Starting with saving Manchester United

Chapter 70 When Mortals Give Their All [Seeking First Subscription]

Now that he has decided to pursue a coaching career, Yang Fan will definitely study it carefully.

Ferguson and Manchester United are excellent examples.

The Heysel Stadium disaster and the Hillsborough disaster of the 80s are two hurdles that English football can never get around.

The long-term ban from European competitions caused English football to plummet from being the strongest team in Europe in the 80s to fourth or even fifth.

To some extent, these two tragedies indirectly contributed to Italy's success in the mini-World Cup.

But this is only from the macro level of the league. What about the specific situation at the club level?

The most important issues are a talent gap and outdated tactics.

The suspension coincided with Sacchi's Milan dynasty, a period of major changes in the tactics and techniques of European football.

This caused English football to fall behind for several years; they missed the first step and were quickly left behind.

The development of young talent is also seriously lagging behind the times.

Throughout the 1990s and even into the early 2000s, English football was synonymous with outdated tactics and techniques.

Take Manchester United as an example.

The Class of '92 is undoubtedly the most outstanding product of Manchester United's youth academy, but their development mainly took place before and during the period leading up to their suspensions.

In other words, the impact of their suspension is not significant.

What happened after Class 92?

Manchester United experienced a talent gap for several years.

It's not that we lack talent, but rather that the talent we cultivate is significantly inferior to that of players from continental Europe, both in terms of technique and tactics.

Just like Rooney, who was nurtured by Everton.

His talent is undeniable, but he just plays very roughly.

This is a common phenomenon in the Premier League.

But there is a solution.

That's foreign aid.

A number of excellent foreign players, such as Gullit, Vialli, Zoff, and Juninho, have flocked to the Premier League. Fans jokingly call it "skill-based poverty alleviation," and they're absolutely right.

Ferguson also promptly changed his team-building strategy, using strong foreign players as the core competitive advantage to drive the development of English domestic players.

For example, Cantona in the 90s.

When they won the championship in 99, the goalkeeper was Schmeichel, the center-back was Stam, and the forwards were the Black Wind Duo and Solskjaer.

Stam's importance is self-evident; he was one of Ferguson's biggest regrets in his coaching career.

In the new century, there was Van Nistelrooy, and later Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez, and Vidic, among others.

Although there were setbacks like Veron during that period, Manchester United created a second peak.

Based on this, Yang Fan speculated that Van Persie should have been a strong foreign player during Ferguson's original plan for the third peak period.

Looking at it more broadly, the strategy of having strong foreign players bring along strong domestic players is practically standard practice for top European clubs.

This is why the four major leagues have very strict limits on the number of foreign players and the number of domestic players.

If the restrictions were lifted, all 11 starting players would instantly become powerful foreign aids.

Especially the South American players who are good quality and inexpensive.

If there's one worst decision Ferguson made after 2010, it's letting Pogba go.

Of course, this is an hindsight perspective.

When Pogba transferred as a free agent, very few people thought he could reach the heights he later achieved.

This is also because Ferguson preferred to bring back the aging Scholes to play rather than give Pogba a chance to play, resulting in the Frenchman not having many opportunities to showcase his abilities.

But it's clear that Ferguson uses a completely different standard when it comes to household registration.

For example, Phil Jones, Ashley Young, and Smalling were signed for hefty sums.

And right now, Cleverley is sitting in front of Yang Fan.

Yang Fan has always felt that the so-called Red Devils spirit, the so-called spiritual victory, or the company's values ​​are more about internal integration.

However, if a team wants to compete in the league or in European competitions, it ultimately comes down to their strength.

Strength must align with the objective laws of the industry!

Just like now.

People are wondering why Manchester United has been able to transform.

Moyes has used the Rooney, Cleverley, and Carrick combination before, but the results were not ideal.

It's even quite bad.

Where have the changes occurred?

