The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 68: So Bitter That You Doubt Life

"The first lesson Ferguson brought to the Red Devils team is that any job cannot be successful easily, and great efforts must be made. And if you want to succeed in football, especially in the Red Devils, you need to work thousands of times harder than others."

--Inscription

The Red Devils' Cliff base was bustling with activity throughout the pre-season preparation period.

In this base far from downtown and not much noticed by the outside world, Ferguson's special training plan is being strictly implemented. In order to maintain confidentiality and eliminate interference, Ferguson asked the security guards to drive all media out of the training ground, and even if the club's senior management wanted to visit, they had to make an appointment in advance.

The Red Devils' players sweated profusely and practiced hard under the loud shouts of Ferguson and his assistants.

"You don't notice much change in training until the following summer when we come back for pre-season preparations," Albiston recalled. "Ferguson's training is different from all the English coaches. He always insists on high-intensity training and high standards. He wants to find fighting spirit from training."

Albiston said: "Atkinson always believes that football requires talent and can be played freely within a tactical framework, which is actually the same as Ferguson. But Atkinson believes that each player should manage himself and adjust his condition by himself, which is very different from Ferguson. Ferguson believes that players are lazy and it is impossible for them to have a clear understanding of the coach's requirements, let alone they will work hard in training. The team must formulate detailed plans and standards, must supervise the players to complete the training, and must persevere."

Old acquaintances like Strachan knew Ferguson was different early on. "Others may ask you to run or do shooting training this morning; Ferguson's requirements are what time to start warming up, what warm-up exercises to do, how many minutes to warm up, and then how many kilometers to run, how far to accelerate, how long to sprint, how many sets of speed running to do, and when to finish... Ferguson's standards are so detailed. Not only that, his training standards are much higher and more demanding than those of ordinary clubs. He has developed a training manual for each main player, and arranged for a special assistant coach or club staff to accompany them. Sometimes Ferguson himself even comes to train and supervise."

This is Ferguson's unique training method.

Ferguson was strict. Before the training session, he said sternly, "We start preparing for the new season today. Everything is based on the goal of the new season. I have already formulated all the training plans and assessment standards for everyone. You'd better put aside those thoughts of leisure and entertainment. Your task at this time is to train hard. I only look at your quality and attitude. If you don't meet my requirements, you will not have a good life."

Ferguson left a deep impression on the Red Devils players during their league preparation period. They sweated profusely and worked hard all day long just to complete training tasks that were several times more intensive than before.

The training is too hard. This is the feeling of every first-team player.

McGrath publicly objected, "The training is boring and a lot of it is useless repetition. What effect does it have? I am against such an inhumane operation."

Ferguson: "Opposition is futile."

"The Red Devils' players are living an inhuman life. Ferguson has been asking them to train hard, which has made them complain." There was a hint of ridicule in the words of reporters and football pundits.

Ferguson ignored the outside discussions. He clearly knew that his team had to improve its strength by tapping its internal potential and through hard training. Ferguson knew the progress of the team very well. He constantly adjusted the plan, constantly improved the standards, and increased the intensity of training to keep everyone in a tense state.

Ferguson did not simply ask the players to build up physical fitness, perform strength training, and do endurance training. Instead, he implemented a complete plan based on this, covering strength, physical fitness, flexibility, endurance, jumping, and many other aspects, as well as team training, aimed at cultivating a sense of tacit understanding and creating an offensive and defensive tactical system.

Ferguson stayed at the base during the entire preparation period, getting up early every day and arriving at the training ground early, waiting for the players to arrive. Then every day after the players finished training, he would analyze data with the team, study each player's performance, study and determine the plan for tomorrow, and finally think about what to do next by himself. It was almost late at night when he left the base.

Under Ferguson's watchful eyes, all members of the Red Devils went through more than two months of suffering. No player had any privileges, no reason to be lazy, being sick was not an excuse, and lying would make Ferguson hate it. The long track at the Cliff Base was often crowded with players who were punished by Ferguson to run laps. Five laps at a time, and after running, they had to continue training. This intensity of training made the players feel that the end was coming. Not only that, Ferguson and his assistants also arranged new subjects for some special players, which made the players feel that the end was coming.

At the end of training every day, the players were so exhausted that they didn’t even have the heart to go to the bar for a drink. All that was left on the grass was a mixture of resentment.

"We have training tomorrow, so we should go to bed early."

"I'm so tired, a good sleep is the greatest enjoyment!"

"I don't have the energy to sneak out for a drink anymore. It would be even worse if I can't come back."

The players were under Ferguson's control, and the bar owners around the base were in tears. Looking at the almost empty shops for two whole months, thinking about the grand occasion when the Red Devils players and fans filled the nightclubs, they might even want to kill Ferguson.

