Chapter 1 The Red Devils

It could be said that no one in the world believed that Manchester United could defeat the in-form Liverpool at Anfield, but Ferguson was still convinced that he could do it. To reignite the fighting spirit of his players, Ferguson showed the entire Manchester United team highlights from last season's game during the tactical meeting the night before the match.

When everyone entered the meeting room, they thought it would just be a normal tactical meeting: announce the starting lineup and reiterate the things to pay attention to in tomorrow's game.

But after they all sat down, the lights in the meeting room were turned off, and the room was plunged into darkness. Some people thought there was a power outage, and there was a brief commotion.

Until Ferguson's voice rang out again: "What's all the fuss about? Sit down!"

Although in the eyes of the outside world, this old man was already at the end of his rope, he still possessed supreme authority in the Manchester United team. No one dared to challenge this, or they would suffer a terrible fate.

Ferguson spent twenty-eight years building Manchester United into his own solid fortress, so tightly run that not even a fly could get in.

In earlier years, some people didn't believe it and insisted on challenging his authority, but none of them had a good ending at Manchester United. Even Roy Keane, Ferguson's favorite and most proud disciple, was driven out of Manchester United by the old boss for being disrespectful to Ferguson and provoking him.

Now, the biggest star in the Manchester United team is Rooney, but Rooney also listens to Ferguson's every word.

Internal stability is the main reason why Ferguson feels he can still compete with the rising Liverpool.

If Rooney was like Cristiano Ronaldo back then, constantly clamoring to transfer to Real Madrid, Ferguson probably wouldn't have had the energy to get entangled with Liverpool.

Hearing the old boss's stern voice, the dark room quickly fell silent, and no one spoke again.

Then the white screen in front of them lit up, and the projector hanging from the ceiling made a rustling sound.

Then, the sound of the stadium came from the speakers.

The Manchester United players sitting there were very familiar with this sound, because it was the sound of cheering at Old Trafford.

The picture gradually brightened, and when everyone could see clearly, their bodies stiffened—they didn't expect Ferguson to show them the recording of the game last season at Old Trafford, where they lost to Liverpool.

"This isn't the full game recording; it's just a highlight reel edited by Mike. But I think it will be very helpful to you," Ferguson's voice rang out again.

When the screen lit up, Ferguson, who was standing next to the screen, also appeared in everyone's view. He pointed to the screen and said, "You must watch carefully, watch closely, and watch earnestly."

After speaking, he stepped aside and stopped talking.

For the next fifteen minutes, the Manchester United players relived the nightmare of being defeated by Liverpool 4-3 in their own home game through the game highlights.

Some players with poor mental fortitude didn't understand why the boss was showing them this, was it to make them perform abnormally in the game?

After the video finished, Ferguson's voice sounded again: "There are two purposes for showing you this game highlight. One is to remind you what our enemies did to us in our own home, and this revenge must be taken. If we don't take it, we will forever live in the shadow of this game! I don't need to explain too much, you can see for yourselves the media's opinions during this period."

They were indeed very clear that the media had repeatedly mentioned this game. It had been several months, but the heat hadn't subsided, and the impact was really far-reaching.

"The second purpose is to let you review this game again, to let you know that you once had a chance to win this game. So, in terms of strength, we are not as far apart from them as the outside world says. We equalized the score after falling behind at the start, and even took the lead at one point! We scored three goals. In any game, this kind of performance should lead to victory. Even in the match against Liverpool, we should have been the ones laughing last. We were just unlucky, and it has nothing to do with our strength!"

Was this really the case? Ferguson wouldn't let the players consider this question. They only needed to know that bad luck caused them to lose the game.

Thinking too much would lead to the distress of self-doubt, and eventually evolve into self-denial.

Ferguson couldn't wait for his players to be mindless robots, only needing to faithfully execute his tactical requirements as required.

But this was impossible, so he could only try to hypnotize his players with verbal suggestions.

Thinking too much isn't a good thing when playing Liverpool.

Many teams, when facing Liverpool, think too much, leading to fear, and end up surrendering in their hearts before the game even starts... How can this be allowed?

Fear before battle cannot be the style of Manchester United.

