent's goalkeeper's fingertips and flying into the net.

Manchester United took the lead 1-0.

The Red Devils continued to attack after taking the lead. This time, Cantona organized the attack and became the commander in the frontcourt. In the 28th minute, he received a pass from his teammate near the right sideline in the frontcourt, and then dribbled the ball to the middle. Suddenly, he passed the ball behind him to the backcourt of Tottenham. The pass line was not good, and it was just in the control range of the opponent's central defender. But Cantona's pass was wrong. The Tottenham central defender made a mistake in a hurry and actually let the ball pass to the Manchester United player behind him. It was Lee Sharp who was suddenly ambushed in the front. After receiving this opportunity from the sky, he rushed directly to the opponent's goal and easily scored a single knife.

Manchester United leads 2-0.

Although Tottenham stepped up their attack and scored a goal after falling behind, Manchester United's subsequent defense was very solid and never gave the opponent any chance.

At the end of the game, Manchester United defeated Tottenham 2-1 and continued to lead the standings.

Three days after the league, Manchester United faced Galatasaray in the Champions League. Ferguson sent out all the main players for this match, and formulated a tactic of controlling the midfield and strengthening the attack before the match. Galatasaray, as a giant in Turkish football, often participates in the Champions League, but its real strength is mediocre. Manchester United tried to attack at the beginning of this match, and the midfield's scramble and interception were very tough.

Manchester United's enemy in this game was not only bad luck, but also the inexplicable whistles on the field. The referees in the Champions League are different from those in the Premier League. They called fouls on many of Manchester United's steals and physical collisions, but turned a blind eye to the Turkish team's sneaky moves and turned a deaf ear to the complaints of Manchester United players.

In the end, the game ended in a draw, and Ferguson's team needed to win at the opponent's home ground to advance directly.

After the Champions League, Manchester United returned to the league and played away against Everton. Everton's strength continued to decline after its brief stunning performance in the late 80s. Although it still remained in the Premier League, it had fallen to the middle of the Premier League.

In this match, Ferguson continued to use the starting lineup of the previous league game, and Everton also sent out all its elite players. At the beginning of the game, Everton took the lead. In the 7th minute, they launched an attack on the left. After several passes, the ball came to the penalty area. Manchester United's Keane made a mistake in passing the ball to the goalkeeper when he was returning to defense, and the ball went directly to the opponent's feet. The Everton striker immediately dribbled into the penalty area and formed a single shot. When facing Schmeichel's attack on the right side of the penalty area, he shot decisively. Schmeichel bravely fell to the ground to save the shot, and then made another side dive. Parker also fell directly to the ground in the penalty area and blocked the opponent's supplementary shot in the penalty area with his body, finally saving the goal crisis.

After the Red Devils gained a firm foothold, they began to take advantage and continuously attacked the opponent's defense. Giggs and Kanchelskis frequently tore through the opponent's defense on both sides, but many crosses did not create a killing opportunity. Cantona's advancement in the middle also encountered dense defense. Although he made two wonderful through passes, Hughes still missed an empty-cut opportunity, and McClair missed a shot from 20 yards in front of the goal.

Neither side made any progress in the first half, and Manchester United continued to attack in the second half. In the 71st minute, Cantona received the ball in the center circle and found space on the left, so he immediately passed it diagonally. Cantona's pass went through the interception of the opponent's two defenders and directly reached the feet of Manchester United's full-back Martin. Martin immediately kicked the ball to the middle, and Hughes and the opponent's two central defenders competed for the header in the penalty area, and finally the ball fell outside the penalty area. Lee Sharp kicked the ball without waiting for the ball to land. This volley flew over the two blocking defenders in front of him, made a shocking curve, and flew directly into the blind spot of Everton's goal!

The world-class goal that shocked the whole stadium - Lee Sharpe's amazing kick also shocked the opposing players. The Everton goalkeeper looked incredible when he fished the ball out of the goal.

In this way, Manchester United finally won 1-0 and continued to lead the league.

Then came the League Cup against Leicester City, which Ferguson's team cruised through with ease.

Ferguson has now arranged some youth team players and reserve team players to play in Manchester United's League Cup match, and the attitude of "not taking it seriously" is written on their faces.

This also caused some controversy. Some media said, "Manchester United should play with their main players, and Ferguson should give full respect to the game." Other media said, "First of all, it is the coach's power to arrange the lineup. He is responsible for the result of the game, and we should not question it casually. The key is who Ferguson sent out? No, the key is that he won!"

Ferguson is well aware of his team's physical reserve, especially this season's Champions League games, the schedule and travel are very arduous, so he naturally does not take the outside world's demands that all the main players must play to heart. Of course, he will not make trouble for himself. In an interview, he said, "We will definitely select the most suitable lineup according to the team's goals and the players' conditions. The League Cup is also one of the championships we need to fight for, and we have never given up such an opportunity."

The last game was a home game against Queens Park Rangers in the league. Queens Park Rangers was not very strong, and they were more concerned about how to keep their place in the Premier League rather than competing with the Premier League giants like Manchester United. In the face of Manchester United's fierce offensive, they did not hold out for long before they were completely defeated by the Red Devils like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

The Red Devils performed well in this month, winning all the league and League Cup games, only being tied by their opponents in the Champions League.

Hughes regained his attacking power, Lee Sharpe continued his hot form, and Giggs was extremely sharp; Cantona used his extraordinary ability to become the core of the frontcourt, commanding the entire Red Devils to move forward; Bruce, Keane and McClair all contributed goals, and even Bruce became a battering ram.

The Red Devils played a gorgeous attack and used a wide variety of frontcourt offensive tactics. Triangle cooperation, empty space running, off-ball coordination... The diversity of the Red Devils' offense made the fans excited. Cantona became the most dazzling offensive commander and the most stable scorer. His lethality in the middle and his high efficiency in scoring in the penalty area made the opponents unstoppable. In addition to Cantona, Ings's lethal through pass, Lee Sharpe's clever shooting, the wing attack of the double wings, Keane's rush and back insertion, McClair's flexible cruising and powerful burst shot at the top of the penalty area, Mark Hughes' explosive shot... The Red Devils' offensive power destroyed the opponent's efforts to resist. The Red Devils are advancing triumphantly. They are fast and sharp, they are strong and stable. The soldiers in red uniforms are as fast as the wind, as active as thunder, as aggressive as fire, and as imposing as rainbows, making all opponents unstoppable.

到10月结束时红魔已经取得了34分积分，高居积分榜第一。红魔的形势已经简直不能更完美：赛季14轮12胜1平1负。这个成绩也是是红魔历史以来的最佳开局。

Many reporters and coaches began to lament, "The league is only a third of the way through, and the championship is already a foregone conclusion."

"Who else can resist this red devil?"