The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 95: Being beaten by the enemy

"Ferguson believed that in order to challenge the league title, he had to take risks and adopt a different strategy to shake Liverpool's dominance. He aggressively tried new tactics at the beginning of the new season, but this attempt did not go well. Instead, his mortal enemy seized the opportunity to beat him and he suffered a lot."

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Ferguson's preparations before the start of the 1988 summer season were very rushed. The European Cup had a great impact. Many players returned in very different physical conditions, and the team's overall physical condition was worrying.

The problems that plagued the Red Devils were numerous injuries, the decline in the ability of aging players, and the thinness of the lineup. Robson and Strachan were both veterans, and the former was injured in the European Cup; Anderson was also old and it was difficult for him to continue to maintain his peak form. Whiteside and McGrath were injured again in the pre-season, and Ferguson felt that he was short of manpower.

Even so, Ferguson still has strict requirements for pre-season training, not only continuing to add items, but also raising the standards even higher. The players found that each item became more difficult to complete and required more time and energy. Whether it was individual physical fitness training, ball training, or team training, the content became richer. In addition to simple repetitive sprints and variable speed running, there were also jumping, confrontation, running without the ball, passing and shooting, group confrontation and team competition, as well as special training plans specifically for a certain player.

Ferguson learned from the advanced experience of the Dutch team and the Soviet team in the European Cup, and worked hard to promote more rapid attacks. His idea was very direct, requiring the speed of the wing to be improved and the outflanking of the middle of the penalty area to be increased. Ferguson asked the players to combine more people with the ball, and to train more on-the-spot counter-grabbing and defense-to-offense. In order to enrich the offensive routines, he introduced more systematic training subjects of passing, cutting, running, and multi-person coordination, which had many more variations than simple wing crosses.

Ferguson expanded the coaching team, increased the number of people, and clearly assigned the subjects and areas that the coaches were responsible for, making the training more professional. Ferguson hoped that the pre-season preparations would be as good as possible, not only to accumulate physical strength and strengthen confrontation, but also to polish tactics, instill more fighting spirit in the team, and improve the morale of the team.

And just like that, the new season begins.

The Red Devils are considered by the media as one of the favorites to win the championship. Some media thought before the game that Ferguson was capable of making a complete change for the Red Devils and bringing in a new striker, so the new season is worth looking forward to. Some media analyzed in detail that the Red Devils strengthened the forwards and defenders last season, and the team improved rapidly. Now they have strengthened the forward position again and brought in a strong goalkeeper, and the team's strength has been greatly improved, so it is possible to hit the championship.

Manchester Evening News said: "Ferguson has brought an impact to the English League One. His team structure is balanced, with outstanding stars in all three lines. The team's overall strength has become stronger. There is hope that it will bring surprises to the Red Devils fans and the strength to change the pattern of the English League One."

Before the season, Ferguson told the fans: "Our goal has always been clear and lofty. We want to return to where this team should be, which is to challenge for the championship. Our goal this season is to compete for the league championship!"

The Red Devils' fans are also full of expectations for this season. Even the Red Devils team is full of passion. Everyone has a strong desire to win and hopes to challenge for the championship.

No one expected that Ferguson's ambition would suffer a heavy blow.

In the first league match, the Red Devils faced Queens Park Rangers at home. Ferguson sent out goalkeeper Leighton, defenders Blackmore, Martin, Bruce, McGrath, midfielders Robson, Strachan, Olsen, forwards McClair, Mark Hughes, Davenport, which puzzled the opponents and the home fans. Is this a 433? What is Ferguson's intention in starting with three forwards? How does he arrange the tactics? Why not continue with 442, or pull a forward back to midfield to play a guest role?

At the beginning of the game, the Red Devils were not able to gain the upper hand. Ferguson's new lineup oscillated between 433 and 442, making it difficult for the Red Devils players to play. The two tactical systems and playing styles were different, and it was difficult for the players to adapt. Mark Hughes and McClair were fine as strikers, but Davenport had no place in the attacking line, and when he returned to the midfield, he lacked speed and skills, and could not find a sense of existence at all.

Despite the opponent's weakness, the Red Devils were unable to create enough opportunities. The game was chaotic for several times. Although the Red Devils had the advantage, suppressed the opponent, and had many shots, they just couldn't score, and finally they could only shake hands with the opponent 0-0.

In the second league game, the Red Devils visited Anfield to face the defending champions Liverpool.

This was a focus match and the fifth Red Devils match since Ferguson took over as manager. Before the match, both teams were full of fighting spirit, and the media once again brought up various statistics and classic scenes from previous matches, igniting the emotions of the confrontation between the two sides.

Ferguson made adjustments to the formation, replacing Davenport with the underperforming Martin, starting with Duxbury and Anderson, and the team's formation was changed back to 442.

Liverpool introduced several strong players at the beginning of the season, and became even stronger. The Red Devils were suppressed from the beginning of the game, and were almost suffocated by the opponent in the midfield. The Red Devils lost the advantage mainly because the midfielders did not perform well, the ball was not passed smoothly, and the forwards could not receive the threatening ball, resulting in the entire midfield out of control.

Robson, the Red Devils' most relied midfielder, was injured in a foul by an opponent in the European Cup group stage. He has not recovered well since returning to the Red Devils. In this game, he barely met the playing standards.

