The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

"Manchester United's first defeat of the season not only left a lot of jokes, but also produced one of the most famous quotes in English football history."

--Inscription

At Villa Park on August 1995, 8, when the Aston Villa players saw their opponents lined up on the opposite side, their hearts must have been full of ups and downs and very complicated.

Is this the Red Devil?

Even die-hard Red Devils fans will be confused. This is not the Red Devils they are familiar with. The team on the field is too unfamiliar. Most of the Red Devils fans sitting in the Trinity Stand of Villa Park wore red jerseys, but the Red Devils on the field wore a confusing gray jersey, which was the away jersey launched by Umbro, with an uncomfortable dark gray color. This jersey that looks unpleasant is the one called the "infamous grey kit" in the history of the Red Devils.

The Red Devils' away jersey is always designed unexpectedly. This time it is a disgusting grey, and when it came here last season it was an extremely depressing black.

Compared to the discomfort caused by the jerseys, Red Devils fans were even more shocked by the starting lineup and formation that Ferguson arranged. Is this the Red Devils? Is this the starting lineup of the two-time Premier League champions? And what the hell is Gary Neville playing as a three-man defense in the middle?

The Red Devils fans were still dissatisfied with the starting lineup, and the Red Devils quickly fell into a passive position after the opening, which made them even more angry. The Red Devils could not deploy their formation, and the tactics arranged before the game were completely disrupted and could not be executed at all. The whole team soon became a mess. Scholes was isolated in the front, and the brothers Gary and Phil were completely unaccustomed to their new positions. Butt had no ability to attack from the wing and could only run around blindly following the ball. Among the old players, Schmeichel was not in good shape, Parker was almost completely out of shape, and Pallister's turn became slower. Only Irwin and Keane were normal, but the two of them were completely unable to withstand the collapse of the entire team.

Villa took the advantage and pressed the Red Devils to the ground, so that the Red Devils could only deal with it passively. After more than ten minutes of fierce battle, the Red Devils' decline became more obvious, and Villa became more aggressive. In the 14th minute of the first half, Villa advanced on the left, and two players skillfully played a two-on-one wall-style cooperation, which tore the entire right-wing defense system of the Red Devils in an instant. When the Villa players crossed the ball from the bottom, the only Red Devils player chasing back was Keane. Keane's desperate sliding tackle blocked the cross hole and interfered with Villa's cross, but after the pass fell into the penalty area, the Red Devils were unable to quickly clear the ball. Villa continued to get the ball and attack at the back point. This time, the low ball from the right completely penetrated the Red Devils' defense line, and Taylor easily shoveled the ball in front of the goal and scored!

In the 14th minute of the first half, Villa led 1-0.

The Red Devils stepped up their offensive, but the defense loopholes were once again seized by the opponent. In the 27th minute, Neville Jr. forced his way down the right side, but he was blocked before he could get rid of his opponent. Then the opponent launched a sharp counterattack, and the ball quickly hit the midfield area. Yorke led the ball all the way to the top of the Red Devils' penalty area, attracted the defense of four Red Devils players, and then passed it to his teammates, and then to Delap, who was completely empty on the left. Delap shot low with his right foot in the penalty area and scored in the near corner, giving Villa a 4-2 lead!

The Red Devils were trailing 0:2, and the commentator added fuel to the fire by reminding the audience that in the previous season, the Red Devils goalkeeper Schmeichel had never conceded more than two goals in any Premier League game, which immediately aroused the enthusiasm of the audience, especially the home team fans who began to shout "One more goal!", "One more goal!". At this time, the game entered the 35th minute, the scene had just become a little dull, and the Red Devils' offensive was not too threatening. The enthusiasm of the fans changed the game, and Villa started to attack again, and the Red Devils' defense became precarious again. In the 37th minute, Villa's midfielder passed the ball over the top to striker Milosevic. The three Red Devils defenders couldn't stop the opponent's center forward, and Parker was directly bounced out by Milosevic like a sandbag. Villa striker Milosevic broke through the heavy encirclement of the Red Devils defenders from the penalty area and ran straight into the penalty area with the ball. Schmeichel had no choice but to attack and knock him down, and was directly awarded a penalty!

York, who performed well in the first half and was involved in two goals, easily scored the penalty to help Villa lead 3-0.

Schmeichel watched the ball go into the goal on the goal line without even making a judgement or save. After the game, Schmeichel said, "Yes, I was completely fooled by him. I didn't know his main foot, I didn't know which foot he would use to shoot, and if I hesitated, it would be all over."

Yorke was brilliant in this game, and his performance even impressed Ferguson who was watching on the sidelines. Ferguson was attracted by his talent and eventually bought him to pair with Cole, making them the "Black Wind Duo".

In the second half, Ferguson replaced Beckham and O'Kane and gave it his all. During the halftime break, Ferguson did not turn on the hair dryer in the locker room. He just said: "Don't worry about it. This result is entirely my fault. I hope everyone will let go of their burdens in the second half and try to play at their best."

"Don't worry about the 0-3 in the first half, let's look forward!"

The Red Devils players put aside their burdens and began to perform better. Beckham, who came on as a substitute, played well. His performance on the right completely overshadowed Butt and Phil Neville. In addition to running up and down to open up the entire wing, he also scored a stunning goal from outside the arc before the end of the game, saving a little face for the Red Devils.

Beckham's goal was a strange arc, flying high and falling, which was the forerunner of the elevator ball that everyone talked about later. Despite Beckham's powerful goal, the Red Devils still lost their first game of the 95/96 season.

