The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 299 Ordinary David May

"Some players are not famous, their strength is not outstanding, and they are not trained by the Manchester United youth training, but they are born with certain characteristics of the Manchester United. They are willing to follow Ferguson's call, love this great team, are willing to make selfless contributions to the team, and are willing to sacrifice for the team. David May is such a player."

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The departure of captain Robson did not seem to have much impact on the overall strength of the Red Devils. The main players in the middle of the midfield are now Ings and Keane, and Scholes and Butt can play as central midfielders. Even Beckham played as a central midfielder at the time.

Before Robson left, the Red Devils also sent away defender Lee Martin, a great contributor who saved Ferguson. Ferguson eventually sent him to Glasgow Rangers for £35 and sought a generous salary for him. Lee Martin played 109 games in all competitions for the Red Devils and scored only two goals, but the goal he scored against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final was more precious than gold. It was this goal that helped the Red Devils win the championship and also helped Ferguson get the opportunity to continue coaching the Red Devils.

Ferguson also gave up striker Dablin and let him transfer to Coventry for 200 million pounds. This guy who showed off his natural talent in the locker room, always wandering around naked, with a huge thing between his legs, was shocking. He was considered a strange star. After leaving the Red Devils, Dablin played well in Coventry and created another legend in the Premier League. In addition, defender Clayton Blackmore's contract expired and he transferred to Middlesbrough on a free transfer, and goalkeeper Les Healy also transferred to Blackpool on a free transfer.

In addition, players who were trained through the Red Devils' youth training system, such as Gilino Mylana, Mick Plan, Neil Whiteworth, Colin McCann and others, also left.

After clearing out a large number of players, Ferguson naturally needs to recruit new players. The addition of full-backs is imminent. Blackmore and Lee Martin both left in their prime years, and the Red Devils need to reserve enough rotational players at the full-back position. On the other hand, the two central defenders of the Red Devils also have obvious shortcomings. Although Bruce has just taken over as captain, he is already in the late stage of his career, and Pallister's pace has gradually begun to slow down. A pair of central defenders need to consider successors. The Red Devils' defense was very good last season. Parker and Irwin were both selected full-backs for the national team. The combination of Bruce and Pallister is the best in the entire Premier League, but the team cannot rely on four defenders to play the entire season. The main players need to be rotated, and the team needs to form a echelon so that the replacement of the old and the new can be smooth.

The Red Devils needed to buy a full-back, but they did not make an offer for the hot players as the media analyzed. The media could not even grasp which player Ferguson was interested in, and their lists became a joke one by one.

The Red Devils fans were waiting for an unexpected player, he was the central defender David May from Blackburn.

Blackburn Rovers had a good season last season, but David May was not the cornerstone of their defense, but a guy they disliked. As the champions, Manchester United was willing to spend 126 million pounds to introduce May, which seemed to be a bit like taking over for their title rivals, which really puzzled the Red Devils fans.

The media were eager to see if there would be any chaos in the world, so they tried to find out the news about David May's feud with Blackburn Rovers. But the reporters were disappointed in the end, as there was no bad news about David May.

David May was born in Oldham on June 1970, 6. He is 24cm tall and comes from Blackburn's youth training system. David May made his debut very early, playing for Blackburn in 183 when he was only 1988 years old. David May quickly got a starting position and was promoted with the team to compete in the Premier League. David May can play in multiple defender positions, including center back and right back. In the six years he played for the team, David May played 18 times for Blackburn and became the team's main defender.

In the 1993-94 season, David May disagreed with Blackburn's contract extension request and insisted on a higher salary. He said, "The club has been expanding aggressively, spending money like crazy to buy players, agreeing to all kinds of unreasonable requests from new players, but ignoring old players. I find it hard to accept this arrangement. The club promised to buy a designated luxury car for the new player and assign him a full-time driver. They can get several times higher salaries than us old players without any achievements. I am not jealous of their high salaries, but I can also ask for a pay rise. I hope the club will handle it properly instead of blaming me."

The conflict arose and Blackburn decided to get rid of him. When the news came that David May was about to leave, Ferguson immediately extended an olive branch.

David May came to the Red Devils in this way.

Although David May has played in England for many years and can play in multiple positions, he has not established any reputation. Many Red Devils fans are not familiar with him. Some fans think that his name "May" is unreliable, "maybe", "can"... makes people feel unreliable.

The data dug up by the media are not favorable to David May. Whether it is clearance, confrontation, header and speed, David May's performance is not very good, which is not the data of an excellent central defender.

The fans don't like it, the media are questioning it, but Ferguson is secretly happy. He knows very well that David May is an ordinary player, a piece of the puzzle that the team needs. David May's physical condition is balanced in all aspects. Although there is nothing particularly outstanding, there is no obvious shortcoming. He performs well in daily life and plays steadily. He lacks amazing highlights, but he is not weak. He does not have the famous scene of a man standing alone against thousands of men, and lacks the brilliant moment of sacrificing himself to save the goal, but he can defend the position he should defend, and the general forward can also defend, and he can appear in the position he should appear, and he can also make up for the defense.

Of course, David May himself does not like strong physical confrontations, and he is not fast, so he will miss the ball if he might miss it. His comprehensive abilities in speed, position replacement, assisting defense, confrontation... are not satisfactory. He was cleared out by Blackburn not because of his lack of ability, but because Blackburn wanted to reduce the price for the contract renewal, and the team owner still wanted to introduce a stronger defender to fight for the championship.

