The older Ferguson gets, the more he believes that there is a so-called "fate" in this world.
This is not a feudal superstition, but a rule.
It's like the older a person is, the worse his learning ability and adaptability become.
A company continues to expand in scale, but corporate diseases become more and more serious, and finally become the company's biggest problem.
The same is true for a club and a team.
Ferguson was also young.
When he was young, he felt that he was omnipotent. Looking at his aging predecessors, he could be very high-spirited and scold Fang Qiu, threatening, "If labor and management are at your age and like you, they might as well die."
But when he really reaches that age and looks back, he will realize how naive and ridiculous his thoughts back then were.
This is like a person born in the 1980s in 2021. Looking back at the remarks he made in QQ space back then, he will definitely feel ashamed and ask: Why was I so good at that?
This is life!
No one can escape this shackles.
The same goes for Barcelona.
…
As an old rival of Barcelona, Ferguson respected and feared this team.
On the one hand, he also learned a lot from Barcelona, but on the other hand, he repeatedly failed at the feet of Barcelona.
But this season, this Barcelona is somewhat beyond his comprehension.
He really didn't expect that Barcelona's overall strength would suddenly decline significantly in such a short period of time.
You know, no matter how good Barcelona was during Guardiola's coaching period, they would not lose to Real Madrid 0-3 at the Bernabeu, and it was still a Real Madrid team that rotated 9 players.
That's very un-Barcelona, isn't it?
But it just happened.
The Catalan media found a lot of reasons, such as the absence of head coach Vilanova, Barcelona's continuous battles, and even began to blame the referee for several controversial penalties during the game...
But they will never say that Vilanova's absence has allowed Barcelona to play very well in the league this season.
When it comes to abusing food, Barcelona is more ruthless than anyone else.
This resulted in Barcelona still ranking first in the La Liga standings despite losing the battle at the Bernabeu.
What's going on?
When winning, Vilanova is motivating the team, but when losing, it is said that Vilanova is absent?
There are also continuous battles.
In front of Real Madrid, what qualifications does Barcelona have to say that they have continued to fight?
But how did Real Madrid perform?
How did Barcelona perform?
If you lose the game, you lose. There are no excuses.
…
"Barcelona used to dare to take the ball, dare to pass the ball, dare to counter-attack, and the players always stayed focused, but now..."
Ferguson shook his head and sighed.
"The greatest significance of this game for us is that we saw the end of a La Liga champion."
"This Barcelona seriously lacks the tenacity of strong dialogue, especially the lack of continuous and uninterrupted passing and receiving between small teams in the 30-meter area of the opponent's half. That is the most threatening Barcelona during the Guardiola period. Offensive approach.”
"Why is this happening?" Mike Phelan asked curiously.
Logically speaking, there is no reason why this ability should be lost.
"Mindset."
Both assistants obviously didn't understand.
"Many people say that Barcelona passes the ball for the sake of passing the ball. This statement cannot be wrong, but it is not fundamental. On the other hand, it is because they are afraid of making mistakes. Once they make a mistake, they will engage in counterattacks and do not actively engage in counterattacks. The opponent will immediately launch a threatening counterattack, and Barcelona's weak defense cannot stop it."
"I understand." Mike Phelan nodded, "What you mean is that Barcelona players are actually unwilling to invest too much in counterattacks."
Ferguson looked at his assistant with an expression that said you finally figured it out.
"The reason why they are unwilling to invest too much in counter-attacking is that counter-attacking requires more consumption, especially running, but Barcelona players are now less willing to invest in running, which creates a vicious cycle."
"The unwillingness to run has resulted in the team not having enough contact points when passing and controlling the ball. The ability to pass and control the ball, especially the threatening passing and controlling cooperation within the opponent's 30-meter area, is becoming less and less, and the fewer threatening passes there are.
, which resulted in Barcelona having to make more moves and pass the ball from the outside."
"The kicking and passing from the outside can't pose a threat, which makes Barcelona seem to have a very obvious advantage in possession, but they can't pose a threat at all. There may even be situations like the Bernabeu battle where they occupy so much possession rate.
, but only had the embarrassment of 4 shots.”
"And the final analysis of all this is that there is a problem with the mentality of their players."
"They are unwilling to run, and they are unwilling to work as hard to win as they did in the past. They are trying a more relaxed way to win. This mentality leads to their lack of a sense of urgency when encountering difficulties in the game.
The determination to grit one’s teeth.”
"Especially when physical energy is exhausted to a certain level, the problem becomes particularly obvious."
"The loss of this precious quality of tenacity will lead to their lack of determination to persist to the end when their physical fitness drops to a certain level. Their investment and concentration in the game will be greatly affected, and their investment and concentration in the game will be affected.
