The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

"Who hasn't made some stupid mistakes? Roy Keane was also a hot-blooded, rebellious young man, but he would get a red card for his impulsiveness and fight with his opponents, but he would never deliberately dive to get a penalty. He is not the kind of person who would play tricks, nor is he the kind of person who would do anything to gain benefits."

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Red Devils vs Blackburn Rovers, this is a championship-level battle. Last season's league champions vs. the season before last, the outcome naturally attracted great attention.

Blackburn won the Premier League last season, which made the team owner, steel magnate Jack Walker, overjoyed. For him, his long-cherished wish has been fulfilled, and the huge investment has also received the best return. However, Walker is not an expert in the football world, and his team is now facing new challenges. Kenny Dalglish resigned as head coach after winning the championship, and Blackburn chose Harford to take over. He is obviously not strong enough to lead the team effectively. Although Harford has the super striker partner "SAS" - Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, and has introduced Norwegian international Bosigne and Welsh defender Coleman, the overall strength seems to have been strengthened, but the mentality and mood within the team are completely different from last season. The team has lost the previous motivation to fight hard for the championship, and lacks the strong desire to give everything for the championship. As a mercenary team mainly importing players, it is difficult for Blackburn to find cohesion from the team itself, and it is even more difficult to find the motivation for these foreign players to continue to fight hard.

In other words, the reason why Blackburn had a poor start this season was not because the players were not strong, but because the morale of the team was scattered and the team was difficult to lead. This also explains why Blackburn, as the defending champion, lost two of the first three games of the season.

Sky TV, which is responsible for the broadcast, has introduced a new technology called "Replay 2000", which allows the screen to be stopped at any time during the broadcast, and guests can mark and draw lines directly on the picture. For example, offside replays can be marked with lines, and set pieces can be marked on the field with the distance to the goal or the human wall instead of simple subtitle numbers, which greatly enhances the sense of technology presented in the game.

Before the game, both teams paid tribute to Johnny Carey, a legend of both clubs. He was the captain of the Red Devils when Busby coached them to win the FA Cup and the League Championship. After leaving the Red Devils in 1953, Carey coached Blackburn Rovers until the 1970-71 season when he announced his retirement. Unfortunately, Carey passed away six days before the game, so the two teams arranged to remember the legend together before the game.

After the game officially started, the Red Devils quickly took the initiative and quickly suppressed Blackburn. Blackburn was in a passive situation and was almost besieged by the Red Devils, but goalkeeper Tim Flowers played bravely and repeatedly resolved the Red Devils' excellent scoring opportunities, helping the team to maintain a 0-0 score. The referee was suspected of biased whistle in this game. Red Devils striker Andy Cole broke into the penalty area in the first half and was knocked down by the opponent's goalkeeper, but referee Elleray did not say anything.

In the second half, the Red Devils continued to attack the opponent, and Blackburn finally couldn't hold on and was captured by the fierce artillery fire. Young player Butt made a powerful long shot in the frontcourt, and Flowers barely caught the ball. Although he once again bravely poked the ball away before Cole grabbed the ball, although the Blackburn defender fell to the ground on the goal line to block Scholes's shot, and although Flowers once again saved Keane's volley from the top of the penalty area, Lee Sharpe's final shot in front of the goal still scored into the empty goal.

Red Devils 1-0!

Blackburn, who were behind, stepped up their counterattack. Just 13 minutes after the Red Devils scored, they used a corner kick opportunity to cause chaos in the Red Devils' penalty area. Shearer made a tricky and powerful left-foot shot near the penalty area line, which pierced Schmeichel's fingers.

Blackburn quickly equalized the score. The Red Devils were very depressed, but they continued to intensify their offensive and turned the situation into a gang fight. Eight minutes later, the Red Devils launched another strong attack, and seven of their players entered the opponent's hinterland. Lee Sharp dribbled the ball on the left side of the penalty area, and when the opponent made a flying tackle, he fell to the ground and passed the ball to No. 8 David Beckham. With his back to the goal, Beckham was blessed. He took a step back to adjust the space, and then immediately turned around and shot. This arc shot did not carry a trace of fireworks, and flew into the far corner of the goal nimbly.

The Red Devils lead again 2-1!

The subsequent game was very intense, Blackburn continued to strengthen their offensive, and took advantage of Sutton's header to frequently send high balls to Manchester United's penalty area. Manchester United, on the other hand, strengthened their quick counterattacks while relatively shrinking their defense. Giggs and Beckham both had the opportunity to run long distances, but unfortunately they were stopped by fouls when they reached the opponent's half.

As the game drew to a close, the two sides argued more fiercely. In the 85th minute, Manchester United seized the opportunity to counterattack. The Red Devils' Keane dribbled into the opponent's penalty area and was tackled to the ground by the opponent's central defender Hendry. The tackle was very timely and clean. Keane also knew that the opportunity was missed and did not have too many other thoughts. He shook his head and was about to get up and run back to his own half when he was suddenly stunned. The referee on duty, Elleray, actually showed a yellow card and judged that Keane was "diving" to cheat a penalty.

