The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 58: Double victory over Liverpool

Ferguson firmly believed that leading the Red Devils to beat Liverpool was a goal that must be achieved and a glorious responsibility that could not be shirked. Despite this, he did not expect to defeat the arch-rivals twice this season, and he did not expect that these two victories would have such a sensational effect.

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Many fans think that Ferguson has always hated Liverpool and regarded Liverpool as his mortal enemy, especially his famous saying "My ideal is to kick Liverpool off the fucking throne" is particularly memorable, but the reality is not the case.

Before joining the Red Devils, Ferguson had no ill will towards Liverpool. Ferguson came from the Scottish League and was a fan of Glasgow Rangers. After retiring, he coached in the Scottish League. He had no dealings with Liverpool for a long time, so there was no grudge.

Ferguson was both unfamiliar and familiar to Liverpool at that time.

Scotland and England have close football ties. Famous coaches Stan and Shankly were famous in their day and had many interactions. As Stan's disciple, Ferguson also had many opportunities to interact with Liverpool.

Jock Stein had a close relationship with Shankly. In 1965, Stan returned to Celtic to coach. At that time, Shankly had worked in Liverpool for 6 years and had already established a resounding reputation. Shankly turned this poor team, which was still in the second-tier league at the time, into a powerful team in England.

Shankly promoted a large number of young players, and the team's strength rose rapidly, directly from English League Two to English League One. Not only that, Shankly led the team directly to the English League One championship, won the FA Cup, and also won the UEFA Cup in 1973.

Shankly's reputation rose rapidly after several consecutive jumps. Stan also played well in Celtic. After winning the Scottish Cup, they won nine consecutive Scottish Premier League titles from 1966 to 1974. In 9, he led a group of people from Glasgow to win the European Cup final, defeating Inter Milan and becoming the first British team to win the European Cup.

This was the first Champions League title in the major leagues of the British Isles. Stan achieved this achievement earlier than Busby. The legendary Red Devils coach won the Champions League the following year.

After Shankly helped Liverpool win their first European trophy, he announced his resignation in 1974. He left behind a team that continued his philosophy and the tradition of the "Boot Room". The successors who followed him all achieved outstanding results during their tenures, with Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish bringing more glory to the team.

When Shankly led Liverpool to rise, Ferguson was still working at the grassroots level in Scottish football. He coached East Stirling and St. Mirren, and then moved to Aberdeen. When Ferguson was the head coach of St. Mirren in 1977, he went to Anfield to watch the Champions League quarter-final. The battle between Liverpool and Saint-Etienne at home was very exciting, and in the end, the "super substitute" David Fairlove scored a goal to win the thrilling victory. Liverpool won the European Champions Trophy that year, setting a record of reaching the top four in eight years.

Ferguson also came to Wembley Stadium in 1978 to watch the Champions League final between Liverpool and Belgian team Bruges. The strength shown by Liverpool in that final shocked Ferguson, and the opponent was completely vulnerable.

Shankly was full of confidence and proudly declared in front of the English media, "In the world, the best team is Liverpool, and the second best team is Liverpool FC."

After Ferguson coached Aberdeen, he served as the assistant coach of the national team coach Stan, and had many opportunities to communicate with Liverpool players. He not only knew Shankly and Paisley, but also was very familiar with Scottish internationals Souness, Dalglish, Alan Hansen and others who played for Liverpool.

In the autumn of 1980, Ferguson went to Anfield to prepare for Aberdeen's challenge. That day, Ferguson met Shankly, and the legendary Liverpool coach welcomed him: "Hello, Alex, it's great to meet you. The work you have done in Scotland is amazing, and I am proud of you."

Ferguson was flattered, and Shankly continued: "So you want to come down south and see this great team of ours, Liverpool?"

Without waiting for Ferguson to answer, Shankly responded directly: "Yes, everyone wants to do that."

Ferguson's team then suffered a crushing defeat at Anfield, being at an absolute disadvantage in both process and scene, and Ferguson was very angry.

