Actually, Ferguson wasn't entirely stubborn, although one of the most frequent criticisms against him was his stubbornness.

In reality, Ferguson was a very adaptable manager who constantly adjusted himself based on different situations. This is evident from his twenty-eight years managing Manchester United. He was always experimenting with new ideas and tactics. If he found that his ideas and tactics weren't working, and the team's performance suffered, he would decisively adjust and correct his mistakes.

He was definitely not the kind of manager who stuck to the rules and never changed. If he were that kind of person, Manchester United wouldn't have reached its current heights under his leadership.

He was not only good at correcting himself, but also at learning from others.

For example, in this game, he learned a trick from his opponent, Liverpool.

In this game, Manchester United's core tactic was—score first!

Yes, to score before Liverpool.

Taking advantage of Liverpool's carelessness, catching them off guard.

But scoring just one goal wasn't enough; they had to strive to score even more goals first.

It would be best to score two goals in one go, which would throw Liverpool into chaos.

After all, this was their home ground. What would it mean to have their arch-rivals, Manchester United, score two goals in quick succession on their own turf?

After the game started, he could see that the Liverpool players were a bit complacent.

They weren't getting into the game as quickly as before, and some of their passes were too casual.

It was as if they thought they could win against Manchester United even if they just played carelessly.

Ferguson lowered his head and smiled. He didn't want anyone to see his smile, because he still wanted to play the fool.

※※※

Ferguson's observation was very accurate. The entire Liverpool team really hadn't been able to get into the game in time, and they really didn't take Manchester United seriously...

The consequences of this were severe.

If Liverpool's opponent was a team like Fulham, then it wouldn't matter if they were distracted and slow to start for a while, because the difference in strength between the two sides was obvious.

But their opponent was Manchester United… Would you dare to be distracted when facing a pack of wolves? Even for just a second, you might be pounced on by the howling pack, who would tear open your trachea, and the scarlet, scorching blood would spurt out like an arrow...

The consequence of the Liverpool players' delay in getting into the game was that Manchester United scored first in the eighteenth minute!

Eighteen minutes!

Almost twenty minutes, and Liverpool still hadn't gotten into the game. You can imagine how careless they were!

"Manchester United! Manchester United! They've taken the lead at Anfield!!"

"'Little Pea' Hernandez! He found an opening in Liverpool's defense very nimbly… A truly beautiful raid!"

"It's unbelievable that Manchester United has taken the lead at Liverpool's home ground! Before the game, the media was overwhelmingly in favor of Liverpool!"

"Look at Pepe and Reina's eyes, they are full of confusion… Obviously, they haven't reacted yet, and Manchester United has already scored. They must think it's an illusion… But no, Manchester United is indeed leading!"

"The few Manchester United fans at the top of the stands let out cheers… In the suddenly quiet Anfield stadium, it sounds so clear!"

※※※

The Liverpool fans in the stands were only stunned for a moment before they reacted. So the cheers of the Manchester United fans only showed their faces for a moment before being drowned out by the shouts of the Liverpool fans.

Liverpool fans now have a lot of confidence in the team's performance. So what if Manchester United scored first at their home? It won't be long before the mighty Liverpool capture your city!

This is Anfield! This is our home! How can we allow you to indulge yourselves here?!

The songs and shouts of Liverpool fans echoed in the air above Anfield.

Seeing the powerful momentum of the Liverpool fans, the Manchester United fans wisely shut their mouths, and they were also quite worried about their team.

The media had hyped up Liverpool's strength too many times during this period, and even the Manchester United fans had a faint sense of fear.

They were afraid that their team's one-goal lead would not be able to be maintained at all, and that they would be equalized by Liverpool if they weren't careful.

So they especially hoped that Manchester United could score another goal before the end of the first half, taking a two-goal lead, so that their hearts could return to a normal rhythm.

※※※

After the game restarted, Liverpool's players' eagerness to equalize was obvious, but it seemed disorganized. They seemed to be stimulated by Manchester United's goal, and overstimulated, without making the right response…

Thinking about it, they hadn't been in the game at all before, and suddenly they conceded a goal, and now they had to equalize immediately. Many people's brains probably hadn't reacted yet, and were completely blank, not knowing what countermeasures to take…

Now it was Martin O'Neill's turn to get up from his seat and stand on the sidelines.

At first, he just watched from the sidelines, then he gradually became anxious, and finally he simply became furious.

He hadn't been so angry even when the team conceded a goal. Because his thoughts were the same as those of the Liverpool fans in the stands, he felt that with Liverpool's current strength, they should be able to equalize before the end of the first half.

But unexpectedly, as time passed, and as the end of the first half got closer and closer, Liverpool still couldn't do anything about Manchester United's defense…

Were they going to go into halftime with a deficit?

