The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 300: The Tyrant Steals Love

"Spending money like crazy may not necessarily lead to a championship directly, but spending lavishly is definitely the easiest way to a championship. Ferguson's victory in the Premier League and dominance in England cannot stop others from turning to join the rich father. No matter how glorious the aura of Manchester United is, it cannot stop others from stealing the love."

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In addition to defenders, the Red Devils also have needs in forwards. The Red Devils currently have a strong forward combination. Although Hughes and Cantona, as two main players, did not lead the pack in terms of goal scoring, they were still able to maintain sufficient firepower and support and enlighten the entire attack system of the Red Devils.

There is no problem with the two main players, but the problem lies in the substitutes and rotation players. McClair is already in the late stage of his career, and he can't play too much in terms of attacking power and physical condition. Thornley, a new striker from the Red Devils' youth training, has played, but Ferguson was not impressed by him. Therefore, Ferguson also knew that he needed to introduce a striker.

Ferguson actually considered this issue in the middle of last season, or in other words, since giving up Dublin, the Red Devils needed to add strikers. Since Cantona and Hughes were still in the starting lineup, it seemed unrealistic for the Red Devils to introduce those already very famous strikers to play rotation. Ferguson once paid attention to many players, but not many asked about their prices. This summer, Ferguson's interest in Norwich's rising star Christopher Sutton quickly became a hot topic.

The Red Devils did make an offer to Norwich for Sutton, but Ferguson did not want to make it public at first. However, Norwich deliberately leaked the news, hyped it up themselves, and offered a sky-high transfer fee of 500 million pounds.

Sutton had just emerged at that time and had been a regular in the Norwich team for less than a season, but the Canaries dared to call out the price of a super striker. Although the Red Devils and Ferguson were willing to spend lavishly and repeatedly set transfer records, they flatly refused to ask for £500 million for a newly emerged striker.

Ferguson would not be so crazy, but Norwich's hype had an amazing effect. First Liverpool, then Tottenham, all began to pay attention to Sutton, hoping to bring in this new player "favored by Ferguson". Just when everyone was still discussing how much Norwich would sell Sutton for, the wealthy team Blackburn did not have any intention of bargaining, and directly agreed to Norwich's 500 million asking price, and also offered Sutton a salary that could not be refused, and directly won this shocking deal.

In this way, Ferguson's earliest target, Sutton, was directly snatched away by championship rivals Blackburn.

Many reporters asked Ferguson if he felt offended, but Ferguson looked disgusted and didn't want to answer. He said: "This is a matter between Norwich and Blackburn. You don't need to ask me how much Sutton is worth, and I won't tell you."

Ferguson knew that the transfer market was turbulent and that he could not celebrate the success before the players were actually signed. When Shearer rejected the olive branch from the Red Devils to join Dalglish, Ferguson took advantage of the time difference to take the lead in poaching Keane. That kind of competition for players was like a collision between Mars and the Earth. Now, Ferguson didn't care that he would not follow up and raise the price.

Besides Sutton, Ferguson was interested in several other forwards. Les Ferdinand, Andy Cole, Clough... a bunch of Premier League forwards were included in Ferguson's watch list. But Ferguson didn't sign any of them in the end, and the media began to discuss, "The Red Devils don't have the ambition to grab the top bid last season, Edwards and Ferguson are not as good as they used to be.

Why is this?

The answer may be simple or complex.

The simple answer is that Ferguson may be very satisfied with the current lineup of the Red Devils. After winning the Premier League title for two consecutive seasons, the current lineup of the Red Devils has shocked the whole of England. This huge lineup that Ferguson has personally built over the years has a very stable core structure, a very strong central axis, and players in all positions are first-class choices. This is not only Ferguson's confidence, but also recognized by all media. Under Ferguson's rule, this Red Devils team has a reasonable combination of old, middle-aged and young players. Most of the main players are in their prime years. What is even more rare is that many players can play different positions. Keane is often sent by Ferguson to play as a defender, McClair can play in the midfield, Cantona can also retreat to the midfield to organize the attack, Giggs can play on the left or right, and even Lee Sharpe can take care of both sides and can play as a full-back. The Red Devils have done a particularly good job in terms of overall integrity. Although some players such as Cantona are indispensable, they do not rely solely on the stars to fight alone. Ferguson's team is built according to the idea that the whole is greater than the individual. Although the strength of a single star is not the strongest, the combination of 11 people can become the strongest in the league. Another key reason is that the Red Devils' young players are very good, with Giggs and Lee Sharpe being the icons. Behind Giggs, there is a large number of talented players from the youth team waiting for their chance. The strength of these kids is not inferior to that of the first team, which gives Ferguson more confidence.

The complex reasons may be the misjudgment of Ferguson and the Red Devils' recruitment team. The fierce external competition and the success of the Premier League have inspired more and more ambitious club owners, allowing more and more clubs to spend huge amounts of money to recruit players, exceeding Ferguson and the Red Devils' predictions. This is the case with the new Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United, and Leeds United. More and more teams are starting to compete for already famous superstars, and even start to introduce stars from all over the world to comprehensively build a more international and stronger team. At this time, the Red Devils may not be able to keep up, and their board of directors may find it difficult to give Ferguson enough support. Although Ferguson did not seem to support spending huge sums of money to introduce those superstars at their peak throughout his career, especially those with some hype. Ferguson's offers for Batistuta, Pearce, and later Gascoigne and Shearer were all cautious. Ferguson would make offers for some stars, but he would focus more on discovering those new stars who had just become famous, or identifying some stars who were seriously underestimated by the market with a unique eye.

The main reason is the attitude of the Red Devils board of directors, not that Ferguson is unwilling to spend money. Ferguson certainly hopes to buy the players he wants, but Edwards and others who finally pay the bills are not willing to spend too much money. They hope to get more dividends for themselves.