"Ferguson came into the dressing room after the game," recalled Aberdeen star McGee. "He lashed out at us. He was just like a raging fire."

At that time, the entire Aberdeen team believed that there was nothing to be ashamed of in losing to the European champions, but Ferguson believed that the team should not surrender so early.

Ferguson, like his school football coach, continued to scold his players for more than an hour.

Aberdeen player Hewitt said, "We are all holding back our anger and feeling extremely ashamed. We really shouldn't be so cowardly. Even if the enemy is strong, we must always resist stubbornly. What if there is a miracle?"

When Ferguson arrived at the Red Devils, a powder bag was ignited.

He quickly learned about the history of the two teams and knew his responsibilities. He remembered Shankly's words of wanton humiliation of the Red Devils, including describing Bobby Charlton as a "rubbish player", insulting every Red Devils player as trash, and believing that the Red Devils were an absolutely bad team.

Ferguson certainly couldn't accept these bullshit remarks and quickly made his position clear. Ferguson immediately emphasized that the Red Devils' biggest enemy was Liverpool. He took the initiative to intensify the confrontation and deepened the hostility.

Ferguson hated Liverpool more than anyone else after he arrived at the Red Devils? It was because he had to create an enemy for the team.

Ferguson understood that if the Red Devils wanted to rise, they had to defeat Liverpool. There is only one color, red, in English football.

On December 1986, 12, Ferguson led his team to Anfield to attack Liverpool's temple.

When Ferguson took over as manager of the Red Devils, Liverpool were heading towards their final glory.

The then coach Dalglish was the "King of Anfield", a meritorious player and legendary superstar of Liverpool. He won the league championship and FA Cup in his first season as coach, and was brilliant.

The two coaches have a close relationship. Ferguson is Dalglish's predecessor. They played together in the Scottish League. They are also from the same hometown. When Ferguson coached the Scottish national team, Dalglish was his main player. They did not get along very well back then. This time they met in England, the hostility was full. It can be said that enemies are particularly jealous of each other.

Ferguson encouraged his players to fight hard before the game. "We come to Anfield to beat our opponents. I have overturned two Scottish giants before, so nothing is impossible now. We are the challengers and have nothing to lose. Our opponents have a lot of baggage. We don't need to worry about anything. There is no shame in any tactics. As long as we beat them, we will be the best."

Anfield was suffocating, and Ferguson felt it the first time he walked to the visiting bench. The deafening shouts and shouts were not comparable to the ones when Aberdeen visited here. But Ferguson was ready. He moved Robson back a little, focusing more on defense, and let Strachan and Whiteside go in front of Robson to help increase the depth of the midfield and also play their power on the offensive end.

After the game started, Liverpool really attacked with the whole team, but as many as 6 Red Devils intercepted and defended in the midfield, blocking the opponent's advancement. It seemed that the Red Devils were beaten into a 460 or even 640 formation by the opponent, but this iron bucket formation was effective and Liverpool had no chance.

In the second half, the Red Devils were more patient in dealing with their opponents and withstood their strong pressure. In this "Red Derby" which was portrayed as the most difficult one for Ferguson to coach, Liverpool pressed and attacked frantically, but they were unable to break through the defense deployed by Ferguson. The Red Devils were passive on the field, but the whole team fought hard and was not afraid of the powerful opponent. They held their opponents with a midfield stranglehold and constantly resolved the crisis in front of the goal.

After withstanding the opponent's multiple attacks, the Red Devils' chance came. In the second half, Sevebek intercepted the ball in the backcourt and launched a quick counterattack. After a simple pass, the Red Devils' attack quickly entered the Liverpool penalty area. Whiteside was extremely calm and scored an accurate shot that broke through the opponent's goal. The Red Devils led 1-0!

Liverpool fought back frantically after falling behind, but failed to break the Red Devils' defense, and the Red Devils had the last laugh.

