The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 287: Pressure Resistance

"Frequent accidents are not enough to destroy Ferguson's will, and the blow of continuous defeat will not make the Red Devils lose their belief in victory. In the final stage of the league, Ferguson firmly believes that his team has strong resistance to pressure, can face complex situations and solve super difficulties."

--Inscription

Manchester United were tied in points, but at this time Ferguson made a terrifying prediction, "Blackburn will also lose, they will definitely be mentally unstable."

Ferguson's prediction of off-field power is indeed not to be underestimated. This is also part of his coaching ability, a very sharp part. Just two days after he said this, Blackburn Rovers really couldn't bear the pressure and failed at the critical moment, losing to Southampton in the next league.

The Red Devils now have the same points as Blackburn in the standings, and continue to rank first on goal difference, but still have a game in hand.

A Sky Sports reporter who has been following Manchester United later asked Ferguson, "How did you make such an accurate prediction? This is amazing. You just said violence and they lost the game!"

Ferguson blinked and said, "If I say it's all nonsense, would you believe me?"

On April 4, Manchester United faced Manchester City. This Manchester derby has now become the key to determining the situation in the league standings.

The debate in the media before the game was very intense. Many people were wondering whether this team that had already won the league championship had lost its tenacity. Whether the previously complacent players could get rid of distractions and maintain their hunger for the championship was the focus of many media doubts. The Manchester Evening News focused on Ferguson, who they believed was a special factor. They pointed out, "Whether the team can withstand the pressure and perform well, overcome sudden difficulties, and reverse the backward situation depends entirely on the coach's superb command and strong mobilization ability. Ferguson has already demonstrated his superb ability and should win this time as well."

The match against Manchester City was indeed a special test for Ferguson. Needless to say, the 5-0 defeat that almost got him fired was caused by Manchester City. That match was a long time ago, and Ferguson has led his team to defeat their city rivals many times since then. But for someone as proud as Ferguson, this defeat will always remind him.

Manchester City is far inferior to the Red Devils at this time, but they also have their own pride and will not surrender before the game starts. The entire Manchester City team also wants to take advantage of the opponent's low morale to beat the downed dog. This life-and-death idea will definitely collide with hot blood and a strong smell of gunpowder.

What boosted Manchester United's confidence in this game was that Cantona was able to start. Cantona, who had suffered an arm injury and then a thigh muscle strain, finally returned from injury, and Ferguson immediately sent him into the game.

The fans in the stadium shouted loudly, holding Cantona's jersey to cheer for this amazing Frenchman. Cantona was deeply moved. As the most critical attacker and conductor of the Red Devils, he was determined to repay the fans' love with a perfect performance. Cantona seemed to be everywhere in the frontcourt, and every touch of the ball made the opponent feel threatened. Manchester United also played very actively in the game. Taking advantage of the opponent Manchester City's mentality of also wanting to grab the start, they accelerated the attack after the steal. In the 13th minute, Manchester United intercepted the ball in the backcourt and quickly launched a counterattack. Most of the opponent's players had not returned to their defensive positions. Lee Sharp seized the time and made a direct pass forward after dodging the space on the right side of the backcourt. Hughes, who returned to the midfield line, took the ball with his back. He used his very strong body to hold the opponent close to him, took a small step back with the ball, and turned around and passed it to the front right. The area where Hughes passed the ball was a no-man's land. Kanchelskis accelerated along the sideline like crazy, and gained the advantage in the speed competition with the opponent. After a long time, he finally controlled the ball at a position about 10 yards near the baseline. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Manchester City defender directly kicked the flying tackle, but was also cleverly passed by Kanchelskis. Kanchelskis rushed straight into the penalty area with the ball, and chose to cross the goal when he entered the small penalty area near the baseline area. At this time, Cantona had already accurately received the ball in front of the middle goal, and avoided the blockade of the opponent's defender, and easily shot into the goal, helping the Red Devils to score the first goal, and Manchester United led 1-0.

