The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Even if Cantona was injured, his energy could not be stopped. Cantona now used various methods to help the Red Devils move forward. He was not only a striker, but also an offensive conductor and a commander in the midfield. He broke through the defense to create opportunities, he could score goals and assist, he controlled the rhythm and made it fast or slow... The Red Devils became his own team again, and the Theatre of Dreams cheered for their king again.

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After the Red Devils' derby, the Red Devils traveled to York City to challenge their opponents in the second round of the League Cup on October 1995, 10. Ferguson sent out the strongest lineup led by Cantona to start, hoping to win a big victory over the opponent to save face from the 3- loss in the first game.

Cantona, who had been away from the league for more than nine months, approached Ferguson after the Liverpool game and said, "Boss, I am really exhausted. I have no strength left. My body feels completely broken."

Ferguson said: "You haven't played a formal game for so long, and you can still perform like this. It's scary. I didn't expect you to perform so well. I thought you needed time to slowly adapt to the rhythm of the game. Now it seems that you just need more games, right?"

Cantona: "Coach, you are absolutely right!"

Cantona started again in this League Cup match. The Red Devils attacked the opponent right from the start. After only 7 minutes in the first half, Scholes gave the Red Devils the lead. Seven minutes later, young player Cook extended the lead to two goals with his first goal for the Red Devils first team. Now the total score between the two teams was 7-2, with the Red Devils trailing by only one goal. York City gritted their teeth and defended with all their strength. They took advantage of the Red Devils' fierce attack to launch a surprise counterattack, and winger Scott Jordan scored a goal. Although the Red Devils scored another goal in the 3th minute by Scholes, they were eventually eliminated by York City.

Cantona played averagely in this game and he really needs to recover. After the League Cup match, it was the international match day for the national team. The Red Devils players responded to the national team's call-up and returned to their country to play, but Cantona stayed.

Firstly, the French team was hostile to him and did not call him back to the national team. Secondly, Cantona was determined to use the precious time to recover as soon as possible. Cantona took the initiative to ask to play in the reserve team's match against Leeds United. Ferguson told the Red Devils before the game, "You have the opportunity to play with Cantona, which is quite rare. Now you can learn and observe his performance on the field. This is a precious opportunity."

Cantona was eager to get back to his form, but man proposes, God disposes. In the second half of the game, Cantona injured his calf in a fight with the opponent's striker Des Walker. Ferguson was shocked and immediately replaced him.

After the final examination by the team doctor, it was determined that Cantona had to miss the Manchester derby.

This is the 9th round of the Premier League. The Red Devils are ranked third in the league with 17 points, while Manchester City is ranked last with only 1 point. The Red Devils did not encounter any obstacles in this derby with a huge gap in strength. Scholes scored a goal in the first four minutes of the game and finally defeated the opponent 1:0. Manchester City has been in a precarious situation this season. They ranked third from the bottom at the end of the league and were relegated due to the disadvantage of goal difference.

In the 10th round of the Premier League, the Red Devils went to Stamford Bridge to challenge Chelsea. Chelsea made a big move to bring in the Serie A "braided coach" and Dutch star Gullit, which caused a sensation in the world of football. At that time, Chelsea's owner Ken Bates spent a lot of money. In addition to Gullit, in order to support the young coach Hoddle, he also signed Mark Hughes and Romanian international Petrescu, aiming to build a team to challenge the championship.

Cantona returned to the starting lineup after a week of absence due to a calf injury and became the protagonist on the field again. Facing the opponent's luxurious lineup, the Red Devils took advantage with their sharp impact. In the third minute of the first half, the Red Devils' right back Gary just passed the center line and passed the ball to the opponent's penalty area line. Cantona passed the ball to his teammate with his heel. Scholes received the ball comfortably and shot calmly. He scored 3 goals in 8 league games! 7 minutes later, the Red Devils continued to attack. After a series of short passes, Cantona took the ball and played a forward pass near the center circle. Scholes understood the opportunity of this through pass to break the defense line, dribbled into the penalty area, and then shot hard into the near corner.

Red Devils 2-0!

In the second half, Scholes had another chance to expand the lead. Cantona intercepted the ball in the midfield and rushed to the penalty area. After attracting the attention of two defenders, he flicked the ball to the completely empty right side. Scholes turned around after receiving the ball and rushed into the penalty area when there was no one in front of him to block him. Unfortunately, his powerful shot hit the crossbar and bounced out.

Chelsea, who were trailing, scored a goal in the 75th minute by Hughes. Three minutes after Hughes scored, the Red Devils returned the favor. Giggs quickly accelerated after getting the ball on the left, dribbled at high speed and changed direction towards the opponent's hinterland, repeatedly ravaged Chelsea defender Steve Clarke three times, completely penetrated Chelsea's right area, and then rushed into the penalty area like a gust of wind, and scored with a low left-foot shot into the dead corner.

In the 85th minute, the Red Devils launched another attack. Keane passed the ball to Cantona, who dribbled into the penalty area and fed it to Cole, who then passed it to McClair who was unguarded. McClair immediately shot hard after receiving the ball, and once again blasted the opponent's city.

Red Devils 4-1 Chelsea!

The Red Devils fans were extremely excited. Scholes, who scored twice, shocked the football world with his goal efficiency of 8 goals in 8 games. The third goal scored by Giggs could be regarded as a masterpiece of the winger; the Red Devils' fourth goal showed the depth of the bench and the tremendous power of the Red Devils' team attack.