This further led to errors in their understanding of the details of the game, especially when grasping some 50-50 chances."
"More and more errors have made it easier for Barcelona to make mistakes on the court."
"More mistakes have led to the mentality of Barcelona players becoming more conservative, less willing to take risks, and more inclined to back and forth in the midfield and backcourt to pass and control the ball."
Ferguson pointed out the cycle that Barcelona are now trapped in.
But suddenly he had a feeling, even a feeling of enlightenment.
"Guardiola saw this last season!"
"What?" Mike Phelan was shocked, "How is this possible?"
Could it be said that Guardiola will predict the future?
"How is it impossible?" Ferguson looked at his assistant.
In fact, he is not satisfied with Mike Phelan, but after Queiroz leaves, it will be difficult for him to find a suitable assistant for a while.
"The Barcelona Dream Team was created by Guardiola, and these players also became famous under his hands. Who else knows them better than him? Who knows this team better?"
This is not a divination, but a reasonable deduction.
Ferguson himself has done this before, such as selling Stam, but this is a sad negative example.
"I even suspect that Gao Shen had guessed this would happen a long time ago. He knows Barcelona too well."
Ferguson's words surprised both Mike Phelan and Meulensteen.
It turns out that the top coaches are much better than they imagined.
"If we meet this Barcelona team now, we can win." Ferguson said with envy.
It is a pity that Manchester United did not draw Barcelona, but Real Madrid.
The team led by that brat is much more difficult to deal with than Barcelona without Guardiola.
More importantly, Real Madrid rotated 9 players in their game against Barcelona over the weekend, and they were able to win a complete victory. This greatly boosted the morale and fighting spirit of the Real Madrid players, and will only make them change at Old Trafford.
Be more difficult to deal with.
Thinking of this, Ferguson had a headache.
Now he is increasingly unable to keep up with this group of young people.
…
Before this Champions League match, Manchester United defeated newly promoted Norwich City 4-0 at home in the 28th round of the Premier League.
Ferguson also did not give his all in this game, but was conserving his energy to prepare for the Champions League match against Real Madrid in midweek.
Now, after 28 rounds of games, Manchester United still ranks first in the Premier League standings, but Manchester City is chasing closely behind them. There is only 1 point difference between the two teams. Manchester City is also determined to win the championship.
Because of this, Manchester United is also under a lot of pressure in the Premier League.
But now, Ferguson also clearly realizes that the home game against Real Madrid will not be that easy.
Since Gao Shen has made up his mind and rotated 9 players when playing Barcelona at the Bernabeu, he will never stay at Old Trafford.
And if you want to restrain Real Madrid, you must restrain Ronaldo.
In the first round at the Bernabeu, Ferguson gained a lot.
For example, after Giggs came on the field, together with Rafael, he had a very obvious restriction on Ronaldo, and at the same time, he also controlled the team's game rhythm very well.
Therefore, in this game, Ferguson plans to let Giggs play.
Sneijder exposed a lot of problems in the first round, especially in the defense of the midfield.
So now, Ferguson is also very confused, should he go to Sneijder?
The Dutch midfielder's strengths are organization and passing, but his presence also has an impact on Manchester United's midfield.
"Next, take a training session and focus on training the 4-4-2 double midfielder formation." Ferguson reluctantly instructed.
After losing 0-1 in the first round at the Bernabeu, Manchester United must score at home in the second round, which requires Manchester United to take the initiative.
Judging from the weekend's match at the Bernabeu, Gao Shen was really shameless. In order to win, he even lowered his body and played a defensive counterattack.
Ferguson doesn't feel confident now.
What if Gao Shen does this to him at Old Trafford?
Manchester United also has some problems in offense now. If Real Madrid really plays defensive counterattack, Manchester United will also have a huge headache.
Especially considering that counterattack masters like Cristiano Ronaldo and Di Maria are in charge, and Toni Kroos, Xabi Alonso and others are all masters of long passes. If Real Madrid is really allowed to counterattack, will Manchester United still survive?
Another one is Ramos.
Speaking of this, Ferguson really has to admire Gao Shen.
He never expected that Varane would improve so quickly, and Gao Shen would directly ban Ramos for three games, and Real Madrid's defense would not be affected.
On this point, Ferguson refused to accept it.
Just like Leeds United, they are still ranked sixth in the Premier League, even beating Everton and Liverpool.
Moyes is Ferguson's chosen successor, and Ferguson knows how capable he is.
It is not easy for the newly promoted Leeds United to be ranked ahead of Everton.
Ferguson knew very well how much behind Gao Shen's efforts were, and he never doubted Gao Shen's ability to train players.