Ferguson's team took three points at Anfield. This victory was really unimaginable. Thousands of Red Devils fans who traveled with the team provoked their opponents after the game and had physical conflicts with Liverpool fans. In the end, the police arrived to arrest people and disperse the fans who were gathering to cause trouble.

This was the first time Ferguson had defeated Liverpool since he took over as Red Devils coach. Although the score was the smallest, 1-0, and despite being besieged in a very embarrassing way, victory is victory.

Ferguson declared firmly after the game, "The result of the game is the best proof. We beat our opponents at Anfield. Liverpool shouted that they had the upper hand and stressed that we had no courage to shrink our defense, but the fact is that we beat Liverpool and won."

The Red Devils' team reporter said, "Let us all remember these Red Devils players, they are the heroes of this game: Walsh, Sevebek, Gibson, Whiteside, Moran, Duxbury, Robson, Strachan, Stapleton, Davenport, Olsen. These players are worthy of the reputation of the Red Devils. Each of them is full of fighting spirit. They are not cowardly in front of strong enemies. They fight to the death, fight selflessly, and never retreat. They have played the style of the Red Devils."

Another Red Devils reporter, Stick, said: "What impressed me most was Robson and Strachan. The midfield they formed once gave up technology and rhythm and threw themselves into hand-to-hand combat at all costs; Whiteside and Davenport not only attacked in the frontcourt, but also always ran back to the backcourt to assist in defense; the two flanks of the Red Devils were repeatedly attacked by opponents, but both the wing forwards and full-backs were very calm. When Whiteside scored the winning goal with a flash of inspiration, I think they played with more confidence. In order to strengthen the defense, Davenport and Robson both suffered thigh cramps. Strachan, who rarely made tackles, also got angry and kept using tackles to help the team relieve pressure. The entire Red Devils team finally used the Great Wall of Humanity to withstand the opponent's artillery fire."

This rare victory greatly stimulated the entire Red Devils team, and the Red Devils became more and more courageous in the following 10 games, losing only one game.

In the second half of the league, the Red Devils faced Liverpool at home. With the help of the fans' cheers, Ferguson's team once again played a classic at the Theatre of Dreams.

Ferguson motivated the team before the start, saying: "We are of course aware of Liverpool's great reputation, but this team does not have the strength to dominate the league. They are not actually invincible, but there are loopholes everywhere, and we have enough ways to defeat them."

Liverpool coach Dalglish tried his best to motivate the team before the game, hoping to win three points and threaten Everton, another arch-rival at the top of the table. After the game started, Liverpool pressed forward and launched a fierce offensive.

Liverpool's attack was very fierce, creating two excellent chances in front of the goal, but they didn't seize them. But after gaining a foothold, Ferguson's tactics began to work. The Red Devils' players effectively stopped the opponent's advance in the midfield. The midfield had five players who were good at pressing, and the forwards also actively returned to defend. The Red Devils' targeted strategy once again left Liverpool with nowhere to start.

The Red Devils played steadily but refused to give up. Every place on the court became a must-fight for both sides. Every pass by the players would trigger the opponent's active fight, and fouls were constantly committed. The Red Devils players seemed to have burned the little universe in their bodies, squeezed their physical strength to the extreme, and withstood the opponent's fierce attack. Ferguson's team once again played their quick counterattack. The midfielder simply passed the ball to the wing, and then directly crossed the ball from the bottom. Forward Davenport responded in time in the penalty area and easily hit the ball into the dead corner, breaking the deadlock 1-0.

After taking the lead, the Red Devils strengthened their defense and in the final moments they retreated to their own territory to hold on, withstanding their opponent's frenzied counterattack.

In this way, the Red Devils defeated Liverpool twice in one season.

It was only after the season ended that Ferguson realized what a significant thing he had done.

He was not even praised by the fans for leading the team out of the relegation quagmire, but was directly hailed as a hero for defeating their arch-rivals Liverpool in these two games!