Chapter 794: Last-Minute Winner! Slaughtering Manchester United! Era-Defining Transfer! Godlike Wang Shuo! Wake Up, Ferguson!

After making tactical adjustments on the fly, Ferguson returned to his seat on the away team’s bench at the Emirates Stadium. He was still chewing gum, constantly observing the match.

In the past, he would communicate a bit with his assistants. But ever since Carlos Queiroz left, he found that he shared less and less common ground with them. It had become more of a dynamic where a superior issued orders to subordinates, who simply followed commands. To some extent, this was not the collaborative relationship Ferguson wanted. But it couldn’t be helped; he was the most unique figure in the Premier League!

After conceding two goals at the start, Manchester United quickly steadied themselves, and the situation on the pitch returned to a balance. Many couldn’t understand how Manchester United managed to do it. How could a squad plagued with injuries play at such a high level? And how was the thirty-year-old Carrick able to hold on after playing so many full matches? During the Christmas period, he played every minute of three consecutive games, even filling in as a center-back in the final one. Recently, he even had to start in the FA Cup. This would be unimaginable for any other team in any other league, but under Ferguson, it was completely normal.

This was because his understanding of football had never been the same as that of other managers. A while ago, Liverpool manager Dalglish publicly stated that physical fatigue and injuries could be overcome through sheer mental willpower. His remark caused a massive uproar. Everyone said Dalglish was an old fool who belonged in the dustbin of history. But despite being a bitter rival, Ferguson sympathized with him, because this was the philosophy that England’s football once believed in without a doubt!

Ferguson was perhaps one of the very few managers in the United Kingdom today—if not the only one—who had truly experienced the transition from the old First Division to the Premier League. Tottenham’s Redknapp also counted, but his managerial stint during that era was nothing to write home about. As for Dalglish’s comeback, he would have been better off staying behind the scenes and offering guidance from afar. This unique experience gave Ferguson a much clearer understanding of what football truly was. Or rather, what kind of football could be played best on the soil of England. Those who had not lived through that era could never understand.

In the 1980s, England’s football swept across all of Europe, with the Liverpool dynasty at its absolute peak. Back then, Dalglish’s philosophy was revered by countless people. However, the Heysel Stadium disaster and the Hillsborough disaster left England’s football isolated from the rest of Europe, much like the territory of the United Kingdom itself. Even in the late 1990s, before the internet had fully boomed, there were barely any domestic reports in the United Kingdom about European football; the foreign leagues were hardly covered at all.

While England’s football was forced into a state of closed-door isolation, continental Europe underwent a massive tactical revolution, spearheaded by Sacchi’s Milan dynasty. Upon returning to Europe, no team in the Premier League could even compete with those from the continent. Outdated tactics, subpar players, dilapidated training grounds and stadiums… Everything made the proud British feel a deep sense of inferiority. People acted like ostriches, burying their heads in the sand, refusing to see or hear anything. It was hard to imagine, wasn’t it? The Premier League, which was now the most radical and open league in the world, had actually looked like that just a little over a decade ago!

In fact, Arsenal had wanted to sign Wenger very early on, but they hadn’t dared to! At that time, hiring a foreign manager was seen as an enormous betrayal for a Premier League team, and the fans would never have accepted it. Let alone the Armory, which was renowned as the most traditional and conservative club in the Premier League. Therefore, David Dunn took a roundabout strategy. After Graham left, he appointed two caretaker managers for the transition, one of whom was Bruce Rioch.

At that time, Arsenal was already committed to taking a more technical route, introducing advanced tactical philosophies from Europe. As a result, they orchestrated an epoch-making transfer: Bergkamp! Whenever people mentioned Arsenal, they would bring up Henry, Vieira, and many others. But in Ferguson’s eyes, only Bergkamp was truly epoch-making! Henry and Vieira might have been more successful, but their successes were built entirely upon Bergkamp’s foundation!

Under the recommendation of Wenger—who wasn’t even the manager yet—the Gunners signed Bergkamp. Thus, Arsenal acquired their own “Cantona.” Bergkamp’s success solidified the Gunners’ commitment to a technical style, while Bruce Rioch took the initial step in implementing a possession-based game, further paving the way for Wenger’s eventual tenure.

Bergkamp’s greatest success lay in his ability to always receive the ball in the vulnerable spaces between the opponent’s Midfielder and defensive lines. In an era where the 4-4-2 formation dominated the Premier League, this was an absolutely invincible weapon. When he drew out opposing defenders, he created mismatches in their defensive line, allowing the blistering fast Henry to exploit those gaps and unleash his speed advantage.

But this was clearly still not enough! Wenger kept making adjustments and trying new things. He found that his Arsenal was still too fragile. Even with Vieira and Campbell, it wasn’t enough. Although Wenger nominally played a 4-4-2, Bergkamp’s tendency to drop deep meant the overall setup actually functioned more like a 4-2-3-1 formation. This unlocked Bergkamp’s full potential. Yet, it still couldn’t support the high defensive line Wenger wanted. Thus, in 2002, he made another move, signing Gilberto Silva from Brazil.