Manchester City fell behind and was impatient and eager to attack, but Manchester United quickly seized the opportunity. In the 31st minute, Bruce rushed to the top of the Manchester United backcourt and headed the ball to his teammate near the midline. Hughes stopped the ball with his chest, then turned to the right in time to get rid of the harassment of the opponent's midfield, and immediately passed a super long-distance diagonal ball behind his back, which broke through the opponent's entire midfield defense line. Cantona, who was in the opponent's three-man defense zone, suddenly accelerated and successfully ran to the opponent's penalty area arc. In the background that the opponent's central defender could only raise his hand weakly to indicate that Cantona was offside, Cantona appeared at the moment the ball came. This was a perfect run. After receiving Hughes' pass, he rushed straight into the penalty area with the ball, and went to the meeting alone. Facing the attacking opponent goalkeeper, he shot directly into the empty goal, helping the Red Devils lock the score 2-0.

Cantona's brilliance illuminated the entire stadium, and he scored two goals and became the best player in the Manchester derby.

The Red Devils then faced Leeds United, once again playing out the grudges of the War of the Roses. Manchester United's morale was very strong, and they overwhelmed their opponents from the start. In the 17th minute, Manchester United's midfielder intercepted the ball, and Keane immediately passed it to Kanchelskis who was in excellent form.

The Ukrainian Express received the ball in Manchester United's own half and started to accelerate. He first accelerated past two opponents in the center circle, and then accelerated all the way forward with the ball. At about 18 yards outside the penalty area, Kanchelskis encountered a flying tackle from the opponent, but he dodged it very cleverly and passed the ball to Hughes on the left. Hughes took the ball and rushed directly into the penalty area, passing the defender who misjudged and could not catch up. When Hughes dribbled into the penalty area, Leeds United only had one central defender to intercept. After Hughes attracted his defensive attention, he tacitly passed the ball to Kanchelskis who was following up in the middle. Kanchelskis now had no defense in front of him. He easily kicked the ball and shot it under his armpit in the face of the goalkeeper's save. Manchester United led 1-0.

Leeds United fell behind and fell into disarray, while Manchester United took advantage of the lead to continue to play a sharp and fast break. In the 29th minute, Keane received the ball in the left midfield area. Facing the defense, he passed it directly to Giggs, who was closer to the left sideline. After Giggs got the ball, he first made a small roundabout move, then suddenly accelerated to pass between the two midfielders of the opponent, and then dribbled the ball straight to the ribs of the opponent's penalty area. The Leeds United full-back chased closely, and Giggs quickly passed the ball to his teammate Hughes who retreated to the edge of the penalty area to receive the ball, and then continued to rush into the penalty area at high speed. Hughes passed the ball back to Giggs without hesitation, allowing Giggs to take the ball and form a one-on-one attack. Giggs rushed into the penalty area at high speed, withstood the harassment of the Leeds United defenders around him, and pushed the ball into the upper corner of the opponent's goal with a push shot. The Red Devils beat Leeds United 2-0.

In the first half, Manchester United had basically secured the victory. Ferguson consciously let the team reduce the intensity of the confrontation, slow down the pace of the game, slowly control the situation, and wear down the opponent's patience. Leeds United launched several attacks in the remaining time of the first half, but none of them really threatened Manchester United's goal. Chapman once again broke into the penalty area to receive a header from a cross, but he missed the header due to Bruce's physical confrontation; McAllister tried a long shot from 43 yards outside the penalty area in the 10rd minute, but it was also far away from the goal and did not pose much threat.

In the second half, Manchester United changed their strategy and strengthened their defense, and Leeds United had no choice. Although Leeds United controlled the ball for most of the time and once attacked Manchester United's half in nearly 30 minutes, the fine coordination of Leeds United last season was almost completely gone. Batty and Speed's running did not have much impact, and Chapman's injury seriously affected his performance. In the 61st minute, Leeds United launched an attack on the right. Wing forward Lupton dribbled the ball to the bottom line and made a cross. Chapman held Bruce's header in the penalty area, but he did not have enough power and was easily confiscated by Schmeichel. In the 66th minute, Leeds United made a cross from a corner kick, and there was chaos in the penalty area, but Manchester United's players got the position first and headed the ball out of the penalty area to clear the siege. In the 72nd minute, Manchester United launched a counterattack, but Giggs used too much force in the last trip and did not pass the ball to the middle in time, wasting a single-handed opportunity for Kanchelskis. In the 82nd minute, Leeds United made a long pass from the backcourt, and Chapman headed the ball to Batistuta outside the Manchester United penalty area. Batistuta then made a one-two pass with McAllister and passed the ball to Chapman in the penalty area, but Manchester United had been prepared to intercept the pass in advance and defuse this seemingly dangerous attack.