As Keane looked in disbelief, the referee pulled out another red card. Keane had already received a yellow card, and two yellow cards turned into one red card and he was sent off.

"You're fucking blind!"

Ferguson on the sidelines was furious and angrily cursed the referee.

Despite this farce, the Red Devils still defeated their powerful opponents with a score of 2-1.

Keane said after the game, "What I hate most in my life is cheating. I will never do that kind of hypocritical morale to cheat the referee for profit, especially by diving to cheat a penalty. This accusation is a great humiliation for me. I didn't dive. When I was dribbling the ball, Hendry fell to the ground and tackled beside me. He did tackle the ball, and there was no foul, but his tackle did make me lose my balance. I couldn't keep my center of gravity, so I fell."

Many years later, Keane still couldn't forget this incident. When Manchester United's young player Ronaldinho often used fake moves to pass his opponents, but also often used diving to deceive the referee, Keane's reaction was to beat Ronaldinho in the locker room. And when the little guy did it again, he really criticized him directly in the media, without any mercy.

Keane said, "Don't tell me this is for the good of the team. I will never accept or tolerate such despicable things. I later asked a video team to edit the process of my fall, add professional analysis, and then send it to the referee of that year. I didn't receive his apology, but I know he has understood the truth of the matter."

The Red Devils showed their strong strength at the home ground of the defending champions. Sky TV commentator Andy Gray was shocked. He used a series of parallel sentences to describe the young Red Devils, "full of confidence, full of faith, full of fighting spirit, and full of maturity that is not commensurate with their age."

After the game, Ferguson specifically criticized the referee for giving Keane a red card. "I can guarantee that guy is absolutely blind. He can call anyone for diving, but not Keane. It is a shame for the referee that Keane received such a red card."

With these three consecutive victories, the Red Devils have one more game to play and are tied for first place in the standings with 9 points, the same as Newcastle and Leeds United.

The BBC concluded after the game: "Ferguson is indeed amazing. The Red Devils he shows to everyone now are very sharp and very strong. This is a nearly new team, but it has inherited the dominance of the original team, which makes people full of expectations."

The Red Devils' next league opponent is Everton. There were naturally many hot spots before the game. Andrei Kanchelskis, who had transferred to the Toffees, started the game to challenge his old club, but he was replaced by Hinchcliffe due to a shoulder injury less than 15 minutes into the game. The Red Devils were in a strong state and quickly took the lead in the Toffees' home court. Three minutes into the game, the Red Devils' frontcourt attack developed from the middle to the right. Cole took the ball with his back and turned to pass it to Beckham. Beckham quickly crossed the bottom and made a low cross. This cross passed the middle area to the back point, and the ambushed Lee Sharpe easily scored an empty goal.

Lee Sharp scored in two consecutive games!

Everton was unwilling to admit defeat after falling behind, and they began to counterattack the Red Devils. The Toffees pressed fiercely in the frontcourt, and the Red Devils' central defender made a mistake in panic and was intercepted by Swedish international Limpa, who then went straight in and broke through Schmeichel's defense. Everton tied the Red Devils 1-1!

The game was full of twists and turns. After the second half, the Red Devils took control of the game again and patiently looked for opportunities. Cole cooperated with Scholes in the frontcourt and directly advanced into the penalty area, creating a half-solo opportunity. When he was about to shoot a tricky shot, Lee Sharp, who was faster, kicked the ball into the dead corner!

The Red Devils took the lead again 2-1.

The unconvinced Toffees soon equalized again, the goal coming from Rideout, who had scored the winning goal in the FA Cup final the previous year.

The Red Devils were in a difficult situation, facing the possibility of being tripped by Everton again after leading twice. Ferguson decisively replaced Giggs who had returned from injury and asked the players to continue to attack. The Red Devils players then set off a wave of attack again. Their continuous attack eventually broke the opponent's defense. They frantically grabbed the ball in the middle and front court, which also caused the opponent to make mistakes in a hurry. Soon, the Red Devils succeeded in stealing the ball in the midfield. Giggs and Beckham, both wings, were inserted in the middle. Giggs received Beckham's exquisite pass and accurately shot into the dead corner to score. The Red Devils won 3-2! .

In this round, Newcastle lost at the Saints' home ground. After five league rounds, the Red Devils have the same 12 points as the Magpies and are ranked first in the league standings.

Beckham assisted, Lee Sharpe scored, Lee Sharpe scored again, Beckham assisted, Giggs scored... and considering the equally wonderful performances of Manchester United's young players in previous games, the Red Devils' youth training storm finally began to show its exciting face.

Manchester United's young players are using an extremely sharp passion and indefatigable enthusiasm, an aggressive fighting rhythm and a brave attacking state to tell the world that this is a sharp team and that Ferguson is regaining his dominance.

The league is in full swing, but the Red Devils need to travel to Russia to compete in the UEFA Cup during the busy league breaks.