From coaching Real Madrid

Chapter 804 The cornerstone of the Manchester United dynasty

In European professional leagues, every head coach has his own set of ideas for team formation, but there is one key point that is generally recognized.

It’s the central axis!

This is something that no team can take lightly when forming.

In fact, fans can also start from this aspect when analyzing a team or a head coach's team-building ability, because the central axis is like the backbone of a team.

Even though Gao Shen clearly saw that the importance of full-backs was constantly increasing, and even at Leeds United, he asked Sarri to maximize the offensive firepower of the full-backs, but in fact, the foundation of Leeds United is still the central axis.

From this point of view, many problems can be seen clearly.

For example, why did Gao Shen always conclude that Boas would fail?

Terry, Lampard and Drogba, this is the central axis of Chelsea.

Don’t Boas know?

No, he knew, but he radically believed that he could control and control the situation.

But as it turns out, he's back to relying on these three veterans.

Ferguson said in his autobiography that when he formed the Manchester United team, he also organized the team around the central axis, starting from the central defender.

"The Manchester United under me is based on the centre-back. It has always been the centre-back. I am always looking for a stable and reliable centre-back."

This is in the tactical library. The original words in Ferguson's book represent his true thoughts.

If you carefully analyze the glory and ups and downs of Manchester United over the years, you can generally see the clues.

Ferguson's first generation dynasty at Manchester United was based on the two powerful central defenders, old captain Steve Bruce and Gary Parise. Steve Bruce is now a famous Premier League coach, and Gary Parise

He is especially known as [Giant].

After the two main central defenders aged, updates and iterations were inevitable. During this period, Manchester United's performance had certain ups and downs, until the era of the second generation dynasty, the Class of 1992 and the Triple Crown.

During the Triple Crown era, Manchester United had the best top central defender in the world, the Dutchman Stam. Standing next to him was Ronny Johansson. Although there were many injuries, the combination of the two allowed Manchester United to win three games.

Key factors for the crown.

But it is a pity that Ferguson later sold Stam for various reasons.

So, in order to make up for this mistake, he introduced Rio Ferdinand at a record high price.

Fans who are familiar with and understand Manchester United will not be surprised that Manchester United would make such a decision, because Manchester United has always respected localization. Ferguson liked to use the best local central defender, and Ferdinand was the best in the UK at the time and the best in the world.

One of the best central defenders.

But only one Ferdinand is not enough. In addition, Beckham, Keane, Ruud van Nistelrooy and others left the team one after another, as well as the strong rise of Chelsea. Therefore, Manchester United experienced turmoil and troughs in those years, until Ferguson discovered

Vidic.

The combination of Ferdinand Gavidic allowed Manchester United to once again dominate European football.

Three years have passed, Ferdinand is about to turn 33, Vidic has entered his thirties, and Manchester United's strongest central defender pairing in history has also begun to decline.

More importantly, over the years, Manchester United has always had only two reliable central defenders in the defense, causing Ferguson to have to use these two central defenders to death, causing their bodies to suffer varying degrees of injuries.

This season, Ferguson even spent a lot of money to bring in Phil Jones from Blackburn, hoping that this young local central defender could provoke the banner of Manchester United's defense, while also patiently continuing to carve out Evans.

As the colander of Manchester United's defense, Evans has always been criticized, and his performance has been ups and downs. The media even ridiculed him before, saying that whenever he plays, Manchester United will be ten against eleven.

The implication is that Manchester United is the same with or without Evans.

But this season, Evans' performance is showing signs of improvement. In the games that defeated Tottenham, Arsenal and Chelsea, Evans started the game and performed well. He was recognized by Ferguson and the fans.

.

This makes many Manchester United fans happily believe that Evans will take over the banner of Ferdinand and Vidic and become another banner in Manchester United's defense. Even the players have vaguely revealed their ambition to seize power.

Before facing Manchester City, when Evans was interviewed by the media, he proudly expressed that he was satisfied with his state this season and believed that he was reaching a peak in his career.

"I often tell myself that when I don't perform well, I should face the pressure bravely and sometimes I have to endure the unpleasant noise."

Although Evans also said later that after Phil Jones joined, if he performed poorly again, he would be kicked out, so he had to relax and respond to criticism with performance.

But regarding his use of noise to describe doubts, the media and fans reacted poorly, thinking he was too proud.

Ferguson was more tolerant towards his beloved disciple. He believed that Evans was such a big-hearted player.

"When you experience it enough, you will find that many young players will experience a difficult period after one or two outstanding seasons. Those who fail to survive will eventually disappear from the crowd."

"I think Evans has overcome this difficult stage and is entering his golden stage."

Strong self-confidence, coupled with Ferguson's support, gave Evans faint signs of seizing power.

