The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 322 Continuous Pressure

"What Manchester United has to do now is to win all the games and then wait for the opponent to make mistakes. Experience tells us that Blackburn will definitely lose points and will definitely lose."

--Inscription

There are still seven games left in the season, and Manchester United is still in second place, with Blackburn leading. Although the gap is still only three points, which is the difference between a win and a loss, Blackburn has been leading for a long time, which makes the gap look more and more solid.

The media also emphasized that Ferguson's team has been putting pressure on Blackburn since the 25th round and has been chasing this opponent. Now it is the 35th round and Manchester United is still 3 points behind.

Many media outlets are analyzing what chances the Red Devils have and how Ferguson's team can catch up with Blackburn. The media is divided into two camps, with the majority believing that the Red Devils will not catch up with Blackburn and the minority believing that the Red Devils will definitely overtake their opponents.

The Red Devils actually had a good start to the season. In August, they remained unbeaten with 8 wins and 4 draw in 3 games, and their points were far ahead of Blackburn. But after September, Manchester United suddenly collapsed. They were defeated 1 times in just 9 league games, and were caught up and overtaken by Blackburn in the standings. On the one hand, the team entered multiple battles and faced the impact of intensive schedules. On the other hand, the players' concentration and desire to win were not as good as before. Injuries also hit, and the ups and downs of some key players' status. All these reasons combined made Manchester United enter a difficult period.

Ferguson himself has a strong sense of crisis, but he does not have enough solutions to the problem of players' lack of motivation. Competitive football is so cruel that once players relax their spirits because of the satisfaction of winning the championship and their competitive state declines, it is difficult to cheer up again. This is especially true for Manchester United, a team that has won two league championships. It is difficult for Ferguson to give players a higher goal than the league championship. Not only that, Ferguson has more challenges, especially the team has played many unlucky games in a row, occupying an absolute advantage but failing to win in the end, and then being tied or even defeated by the opponent. This bad result makes the situation even more unfavorable. After Manchester United was hit head-on by Leeds United in early September, they lost to Ipswich in the seventh round of the league and fell behind in the championship race.

The most successful team at this time was Keegan's Newcastle United, whose performance at the beginning of the season was amazing, winning games one after another and grabbing points like crazy. The Magpies went unbeaten for 11 games at the beginning of the season, including 9 wins, and grabbed the top spot in points.

联赛初期布莱克本队表现并不好，他们在前四场比赛2胜2平之后，进入9月份之后又遭遇到了4轮仅1胜的尴尬，和曼联同样遭遇了3场失败。布莱克本还在主场2比4被曼联击败，更是大伤士气。

Blackburn Rovers was already 11 points behind Newcastle United after 8 rounds. Newcastle United had a perfect start, but their fierce momentum of grabbing points came to an abrupt end after entering the winter schedule. Manchester United was also struggling due to multiple battles at this time, while Blackburn Rovers quietly began to accelerate their pursuit. Starting from the 9th round, Blackburn Rovers used a wave of 11 wins and 1 draw to take the top spot in the standings. Even after losing 0-1 to Manchester United away, they still had a 2-point advantage.

Ferguson's team becomes stronger when facing stronger teams. In direct confrontations, they defeated Newcastle and Blackburn, the two biggest rivals for the championship, and also achieved a league double kill against Blackburn. However, they also have the problem of instability and it is difficult for them to steadily grab points in consecutive fierce battles.

Manchester United is not without opportunities. Blackburn has also experienced great ups and downs since entering December. They drew with Leeds United and then lost to Tottenham, which gave Manchester United the opportunity to overtake their opponents in the standings.

But Manchester United's excellent form did not last long, and Blackburn quickly rebounded. After entering January, Manchester United fell into a difficult situation again. On the other side, Blackburn once again took the lead with a wave of points. This wave of 1 wins and 7 draws shocked the entire league.

Manchester United was hit by the suspension of Cantona during this period, and many key players were injured. Bruce and Pallister were injured intermittently, Ince and Keane were also injured, and Parker's competitive state declined to a desperate level in addition to injuries. In addition, Lee Sharpe was injured and the season was scrapped, Giggs was also injured, and Hughes was also absent for a long time due to injuries.

Injuries have left the Red Devils with no way to deal with the iron turtle, and Ferguson's methods of changing formations and strengthening attacks on the spot have no basis. Many times, the mid- and lower-level teams set up an iron bucket formation at the beginning, making the Red Devils' strong attack ineffective and difficult to win. The Red Devils also have other hidden dangers. The speed of the pair of central defenders is a problem. Once the opponent counterattacks at a high speed, the Red Devils' defense will suffer from time to time.

The biggest difficulty encountered by the Red Devils is Cantona's suspension. Not only has Manchester United's overall strength been weakened, but the most critical thing is that Cantona's role cannot be replaced. Ferguson used to joke, "We have the omnipotent Cantona. There is no problem he can't solve." Manchester United players are also superstitious about their boss and always believe that Cantona can handle everything. But now the English Football Association has cut off the fire and banned Cantona, which has put Manchester United in a passive position.

Manchester United is struggling to catch up, while Blackburn Rovers has maintained a good state since entering February. Although they have had ups and downs, they have been able to grit their teeth and persist, always maintaining the lead.

