The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 97: Heartache

"Ferguson once again regretted not buying Gascoigne after the game against Tottenham. This guy will really become a big problem for all the strong teams."

--Inscription

Back in the league, the Red Devils challenged Tottenham away in the 6th round.

This was a battle that had been hyped up by the media beforehand. The excitement over Gascoigne, who Ferguson thought was a sure win before the season, had not yet faded, and the Red Devils' ups and downs since the start of the season attracted even more media attention. On the Tottenham side, the owner of Scolari was full of ambition and continued to challenge the limits with big moves. First, he poached the famous coach Venables from Barcelona, ​​and then he poached Gascoigne despite the infamy, determined to build Tottenham into the strongest club in London.

Apart from the off-field disputes, the fans are most concerned about Ferguson's challenge to Tottenham, who poached Gascoigne, and Mark Hughes's face-off against Venables, who once took him to Spain.

Ferguson naturally did not dare to be careless in the face of powerful opponents in the league. He still put out the trident of McClair, Hughes and Davenport, but just like the previous few games, McClair actually retreated to the midfield, and the main formation was still 442, which is also a familiar tactic in English football.

Ferguson made a big change, because Strachan's starting form was not very good, so he hoped to use strength and defense to deal with the opponent. The starting lineup was different from the previous game, with newcomers Lee Sharp and Garton. On the one hand, Ferguson considered that the opponent's midfield was full of energy, and the team needed enough young people to resist the consumption of the exchange, and also hoped to use young people to attack the opponent's slightly aging defense and create new offensive opportunities unexpectedly.

On the Spurs side, Venables incorporated his experience as a coach of the Spanish giants Barcelona into the team's formation and playing style, and boldly deployed a new 4231 formation against the Red Devils. Although Spurs had many strong stars at the time, and all three lines had superstars, they were also in the process of changing from traditional English style to Spanish style, and the team's operation was not very smooth.

The game started with both sides preparing with different focuses, and entered the rhythm of fierce confrontation from the beginning. The Red Devils' trident became the traditional 442 after the opening. McClair and Robson ran and covered a lot in the midfield, especially McClair, whose position was very flexible. In addition to pretending to be a center forward and retreating to get the ball with his back, he often played as a central midfielder with Robson. Not only that, Ferguson also arranged people in the midfield to keep a close eye on Gascoigne, and even let Mullen do close defense, staying close to the opponent. Gascoigne is not the core of the Tottenham team, but this genius full of inspiration and imagination is still the creator of Tottenham's frontcourt attacking opportunities and the biggest worry of the Red Devils team. Although he did not get any chance to perform, because he was surrounded by the Red Devils' defensive players, the Tottenham players rarely cooperated with him and it was difficult to pass the ball to him. Even if he retreated deep to the backcourt to get the ball, the Red Devils' two-man package was always ready. Although Gascoigne's power was not fully utilized, Tottenham's entire team is elite, and their other players are also very strong and equally threatening.

The Red Devils also had a tough time after the start. Robson's defensive tasks were too heavy, and his offensive organization and direct attack attempts were limited. He was more active in the back area of ​​the midfield, and his support for the offense was insufficient. McClair had a lot of defensive output and was also very strong in midfield interception, but his ability to create opportunities with passes and break through the defense was not among the top players. In this way, the Red Devils needed more support from the two wingers, relying on the two wingers to break through and pass to create assists and opportunities in front of the goal. Lee Sharp, who started this game, was a new generation. He was too young and inexperienced. He played very averagely in front of the opponent's old defenders. Robins on the other side also focused more on defense, and his offensive effect was not enough. In this way, the Red Devils' backcourt and the offensive line were often out of touch. The offensive line had no supply, and Hughes and Davenport were powerless. The midfield and defense were too chaotic, and it was difficult to grasp the opportunities when switching between offense and defense, and the efficiency of the conversion was too low.

The game started to become more and more intense, with both teams struggling.

In the 12th minute, Tottenham launched an attack from the wing. Gascoigne took the ball on the left and dribbled past the opponent, then went straight to the Red Devils penalty area. At the critical moment, Robson returned to the penalty area in time and quickly moved in front of Gascoigne to block his way. Gascoigne passed the ball directly to the gap at the penalty spot from the edge of the penalty area, but unfortunately no one from the Tottenham striker caught up. In the 17th minute, Tottenham immediately launched an attack after defending against a wave of attacks from the Red Devils. The midfielder made a long pass to the Red Devils penalty area. Forward Pratt received the ball with his back to the goal and immediately turned around to shoot, but the shot missed. After withstanding Tottenham's fierce attack, the Red Devils midfield gradually stabilized, and the two wingers began to become active. In the 29th minute, the Red Devils intercepted the ball in the backcourt. Strachan retreated to the edge of the penalty area to get the ball and moved forward. Other teammates also immediately sprinted forward and launched an attack together. With his rich experience, Strachan saw the opportunity in the frontcourt in advance, and also predicted that his teammates would soon arrive. He made an accurate long pass and passed the ball to the opponent's penalty area. Red Devils striker Mark Hughes ran 100 yards and penetrated the opponent's defense at high speed. At this time, he ran to the position with the second hand, and received the ball with his back to the opponent's defender while entangled with the opponent's defender, while observing and analyzing the situation. After Hughes got the ball with his back to the opponent, he found that other Tottenham defenders were ready to double-team and snatch the ball from his feet. The calm Hughes was not afraid, nor did he intend to pass it back to his teammates. Instead, he chose to push the opponent's defender away with force, relying on his body strength to get a little space, and then made a miraculous fake move of shaking his shoulders and shaking his head, which made the opponent's defender misjudge and gave him the opportunity to kick. Hughes decisively turned with the ball and volleyed it before the ball landed!