Fellaini's strength, ability to receive the ball with his back to goal, chest control, and heading ability gave Manchester United a bridgehead in their attacking third.

Regardless of Fellaini's shortcomings and weaknesses, his strengths are so great that Manchester United have tailored an attacking system specifically for him.

When this system can consistently create threats and make opponents wary, Rooney's side comes alive.

With more support in the attacking third, Van Persie was able to stay in his preferred attacking area to the fullest extent.

Why did they win by a large margin against Newcastle away from home?

Without Fellaini in this match, Manchester United reduced their high balls, completely freeing up Mata.

If Juan Mata were replaced by Rooney, this game would be very difficult.

This is the rule.

Of course, Manchester United did expose some problems in this match.

For example, Shinji Kagawa's performance did not meet Yang Fan's expectations.

During the match, Yang Fan even thought that if Shinji Kagawa were replaced by Cleverley, the effect might be even better.

In some ways, Shinji Kagawa and Cleverley are quite similar.

They are all players with excellent positioning awareness and outstanding passing ability, especially their one-touch passing.

The difference lies in the fact that Shinji Kagawa is closer to the opponent's penalty area, mainly making runs forward to score; Cleverley, on the other hand, is closer to the midfield and defense, a typical box-to-box midfielder and playmaker.

Moreover, Cleverley has consistently been one of the Premier League midfielders with the highest passing accuracy.

Note that his passing accuracy isn't limited to the midfield and backfield.

Based on statistics from the past few seasons, Cleverley has maintained a passing accuracy of over 95% in his own half.

Therefore, many people criticize him as the "passing emperor," saying he only knows how to pad his stats by passing a bunch of safe balls.

However, his passing accuracy in the opponent's half, especially in the attacking third, reached 85%.

Run—pass—run.

This is Cleverley!

When Cleverley sat down in Yang Fan's office, hoping to get more playing opportunities and asking Yang Fan to entrust him with important responsibilities, Yang Fan asked him what he thought was his greatest strength. The Englishman seemed exceptionally confident.

"Running, supporting play, passing, and—tactical execution!"

"I can guarantee that we will never lose possession in the central area and will not become the starting point for the opponent's counterattack."

"When we are organizing an attack in the backfield and facing the opponent's pressing, I will always be the most reliable passing point for the center-backs and goalkeeper, together with Carrick."

"Moreover, I can make long passes, which are very stable and have a high success rate."

"If Carrick makes a long pass to Fellaini on the right side of the field, then I can make a long pass to Valencia or Van Persie on the left side of the field."

"If you pay attention to the heatmap, you will definitely notice that a lot of my running and support during the game are between the opponent's midfield and defense, and I always try to move forward."

Yang Fan remained calm. "Then why do you have so many replies?"

"Protect possession of the ball," Cleverley replied without hesitation.

"If my teammates don't pass the ball to me well, it's hard for me to connect with the next step, or there are no suitable passing routes around me. Sometimes, I even have to work very hard to pass the ball back to my half, otherwise the ball will be lost."

Yang Fan chuckled softly, "So, according to you, it's your teammates who are holding you back?"

"No, I also have serious shortcomings myself," Cleverley replied seriously.

Tell me about it.

"My footwork isn't very good, especially my physical strength. Once the opponent gets close, I easily lose the ball. So I basically control the ball and pass it, not letting it linger at my feet and not giving the opponent a chance to get close and fight."

"Also, my reaction time in the attacking third is relatively slow and I'm not sharp enough, so I'm not quick enough to seize many opportunities, and my forward passes lack threat. Sometimes I only realize it's too late after the ball has been passed."

"I'm not only bad at physical duels, but I also lack explosiveness, so my ability to make late runs into the box to attack is poor."

"Due to physical reasons, my defense is not very good. I have been working hard to improve in this area, but I have been troubled by injuries and other issues, so my progress has not been very obvious."

Yang Fan looked at Cleverley silently, genuinely a little surprised.

How so?