Although Robson started the game, he could hardly stand in the midfield. Strachan was also in poor form. He did not run enough and his rhythm was slow. The most fatal thing was that he made frequent mistakes in dribbling and was repeatedly intercepted by the opponent. The two core midfielders of the Red Devils were not in good form, and the forwards also had problems. Mark Hughes himself played in the traditional center forward style, lacked active defensive awareness, and lacked coordination with the team; McClair lacked midfield support and played very hard, unable to support the smooth operation of the frontcourt. The two wingers of the Red Devils were under great pressure. Olsen and Duxbury could only retreat deep to defend and barely withstand the opponent's fierce attack on the wing. The back line combination of Bruce and McGrath tried their best, but they could not withstand the successive attacks of the opponent Barnes and Rush.

The Red Devils were suppressed by Liverpool from the start, and they still couldn't turn the situation around 30 minutes into the first half. The Red Devils were struggling to defend, and the entire defense line was in a state of panic, with players missing everywhere and on the verge of collapse. When the situation was tense, even McClair had to retreat to the midfield to participate in interceptions to make up for his shortcomings in fighting. But even so, the Red Devils still had loopholes under Liverpool's continuous high-intensity pressure. In the 37th minute, the opponent directly tore a gap in the middle and scored a goal with ease.

Liverpool dominated the entire second half, and the Red Devils had difficulty counterattacking even though they were behind. The Red Devils seemed to be in a slump and could not muster up a performance. Robson and Strachan both seemed to be stumbling and could not lead the team to launch a counterattack. Even when Liverpool retreated in the final stages, the Red Devils only relied on long passes from the midfield to the Liverpool penalty area to find opportunities. These crosses were not very threatening and were easily resolved by Liverpool.

The Red Devils were eventually defeated 0-1 by their opponents away from home. They were in poor form and lost both offense and defense. It was really a loss without any complaints.

The Red Devils had a bad start with one draw and one loss in the first two rounds of the new season. The content and process of the game shocked the media and made the Red Devils fans dissatisfied.

The Times focused on Ferguson's tactics. "Ferguson's command is terrible, with an absurd formation and ridiculous tactics. This is not a confident and stable team. Ferguson is taking risks. There are too many problems with his command. The team should easily win three points against Queens Park Rangers and then concentrate on preparing for the match against Liverpool, but what do we see? The Red Devils were lazy and unfocused in the first game. The game was chaotic. When facing their real rival Liverpool, they were overly nervous, retreated completely and passively took a beating."

The Times concluded: "This is not the right coaching approach and Ferguson will suffer this season."

The BBC's football commentary also said: "Heretical. Ferguson will be seen as a madman in some cases. He completely changed the traditional formation of England, but it didn't work. It looked completely nonsense. The Red Devils, who were so successful last season, are now completely lost."

The reporter who has been following the Red Devils wants to defend Ferguson. "The Red Devils did not have a good start, but the draw was more of bad luck. The reason for the loss was that the opponent was in good shape and the Red Devils were in bad shape. This is not entirely a tactical problem of Ferguson, and it's only been two games. We have always believed that Ferguson's bold attempt at a new style of play is worth looking forward to."

Ferguson said in an interview, "It's a pity that we were tied by Queens Park Rangers. We should have won. We created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we couldn't score. We didn't play well against Liverpool and we can't say anything about the loss. It's not a problem of fighting spirit, nor is it that the players are unwilling to go all out to fight the opponent, but our overall state has not been adjusted."

Ferguson said: "Liverpool is one of the strongest teams in the league and they are in excellent form. Our players have tried their best in the game, but it is possible that we have not done well enough in some aspects. Some of our key players are injured and some players have not integrated smoothly, which has led to our passivity."

Ferguson said: "I don't mean to excuse myself. I have always emphasized that we must beat Liverpool. This is the most important goal since I came to the Red Devils. I tried my best to build a team to beat them. When we played against Liverpool, I always told the players that if you can't win, we are finished. I will emphasize the importance of every game and take the best team there. We have been going all out to compete with Liverpool, every game. We lost this game, but it doesn't mean we didn't fight."

Ferguson said: "The responsibility for this loss is mine, not the players'."

Ferguson was criticized and questioned, and Mark Hughes was also targeted by the media. Mark Hughes did not score in the first two games of the season and his performance was average, which triggered sharp criticism. Some media were not optimistic about him in the first place, and now they immediately added insult to injury.

The Daily Mail said: "Mark Hughes seemed to be still seasick, completely unable to find the direction of the goal and had no inspiration to shoot. He looked confused and doing nothing, and was of no help to the Red Devils' attack."

The Star said: "Mark Hughes can't replace Whiteside at all. He is not even as good as Davenport. We don't know what role he can play. As a former Red Devils player, he should have no adaptation period and unfamiliarity, but he seems to be isolated from the entire team."

The Manchester Evening News said: "I don't know if Mark Hughes was exhausted in Spain and Germany or what, he seems to be completely unable to adapt to the current Red Devils, nor to the current English football. If this continues for a long time, the Red Devils may be in big trouble."

Ferguson himself defended Hughes again under pressure, "I have confidence in Hughes. This is just a small challenge for him. He will be fine."