The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 56: Crossing the Winter Wilderness

“Efforts will always produce results, and efforts that target the problem will produce results faster.”

--Inscription

Ferguson implemented strict management at the club, strengthened the team's daily training, reversed the team's decadent spirit, and allowed the team to slowly but steadily recover its fighting power.

Ferguson attached great importance to youth training. In addition to recruiting young players extensively at this time, the more important point was that he had a pair of sharp eyes and could immediately identify the talents in Manchester United's youth team and those who could immediately join the first team. As for his subsequent efforts to strengthen recruitment and various youth training work, it would not play a role in the 1986-87 season.

Ferguson is exploring tactical innovation? He has no time to think about it at this point. His only key task is to focus on players' recovery from injuries and continuously improve the Red Devils' medical level.

Ferguson's three-pronged approach was powerful, but not every move had an immediate effect. Youth training and improving medical care were not favored at the time, and many media outlets mocked Ferguson for wasting energy on useless work. But the good news is that things quickly began to change, and Ferguson's measures soon took effect.

The strict implementation of the prohibition on alcohol has gradually restored the players' condition and established Ferguson's authority in the locker room; the optimization of tactical play has helped Ferguson rebuild the team and enhance its combat effectiveness; the emphasis on sports medicine is beneficial to the players' recovery from injuries on the one hand, and on the other hand, it can improve the players' physical fitness through sports medicine and better cope with the intensive schedule.

Ferguson's strict management of the locker room, strict implementation of high training standards, change of the team's malaise, and attention to and mobilization of the players' thoughts and dynamics, these measures almost all had immediate results. Ferguson's three axes did give the players a headache, but after a period of strict implementation, the changes were huge.

Emphasizing youth training certainly cannot provide immediate combat effectiveness, but the talent that Ferguson discovered at the end of 1986, Ryan Giggs, surprised everyone. Senior Red Devils fans even think that Giggs is like Best back then, a sign that makes people full of confidence in the rise of the Red Devils. It remains to be seen whether Giggs can achieve anything, but the ability and talent he showed at this time are already amazing enough. All Red Devils fans think that Ferguson has vision. It is refreshing to be able to find a youth training talent that everyone praises, especially from their city rivals Manchester City.

Ferguson has been working very busy and intensely. His requirements are very simple and clear, but they are not easy to achieve. His management strategy is full of radical meaning, but it is solid and effective step by step. For the entire club, since the management fully supports the new coach's various decrees, since the head coach manages everything carefully, and since the coaching team has put forward clear training and playing standards, then the players' tasks become simple.

Quitting drinking, recovering, training, reaching the target, playing, fighting...

Ferguson's thinking was very clear. Everyone could see what he was thinking and everyone knew how to meet his standards. So a hot scene soon appeared on the Red Devils' training ground: those players who refused to admit defeat, those players who were eager to make progress, and those players who worked hard for opportunities, actively participated in the training of the coaching staff, actively followed the tactics designed by the coaching team to hone their skills, cooperate, cultivate tacit understanding, improve their own ability levels, and thus improve the combat effectiveness of the entire team.

Ferguson's efforts and wisdom need to get good feedback in the league, his experience and talent need to be verified in the league. He now has the rest of the season, but he is also under tremendous pressure.

Ferguson insisted on implementing high standards of strict management, banning alcohol without hesitation, and specific and effective incentives began to make the players take action. The team became stronger and stronger during this period, and Robson and Whiteside returned to the team after recovering from injuries and got permission to play through hard training.

Ferguson started the three major tasks as a new official. As various measures were implemented, the Red Devils Club quickly showed a new look.

The entire Red Devils team is mustering up their courage, slowly recovering their form, and struggling to get through the cold winter.

After being humiliated by Wimbledon, the Red Devils played in the 1986th round of the league on December 12, 7, against Tottenham Hotspur.

This match which kicked off at the Theatre of Dreams was later praised by many media as a classic battle. In the presence of the home fans, the Red Devils players learned from their mistakes and became full of fighting spirit. They launched a very fierce attack and displayed a very strong momentum, truly bouncing back from the bottom.

Ferguson fielded a traditional 442 starting lineup, with Turner as goalkeeper, the four defenders being Sevebaker, McGrath, Duxbury and Moses, the midfielders being Moran, Robson, Strachan and Olsen, and the two forwards being Whiteside and Davenport.

This was an unforgettable passionate clash. The Red Devils launched a fierce attack at the beginning of the game, while their opponents Tottenham were equally fearless and attacked with attack. The two sides attacked frantically in 90 minutes, exchanging the lead, which made the fans excited. Robson and Whiteside of the Red Devils returned, and the home fans cheered wildly before the game started, which also allowed the Red Devils to take the initiative from the beginning. Whiteside's wonderful free kick opened the scoring, and then Davenport scored another goal. The Red Devils ended the first half with a 2-goal lead.

Ferguson was very satisfied with the intense and exciting first half, but he also knew that the starting players might be too exhausted and the second half was full of danger. Especially Robson, the captain of the Red Devils returned after a long break. He was extremely active in this game and was simply a desperate man. Robson ran all over every inch of the grass on the field throughout the first half. Whether it was fighting in the midfield area, intercepting and defending in his own backcourt, or interweaving and connecting with the opponent's backcourt, the miracle captain's figure was everywhere. Under Robson's encouragement, the whole Red Devils team burst into rare passion. They actively attacked and continuously launched a charge towards the hinterland of Tottenham. Davenport took advantage of his height and grabbed several opportunities in the opponent's penalty area, but unfortunately he failed to score. After wasting many opportunities, he finally received Strachan's pass about 6 yards in front of the opponent's goal and easily scored a goal.

