Manchester United legend

Chapter 214 Leeds United's Failure
This victory made Manchester United's championship journey even brighter. Ferguson said after the game: "Victory is a very important result for us, and this is what we deserve in return-we have prepared meticulously and are tactically perfect.

We know what kind of game we should play and the opponent's arrangement.There was a lot of tension in the first half and I felt whoever scored the first goal would win, but we defended well and held on to our chances in the second half, Cole scored a brilliant goal and he was the biggest threat to Leeds all afternoon. "

On the contrary, Leeds United coach O'Reilly was extremely frustrated after the game, "We played very well and took most of the advantages, but Manchester United seized the opportunity, but unfortunately we didn't.

Manchester United have a lot of experience, we have to learn from them, but we still have a chance, there are still a dozen rounds in the league, and we will rebound soon. "

After this game, Manchester United successfully dug a 6-point gap with Leeds United, which is closely behind them in points, and their top position was once again consolidated.

For the challenge of the biggest opponent in the championship, Ferguson commanded the Red Devils. Although he was not calm, he did judge the situation. He would arrange troops according to the opponent's weight, arrange tactics according to the strength and state of the opponent, and change his play style because of the temporary injury of his team's players.

Ferguson won this strong dialogue, which also proved the sudden sharpness of Leeds United in those years from another angle.

Unlike Blackburn in the 94-95 season, which relied on the club's big boss to spend crazy money to form a luxury team to compete for the championship, Leeds United took the "club borrowing heavily" + "excellent youth training" route.

Long before O'Reilly took charge, Leeds United coach Graham introduced Dutch striker Hasselbaink and Portuguese midfielder Bruno Ribeiro wisely, and the club's youth team won the FA Youth Cup.

Leeds United's youth training has produced a large number of powerful young players such as Kewell.Since then, Laham's assistant coach David O'Reilly took over as coach and continued the team's youthful reform.

O'Reilly recruited Woodgate, Alan Smith and Stephen McPhail from the youth team to join the first team, and continued to reuse Kewell and Ian Hart who had already established themselves in the first team. Leeds United's first team is full of youthful atmosphere.

In addition, O'Reilly recalled the champion David Batty from Newcastle to strengthen the midfield defense and guide young players.At that time, Leeds United had a combination of Kewell, Bridges, Alan Smith, Robbie Keane and other players on the front line. They formed the daunting attack line of the Young Guards. Although Hasselbaink left, it did not affect the attacking power of the Blancos.

In the 1999-2000 season, O'Reilly had a lot of strong players.The chairman of the club is ambitious and relies on bank debt and installment payment models to continue to introduce many star players.

Looking at these names, we can roughly know the strength of Leeds United in the Premier League: forwards include Kewell, Bridges, Alan Smith, Robbie Keane;

Not only does the team have many outstanding players, but O'Reilly's coaching philosophy focuses on offense and fast cooperation on the ground, effectively playing the characteristics of Leeds United's young people, strong impact, fast speed, fast rhythm, and high game intensity.

Relying on the blood and passion of young people, O'Reilly has created a unique youth army.

The teenagers in fluttering white clothes on the court, the figure galloping at high speed, and the never-ending wave of charge are the portrayal of their fighting spirit.

Leeds United played many classic games under O'Reilly's command and defeated many strong players.

It can be said that this is a team full of vigor, vigor, and rapid growth. Many stars of tomorrow are rising in this white team, and they have quickly become a new strong team in the Premier League.

At that time, Leeds United, no matter from the scene or the score, their insistence on attacking to the end could arouse the interest of many fans.

However, after all, Ferguson is not the Ferguson in 94 or 95.

For this emerging strong team, for this kind of opponent with great potential to attack him, Ferguson will no longer leave too many opportunities for his opponent.

Although Manchester United has not had any new stars in recent years, and several core players of the 92 golden generation still occupy the key positions of the team, Ferguson has also begun to plan ahead and kill the opponent's dreams as much as possible.

Defeat the opponent in the Premier League, which is the most important thing for the opponent, firmly grasp the advantage of points, grasp the advantage of winning the championship, and prevent the opponent from succeeding in the upper position, and finally lose control completely.

This is Ferguson's strategy, and this is also Manchester United's confidence.This is also the key to why Ferguson became the overlord of the Premier League.

Smash your dreams when you're most likely to be crowned champions, that's the answer from the league's dominant players.Under the throne, how can you ignore warriors?Ferguson takes the victory with salt.

Before entering 2000, the leader of the Premier League standings was still the high-spirited Leeds United.

But Manchester United caught up after the new year.In fact, Leeds United was in trouble before losing to Manchester United. First of all, the multi-line battle brought huge wear and tear to the team. The continued tightness of the New Year's schedule made it difficult for Leeds United to support in multi-line battles. In the end, not only lost their leading advantage in the standings, but the team's strength was also greatly affected by injuries.

Not only that, scandals broke out in the team: the star players Woodgate and Bowyer were accused by the police of beating Asian students, and the image of Leeds United was hit hard.

The police in England arrested the two, and then charged them to the court separately, while the Asian who was beaten filed a civil claim for compensation. The scandal of "beating fans" made the Leeds club feel like a stick in the throat, and the pressure was great.

In the end, neither O'Reilly nor the club stood firmly behind the players and opted to suspend them instead.

This also caused the team to start to be divided.The FA's punishment was swift, and both Bowyer and Woodgate were given multi-match suspensions.

The criminal and civil lawsuits have been entangled for two years.With the help of lawyers, the court finally ruled that Bowyer's contact with the other party was not a fight, and was finally acquitted, while Woodgate was charged with a fight and was sentenced to community service and a fine in addition to compensation.

Misfortunes never come singly is that Leeds United suffered a bigger blow in the European war.O'Reilly's team reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup again after a lapse of 25 years, but the team eventually lost to the Turkish team Galatasaray and missed the final.

When Leeds United went to Turkey, they were hit hard. Fans broke out in a serious conflict. Leeds United fans Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed on the streets of Istanbul and died in the hospital.

The bad news of the death of the fans hit the entire Leeds United team hard, and they were unwilling to fight, and the team's performance was also greatly affected.In the end, the team was defeated by the opponent.After returning home, Leeds United still could not turn the tide.

These things that happened one after another finally destroyed the determination and spirit of Leeds United to hit the championship.

(End of this chapter)