Compared to the abilities of Bruce and Pallister in their prime, David May is far behind. Even compared to the later comers Johnson and Borg, he is far inferior, not to mention the later Stam. The gap between David May and Stam may be as big as that of Bruce and Pallister.

So why did Ferguson decide to buy him so readily?

Ferguson's consideration was simple, that is, to buy him for rotation. There was another reason, but Ferguson did not mention it to anyone.

The reason is that Ferguson found that David May was a die-hard Red Devils fan who loved the Red Devils infinitely and had always hoped to have the opportunity to play for the Red Devils. Ferguson found that although David May lacked in ability, his personality was very suitable. Ferguson also considered that David May was a versatile player who could fill various positions of central defender and full-back. Considering Bruce's age and possible injuries, including the fact that Bruce, Pallister, Parker, Irwin and other players are no longer young, it is the safest arrangement for David May to come on as a substitute or rotate to play as a starter when needed.

Ferguson trusted the combination of Bruce and Pallister very much. In his plan, as long as David May could be rotated, the Red Devils could wait until the two core players were completely out of shape before making a big signing. In the youth training camp, Gary Neville had gradually grown up, and there were also central defenders in the youth team who could take over, which made David May's joining smooth sailing.

David May is a special insurance that Ferguson prepared for the back line. Although he can play multiple positions, there is another reason why the ordinary David May is loved by his teammates. David May plays a special role in the Red Devils. He is optimistic and cheerful, likes to joke very much, is good at telling jokes to create an atmosphere, is honest and kind, very decent, good at handling conflicts in the locker room, can promptly resolve the knots of teammates, is a lubricant for the tense relationship between players, and can unite and coordinate all teammates.

This is a very rare quality, which made him trusted by Ferguson.

David May is not very impressive. Joining the Red Devils has made him more popular and improved his overall ability. He is calm on the court, has a good attitude, is very positive and responsible, and has standard defensive moves, but that's all. He can't actively join in and act as a striker like Bruce, nor does he have an excellent pass like Pallister. His arsenal is very lacking.

In his first season with the Red Devils, David May did not play the familiar central defender position, but temporarily filled in the position of the injured Parker. David May's performance at right back was average, but because the Red Devils' frontcourt is really too strong, he does not need to be too strong in this position, as long as he does not lose the chain.

As the season progressed, David May became a versatile defender, and Gary Neville was able to seize the opportunity to quickly emerge. In the end, the two shared the opportunity to play on the right side, and they played 19 and 18 games respectively throughout the season. In the next season, Gary Neville occupied the starting position at right back with better performance and better assist ability, while David May significantly reduced his appearances and time, and completely became a rotation and substitute for the defenders.

Although he is a substitute, David May really likes the atmosphere of the Red Devils.

In the 1996-1997 season, May was given the No. 4 jersey, which meant he was the starting player, because Bruce had already left. Ferguson let May play as a central defender for quite a while. May played 29 games in the league and 11 games in other competitions, and his performance was solid. His partnership with Pallister was also solid, helping the Red Devils regain the league title.

In the following two seasons, David May entered a career low period. He suffered injuries and was in poor condition, which seriously affected his performance. In the summer of 1997, Ferguson bought Henning Borg to strengthen the defense, but the team's strength declined instead of rising. In the 1997-98 season, Arsenal was very sharp. No matter what combination of central defenders the Red Devils arranged, they could not withstand the impact of the Gunners. Arsenal's winger Overmars was extremely sharp and was able to tease the entire defense of the Red Devils at Old Trafford.

David May's poor performance was a microcosm of the Red Devils' poor form. At the end of the season, Arsenal snatched the league title from the Red Devils.

Ferguson was furious at the poor performance of the Red Devils, and he decisively spent a large sum of money to buy Stam in the summer of 1998. David May became one of Stam's partners. One of the three players, David May, Johnson and Borg, would be selected to start, and the other two would become substitutes. David May performed the role of rotation and substitute very well. He worked diligently in the limited playing time and tried his best to help the Red Devils move forward with his meager strength.

The Red Devils won the incredible "Triple Crown" in the 1998-1999 season. Although David May only played 6 league games for the Red Devils, he played a lot in the two cup competitions and was the hero of the team's miracle. David May and his teammates trained hard, sweating profusely, going all out to prepare, waiting to be called at any time, and playing in the game in his strongest condition. David May never complained, never made trouble, he always prepared silently, warmed up silently, waiting for the opportunity to play, waiting for the coach's call.

The Red Devils have reached the pinnacle of miracles, and fans will never forget the great contributions of every player. Ferguson thanked everyone after the season ended, thanking every Red Devils player who tried their best, even those who did not have a chance to play also contributed to this great achievement. And for David May, who played and played as a starter, this ordinary person also gave his all, limited but everything he could.

When the Red Devils won the Champions League, the team celebrated wildly. David May stood up tall in the crowd and waved his hands happily, leaving the most unforgettable classic moment.

That was the high point of David May's life and his proudest moment as a Red Devils player.

Many years later, David May said in an interview: "I will never forget the scene of wearing a red jersey and fighting on the green field. I am proud to have played for the Red Devils. I am of course happy to win the treble and other championships, but I am most proud of playing for the Red Devils team."

"Really, this is a lifetime of pride."

David May's resume at Manchester United is close to perfect. Even though he is not a youth player, even though he is not an absolute superstar, and even though he is not strong enough to be considered as a leader, he is willing to give everything for the team. Ferguson has a special ability to tap into these shining qualities and make David May successful at Manchester United.