The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 94 The Door Closes

Su Maozhen missed the Red Devils, and even after signing, Dong Fangzhuo was not able to succeed at the Theatre of Dreams. Over the past 20 years, the exchanges between the Red Devils and China have gradually changed from player trials and transfers to pure commercial activities. The door that could have improved the level of Chinese football was eventually closed.

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It is a pity that Su Maozhen failed to get a contract with the Red Devils.

But that's fate, and no one can do anything about it.

Ferguson felt very sorry for Su Maozhen's injury in the Red Devils training match, and expressed understanding for Su Maozhen's return to China for treatment. Two years later, in 1991, Ferguson once again invited Su Maozhen to come to the UK for a trial.

Ferguson invited Su Maozhen this time with a compensatory intention, hoping that Su Maozhen could recover and meet the standards of the Red Devils, and then sign him as much as possible. However, due to injuries and other reasons, Su Maozhen did not meet the requirements of the Red Devils and ultimately failed to sign with the Red Devils.

Su Maozhen's dream of playing at Old Trafford was shattered, and he and Ferguson were never destined to be together.

After this trial, the Red Devils' communication channels with Chinese football, especially the youth teams, ended for various reasons.

China's football management thinking is extremely rigid and conservative. From top to bottom, no one pays attention to the opportunity of the Red Devils to try out the national youth team players. No one will plan how to establish channels with the Red Devils, how to negotiate with the Red Devils to establish a football school, regularly send players to the Red Devils for trial, and send players to the Red Devils to learn and improve.

Su Maozhen lost his chance, but the officials of the Chinese Football Association were still washing tea cups in their office, crossing their legs and waiting for the Red Devils to come to them. They also wanted the Red Devils to humbly ask for approval to allow a certain player to play abroad.

Regarding Su Maozhen's injury and Wu Chongwen's rejection, some extreme officials even accused the Red Devils of damaging the interests of Chinese football and wanted to ask for compensation from the Red Devils. These opinions also made Charlton and Ferguson feel helpless and realized the complexity of the matter from another perspective.

Because Su Maozhen was held accountable for his injury, subsequent staff and coaches of relevant teams no longer had the energy to promote cooperation with the Red Devils.

As fate would have it, even if the Red Devils were interested, the Chinese Football Association "closed the country" and blocked the door for the youngsters to play football abroad.

Let’s take a look at that sensitive era. Su Maozhen and Wu Chongwen needed political review to go abroad, and their various social relationships needed to be examined. At one point, they were even required to hand over the wages they received from the Red Devils to the team coach!

This is the epitome of Chinese football at that era, and also the helpless fate of young Chinese football players.

Charlton felt particularly sorry for Su Maozhen. He later said, "If Su Maozhen had not been seriously injured that time, he would have been offered a contract by the Manchester United. I believe he would have played as a starter, performed well, and would have won the championship with the Manchester United."

"I even believe that if Su Maozhen could stay in the UK for treatment, he would recover better and return to his normal level. He should still have a chance, but it's a pity that we couldn't keep him. Thinking about everything that happened back then, I can only say that it's a pity."

Charlton was not being polite. It was indeed the best time for Su Maozhen to join the Red Devils. He was a little older than most of the Red Devils' Class of 92, and was basically the same age as Giggs. They entered the youth training camp at almost the same time. He trained and grew up with the Red Devils players such as Giggs, Beckham, Butt, and Scholes, and even had more opportunities than the Class of 92. Su Maozhen was stronger than most of the young Red Devils, emerged earlier, and became the focus of Harrison and Ferguson because he played as a striker. In the youth team, Su Maozhen played very well. He often scored easily when he received the cross from Beckham or Gillespie. Su Maozhen's conditions in all aspects were qualified for the requirements of a striker.

Su Maozhen also had a unique timing advantage, because Ferguson had always wanted to introduce and train better strikers to replace Whiteside and Davenport. At that time, the Red Devils only had Mark Hughes and McClair, and there was no qualified rotation. If Su Maozhen had the opportunity to be promoted to the first team, it would be the best opportunity.

Although he suffered an accidental serious injury and eventually missed the Red Devils, Su Maozhen was still able to dominate the world after returning to China. He was not only selected for the national team and served as the main striker, but also helped the team enter the World Cup finals and contributed to the Chinese team's breakthrough in Asia. He is a professional model among Chinese players. Su Maozhen has won the honors of Asian Player of the Month and Chinese Footballer of the Year, and led Shandong Luneng to win the Chinese Football League A championship. Wu Chongwen's career is full of regrets. He is as fleeting as a meteor. Because of injuries, Wu Chongwen chose to retire in 1994. He was only 22 years old at the time. His short career did not achieve much success.

For Chinese football, these two young men who went to the Red Devils in the past ultimately ended up being a pity as they did not give wings to the rise of Chinese football.

In the Red Devils youth team, Giggs and Lee Sharpe were Su Maozhen's teammates. Scholes, Gary, Phil, Beckham and Butt were all juniors. Su Maozhen was very friendly with these Red Devils players. Giggs and others still remembered this Chinese teenager. When Su Maozhen went to Manchester to study, they met again and were still very enthusiastic towards each other.

"Every time I go to the Red Devils, I have many opportunities to meet acquaintances. Giggs and Scholes will greet me and chat with me about my recent situation and ask me how I am doing," Su Maozhen said. "They also feel sorry for my early retirement, but they are also happy for me to get the coaching qualification certificate and congratulate me on my new coaching position."

