The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 60 Who is the Deeper Red?

"Who is the best football team in England? This question can be changed to who is the darker red in England? Because the strongest, most champions and most historical teams in the English league are the Red Devils and the Red Army. And the question of who is the darkest red is about who will be the winner of the Red Derby, who will dominate the league, who is the best, who is the strongest and who can dominate who in the entire football world?

--Inscription

In the 1980s, discussing which of the two English giants was stronger was not actually an appropriate question.

But the media doesn't care about all this; they are after attention and traffic, for controversy and hype.

Most media still believed that Liverpool was the star of English football at that time, but the media did regard the Red Devils as a strong rival.

What’s even more special is that Ferguson had just arrived in England and had already become Liverpool’s biggest enemy.

Which of the two giants is the strongest? Which is the most legendary? The most charming?

Historically, the two clubs were founded in two cities less than 19 miles apart at the end of the 40th century. The Red Devils were founded in 1878 and Liverpool were founded in 1892.

The Red Devils and Liverpool have reached the top of the championship in different eras and have become famous giants. In the competitive field, the winner is the king, and the winner can even take everything. This makes all clubs become rivals, and the strongest rivals will become mortal enemies.

In addition to the competition for achievements and honors, this confrontation will eventually add more elements, which will eventually make the hatred and confrontation more and more intense.

Manchester vs Liverpool; Red Devils vs Red Army, this is the origin of the red derby. The red dynasty, the super giants, will naturally bring more intense competition.

The Reds derby has formed a special theme of the English League over the past 100 years.

Historically, the relationship between the two teams was just a normal rivalry until the 1950s. In comparison, the more intense and hateful rivalries are obviously those teams in the same city.

Things started to change in the 50s. Matt Busby led the Red Devils to a miraculous rise, and the red youth storm swept across England, becoming the most popular team in the league and the red overlord that swept across England.

During this period, Liverpool was also at a critical moment.

Liverpool won their fifth league title in the 1946-47 season, then went on a downward spiral, being relegated in the 1953-54 season.

The Red Devils were thriving at the time, but suffered the Munich air crash in 1958 and immediately faced disintegration and almost went bankrupt and disbanded.

While Busby was fighting death, Liverpool appointed Bill Shankly as head coach on December 1959, 12, beginning the greatest reconstruction and revival in the Red Army's history.

Shankly took over Liverpool and won the support of the board of directors. His power expanded dramatically, and the most important thing was that he could freely select players. Not only that, he also completely innovated the team's management and training.

Roger Hunt, a player who played for Liverpool at the time, recalled: "After Shankly took office, he brought a lot of new things. He persuaded the club to invest in buying players and transformed many training methods. We also got brand new training equipment, and the stadium changed from muddy to green grass. Shankly was like a breath of fresh air, bringing new life to the team." Liverpool star Moran recalled: "He brought us a lot of small team exercises. This training method is very good. In the past, we always practiced running."

Shankly was also a master of psychology. According to Hickson, a Liverpool player in the 50s, Shankly always made contemptuous comments about superstars such as Bobby Charlton in order to increase the confidence of the players.

Shankly was ruthless and made a major change in the team. In one year, he sold 22 players, which was shocking.

On December 1959, 12, Liverpool lost 19-0 to Cardiff, and Shankly lost his first official game. But he soon brought a complete change to the team, and the Reds began to rise significantly. Shankly recruited a large number of talented players, including Kevin Keegan, Toshack, etc., and began to build a powerful new team.

By the early 60s, Liverpool was getting stronger and stronger. Not only was it promoted back to the First Division, but it also gradually became a strong team. In the 1963-64 season, Shankly led the team to win the league championship for the first time, and the Red Army's hegemony was established. In 1965, Liverpool won the FA Cup for the first time, and the following year they dominated the league. In 1973, Shankly won the league championship again, and also won the UEFA Cup in the same year. In 1974, he won the FA Cup again... In this way, Shankly brought a wave of brilliant honors to Liverpool, and his office was filled with all the trophies in English football.

At almost the same time, in the 1960s, when English football was booming, the Red Devils were also struggling to rebuild and rise again.

Under the joint coaching of Busby and Murphy, the Red Devils survived the plane crash and once again stood at the pinnacle of English football.

Busby activated the survivors of the plane crash, such as Charlton and Fox, and introduced players such as Best and Denis Law, and once again created a Red Devils team that made people's blood boil. Even though Shankly's Liverpool was already very strong, the Red Devils still rose in an unstoppable manner. Busby's team won the FA Cup in 1962-63 and the league championship in the 1964-65 season. A Red Devils dynasty also began to be established.

The Red Devils won the English Football League One title in the 1964-65 season, defeating Liverpool who were hoping to defend their title.

The battle for dominance in the English Premier League has turned into a duel between the Red Devils and Liverpool.

The two teams chased each other and confronted each other, which gradually turned into a life-and-death competition. Both teams were angry and full of hatred.

巴斯比的红魔1962-63年夺得了足总杯冠军，第二年也就是1963-64赛季香克利就带着利物浦夺得英甲联赛冠军；1964-1965赛季利物浦赢得足总杯冠军，这个赛季红魔则问鼎了联赛冠军，挫败了对手卫冕的希望；1965-66赛季利物浦夺得联赛冠军，同样击碎了红魔卫冕的想法，但到了1966-67赛季就又变成了红魔联赛夺冠......两家球队的争夺就是这么激烈。

The Red Devils and the Red Army fought fiercely, but the Red Devils made a huge contribution to the England national team's World Cup campaign in 1966. Bobby Charlton, Stiles and John Connolly in the Red Devils team served as England's core players and helped the team win the 1966 World Cup.

