The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 294 The Light of the Killers

"Shearer and Cole, Le Tissier and Cantona, Fowler and Shelingham... the killer strikers emerging in this league have shown unparalleled style. They have become the most distinctive flag of the Premier League and the charm of the Premier League to attract more fans."

--Inscription

The performance of shooters this season is far better than that in the first year of the Premier League. After all teams have strengthened their pursuit of offensive style, these killers have created a passionate and vibrant Premier League, a strong league that uses goal battles to perform wonderful performances.

The shooters set the record for the most hat-tricks in a single Premier League season, with a total of 19 people scoring hat-tricks, which is an astonishing number.

Although he is not ranked first in the scorer list, he is recognized as the best striker in the Premier League this season, that is Cantona of Manchester United. The biggest credit for the Red Devils to lead and finally defend the title is of course Ferguson. Manchester United's defense of the title this season cannot be said to be smooth sailing. It has experienced many lows and difficulties in the long season, but it is their Dream Theatre King Cantona who has always maintained an excellent state and has always been the team's offensive core and made the greatest contribution to the full offensive firepower.

This season was Cantona's first full season for Manchester United. He was still the best attacker, the best organizer, and the best frontcourt core in Manchester United. His role was unmatched in the whole of England. Despite receiving two red cards in the league and missing the first four games, Cantona still played 2 games, scored 4 goals and sent 34 assists. He scored a total of 18 goals in all competitions, and was the biggest contributor to Manchester United's double championship.

Cantona activated the team's offense and carried the team forward through goals and assists at critical moments countless times. In many games, Cantona's goals and assists helped the Red Devils break the deadlock, tie or surpass the score. It is self-evident that he is the core leader. This season, the Frenchman has won the unanimous respect and trust of the locker room, and has become the "King of the Theatre of Dreams" loved by the Red Devils fans. His contribution to the team's defense and double crown is unparalleled. In the end, Cantona became the first non-English PFA Player of the Year and the most successful superstar in the Premier League.

While showing his dominance, Cantona also showed his devilish side: he was the first player in the Premier League to be sent off in consecutive games (against Swindon and Arsenal), and he also received a red card in the Champions League away game against Galatasaray. He scolded the referee, provoked the opponent's bench, and fought with the police... The media has always believed that Cantona is unruly, has a bad temper, and is crazy, and they even gave him the nickname "Mad King".

Cantona was dismissive of this. "I don't understand the humor of the British, but I despise their literary literacy. Such a nickname is like calling a prostitute with special features a fat woman. How can it not make people disgusted?"

For various reasons, the British Journalists Association awarded the honor of the best player of the season to Alan Shearer - compared with the local British center forward, Cantona was really unpopular with reporters.

Alan Shearer, who has a local household registration and scores an amazing number of goals, is the shining Alan Shearer in the entire league. This young striker led the Blackburn Rovers team to great success and almost overthrew Ferguson's Red Devils. Alan Shearer transferred to Blackburn Rovers Football Club for 1992 million pounds in June 6, which also set a record for the transfer fee in the UK at that time. Ferguson had already noticed Shearer, but the Red Devils were helpless and could not afford such an amazing transfer fee. In the 360-1992 season, Alan Shearer, as a highly anticipated new star, made rapid progress in the Premier League. He played 93 times for Blackburn in the Premier League and scored 26 goals. If it were not for his long-term absence due to a serious injury, Shearer would probably have scored more than 16 goals this season. This season, Alan Shearer began to show his heroic form. He scored 20 goals in 40 appearances in the Premier League, helping Blackburn Rovers to win the Premier League runner-up, and was elected the 31 English Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.

Alan Shearer has shocked and pressured all opponents and the media. Even if he hasn't won everything this season, even the most critical commentators have to admit that he is one of the best strikers in England. Even the "one" can be directly removed. Both critics and fans will admit that Shearer is the leader of the team, the undisputed core, the most trusted support in the attack, the team's open play finisher, the free kicker who penetrates the wall and sends the ball into the dead corner of the goal, the penalty shooter, the tricky header, and almost always finds a way to shock the net and the best goalkeeper.

Because that's what he does best. Shearer's shooting sense is always perfect. He is the most stable marksman and is undoubtedly the most important puzzle for the team to win the championship. In his second season, Shearer has become the banner of Blackburn. And looking at the history of the Blue and White Army in the Premier League, Shearer is still the team's best goal machine.

Shearer became a superstar this season, but he was not the Premier League Golden Boot winner. He would not truly dominate the Premier League scorer list until the next season. In this season's scorer list, Andy Cole won the Golden Boot with 34 goals, and Alan Shearer scored 31 goals, ranking second. The third to fifth places were Le Tissier, Sutton, who scored 25 goals, and Ian Wright, who scored 23 goals... For Ferguson and the Red Devils at the time, this scorer list was embarrassing.

Andy Cole's data is more amazing than Shearer's, and he is also an English player, but his overall performance is not enough to compare with Shearer. This is a nearly unanimous comment from all the media in the Premier League. But even so, the media cannot stifle the fact that he scored 34 goals to surpass Shearer's goal number, and also had 13 equally crucial assists. Andy Cole won the league's top scorer this season and won the Premier League Golden Boot earlier than Shearer.

