The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 285: No match for violence

"Red Devils didn't lose to Blackburn, they just lost to Alan Shearer."

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As April approaches, the schedule is gradually coming to an end. The situation is completely different from the halfway point. The Premier League title race is becoming more and more complicated, and the competition for the top spot is becoming more and more intense.

Ferguson's Red Devils still topped the standings, while Dalglish's Blackburn Rovers still ranked second. The first league match in April was a battle for the top spot - the 35th round of the Premier League, Manchester United vs. Blackburn Rovers.

This is a "top battle" that all English fans will pay attention to. The Red Devils, who are ranked first in points, will face Blackburn, who are ranked second in points. The importance of the victory or defeat is self-evident. The league table situation is generally clear now, and only Blackburn can threaten the Red Devils' defending champions.

Before this game, the Red Devils were 6 points ahead of their opponents in the standings, and there were still 8 rounds left in the league. From the analysis of the situation before the game, the Red Devils had a relatively large psychological advantage. It would be best if the Red Devils could win this game. If they win, they will be 9 points ahead in points, and the Red Devils can be said to have won the championship. Ferguson basically has a safe bet. A draw would also be beneficial to the Red Devils, as Blackburn would have a very difficult time catching up with 7 points in the remaining 6 rounds. Even a loss would be acceptable to the Red Devils, after all, after losing this game, the Red Devils are still 3 points ahead, and the initiative to win the championship is still in their hands.

Blackburn Rovers is ambitious. This team, which has just been promoted to the Premier League for a year, has a long history. Walker, the big money behind them, has great ambitions. As early as when the team was still in the English League Two, they continued to spend a lot of money, determined to build Blackburn Rovers into a championship team and compete for the top league championship. Before being promoted to the Premier League, they had already made crazy purchases. In order to ensure promotion to the top league, they had already hired Dalglish to coach early, and also wanted to use the reputation of the famous coach to attract new players. Dalglish resigned earlier because of the impact of the Hillsborough tragedy in Liverpool. This time, he quickly returned under the temptation of money, and also wanted to rely on the big money to compete with Ferguson again. Under Dalglish's coaching, Blackburn Rovers was indeed able to attract superstars to join, and successfully promoted to the English League One in the 91-92 season, and then became the founding team of the first season of the Premier League.

Dalglish continued to bring in stars, snatching supernovas such as Alan Shearer from Ferguson. Other high-priced acquisitions included Gray Letss, Levi Graeme and Tim Sherwood. In the first Premier League season of 1992-93, Blackburn finished fourth and had already become a strong team. In early 1993, Dalglish once again attracted two strong players, Stuart Lippyrie and Kevin Gerlach, to join the team. The overall strength continued to increase, and it had become the most luxurious lineup in the Premier League. Although the owner's blind purchase of superstars would affect Dalglish's overall team building, Dalglish's relatively simple and clear 442 English style of play was still easy for newcomers to adapt.

After introducing many talented players, Blackburn Rovers began to pursue their dream of winning the championship. In the first half of the season, Ferguson's team was very strong and domineering, sweeping away all the powerful teams, and indeed had a great advantage in the standings. Blackburn Rovers was once more than ten points behind the Red Devils, and could not even hold the top three. But after the Christmas and New Year Express, Blackburn Rovers continued to exert their strength, winning games after games, and finally caught up with the Red Devils.

Ferguson's team played away in this game. Because of the absence of Cantona, Ferguson's lineup was greatly affected. Ferguson arranged a lineup between 442 and 451. The main change was that Giggs and Lee Sharpe both played, but Giggs was more like a striker, relatively close to the center. Ferguson sent out all the main players in other positions.

Ferguson did not dare to neglect Dalglish, but he also did not lose his composure. Facing a strong opponent who was called his lifelong enemy, Ferguson was confident that he could win. Even in the opponent's home court, even if he lacked the strongest Cantona, Ferguson deployed an aggressive offensive tactic.