"Why is our nickname 'Red Devils'? Is it just because we wear red jerseys? Is it just because there's a little devil on our team emblem? Wrong! It's because we have a 'devilish nature'!"

Ferguson began to unleash his hairdryer treatment, cheering on the players who were about to face a strong enemy. It was also a kind of psychological suggestion, a kind of hypnosis.

"This club has never bowed its head under pressure, and has never wavered its morale because of having too many enemies. Manchester United has the most enemies, but we are still the most successful team in this country. The curses and jealousy of those enemies cannot slow down our progress! For hundreds of years, we have been as proud and powerful as the team's first star, Meredith, always facing our opponents with our heads held high! This temperament has deeply penetrated into the bone marrow of every 'Red Devil'. This is why we make our opponents jealous! Because weak mortals cannot understand our pride! We are the Red Devils, we are Manchester United! What reason do we have to admit defeat and surrender in front of Liverpool! We lost to them at home, lost the league title, and all the outside voices are singing us down. Are we just going to accept our fate?"

"No! Never! Absolutely not! 'Red Devils' never give up, 'Red Devils' never admit defeat, 'Red Devils' are stubborn to the end! In tomorrow's game, I demand that each of you remember that you are a 'Red Devil', and let those Liverpool sissies see our power!"

Rooney stood up, waving his fist: "Kill Liverpool!!"

He used to be an Everton player, and his hatred for Liverpool was already very deep. Now that he has transferred to Manchester United, Liverpool's arch-rival, it is simply double the hatred.

Under his leadership, the entire conference room was filled with rude shouts.

Mike Phelan, seeing the players full of fighting spirit, turned his head to look at Ferguson, who was staring at these players with a serious expression, and his admiration for the old boss deepened.

Although old, his heroic spirit is still there, and his ambition has never diminished.

Being regarded as such an enemy for twenty-eight years by such a person, is it your honor, or your misfortune, Liverpool?

※※※

No one knew what happened in the Manchester United meeting room.

When the sun rose, it was a new day, and Liverpool fans began to look forward to the afternoon's game, waiting to usher in a feast at their doorstep.

But it wasn't just Manchester United players who were reliving that game. Many Liverpool fans were also sharing highlights of Liverpool's victory over Manchester United away from home to win the championship online.

In their words, the game today hasn't started yet, so they can only relive last season's game to get their fix.

In the afternoon, the game against Manchester United came as scheduled.

Anfield Stadium was like a boiling pot, with the vast majority of Liverpool fans stomping their feet in the stands and chanting anti-Manchester United slogans.

The game had just started, but the atmosphere in the stadium was as if the game had already entered a white-hot stage.

This is the match between Liverpool and Manchester United!

This is the English national derby.

※※※

Ferguson stood on the sidelines, watching the field nervously.

Although he had prepared very well before the game, he was still quite nervous when the game actually started.

He knew too much about soccer games...

There were many uncertain factors that could determine the outcome of the game, so he didn't dare to be careless in the slightest.

In terms of strength, he really didn't think Manchester United was any worse than Liverpool. Liverpool's attacking lineup had Sanchez, Bale, Suarez, Gerrard, and Chen Yingxiong, plus Gotze. And Manchester United also had Rooney, Fernandes, Ashley Young, Valencia, Nani, and Kagawa Shinji. In the defense, Liverpool had Skrtel and Pepe, as well as Van der Wiel and Enrique, and Glen Johnson. Manchester United had Smalling, Phil Jones, and Evans, as well as the two Silva brothers.

In terms of goalkeepers, David de Gea was better than Reina. After all, he was younger than Reina, and just as experienced.

So, purely from the perspective of comparing the strength of the two teams' players, the gap between Manchester United and Liverpool was not as big as those media said.

This was one of the reasons why Ferguson was confident.

As long as the strength of the two sides was not that different, there was no such thing as who was bound to win.

He didn't believe in those sayings that Liverpool was bound to win, nor did he think his team was already at a disadvantage.

When two strong teams compete, the most important thing is to never admit defeat first. If you feel inferior to your opponent, then don't even play the game, just admit defeat directly.

Manchester United is definitely not worse than Liverpool!

The Scottish old man, standing on the sidelines of Anfield Stadium, still firmly believed in this in his heart.