In the Manchester derby, Ferguson put together what he considered to be Manchester United's best lineup at this stage, starting with Evans and Ferdinand.

But the Red Devils youngster clearly failed to live up to Ferguson's high expectations.

…

When the game progressed to the 21st minute, Hazard dribbled the ball in from the left and then passed it across. Sturridge went straight to the front point and took away Ferdinand. At the same time, it attracted Evans' attention, resulting in

The latter actually missed his most important marking target.

Van Persie moved forward quickly and succeeded in scoring an empty goal from close range, opening the scoring for Manchester City.

But that's not the worst.

After changing sides in the second half, the game started again. Thirty seconds into the game, Manchester City stole the ball and launched a counterattack. After Van Persie retreated to get the ball in the left rib, he turned around and sent a through pass. Sturridge and Evans were fighting

One to one.

Originally, Evans could use his body to suppress Sturridge, but for some reason, he didn't do that and allowed Sturridge to start.

Everyone knows that what England forwards are best at is speed and explosive power. Once he got going, Evans couldn't stop him at all. Sturridge broke into the penalty area and scored with a low shot. It was 2-0!

Both goals came from Evans' mistakes!

Old Trafford once again booed Evans.

But Manchester City also relied on goals from two forwards to defeat Manchester United 2-0 away from home.

This is the third consecutive season that Manchester City has defeated Manchester United at Old Trafford.

…

Before the game, Gao Shen still sent two boxes of wine to Ferguson.

After the game, the godfather of Manchester United invited Gao Shen to the office at Old Trafford for a drink.

Although, in the history of European football, it is not uncommon for the coach of the home team to treat the coach of the visiting team to a drink, but in recent years, such things have become increasingly rare.

You know, as the competition becomes more and more fierce, it is lucky that the coaches of the home and away teams do not have to fight.

Mourinho pokes his hand directly into Vilanova's eyes. Do you still expect Guardiola to treat him to a drink?

Also, like Ferguson, his status in the world is too high, so he doesn't easily invite people to drink.

Even Mourinho, when he was coaching Chelsea, did not often receive invitations from Ferguson.

But Gao Shen was an exception. Every time he came to Old Trafford, Ferguson would treat him to a drink.

Of course, what Gao Shen drank was water.

The two of them sat together and actually didn't talk about the game.

To be honest, there is really nothing to talk about in this Manchester derby. No matter how you look at it, Manchester United has little chance of winning.

Evans was in a daze. He had been performing well recently, but he was a little carried away. As a result, he was unlucky in the game.

This is not entirely Evans' problem. Even if Vidic starts and partners with Ferdinand, Manchester United will still lose.

To put it bluntly, the gap in strength is there.

Otherwise, why would Ferguson belittle the Manchester derby in front of the media after playing against Liverpool a week ago?

To put it bluntly, isn't it because he knows that he has little chance of winning and lowers his expectations in advance?

If he had really been sure, he would have scolded Manchester City to death.

This is a battle for the top spot!

In terms of psychological warfare, how many players in European football today have played with Ferguson?

If we don’t talk about the game, then we can only talk about something else.

For example, Gao Shen.

"This will probably be the last time we end up drinking after a game as opponents like this."

Ferguson looked at Gao Shen with a smile, picked up the red wine glass in his hand, "Why don't you have some?"

Gao Shen shook his head, he really didn't drink.

"Have you decided?"

Two days ago, Mubarak said that he had an appointment with people from Manchester United for dinner and said he wanted to talk about Gao Shen.

"Manchester United's position will not change!" Ferguson's attitude was very firm.

"I'm going to be 70 years old soon, Gao. I said that I want to retire with a league championship, but if you were always here, I wouldn't have this chance. I'm afraid I would have to continue coaching, and you wouldn't

You don’t want to see me coaching until I’m eighty, do you?”

"You are wrong, I am very much looking forward to seeing it." Gao Shen said with a smile.

"But even if you manage Manchester United, it's useless. Several clubs are already angry with each other. Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal will all oppose it!" Ferguson paused, looked at Gao Shen, and added: "You understand.

of."

Deep and silent.

To put it bluntly, isn’t it just the old rhetoric about New money and Old money?

This is the same reason why they asked UEFA and the Premier League to delve into Manchester City's finances.

In the final analysis, Manchester City touched their cheese and harmed their interests.

Both Gao Shen and Manchester City have been mentally prepared for this.

Even if this is not a profound matter, sooner or later they will find other reasons and excuses, such as the financial deficit problem caused by Manchester City's salary structure.

Gao Shen has always felt that this is a double standard. Why are there no problems with Arsenal's liabilities caused by losses on real estate projects and the huge debt transferred to the club after the Glazer family acquired Manchester United, but there must be problems with Manchester City's investment?