The game entered a fast rhythm of attack and defense at the beginning. The Red Devils quickly took the initiative in the fight and gained the upper hand. The Red Devils strengthened interception, pressure and steals in the midfield, played the advantages of Keane and Ince in confrontation and interception, and tried to suppress the opponent in the midfield. Blackburn originally wanted to take advantage of the home court to make a good start, but they did not expect Ferguson to be so tough. They were obviously not prepared for such a strong confrontation and soon lost the initiative in the midfield. The Red Devils launched an offensive in the 10th minute. Lee Sharpe received the ball on the left side of the frontcourt and passed Stewart with speed. He immediately accelerated to the bottom and then passed the ball to Blackburn's penalty area when he was close to the bottom line. The timing and arc of this pass were very good. Hughes almost got the position and had a chance to shoot. The Red Devils made a mistake in pressing the opponent in the frontcourt in the 17th minute. After stealing the ball in the midfield, they immediately launched a fast break. Giggs got the ball in the middle and quickly advanced. He directly entered the penalty area with speed and immediately shot. Unfortunately, this shot was too straight and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper.

Blackburn Rovers were at home, and their home fans were shocked by their passiveness at the start. Many fans thought they would launch an attack at the start, taking advantage of the opponent's unstable footing and destroying the opponent's prestige, but the course of the game was completely different from their expectations. Dalglish did not want to suppress Ferguson, nor did he not want the team to adopt an active offensive tactic, but they were still unable to suppress the defending champions regardless of their strength and momentum. Dalglish also did his homework before the game. He knew that the Red Devils would be without Cantona, the biggest threat in the frontcourt, and the Red Devils' offense would be simple and rough. Dalglish made more targeted tactics. It is not completely impossible to let the team actively shrink when the opponent cannot be suppressed, and this shrinkage can better crack the impact threat of the two Red Devils' fast horses, and Blackburn's defense looks more stable.

Blackburn Rovers withstood the Red Devils' attack, and after securing their defense, they quickly took the initiative to attack. After all, they were the side that needed the victory more. The game was very open in the 20th minute. Both teams wanted to win and wanted to break the opponent's defense through attack. Blackburn Rovers also pressed out their defense and took the initiative to fight with the Red Devils in the midfield. Both teams played very bravely and the scene became heated. The two sides attacked against each other, and the speed was countered by the speed. The offense and defense were constantly exchanged at a high speed. The whole field was in a fast-paced confrontation, and the flames of war were blazing in every area of ​​the field.

The game progressed quickly. In the 32nd minute, Blackburn tried a long shot from the middle, forcing the Red Devils' defense to retreat. In the 37th minute, Blackburn attacked again, quickly passed the Red Devils' heavily-armed midfield, and launched an offensive on the right. Shearer did not go down the right, but crossed the ball at a 45-degree angle to the Red Devils' penalty area. This long pass is a key move in Dalglish's system, and it is also a very English style. Although Blackburn's attack looks simple, their center forward is very sharp. Alan Shearer certainly would not miss this opportunity. He suddenly exerted force after dodging the distance and rushed directly to compete for the header. The power of this upward rush, combined with the rhythm of the jump, allowed him to overpower Bruce and Pallister in the penalty area and head the ball into the dead corner. Schmeichel was unable to save the header from such a close distance, and the Red Devils fell behind 0-1.

The Red Devils attacked the opponent fiercely after falling behind. They made a long pass from the backcourt to the Blackburn team's hinterland. Keane took the ball back with his back in front of the penalty area line. Lee Sharpe got the ball in the frontcourt on the left. He then made a long pass to the Blackburn penalty area. Kanchelskis inserted the ball from the back point and shot it. This volley shot was perfect, but unfortunately it hit the opponent's goalkeeper. The Red Devils then quickly made a comeback. Kanchelskis rushed forward on the right and crossed the ball all the way to the Blackburn baseline. This cross was a low ball. Giggs made a fake move at the front point to attract the opponent's attention. Ins at the back point was unguarded and inserted directly. He swung his leg to shoot the ball and the ball flew towards the opponent's goal. This shot made the opponent's goalkeeper give up saving, but this must-go ball was blocked by the goal post again, and the Red Devils missed the goal again.