Robson said: "The hard training made us feel that Cliff was hell, that's what everyone felt. Ferguson was the devil of the abyss. I was injured for a while and had to rest. When I came back, I found that I was assigned to the reserve team. I know there is no point in complaining or complaining here. I can only change my mindset to adapt to the coach's requirements."

Under high pressure, not everyone will obey absolutely. Strachan has always disapproved of this simple repetitive training. He is confident of his strong technical ability and that he is a front-line attacker and the core of the offense, so he should enjoy certain privileges; McGrath believes that he is the backbone of the defense and does not need to run much, so he does not need to practice long-distance running and turning and changing speed running; Davenport and Whiteside believe that they are forwards and can just eat cakes at critical moments. There is no point in practicing running, endurance and strength... These old-timers in the locker room have a lot of resistance in their hearts, and always hope to work without exerting themselves.

Ferguson has his own way. "I don't care about your mentality or thoughts. We have strict standards. Training must meet the standards item by item. Everyone's projects are different. I only look at your status and the ability you show. Only those who meet my standards can enter the match list, the second-tier ones will enter the substitute list, and the rest will go to the reserve team."

Seeing that a big shot like Robson was thrown to the reserve team by Ferguson, everyone was horrified and had to cheer up.

Many years later, when the media dug up Ferguson's legendary stories, they thought these players were lucky. They were among the few who had received Ferguson's personal guidance for practical training, and they were also among the few who had the opportunity to play against the legendary coach. These guys personally witnessed Ferguson directing training while participating in competitions. They were the lucky ones of the era, but unfortunately, at that time, they only had pain and complaints in their hearts.

After entering the 90s, Ferguson formed a large-scale coaching team. He completely let go of specific technical training, physical training, team confrontation, tactical drills, etc., and no longer interfered with the work of full-time coaches, but there was one thing he always insisted on, that is, high standards, and higher and higher standards.

Many of Ferguson's players have gone on to coach in major leagues after retirement, and these players have more or less learned from Ferguson's experience of doing everything himself. Of course, whether a coach can be successful is determined by many factors, not just the strictness or diligence of the coach. In today's football world, the situation has become more complicated. The football system has become larger and larger, as the youth training of players has become more detailed, various techniques and equipment have been continuously used in training and competitions, as the division of labor among football coaches has become more and more detailed, and as players have become more and more star-like and entertaining, coaches are also facing new challenges. Today's coaches have little time to intervene in specific training. They are more likely to study advanced playing styles, the most suitable tactics for the team, how to introduce suitable players, how to manage the locker room, and how to promote and use youth training... Ferguson's successful experience can only be used as a reference, and it is difficult to completely replicate.

Ferguson's strict training was very effective. The Red Devils players had never experienced such a level of training before. They were exhausted after being abused, but their bodies became stronger, their reactions became sharper, and the cooperation between the players became more tacit. After the strict training in the preparation period, almost everyone's body, bones, endurance, etc. have been strengthened, and the team as a whole has a new look. Looking around, the sweaty players showed different expressions. Every player who went through "Ferguson's purgatory" had some signs of boiling blood and strong fighting spirit. The physical fitness, physical fitness, speed, and endurance of the entire Red Devils team have been improved. Even McGrath, a player who can drink and play at the same time, has improved a lot after the preparation period training.

Ferguson trained hard for a summer and initially determined the starting lineup. His starting lineup will be as follows: Turner is the goalkeeper, four defenders from right to left are Vicki Anderson, Moore, McGrath, Gibson, four forwards from right to left are Strachan, Brian Robson, Duxbury, Olsen, two forwards are Davenport and McClair, and Whiteside becomes a substitute.

Ferguson believes that the Red Devils are not bad on paper, but they also have many weaknesses and flaws. The Red Devils lack depth in all positions. Once the main players are seriously injured, the level of the team will drop sharply.

Ferguson has yet to solve the problem of "drunkard" McGrath, and no one can replace him. Even if this big black man is unruly, he is still indispensable to the Red Devils.

The challenge for the Red Devils' midfield is Robson's condition. Can he last a season? Can he stay healthy? As for the forward combination, Ferguson can only hope that McClair can be seamlessly connected and plug and play. After all, the ability of Whiteside and Davenport has been determined last season.

Taking the Red Devils' strongest lineup as an example, the central axis composed of Turner, McGrath, Robson and McClair is capable of competing with any British giants. In particular, the joining of Scottish Golden Boot McClair will bring more offensive firepower and more attacking means to the Red Devils. This is where Ferguson's confidence lies.

The intense training makes time pass quickly and the season is about to begin.