Manchester United legend

Chapter 250 Business Genius
Four days later, on October 10, Manchester United will go away to challenge Anderlecht.If you can win, you can guarantee the group qualifying.

However, the Anderlecht team, which was playing at home, was irritated by Ferguson's "small club" remarks before the game and played an almost crazy game.

They ran like crazy from the start, swarming United players no matter what the cost, and charged into the Manchester United position as soon as they got the ball.

The center Raginski, who made the first contribution to Anderlecht's victory over Dynamo Kiev in the last round, performed equally well. In the 15th minute, Raginski successfully reversed offside. After receiving a direct pass from midfielder Baseggio, he calmly shot through the goal guarded by Barthez.

In the 18th minute, the Czech high center Kohler almost broke the goal with a close shot in front of the goal, but Barthez tried his best to resolve it.

In the 25th and 26th minutes, Rajinski had two more shots, both of which forced Barthez to save.

In the 33rd minute, the Anderlecht team played smoothly. Kohler made a low pass from the right.

Two goals behind, Manchester United woke up like a dream. Giggs and Beckham's wings began to actively invest in the attack. Giggs broke through from the left and made a cross, but neither Yorke nor Cole responded.

In the 37th minute, Cole was violated in the penalty area, and Irwin took a penalty kick to get back a point.

In the second half, Manchester United attacked with all their strength and put strong pressure on the home team, but they still couldn't create good scoring opportunities.

Especially in the last 10 minutes, Manchester United's frenzied attack caused all opponents to hide in the penalty area for defense, but Anderlecht finally withstood the stormy offensive.

Ferguson praised the opponent very generously after the game, "The first half was definitely a nightmare for us. Anderlecht played exceptionally well in the first half. We only lost 1-2, which is considered lucky. Their victory is well-deserved.

Our defense performed poorly in the first half, although we improved a lot in the second half and controlled the situation on the field, but in the end we couldn't change the result of the game.

If we hadn't made those two mistakes in the first half, the ending might have been completely different. "

After this battle, Manchester United's ranking dropped to third in the group, and they must win the last game to ensure their qualification.

Back in the 11th round of the league, Manchester United played against Southampton at Old Trafford. Forward Cole took the lead in the 9th minute. Although his shot was not powerful, the ball passed between the hands of Southampton goalkeeper Jones and rolled over the goal line.

Then came Sheringham's turn, scoring a hat-trick of head kicks in just a few minutes.Cole scored twice with a header in the 73rd minute.The score was finally locked at 5-0.

在伦敦，阿森纳队同样在主场5比0大胜曼城队，莱斯特城队主场2比1德比队，积分升到第3位。切尔西队主场3比0击败托特纳姆队。

In this way, at the end of October, despite many challenges, Manchester United still firmly held the top spot in the standings.

With the start of the third round of the League Cup on November 11, Manchester United's front has increased to three.

这一轮曼联客场轻松地以3比0淘汰了沃特福德队。4天之后，联赛第12轮曼联客场2比1战胜考文垂队，继续领跑积分榜。

On November 11, Manchester United ushered in the most critical battle of the Champions League group stage at home, and it was also the last game of the group stage.

Manchester United must win to qualify. The Red Devils went all out and launched a fierce attack from the beginning of the game.

In the 18th minute, Sheringham launched an offensive from his own half, and the ball was passed to Cole 40 meters ahead. After Giggs and Sheringham's reverse feet, captain Jost's close shot was saved, and Sheringham, who arrived in time, scored a supplementary shot into the net.Manchester United took the lead.

In the 25th minute, Ryan Giggs was injured, and Manchester United's offensive on the left was basically silent.Even so, the team still suppressed the opponent with a strong midfielder. Dynamo Kiev only had some long-range shots. It was difficult for them to develop their offensive into the hinterland of Manchester United's penalty area.

In the second half, Manchester United still took the initiative and controlled the rhythm of the game, but the players did not create too many shots. Jost's long-range shot was quite threatening, and Beckham's long-range shot was as sharp as an arc free kick, but they were all saved.

In the final stage, Manchester United's defense line retreated more and more, and Dynamo's offensive began to increase.

In the 85th minute, the Dynamo team launched an offensive from the right. Bodner broke through the bottom and went back to knock on the door. Demetrazer pushed the shot 6 meters in front of the goal and missed it-Manchester United escaped.

In the end, Manchester United scored a small victory over their opponents, and the group qualified second.Ferguson's gamble on team rotation paid off.

Arsenal and Leeds United in the Premier League also qualified in their respective groups and entered the second round of the group stage.

When Ferguson led the team to fight on multiple fronts and the competition was in full swing, the club made great achievements in the field of business management!

Just in November 2000, Kenyon signed a huge sponsorship contract with Nike on behalf of Manchester United.The total amount of the contract has reached 11 million pounds, and the time is as long as 3.33 years!
At that time, Manchester United's clothing sponsor was still Umbro Sporting Goods. They have been Manchester United's clothing sponsor for the past 8 years, and the contract with Manchester United will not expire until 2002.

By 2000, the two sides will be negotiating the next contract, and at this time Nike suddenly exerted force, fiercely and directly poaching the wall.Nike ignored the long-term cooperative relationship between Umbro and Manchester United, and directly offered a price that Umbro could not compete to compete for Manchester United's clothing sponsorship contract.

At this time, I have to talk about Kenyon, the CEO of Manchester United.The outside world has unanimously speculated that it was Kenyon's reason that led to Nike's situation.

Who is Kenyon?Before joining Manchester United, he worked for Umbro!Kenyon, who has a business genius and is also the manager of the two companies, naturally knows the details of the two companies. It is only natural that he plan to maximize the benefits for the new owner Manchester United.

Another big background is that the brilliant achievements since entering the Premier League have not only increased Manchester United's income and influence, but also made Manchester United's business ambitions greater and their appetite more terrifying. It is already a bit less optimistic about Umbro.

The Manchester United club quickly notified Umbro, and proposed to Umbro a new contract request similar to Nike's 13-year total value of about 3 million pounds.

Although it has the priority to sign the contract, it is obviously impossible for Umbro to have the strength to pay such a huge sponsorship fee, and it can only watch Manchester United move on.

In the end, under Kenyon's powerful negotiating ability, Manchester United successfully signed a super contract worth 3.33 million pounds with sponsor Nike.

Such sponsorship has made Manchester United the richest football club in the world, and the stock price of Manchester United soared on the day the contract was signed.

In addition to Kenyon's daring to play hard, why is Nike willing to spend such a huge amount of sponsorship to cooperate with Manchester United?
(End of this chapter)