Since the new season, Liverpool had never been kept behind by an opponent until halftime, no matter which arena they were in.

Martin O'Neill regarded this as Liverpool's pride, and also as a proof of their strength—no team has the ability to keep a lead against us for a whole half! But now it seems that this pride is about to be crushed by Manchester United!

He gritted his teeth in anger, both angry at the Liverpool players for not living up to expectations, and angry at Manchester United, their arch-rivals!

It was truly a fight to the death!

※※※

O'Neill went from sitting steadily on the Diaoyutai, to getting up and standing on the sidelines to direct, then gradually becoming anxious, and finally simply flying into a rage. Ferguson saw this process clearly.

Not only were the Liverpool players on the field a little at a loss, but even their coach, Martin O'Neill, had lost his composure…

This was a major boon!

Ferguson kept chewing gum in his mouth, and was laughing in his heart.

※※※

The Liverpool fans in the stands also gradually came back to their senses, and it seemed that Liverpool hadn't given a thunderous blow to the opponents who provoked Liverpool's authority as quickly as they had in the past. Until now, it was still their arch-rivals, Manchester United, who were leading on the scoreboard…

This was somewhat unacceptable to them.

Seeing that the first half of the game was about to end, Liverpool still couldn't break through Manchester United's defense.

The singing in the stands at Anfield gradually subsided, but the cheers of the Manchester United fans grew louder and louder.

Fortunately, the first half ended quickly, so that Anfield didn't completely become Manchester United's home…

But even so, Liverpool's performance in the first half disappointed many Liverpool fans.

The fans were so disappointed, let alone the players themselves, and the coach, Martin O'Neill.

Martin O'Neill didn't even wait for the first half of the game to end, and left the coaching bench early, entering the locker room through the players' tunnel.

When the players found that the coach was not on the sidelines at the end of the first half, they all knew.

Many people even shrunk their necks.

They knew they were going to be in trouble during the halftime break…

※※※

Indeed, when the last assistant coach, Sammy Lee, walked into the locker room, Martin O'Neill told him to close the door with a dark face.

Sammy Lee looked at the players and found that everyone was hanging their heads. He sighed in his heart, "If only you had known this earlier, why did you have to do this?"

If you hadn't been so careless in the first half, and had gotten into the game earlier, would things be the way they are now?

Martin O'Neill has a pretty good temper, but for him to be so angry, your performance must have been really bad…

"There's something I have to tell you—ever since the Hillsborough disaster, this team has lost something very important." Martin O'Neill said with a cloudy face and a hoarse voice. "I originally thought that we had found this thing again when we beat Manchester United at Old Trafford last season. But now I think I'm naive, we haven't found it! Do you know what that thing is that we lost?"

A group of people looked at each other, and some people secretly looked at the captain, Gerrard, who was the player who had been in the team the longest in the locker room, maybe he would know some unknown traditions of the team?

But unfortunately, judging from Gerrard's ashamed expression, he didn't know either.

"You don't need to look at Gerrard." How could Martin O'Neill not see the players' little actions? "He's too far away from that era, so it's normal that he doesn't know. Let me tell you, what you've lost. What you've lost is Shankly's football philosophy of winning at all costs! This is the most important thing! Do you still know what he said when he was in charge of Liverpool? Let me tell you—"

Martin O'Neill took a deep breath and then said.

"My goal is to build Liverpool into an invincible army. Napoleon thought the same when he conquered the world! Liverpool will be invincible, I want every opponent to be defeated before they even face us!"

"These are his words. Have you done it now? I can forgive you for being careless before the game and being slow to get into the game. But I can't forgive your terrible performance after falling behind! You are a team that wants to conquer Europe and conquer the world, how could you be so panicked just because you're one goal behind?!"

A group of people were scolded by the coach so much that they couldn't even lift their heads.

"You are people who have won the league title, you must know that you won this title from Manchester United, at their home! What's so great about being one goal behind? Show them how good you are, tell them, this is Anfield, this is Liverpool's home! You are the masters, why are you afraid?"

Chen Hero couldn't stand being scolded by Martin O'Neill, so he stood up from his seat, raised his hand and said, "Stop talking, boss… we will definitely beat them badly in the second half! Don't worry, we will never lose to Manchester United at home!"

Martin O'Neill looked at the person who dared to interrupt him: "Are you sure?"

Chen Hero nodded: "Do you want me to say something like 'If I don't succeed, take my head'?"

Martin O'Neill was amused by him.

The oppressive and heavy atmosphere dissipated a lot because of this…

※※※

ps, the fengtui is over, does anyone think the crazy explosion is over too?

No!!

Today, we will not only explode, but also explode even more than before!

Today, we will explode…

……

……

Ten!

More!

!

There are six more updates, please look forward to them!!

As for why ten updates, please wait for me to finish exploding to reveal the answer!