Of course, another goal-scoring hero was the Red Devils youth star Whiteside, who also returned from injury. In this game, the Red Devils striker showed his excellent free kick skills. Not long after the start of the game, he took advantage of the free kick opportunity and blasted the ball 35 yards away from the goal into the opponent's goal corner.

In the first half, the Red Devils were tough, fast, and sharp, making the home fans scream and forget about everything else, but in the second half, the situation suddenly changed. Tottenham suddenly accelerated and launched several waves of rapid attacks, avoiding Robson's area and quickly tearing open the Red Devils' defense. As a result, the Red Devils' defense collapsed under the strong attack, and the opponent scored 3 goals in a row to overtake the score.

From leading by 2 goals to being beaten 3-2 by the opponent, Ferguson was almost furious. But he still suppressed his anger and changed to an urgent but passionate attitude to encourage the players to fight hard and not give up easily. The captain Robson on the field was also very tenacious. In the last 10 minutes of the game, he kept encouraging his teammates to press forward and attack the opponent fiercely, determined to equalize the score. At the last moment, Robson successfully penetrated into the penalty area, received a pass from his teammate, and was knocked to the ground by the opponent, winning a penalty for the Red Devils! Davenport lived up to expectations and scored the penalty, helping the team rewrite the score to 3-3!

Although both sides got 1 point in the end, the game was full of twists and turns and exciting, which still made all the Red Devils fans excited. At the end of the game, the entire Red Devils team lined up to salute the fans, thanking everyone for their strong support when the team was lagging behind and passive.

Ferguson was also deeply moved. He said after the game: "We finally tied the score in this game. Our players refused to admit defeat and gave up despite falling behind. In the end, they tenaciously created opportunities and tied the score. This is a display of the team's strong fighting spirit and a victory of the team's willpower. We worked so hard just to not let the fans down!"

Although the Red Devils did not win the 3-3 match, the whole team played with great momentum, rare confidence and rare spirit!

Is it because Bryan Robson announced his return from injury?

Of course it works.

With the captain's return, will the Red Devils be reborn and become an indomitable team again, then invincibly defeat all opponents and achieve a series of consecutive victories?

That's not necessarily the case.

Even the BBC reporter who was most optimistic about Robson admitted that "Robusson's return did play a huge role in boosting morale, but he was not the savior of the Red Devils. The team's progress still depended on Ferguson's management and training, as well as his strict implementation of the three-pronged strategy."

On December 1986, 12, the Red Devils challenged Villa in the 13th round of the English League One. When Ferguson's team arrived at Villa Park, they found that many people had flooded into the stadium! It was because of the Red Devils' wonderful performance in the previous game that the English football world was shocked, and the fans rushed into the stadium crazily, almost filling up Villa's home stadium.

Ferguson's team did not disappoint the Red Devils fans. With goalkeeper Turner out due to injury and Walsh starting, and McGrath also out due to injury, the Red Devils still played with great momentum. In the end, the score of this game was the same as the previous one, and the Red Devils once again drew with their opponents with a score of 3-3.

The final score actually revealed how intense and exciting this game was. Ferguson's team still relied on goals from Davenport and Whiteside (their number of goals was the same as the previous game, with Davenport scoring 2 goals and Whiteside scoring 1 goal), and relied on the tenacity of the defense at the last moment to escape from Villa Park unscathed.

After two consecutive draws, Ferguson's coaching record became 6 win, 1 draws and 3 losses in 2 games. The winning rate is not good, and he only got 6 points. He is still in the relegation zone in the standings.

Despite this, Red Devils fans saw a positive change and hope that the team could escape from its predicament.

On December 1986, 12, in the 20th round of the English League One, the Red Devils returned to their home ground to face Leicester City. Ferguson let Gibson start in this game, which later proved to be a magical arrangement. The Red Devils had an advantage from the beginning of this game. The opponent Leicester City's tactics were simple, which was to defend blindly and wait for the opportunity to counterattack with long passes. The rhythm of the game has been firmly controlled by the Red Devils. Strachan frequently changed positions on the left and right sides of the Red Devils, constantly dribbling and trying to break through. When entering the opponent's hinterland, he actively contacted his teammates and passed many threatening passes, but unfortunately none of them turned into assists. Robson played even more vigorously under Strachan's cover. He stayed more in the midfield and frontcourt and invested more in the offense. Not only did he often try long shots in the area around the top of the penalty area, he also actively inserted into the penalty area to respond, and tried to head the ball in the penalty area.

The Red Devils' strong attack finally broke the opponent's defense. The Red Devils finally won the game 2-0 with a goal from Gibson, who was arranged to start for the first time by Ferguson, and a goal from Stapleton, who came on as a substitute.

After this game, the Red Devils jumped out of the relegation quagmire in one fell swoop.

The Red Devils' morale was boosted by this victory, and Ferguson gained strong self-confidence. He also knew the importance of making a last-ditch effort, so he quickly assembled his team and rushed to the away game to challenge the powerful Liverpool team.