The Red Devils' title rivals Blackburn and Newcastle both won, and Liverpool relied on their expensive striker Collymore to win the game. This hurt Ferguson and the Red Devils fans even more, as the Nottingham Forest striker had been rumored to be a target for the Red Devils many times.

Ferguson remained calm after the defeat. He took the initiative to take responsibility in the post-match press conference. He explained that he had sent Scholes, the Neville brothers and Butt, the "kids" in the starting lineup, saying, "I have great trust in my players, and they are ready. We didn't play well in this game, and I have nothing to say about the result. This is just the beginning of the season, not the end. I am still confident in the subsequent games, and we will soon regain our dominance over the game."

"Why start so many kids? I don't think it's a problem, they have reached my level. Young players always have to have a start, whether it's good or bad. I won't lose confidence, they are a group of passionate and motivated lads who will surprise us."

Ferguson's answer was not satisfactory, and the Red Devils' defeat immediately became the focus of public opinion. That night, the BBC's flagship program "Match Of The Day" also discussed this hot match. The program's special commentator, former Liverpool Scottish center back Alan Hansen, made a shocking statement and directly said the famous saying written into football history: "You can't win anything with kids!"

One stone can cause a thousand-foot ripple.

Alan Hansen is very popular among the English audience. He has unique views and sharp comments. In particular, he will make sharp comments on some controversial topics. His original words at the time were: "I think they've [Manchester United] got problems. I wouldn't say they have got major problems. Obviously three players have departed and the trick is buy when you are strong. So he needs to buy players. You can't win anything with kids!" (I think the Red Devils are in trouble for losing, but I don't think it's a serious problem. Obviously three players have left the team. Generally speaking, we will buy players to continue to strengthen. So what Ferguson needs is to buy players. You can't win anything with a group of children!)

Villa spent a lot of money on buying players before the season, so this also "verified" the commentator's point of view, that is, "those who spend money win, and those who don't spend money lose."

Alan Hansen's remarks were widely supported at the time, and many Red Devils fans believed that there was nothing wrong with what he said, and that Ferguson and the club should bear the blame for the loss.

Ferguson certainly disagreed. He fiercely criticized Alan Hansen's fallacy, "Football is not like mathematical calculations, where each player's strength has a fixed value, and then all the players in the team are added together to calculate the strength and weakness, and then get the result of victory or defeat. The beauty of football always lies in its unpredictability, and the charm of players also lies in their growth."

Ferguson said: "You can't win anything by relying on a bunch of kids. But no professional team will rely entirely on youth training and use only young players, so this theory has no logical basis. Manchester United's youth training is our great tradition. I believe that youth players can improve quickly and give more help to the team. We also firmly believe that youth players will bring us surprises, and we will succeed from this."

Alan Hansen's sharp criticism and Ferguson's counterattack plunged the Red Devils into a storm of public opinion. Television programs even interrupted other news broadcasts to broadcast the news of the Red Devils' humiliating loss. The Fleet Street media was even more eager to criticize them. The reporters' comments were extremely sharp. The headlines in the newspapers were: "Ferguson's gamble failed", "Ferguson took the youth team to the league to take risks?", "Red Devils' experience of falling from the peak - the Titanic of football".

Everyone knows the later story.

When Alan Hansen announced his retirement from the BBC commentator position in 2014, he had to respond to this sentence again: "Or you can say that this sentence made me and made me extremely famous. When I was at London Euston Railway Station or Heathrow Airport, people often shouted this sentence to me. I don’t think the remarks I made back then were wrong, and I still stick to it today. Because in the world of football, compared with young players, coaches are still more willing to choose those experienced players. This happens every day."

Ferguson could laugh off Alan Hansen's comment, but the young Red Devils were under great pressure because of this statement. Phil Neville once recalled: "This statement almost destroyed me, and his criticism almost destroyed my confidence. As the worst player, I was repeatedly criticized by the media as a negative example. That day we lost the game and returned home. At night, my parents and I watched "Match of the Day" together. When Hansen said that, my parents' faces changed. This kind of criticism can easily make the coach cut off his expectations for youth training, and it is very likely that the coach will no longer believe in youth training and no longer give youth training players any opportunities."

Gary Neville, who performed disastrously, said, "I don't remember whether I watched the show that day or not, I really don't remember. I certainly didn't experience that sad night with my brother, parents. Of course I was frustrated and blamed myself for the defeat. I couldn't compete with the opponent's center forward, and was teased like a fool in front of York. I went to find Keane and Schmeichel, waiting for them to scold me, but they obviously didn't take the defeat too seriously. Instead, they comforted me to put down the burden as soon as possible and prepare for the next game as soon as possible."

"I will never forget this game because it was so cruel," Scholes said. "But I hope to use better performances to tell those who doubt us that we will win. I recognize my shortcomings and try to find ways to make the best of them and play to my strengths. I firmly believe that we can succeed as youth players, even if we experience more doubts and blame."

The first defeat put the Red Devils in a difficult situation. The most powerful finishing blow came from the Manchester Evening News. They first sent a reporter to follow up and report that "the Red Devils players were like bereaved and had no fighting spirit after the defeat", and then conducted a so-called Red Devils fan opinion poll after the game. The final result showed that more than 57% of fans hoped and believed that Ferguson would be sacked at the end of the season.

Radical fans even left a message in the club discussion area, saying, "Let that cold-blooded animal and idiot go away, the Red Devils will be ruined by him!"