Blackburn, who had escaped the disaster, immediately launched a quick counterattack. The defender took the ball to the right side of the penalty area and took advantage of the Red Devils' delay in returning to defense to quickly counterattack with a long pass. This super long pass of almost 60 yards miraculously found Shearer who came in from the middle in time and perfectly bypassed the defending Pallister. After Shearer controlled the ball, he rushed directly into the penalty area, adjusted the angle of escape, and shot directly into the dead corner.

Blackburn leads the Red Devils 2-0!

The Red Devils continued to launch counterattacks, but Blackburn was very stable with two goals in hand and kept dealing with the opponent patiently. In the 83rd minute, the Red Devils launched a sharp attack. Giggs penetrated from the left, dribbled into the penalty area and made a cross from the bottom. Hughes received the ball and shot at the penalty spot, but was blocked by the opponent's defender.

In the 85th minute, the Red Devils made another cross, and Bruce jumped to head the ball in the opponent's penalty area, but unfortunately he was unable to score a header... The Red Devils lost Cantona, their most powerful weapon, and were unable to create a miracle in the remaining time.

After this battle, Blackburn narrowed the points gap to 3 points.

The critics were very direct. "The Red Devils deserved to lose. Their defense was very bad. Bruce and Pallister were not in good form. Blackburn's Shearer defeated the entire defense of the Red Devils by himself."

"The first goal the Red Devils lost showed many problems in their defense, and the second goal they lost exposed all of Pallister's weaknesses. They may pay a heavy price for this defense, and it is not surprising to lose the league title. There are still seven rounds of the league, and it is not impossible for Blackburn to catch up with 7 points."

Ferguson remained calm in an interview after the game. "It was a wonderful game. Both sides created many shooting opportunities. We had the upper hand on the field and had enough scoring opportunities, but we lost the game. This is a football game. We played well, even better than our opponents, but the result was not satisfactory."

Ferguson explained the defensive problem: "A striker like Alan Shearer is of course very good, and giving him too much space will be punished. Our defense today was not good enough. There were some problems with the defensive level, and there were loopholes starting from the midfield. We gave the opponent's attack line too many easy opportunities to hold the ball. The entire defensive system should be tighter and more flexible."

Ferguson finally said: "Losing will not have any disastrous consequences. We are still first and there are seven rounds left in the league. We will quickly cheer up and win again. Of course, I firmly believe that our team will successfully defend the title, there is no doubt about it!"

Bruce felt very guilty in an interview after the game. "Our entire defense lost to Alan Shearer. This is a painful result. We were too confident in the game, did not pay attention to the signs of threat, and did not have a correct understanding of Alan Shearer's great power. Before the game started, the boss warned us that we must pay attention to Shearer. Even if it costs a yellow card, this guy must be kept away from the penalty area. We must always defend close to him. Pallister and I must unite to deal with him. What the boss said is right, we are very sorry!"

Ferguson remained calm and rational after losing to Blackburn. He did not lose his temper in the locker room. He even gave the players a short vacation after the game to let them rest.

Ferguson himself would certainly feel uneasy, but this is where he is far superior to other coaches. He can bear all the pressure himself and let the players let go of their burdens and cheer themselves up.

After losing to Blackburn, the Red Devils have 7 league games left, but their schedule is much tighter than their opponents, because the Red Devils still have two FA Cup semi-finals and a possible final, while Blackburn only has the league left. If they are not careful, it is entirely possible that the Red Devils will be overtaken by their opponents in the dense schedule.

The Red Devils' seven opponents in the league are Oldham Athletic, Wimbledon, Manchester City, Leeds United, Ipswich, Southampton and Coventry. Among these opponents, Wimbledon, Manchester City and Leeds United are not easy to play. Considering that there are two FA Cup semi-finals in the middle, Ferguson needs to deploy troops reasonably and maintain the morale and fighting spirit of the team as much as possible.