Bobby Charlton played brilliantly, single-handedly pushing England to the championship throne, winning the European Footballer of the Year and the Ballon d'Or.

The Red Devils' contribution to the England national team has surpassed Liverpool, and their individual player honors have also surpassed Liverpool. Denis Law and Charlton, that's two Ballon d'Ors!

In the 1967-68 season, Busby led the Red Devils to the European Cup, and finally defeated Benfica in the final to win the first European Cup for an English team. Not only that, Best, the most dazzling player in the Red Devils, became a super idol throughout Europe and won the 1968 Golden Ball Award.

The Red Devils overwhelmed their opponents and became a deeper red in English football.

Liverpool fell into a brief period of silence, but Shankly's team revived in the 1972-73 season. The Reds not only won the league championship, but also won the UEFA Cup. A year later, they won the FA Cup and continued their strong momentum.

Busby retired in 1968, and the Red Devils became increasingly quiet and fell into trouble. After Shankly retired, the Reds' boot room tradition continued, and his successor Paisley achieved greater success.

There is a huge gap between the two clubs.

After Paisley took over as Liverpool manager, despite a brief season in which he failed to win any of the four major titles, he won the league title and the UEFA Cup in his second season, the 1975/76 season. Paisley then successfully defended his league title and won the European Cup for the first time in 1977.

In the 1977-78 season, Liverpool continued to make great efforts and successfully defended the European Cup title. In the following season, they broke the English record and won the league championship with 68 points, conceding only 42 goals in 16 games. The more remarkable record is that they were invincible in the Champions League this season, achieving an incredible three consecutive Champions League titles and gaining unparalleled prestige.

Paisley's Liverpool established a dynasty.

佩斯利带领球队在9个赛季里拿到了19座冠军奖杯，其中包括3个欧洲冠军杯冠军、1个欧洲联盟杯冠军、6个联赛冠军、3个英格兰联赛杯冠军、1个欧洲超级杯冠军，5个慈善盾冠军。

After Paisley retired in 1983, his assistant Joe Fagan took over as head coach.

In his first season as coach, Fagan led Liverpool to win three championships: the League Championship, the League Cup and the European Champions Cup, further consolidating Liverpool's dominance.

By this calculation, the Red Army's dynasty was at its peak, while the Red Devils have fallen into obscurity, and the comparison is completely incomparable.

The Red Devils struggled after Busby retired, and even experienced relegation. Although the team quickly returned to the top league, it was difficult to compete for the league championship. The Red Devils only won the FA Cup by beating Liverpool 1976-1977 in the 2-1 season, but they were unable to compete for the league championship. In 1979, they reached the FA Cup final, and in 1980, they finished second in the league, two points behind Liverpool. Their performance was still not comparable to that of their opponents.

The Red Devils appointed Ron Atkinson as head coach on June 1981, 6, but no matter how hard Atkinson tried, the team could not catch up with Liverpool. The Reds won three consecutive league titles from 1, and their momentum shocked the entire British Isles. Although Atkinson led the Red Devils to win the FA Cup finals in 1982 and 1983, these two cups were not comparable to Liverpool.

Liverpool not only dominates England, but also dominates Europe. It is the strongest team in Europe.

Despite this, the Red Devils still have a wide influence in the English League 1. Even if the Red Devils cannot catch up with Liverpool's glory, the battle between the two teams has always been the hottest duel in England and has always been called the Red Derby - England's strongest national derby.

In the national derby, victory or defeat is a matter of honor and disgrace, so the two teams naturally attach great importance to it. Liverpool and the Red Devils, the mortal enemies, have always been in a deadly confrontation. They have had the most intense fights, the most hateful confrontations, the strongest hostility, and naturally the most unbreakable bond.

Throughout their long history, the two giants have had a clear idea, which is to completely overwhelm their opponents, because there is only one best honor and only one throne in the entire league.

Busby once said, "My hope is to build the Red Devils into a team that pursues excellence and attacks with all its strength. I hope that the players can play wonderful football on the field, be full of fighting spirit, be positive and brave, fight bravely, and finally the victory will belong to us."

His warnings are still ringing in our ears, but the Red Devils are now struggling. After him, successive managers came and went, but none of them could inherit his philosophy, let alone restore his glory.

Shankly once said, "The best team in the world is Liverpool, and the second best team is Liverpool B." Although this sentence sounds arrogant, it is deeply recognized by Liverpool fans. Whether it is luck or strength, when the Red Devils fell into decline after Busby left, Liverpool seized the opportunity to improve rapidly, which eventually created a huge gap between the two giants.

When Liverpool manager Dalglish was interviewed and asked whether the 6 points lost to the Red Devils was a disastrous defeat and the failure to defend the league title, the Liverpool king said, "Losing is nothing. We failed to defend the title because of carelessness and some other reasons, not because of the Red Devils' sniping. They are not in the position yet. Ferguson wants to challenge the championship? It's still a long way to go!"

A phoenix that falls into water is no better than a chicken, but Manchester United is now more like a chicken that falls into water, exuding a sense of timidity all over its body. It is not an opponent that Liverpool can look up to at all.

This was the predicament Ferguson faced when he took office.

Ferguson certainly didn't believe in evil. He was very used to this kind of situation and was always full of fighting spirit. When he led Aberdeen in Scotland, the two Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers had a more complete monopoly. Even so, he led the team to break the fate and tradition, broke through the obstruction of the two old friends, and won the league championship.

For Ferguson, breaking the myth of Liverpool's dominance in England was not unimaginable.

Ferguson said: "We can beat them twice, and we can beat them to win the championship in the future. We will continue to compete with Liverpool until we beat them. We will definitely revive the glory of the Red Devils and regain our pride in honor!"