This shot was completely unexpected by Tottenham's defender and goalkeeper, and the ball flew right into the goal.

This attack was so shocking, a goal that amazed the whole audience! This was the tactical routine of the whole team, and also the dazzling performance of the superstar. First, Strachan made a master-level pass, and then Hughes demonstrated the textbook-level action of a center forward in the penalty area. From receiving the ball, carrying the opponent, feinting to shooting, it was done in one go, but it was very difficult. Hughes used his advantage of being a post-type center forward to the extreme, predicting, selecting positions, feinting, and quickly tearing open the gap. The volley not only pressed the ball and exerted force, but also caught the opponent off guard.

This goal is the super strength of Hughes as a striker, and it is also his inspirational stroke of genius. The on-site commentator Taylor exclaimed, "This is definitely one of the most exciting goals in Mark Hughes' football career. Simple, direct, and sharp, one person took down the opponent's entire defense line!"

Tottenham manager Venables' face was livid. His pre-match taunting of Hughes, "He is not adapted to Spanish football, not adapted to German football, in fact, I think he is not adapted to football," was harshly slapped in the face by this goal. Tottenham's home fans were also impressed, and the entire White Hart Lane stadium fell silent in an instant.

Not only did Hughes score a wonderful goal, but McClair also took the initiative to shoulder the burden of attack. After taking the lead, the Red Devils continued to exert their strength. In the 39th minute, the Red Devils launched an attack from the left. The young Lee Sharpe bravely took the ball and pushed forward. Before being knocked away by the opponent's body, he successfully passed the ball forward. McClair ran over in the midfield to respond, and then made a two-on-one cooperation with Strachan, turned around and received the ball and rushed into the penalty area. Tottenham's defensive system was disrupted by Lee Sharpe's sudden attack. When McClair entered the penalty area, almost no one had time to defend. The Scottish striker shot directly in the penalty area and successfully hit the ball into the dead corner.

The Red Devils lead 2-0!

McClair breathed a sigh of relief after scoring the goal. This goal washed away the doubts and criticisms from the media, and he also broke his goal drought in five consecutive league games this season!

After the Red Devils scored two goals, the players' mentality changed. Their previous active attack to win the victory turned into passive defense to maintain the victory.

In the second half, Tottenham attacked fiercely, but the Red Devils shrank their defense, hoping to hold on until the victory whistle sounded. But in the last 30 minutes, the Red Devils began to run out of energy, and the shrunken defense line could not withstand the opponent's fierce attack. Tottenham's frequent rushing tactics made the Red Devils players exhausted, and Gascoigne's dribbling breakthroughs were also particularly sharp, constantly creating opportunities and threats in the Red Devils' penalty area.

Under Tottenham's almost crazy attack, the Red Devils' defense was ultimately unable to hold on. In the 65th minute, Tottenham made a cross from the right, and captain Mabbutt successfully grabbed the ball in the penalty area and scored a header, tying the score to 1-2.

After scoring the goal, Tottenham became more aggressive, and the Red Devils' defensive contraction became more passive. In the 83rd minute, Tottenham broke through the middle and passed the ball. Gascoigne rushed to the front right. He passed Strachan and Robson of the Red Devils, then passed Gatton, and then passed Pratt in the penalty area. At this time, the Red Devils' defense line had been torn apart. In the chaos, Bruce was unable to fill in the position in time, and was hit by the opponent's forward's powerful shot in the dead corner. The Red Devils goalkeeper Turner was unable to save.

In the end, the Red Devils drew 2-2 with Tottenham.

After the game, Ferguson said, "We should have won this game. We created a lot of chances in the first half. Robson, Strachan and Hughes should have scored. They were really unlucky. Our tactics completely clamped down on the opponent. Tottenham is a very strong team, but they didn't play any better than us."

Tottenham manager Venables said: "I have great respect for Ferguson and the Red Devils, but we should have won this game. It's a pity that we couldn't turn the tide in the end. We were very tenacious after falling behind, and continued to move forward after scoring a goal. In the end, we were still attacking after the tie and created many opportunities. The Red Devils had no chance at all in the end, and we should have won."

The Red Devils without Gascoigne did seem to lack smoothness and sharpness, but Tottenham Hotspur with Gascoigne did not win. They also lacked integrity and sufficient fighting spirit, nor the spirit of winning. In the end, it was only thanks to Gascoigne's brilliance that they managed to tie with the Red Devils.

The Guardian News reporter Tellis said, "The biggest difference between the two teams in this game was the first and second half, especially the second half, when the Red Devils couldn't control the rhythm, which eventually led to a complete collapse. If the Red Devils had Gascoigne, forwards McClair and Hughes would definitely have easily eaten the cake. How powerful would the whole team be?"

"can not imagine."

After returning from White Hart Lane, the Red Devils beat Rotherham United 5-0 in the second game of the second round of the League Cup.

Ferguson used this match to train his troops. Facing a lower-level league opponent, the Red Devils, who rotated some of their starting lineups, were not polite and destroyed the opponent's defense with a wave of offensive. Forward McClair easily performed a hat trick, Bruce and Robson each scored a goal, and they won the victory easily and happily.

The biggest gain for the Red Devils in this game was not the big win, but the fact that McClair regained his killer form. The Manchester Evening News said: "The Red Devils don't seem to need to worry about their attacking firepower, because the Scottish bull has begun to show his power again."