Beckham left the Red Devils and moved around, but he did not forget Su Maozhen. During his visit to China, he would take the initiative to talk about Su Maozhen and still have a deep memory of his former teammate.

Ferguson also had a good impression of the two Chinese teenagers and was always concerned about their situation. Not only Ferguson, but the entire Red Devils club was the same. Su Maozhen retired in 2002 and wanted to come to the UK to study and obtain a football coaching certificate. After Charlton forwarded Su Maozhen's request for help, Ferguson immediately instructed the club staff to handle the formalities and extended a warm invitation to him in a timely manner.

Ferguson personally wrote to Su Maozhen, saying, "I told Bobby (Charlton) that I will directly invite you to study the FA (note: the abbreviation of the English Football Association) coaching course in the UK. You don't need to worry about the application procedures, we will arrange it for you and help you arrange food and accommodation. You left a deep impression on me many years ago. Your talent and your perseverance are both remarkable. In my impression, you are a very outstanding person with noble character."

With the help of Ferguson and the Red Devils, Su Maozhen successfully obtained the C-level and B-level coaching certificates. After returning to China, he served as the assistant coach of the Chinese Olympic team and the coach of the national youth team, and officially became Ferguson's colleague. Ferguson not only helped him get on the horse, but also gave him a ride. Whenever he met Su Maozhen, he would always communicate with him cordially and give him more advice. Every time Su Maozhen asked for business advice, Ferguson gave timely answers, patiently explained, and made suggestions to help improve the level of football coaching.

When Su Maozhen got married, Ferguson and Charlton both sent their blessings. When the Red Devils visited China in 2005, Su Maozhen also rushed to meet with Ferguson and Charlton, thanked the Red Devils and Ferguson again, and gave the two mentors a detailed introduction to the development of Chinese football.

After Ferguson retired, Su Maozhen specially recorded a video to send him his heartfelt blessings. Later, Su Maozhen also took time to go to Old Trafford to watch the Red Devils' game with the old Sir Alex.

After Wu Chongwen returned to China, his football career ended hastily. But even after leaving the football field, he was still very grateful for Bobby Charlton's care and love. In 2005, the Red Devils came to Beijing for business activities. After learning that Charlton had previously expressed through the media that he wanted to meet him, Wu Chongwen immediately rushed to Beijing to meet the old man and hosted a banquet to invite the distinguished guest from afar. After years, the two met again and talked about the past. Wu Chongwen specifically expressed his deep gratitude to the old man. When Charlton learned that Wu Chongwen later left the football world due to illness, he had experienced many hardships at a young age and later had no choice but to retire, he was also very sad.

From the invitation to the end, the first contact between Manchester United and Chinese football ended with regrets. Not long after this intersection, the Manchester United led by Ferguson rose rapidly, and the only contact between Manchester United and China was commercial promotion and publicity. After that, almost no Chinese football seedlings could catch Ferguson's eye, and the channel of football communication between China and Manchester United was locked.

Sir Charlton invited two young Chinese players to try out for training. However, the Red Devils successfully opened the door to China. It was from that time that many Chinese fans began to pay more attention to the Red Devils. As the Red Devils rose in the Premier League and won consecutive championships, the number of fans in China experienced explosive growth. Beckham's handsome appearance and magical crescent-shaped scimitar attracted countless fans with his aura. The Red Devils won the treble in 1999, and the legendary achievement made the number of Chinese fans surge.

For the Red Devils, expressing goodwill and strengthening ties with the far east is a very beneficial arrangement, and also a unique fate with red China. Many fans became Red Devils fans very early because of their attention to Su Maozhen and Wu Chongwen. In the era when only Serie A games could be watched in mainland China, these Red Devils fans were precious.

After Su Maozhen, the Red Devils' door to inviting Chinese teenagers to trials was closed silently.

Many years later, in order to strengthen the relationship between the Red Devils and China, Ferguson also carried out a direct purchase of Chinese players. However, this action was different from the trial and signing of young talents, but a transfer between clubs.

This is not an attempt to recruit football talents and promote youth training, but a relatively pure commercial transfer.

This transfer caused a sensation at the time. The Red Devils signed Dong Fangzhuo from the Dalian Football Club after commercial negotiations and introduced this very young Chinese striker.

Many of Ferguson's signings were a bit like scratching lottery tickets, and signing Dong Fangzhuo was no different. The Red Devils wanted to further expand their influence in China, but this was not Ferguson's most important goal. At that time, the revenue contributed by mainland China to the Red Devils was less than a fraction of that in Hong Kong, so commercial operations in the Chinese market were not actually Ferguson's goal. This deal, signed at a sky-high price, was later considered by the British media to be one of Ferguson's most unsuccessful signings.

Why couldn't Dong Fangzhuo succeed in the Red Devils? This story is very complicated and a little heavy.

From Su Maozhen and Wu Chongwen to Dong Fangzhuo, the fate of Chinese football and the Red Devils is really helpless. Wu Chongwen was limited by his physical condition, and Su Maozhen was trapped by a serious injury. It can only be said that fate is playing tricks on people. Dong Fangzhuo officially got the opportunity to join but did not know how to cherish it, had hope but did not know how to work hard, had the opportunity to play but failed to grasp it, and was finally ruthlessly abandoned.

In contrast, other Asian countries may not have started so early, but Park Ji-sung from South Korea not only became a main player, but also won high honors in Manchester United. Shinji Kagawa from Japan also achieved success and won the Premier League championship. Today, more and more stars from South Korea, Iran, Japan and other countries play in the top five European leagues. Chinese football is indeed speechless.