If Shearer is the all-around Lu Bu, a warrior who can beat everything, then Cole is a sharp assassin, a killer who can hit the target with one strike. Cole's outstanding performance is recognized by all Premier League coaches. After all, based on the data of this season, he has become the first player in the history of the Premier League to win the Golden Boot and the assist king in a single season. Throughout the season, Cole scored 41 goals in all competitions and scored in both rounds of the league against the Red Devils, which also attracted Ferguson's interest. At Newcastle, the striker composed of Cole and Beardsley (20 goals) created a total of 54 goals, becoming the most powerful striker combination in the history of the Premier League.

Andy Cole is so outstanding that he naturally became a hot favorite in the summer transfer market.

In addition to the number of goals scored, the shooters also competed for the excitement of their goals. The best goal of the season was scored by Le Tissier of Southampton. It was in the match against Newcastle that Le Tissier scored a stunning strike and completed this wonderful goal. This was called "a typical Le Tissier moment", when the "God of the Saints" easily picked up the ball with the back of his right foot in the attack, elegantly passed the opponent's defender who was stomping fiercely, and delicately picked up the ball with his right foot before entering the penalty area, lightly shaking off another defender, and finally formed a single-handed attack into the penalty area. As a classic ending, Le Tissier predicted the goalkeeper's reaction, used a subtle feint with his feet, and easily scored with a low shot.

The whole process of scoring this goal was as smooth as flowing water. His huge body enabled him to complete the difficult moves easily and gracefully. He was so light and graceful that he could be described as an angel!

This goal became one of the best goals in the Premier League in the past ten or twenty years. The imagination and skills shown by Letischer were unparalleled. The whole process of this goal was full of artistry and conquering power.

Speaking of Letischer, it is worth spending a little more time on him. He is a famous striker in England and the greatest player in Southampton's history. Letischer is tall, but his footwork is flexible and his awareness is excellent. His dominance and lethality on the offensive end are extremely powerful. He is the most memorable killer and the most trustworthy striker in Southampton's history. Some people say that Southampton does not have so many great football histories and legendary stars. They only have one god, that is Letischer. Letischer played for Southampton for 17 years and scored 462 goals in 209 games. He is a superstar in the history of England. From joining to retiring, he has always been a favorite of fans. Until he decided to officially retire on March 2002, 3, he has always been the core of Southampton fans' most anticipated comeback. Letischer has been suffering from injuries for three years and finally decided to officially retire after the end of the season. He said: "Injuries have made me not even have a place in the reserve team. Even if the club gives me a new contract out of emotion, I can't cheat."

The team decided to relinquish his No. 7 jersey, but Letischer firmly disagreed.

Former Southampton manager Strachan later commented: "When people think of Southampton, they think of the Titanic and Matthew Le Tissier. They are the symbols of this city. As time goes by, ships can be built better and better, but there will never be another Le Tissier."

Among the striker killers, there is also the rather unlucky Shelingham.

Shelingham made his debut at Nottingham Forest and this season he plays for Tottenham. He was expected to show his talent, after all, he was the top scorer in the Premier League last season, scoring 22 goals, but he was injured and had to miss a long time. Even so, Shelingham scored 19 goals in 14 league appearances, showing the efficiency of a top striker.

Shelingham became famous very early, but as an evergreen in the Premier League, he rarely had his own highlight moment. After being hit by an injury this season, he still persevered in training to ensure a smooth comeback. In the league he played for Tottenham, he scored a goal every 67 minutes on average, becoming the most efficient killer among the strikers who scored more than 10 goals.

In Tottenham's lineup, Shelingham's power is second only to Gascoigne, and his offensive threat has always been the best in Tottenham. This season Shelingham's efficiency has also attracted Ferguson's attention. The Manchester United coach can't help but think, "If Manchester United has a killer like this in the lineup, how many opportunities in front of the goal will be converted into a terrifying number of goals?"

Although Ferguson had already planned to recruit players, he also knew that it would not be easy to succeed in getting them from Tottenham. After many twists and turns, Shelingham finally joined the Red Devils.

Shelingham's experience after joining Manchester United is legendary. He helped Manchester United create a miracle in the 1999 Champions League final, which is enough to become a meritorious service in the hearts of the Red Devils fans. Shelingham also has another record worth remembering, that is, he has been active in the league since then, becoming the oldest player to score in the Premier League, and he was still able to score for the team in the Premier League at the age of 40.

In general, this season belongs to the killers. In addition to those memorable and wonderful goals and those continuously refreshed goal records, another feature of this season is the emergence of many stars. In the scorer list, there are 6 players who have scored 20 or more goals this season. In addition to Cole's 34 goals, there are Blackburn's Shearer who scored 31 goals, Southampton's Le Tissier who scored 25 goals, Norwich's Sutton who also scored 25 goals, Arsenal's Wright who scored 23 goals, and Newcastle's Beardsley who also scored 20 goals.