For example, Keane was a rising star who had just become famous. Ferguson spent a lot of money to buy him. At that time, there were different voices within the Red Devils board of directors, who believed that a player like Keane who had announced that he was leaving was not worth spending a record transfer fee. This misjudgment affects the Red Devils all the time and has caused considerable negative consequences. If Keane had not left because Forest was relegated, but had stayed in Forest for another year, his price would definitely not be 375 million pounds. For example, Cantona and Kanchelskis were seriously undervalued by the market. If Ferguson had not acted decisively, the Red Devils might have spent several times more in transfer fees and still not been able to win the championship.

The Red Devils' strategy did make Ferguson miss out on many hot stars. The impact of this policy may not be obvious when Ferguson has been coaching the Red Devils, but in fact some transfers are still very important at critical moments. When the Red Devils' coaching position was replaced by someone else and when Ferguson really retired, the Red Devils' transfer to maintain their dominance by spending money was no longer possible.

Ferguson did not receive strong support from the board of directors, and the transfer work eventually stopped. But at this time, teams such as Tottenham, Newcastle, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc. did not stop, and the Premier League teams were unwilling to bow down to the Red Devils and Ferguson. The hot summer transfer window further enhanced the appeal of the Premier League, and the increase in broadcasting fees also allowed more teams to attract foreign big-name stars to join.

In London, the absolute superstar, the world champion player from Germany, Klinsmann, joined Tottenham this summer. This transfer made a sensation around the world, and raised the fans' expectations for Tottenham infinitely. The German striker was famous and powerful. He was the main center forward of the national team at that time and was also a well-known football star.

Klinsmann's joining Tottenham marked the beginning of the Premier League's attraction of world-class players, and it is also a sign of the Premier League's growing appeal.

Klinsmann's joining Tottenham was a big hit, but the most watched club in the transfer window was not Tottenham, but Blackburn Rovers. The Premier League's biggest moneymaker that year stole everyone's attention, and they continued to buy frantically, becoming the focus of the summer.

Blackburn Rovers lost the championship last season, but the club continued to claim to win the championship in the summer. The owner Walker once again used money to successfully poach players from the Red Devils, snatching striker Sutton with a transfer fee of 500 million pounds, setting a new Premier League record. "Nothing is more magical than money. Walker opened his checkbook and easily captured Norwich and Sutton with a few numbers." Reporters spent half a day witnessing the reversal of this transfer event.

Now, Blackburn has a duo with the highest transfer fee record in the Premier League, and reporters call the partnership of Sutton and Shearer "SAS".

In addition to Sutton, Dalglish also changed other positions that needed to be strengthened. Blackburn bought desperately for the Premier League title, and this model created a championship team that simply blinded the eyes of other teams.

Blackburn spent a lot of money to strengthen the team, and the whole team became star-studded. Goalkeeper Tim Flowers is the second goalkeeper of the England national team, and the defense line is full of big names: left back Graham Letss, the main player of the England national team; center backs Colin Hendry and Henning Borg, the former was the captain of the Scottish national team at the time, and Borg was the main defender of the Norwegian national team. Right back Jeff Kenna was the defender of the Irish national team at the time. Blackburn midfielder has left forward Jason Wilcox, an England international, and center is Mark Atkins and Tim Sherwood. Although the former is not famous, his strength is also extraordinary. The latter is the main player of the England national team. He has a tough and cold temperament and is a tough midfielder renowned in the Premier League. In addition, defensive midfielder David Batty is the main player of the England national team, and there is Paul Warhurst, who is also a defensive hero who can carry and fight. The right midfielder is England international Stuart Lipley, who has a strong offensive ability. The four midfielders are active in running, strong in defense, and accurate in medium and long-range passes, providing the best ammunition for high-altitude bombing. Forward Sutton joined the team as the most expensive player in the summer. He is good at headers and goal-scoring. He and Alan Shearer form a high-altitude twin tower and a powerful duo. In addition to these two powerful figures, Mike Newell and Kevin Gallagher are two striker substitutes, and they are also good killers.

Blackburn Rovers has assembled a super team, and head coach Dalglish has been highly praised by the media. As a star and famous coach who has won the English First Division Championship, Dalglish is very familiar with the Premier League and has rich experience to improve the team's combat effectiveness. Dalglish retired regrettably in the English First Division era, but was killed by Ferguson in the last few games last season. All kinds of reluctance turned into a strong obsession.

Boss Walker was full of confidence in the new season and issued a championship declaration in advance, "I believe that money can definitely bring achievements. I think our team members are completely championship-level."

In order to stimulate the team, Walker even added a supplementary clause to the contract, once the team won the championship, the entire team would receive an additional huge bonus!

Does Walker’s money-burning routine sound familiar to you?

Later, various financiers entered the Premier League, all following the same model. Until now, the Premier League pattern has changed with the entry of big financiers. Whether it is Abramovich, Thaksin, or the oil daddy from West Asia, or the local tycoons who expanded wildly by borrowing, or the big financial groups from the United States... they all understand that the Premier League is a money-burning game, and entering this stage requires crazy investment. Sometimes, for the championship, you need ten times or a hundred times the money, and you can build a strong lineup with huge checks; sometimes, even just to keep the Premier League qualification, you need to burn money like crazy. After Blackburn, we will see this situation again and again in teams like Newcastle, Leeds United, Chelsea, and Manchester City. The latest example after entering 2021 is Newcastle United. This old club was bought by one of the richest oil daddies in the Middle East.

After entering 2023, the Red Devils will begin to be sold by the Glazer family, and this legendary club will enter a new era of burning money.