The two sides played back and forth but no new goals were scored until the end, and the game ended with Manchester United winning 2-0.

The Red Devils completely shook off their slump and won both of their tough games. Now the pressure was on Blackburn. As expected, the violent Blackburn made mistakes when under pressure, and they were tied in the next game. As a result, the Red Devils are 39 points ahead in the standings after 2 rounds, and they have played one game less.

The Red Devils took the initiative to win the championship. In the 40th round of the league, they faced their rivals Ipswich. The match was held on May 5st, and Manchester United played away.

The poor turf in front of the penalty area on both sides of Ipswich's home field became Schmeichel's enemy. In the first half, Ipswich took the initiative to attack. First, midfielder Leex's long shot outside the penalty area was blocked, and then the ball returned to his feet. He immediately passed the ball to the right. As a result, his teammate who received the ball adjusted it on the penalty area line and shot again. The ball bounced irregularly in front of the penalty area on a muddy ground. Schmeichel failed to save the ball and let it bounce out of his hand. As a result, Ipswich's No. 11 striker Lister followed up and scored. Manchester United fell behind 0-1.

Ferguson frowned slightly on the sidelines, but his expression did not change much. He adjusted his posture immediately and appeared very calm and still full of confidence.

In the 19th minute, Manchester United's defense sounded the alarm again. Ipswich striker No. 11 Lister and Bruce were entangled and rushed into the penalty area with the ball. Manchester United goalkeeper Schmeichel jumped high to block the ball. At this time, Lister also raised his foot and kicked forward. The sharp studs stepped directly on Schmeichel's foot, which immediately caused the Manchester United goalkeeper to fall to the ground injured. He had to leave the field for treatment and was subsequently substituted.

Ferguson's team was facing a severe challenge as the score fell behind and the main goalkeeper was injured and replaced. However, Ferguson only asked the backup goalkeeper to bring a message to the team when he came on the field, "I always have confidence in you!"

Ferguson's words inspired the Red Devils. Their emotions became more enthusiastic and proactive, and their offensive became more and more fierce. They began to suppress their opponents, constantly trying to cross the ball and head the ball. The offensive wave after wave pressed the opponent to the point of being breathless. In the 36th minute, the Red Devils launched a sharp offensive. Cantona rushed with the ball and rushed to the 10-yard area outside the opponent's penalty area to pass the ball to Hughes, and then rushed to the front of the goal to prepare for the response. Hughes passed a high ball into the penalty area in the direction of Cantona's interlacing, but it was headed out of the penalty area by the three defenders of the opponent who surrounded Cantona. At this time, Cantona saw that it was his teammate Kanchelskis outside, and immediately turned around and ran to the back of the goal. Kanchelskis got the ball at the edge of the penalty area on the right, adjusted it and sent the ball to the opponent's goal. Cantona made an accurate judgment and headed the ball directly from less than 5 yards in front of the back point, and the ball was hit into the opponent's goal.

Manchester United tied the score 1-1!

Before the start of the second half, Ferguson joked with the team again, "I think you will win, but you may also lose the ball at the beginning. The opponent's simple routines are not very threatening, but sometimes they can be very effective."

These words made Bruce and Pallister very alert. They even asked Keane to go back to the penalty area more often to strengthen the defense. After the start of the second half, Ipswich did not try to attack again, and Manchester United's goal was stable. After a few minutes of testing in the second half, Manchester United launched an offensive again. In the 59th minute, Manchester United took advantage of the opponent's carelessness and quickly sent a throw-in from the right front court. Keane ran into a great opportunity and rushed straight into the opponent's penalty area with no one defending him. When he broke into the Ipswich penalty area and entered the edge of the small penalty area line close to the bottom line, Ipswich had not organized the defense in time, and no one blocked or intercepted him. Keane then sent a half-high ball to the front of the goal. Giggs rushed over and blocked it before the opponent's defender, sending Keane's pass into the goal. The Red Devils reversed the opponent 2-1 and won.

No reversal, no red devil!

The Times said, "No matter what, you can always trust Ferguson, you can always trust this red devil, they will fail, but there will be a strong response."