Now 35 rounds of the league are over, Manchester United has 73 points, and there are 7 rounds left in the league, so theoretically they can get 94 points. The media all think that it is not easy for Manchester United to get this score, because Manchester United has never been able to get such a high score in history.

Ferguson believes that although Dalglish's team has been leading, they cannot avoid making mistakes. Ferguson said: "They will definitely have problems. There are many clubs in the Premier League this season who are equally strong. They are not at a disadvantage to Blackburn. They have lost five games in the league. We beat them in the league. Tottenham and other teams can also beat them. I believe they will still face failure in the remaining games. There is no doubt about it."

Ferguson launched a psychological warfare to slow down his opponent. In an interview, he said, "Blackburn will be like the horse Devon Lodge, who will give us the chance again near the finish line." (Note: In 1956, this horse was the top favorite in the All England Horse Race. It led all the way but suddenly lost its footing 50 meters from the finish line and eventually lost the championship title.)

Dalglish was equally sharp in his words. "Everyone will have ups and downs in a long season. Blackburn may have it, and so may Manchester United. The current situation is that we are at the top of the table, we enjoy this treatment, and we will work hard to sprint towards the championship."

"Horse racing? I don't care about Devin Lodge. In fact, I focus on football and don't like horse racing like Alex. I think it is very rare for Devin Lodge to lose control near the finish line. This will be talked about as a typical case because it will hardly happen a second time. Now we have the advantage, but Ferguson is under great pressure."

到了英超第36轮，红魔迎战利兹联队。这场比赛对于贝克汉姆的球迷来说却具有特别的意义。1995年的4月2日的这场比赛是万人迷代表红魔第一次首发亮相英超。相比较1992年9月23日小贝首次代表红魔出战正式比赛（当时红魔在联赛杯对阵布莱顿队，小贝年仅17岁）的纪念日，一晃眼已经两年多过去了。

Beckham played very hard in the starting lineup, and his teammates also played very hard, but the opponent Leeds United was very strong and was Manchester United's derby rival. The game was even more exciting and caused great trouble for Manchester United. Although Leeds United's defense was not very good, their fast attack and fighting hard in the midfield were very restraining for Manchester United, causing the Red Devils to suffer a lot. The Red Devils created many opportunities in the hard fight, and Ins missed an empty goal in front of the goal, and ultimately failed to win the game.

Manchester United's wish to get 3 points was dashed, Blackburn would not wait for you, they expanded their advantage again and led by 5 points.

Before the 37th round of the Premier League, the Red Devils will first play a FA Cup semi-final. Their opponent is the Crystal Palace team that caused Cantona's red card and the flying kick incident.

The Red Devils, who were full of rage and wanted revenge, attacked fiercely throughout the game, but failed to swallow their opponents as they wished. They scored two goals in the frontcourt, but also lost the goal twice in the backcourt. In the end, they could only draw with Crystal Palace 2-2 and had to choose another day to replay. In the replay, the Red Devils team was alert and stepped up the pressure from the midfield. Finally, they defeated the opponent 2-0 and successfully entered the final.

After the FA Cup semi-final rematch, Ferguson encouraged the team, "Our current situation is a challenge and an opportunity. If we continue to win, we will be champions. This is the case in the league and cup competitions. So what reason do we have not to work hard?!"

On the other hand, Blackburn Rovers took advantage of Manchester United's two FA Cup semi-finals to win another league victory. After 36 rounds, their points reached 82, 8 points ahead of Manchester United!

This is a gap that makes Manchester United fans almost desperate. The Times added insult to injury by saying: "It is not Ferguson who is putting pressure on Dalglish, but Dalglish who is putting pressure on Ferguson. There are still six rounds of the league and Manchester United has no hope."

Manchester Evening News also published a special commentary, "Blackburn has basically secured the title. They can now win consistently, so Manchester United has no hope. There are still six rounds of the league, and it will be too difficult for Manchester United to catch up with 6 points."

Three days after playing against Crystal Palace, the Red Devils faced Leicester City, which was the 3th round of the league.

The Red Devils played vigorously, while the Foxes had no intention of fighting. They were very passive throughout the game and had almost no ability to fight back. Lee Sharp, who returned to the starting position, performed very well and shone brightly. He first received a pass from his teammate at the back of the opponent's penalty area, quickly swung his leg and shot, easily scoring the first goal, opening the scoring for the Red Devils. Then Sharp and McClair played a tacit cooperation, counter-attacking the opponent's defense, successfully getting rid of the defense and advancing to the bottom of the left penalty area, and then a sweeping cross helped Cole to easily score. In the second half, Cole took advantage of the chaos of the opponent defending Bruce's header and keenly found the space in front of the goal to make a supplementary shot and score another goal, helping the team to a 3-0 score.

At the last moment of the game, Beckham and Scholes made a wall-to-wall cooperation on the right, successfully tearing through the opponent's defense. Scholes took the ball to the penalty area line and decisively kicked a lob shot. This lob shot, which was almost a complete replica of Cantona's lob shot, deviated a little from the angle, and the ball slipped past the goal and did not hit the target. But at this moment, Ings rushed over and shot a lob shot from the back point to score. The Red Devils won the opponent 4-0!

Sky Sports said: "Manchester United played very well in this game and the players performed very well. It's a pity that they are so good now, it's a bit too late."