Cleverley has a very clear understanding of himself, and his points about his strengths and weaknesses are quite fair.

It's clear that he genuinely wants to take on more responsibility.

Perhaps the pressure was put on Yang Fan by pairing Phil Jones with Carrick in Wednesday's away game against Barcelona, ​​and by starting Shinji Kagawa in the weekend's game against Newcastle.

That's why he took the initiative to come to us and have an open and honest talk.

Every player has obvious strengths and weaknesses; the key is how the head coach arranges the tactics and how the players are used.

Yang Fan smiled, stood up from the sofa, turned around and went to his desk. He pulled out one of the documents from a large stack of files, on which was written Cleverley's name.

Cleverley took the document with great surprise, and upon opening it, he was astonished to find detailed data and information about his past two or three seasons, especially this season.

For example, backcourt passes, midfield passes, forward passes, long passes, through balls —

In terms of running, in addition to running distance, there is also a running heat map during the game. Finally, by combining the heat map and various data, Cleverley's strengths and weaknesses are analyzed.

Surprisingly, it's almost identical to Cleverley's own assessment.

This left the Manchester United midfielder completely dumbfounded.

It turns out the head coach already knew!

"The 2-1 away win was a narrow victory, and we are in just as much danger back at home."

"With Ferdinand injured, we must make adjustments in the defense. Bringing Phil Jones back into the back line is the best option. Starting Evans is too risky."

Cleverly nodded silently, his eyes full of anticipation.

"The reason I didn't start you against Newcastle was that I wanted you to contribute against Barcelona, ​​but before today, I wasn't sure if you were ready."

"It's done!" Cleverley blurted out impatiently.

"I can assure you, I will absolutely not let you and the Manchester United fans down!"

As he said this, a complex emotion flickered in Cleverley's eyes.

"I came to Manchester United when I was 11 years old. I grew up listening to stories about the Class of '92. From the youth team to the reserve team to the first team, everyone told me to learn from the Class of '92."

"Many people say I'm like Scholes, and later some even said I'm Manchester United's Xavi, Manchester United's Fabregas—"

Yang Fan didn't laugh, because it was true.

Ferguson, Hodgson, and other famous managers have all given Cleverley this evaluation.

He was once a very talented young man.

Unfortunately, subsequent developments did not meet the expectations of Ferguson and others.

Cleverley's experience with the English youth academy meant he was destined to never produce a player like Xavi or Fabregas.

However, later at Watford, Cleverley played just like Xavi, a midfield maestro.

"Recently, everyone has been saying that we are the most mediocre generation in Manchester United's history, that we are homegrown players who don't deserve to play for Manchester United at all."

"But I've always known that I don't have Giggs' talent, Scholes's instinct for making runs from deep when he was young, or his passing awareness when he got older. I don't have Roy Keane's dominance and aggression when I play as a defensive midfielder, and I certainly don't have Beckham's precise passing —"

"My physique is poor, and I'm prone to injury. My through balls are always a beat too slow, and my defense is always unable to stop people —"

"But I swear, I am really working hard, and I dare not slack off in the slightest."

"I don't have Beckham's passing ability, but I've developed his running ability; I don't have Scholes' awareness, but I can reliably support my teammates; I don't have Giggs' talent, so I never dare to hold onto the ball; I don't have Keane's dominance, but I'm never afraid to go toe-to-toe with my opponents—"

By the end, Cleverley was completely excited.

"Coach, let me play!"

"I'm destined not to be the most dazzling player on the court, but I promise you, I will definitely be the hardest-working one!"

Hearing these resounding words, Yang Fan was also moved.

Football, especially top-level professional football, is a sport that highly values ​​talent.

Compared to those brilliant geniuses, Cleverley was just an ordinary mortal.

But at this moment, Yang Fan suddenly felt that when an ordinary mortal gives his all with unwavering determination, he will surely shock everyone.

Throughout history, the football field has never lacked such players!