The score of 4 to 1 reflects the overall gap in strength between the Red Devils and Chelsea. The Red Devils completely overwhelmed their opponents in momentum, had a complete advantage in technology, and were far ahead of their opponents in teamwork. Although Chelsea is ambitious and has great goals, and famous players such as Gullit and Hughes have joined one after another, they are still far behind the Red Devils.

The Red Devils defeated Chelsea, and Newcastle also beat Wimbledon 6-0 at the same time, which means that the points gap between the Red Devils and the Magpies remains at 4 points.

The Red Devils played against Middlesbrough in the 11th round of the Premier League, and the match was scheduled for October 10. Ferguson faced the challenge of his former disciple Robson, while the Red Devils fans welcomed the former magical captain and their own meritorious service at the Theatre of Dreams.

Last season, Robson bid farewell to the Red Devils and became the player and head coach of Middlesbrough, eventually leading the team back to the Premier League as the second-tier league champion. This summer, Middlesbrough's chairman Gibson completed a number of player acquisitions, including England international Barmby signed from Tottenham, Red Devils backup goalkeeper Walsh, and Brazilian international Juninho, greatly strengthening the team's strength. At the start of this game, Middlesbrough had six wins, three draws and one loss in the first ten rounds, only two points behind the second-placed Red Devils. Not only that, they had also won five consecutive league games before arriving at Old Trafford, which can be said to be in high spirits and sharp.

The match started with applause from many fans at Old Trafford. The Red Devils fans welcomed the captain with warm applause. When Robson led his players out of the player tunnel, even the Red Devils players were applauding. Robson almost burst into tears while waving his hands.

After the game started, the two teams quickly entered into a fierce competition. Ferguson sent out all the main players except Beckham. The reason for Beckham's absence was simple. Ferguson explained in the game journal, "Our young players have performed well before, but one or two of them may need a proper rest. Their bodies are still in the stage of development. We can't overdraw their bodies now to avoid the risk of injury."

In this game, both sides refused to give in, and fierce confrontation and brave fighting began in the midfield area. In that era, coaches were not used to playing high-pressure defense, but the idea of ​​controlling the midfield was the same. Robson had fought for many years under Ferguson and had many friends in the Red Devils. He knew almost all the players on the field of the Red Devils. Therefore, he was very clear about the deployment of the Red Devils and the strength of each player, and made targeted tactical deployments early on.

Not only that, Robson also made special preparations against Cantona, effectively cutting off the connection between Cantona and the forwards in the first half, and also specially arranged players to double-team Giggs, making sure that the Welsh winger could not play to his advantage.

Despite this, Ferguson was still better. Scholes was at a disadvantage in this game because of his thin body, and Cole, who only scored one goal in 10 games, was slow to regain his form. It was difficult for the Red Devils to easily break through the opponent's defense through mobile warfare, but Ferguson had obviously anticipated these situations and arranged a back-up plan.

In the 43rd minute of the first half, the Red Devils won a corner kick on the left side. The special deployment before the game worked wonders. Giggs' corner kick was sharp and turned, and flew directly into the Middlesbrough penalty area. The Red Devils' pair of central defenders had already taken their positions. Although Pallister did not get the first point, his jump forced the opponent to head the ball back to the goalkeeper in a hurry. The goalkeeper panicked and actually smashed the ball to the ground with his hand. The ball that hit the ground did not touch anyone's feet, but when the ball bounced up, it was grabbed by Pallister, who used a precise header to break the opponent's goal!

The Red Devils lead 1-0.

In the second half, the Red Devils no longer maintained the intensity of the game. The team formation actively contracted and strengthened defense. Although Middlesbrough had the opportunity to launch an offensive, they were also very afraid of the counterattack of the Red Devils, so they did not organize any decent attack. In the 87th minute, the Red Devils launched another rapid attack. Cantona first used a flashy heel pass in the midfield area to resolve the opponent's close pressure, and then received a pass from his teammate while moving to get rid of the entanglement of the opponent's midfielder. At this time, Cantona dribbled forward, and then danced a gorgeous dance all the way, simply and directly passing two people and advancing to the front of the penalty area. The pair of central defenders of Middlesbrough were shocked and came out to intercept in a panic. Facing the two blocking, Cantona cleverly passed a small diagonal line to Cole who ran out of the gap. Cole dribbled the ball in the penalty area and passed a defender who rushed over, bringing the ball to the penalty spot. He immediately adjusted his posture and shot into the dead corner. This shot was saved by Walsh because of too much foreplay. But luck was on Cole's side today. After being blocked, the ball still flew towards the goal, bounced on the ground in front of the goal, and finally drew a strange curve and flew into the goal!

The Red Devils won 2-0!

The game was exciting and the pace was fast. The only regret was that Roy Keane had a conflict with the opponent's striker Fjortoft near the end of the game and was eventually sent off with a red card.

Keane's temper began to show clearly this season, and this was his second red card. After being sent off, Keane asked for leave and left the locker room directly. He then took the opportunity of being suspended to have a hernia operation. This operation eventually caused Keane to miss 6 weeks.

The day after this game, the temporary leader Newcastle was tied by Tottenham at home, and the Red Devils' points gap was narrowed to two points.

打完这场比赛，红魔11场比赛8胜2平1负夺得26分，整个联赛中只有11场9胜1平1负28分的纽卡斯尔联队才能够略略占优。而在他们两队身后，排名第三的球队已经落后了曼联7分，几乎已经没有机会冲击冠军。

The league is not even one-third done yet, and public opinion generally believes that both teams have the opportunity to take the lead or overtake, so it is too early to say who will win the league championship.