History Suggests Sir Alex Ferguson's Side Could Take A While To Bounce Back From Heavy Defeat
By Anuj Suarez PunjEven when left near speechless, Sir Alex Ferguson conveyed the feelings of millions of Manchester United fans in a single sentence. "It's our worst day ever," was how the Scot described the 6-1 defeat to Manchester City last Sunday, a defeat that saw English football's pendulum of power swing from the red half of the city to the blue.
The Ferguson years have been paved in glory but for a manager who will have been at the Old Trafford helm for a quarter of a century in just over a week's time, it was a startling statement.
The United boss continued: “We will react. There is no question about that. It’s the perfect result for us to react to because there is a lot of embarrassment in the dressing room today and that will make an impact." The 69-year-old's worst nightmare may have played out at the Theatre of Dreams but his drive remained typically unshaken.
Unlike many, Sir Alex has the benefit of decades worth of hindsight and has, despite his successes, been on the back of similarly chastening defeats before. Allaboutfootball.blogspot.com have taken a look to see how the Scot and his side have bounced back after losing by four goals or more.
 | 4-0 |  | NEW BOY FERGUSON CRASHES AT THE LANE, 4/5/1987 |
A Mitchell Thomas brace, a Clive Allen penalty and then a fourth from Paul Allen put United to the sword at White Hart Lane in Sir Alex's first season at the club, with the likes of Johnny Sivebaek, Mike Duxbury and Jesper Olsen all starting for the Red Devils against David Pleat's dominant Spurs.
It was the United manager's heaviest defeat since his Aberdeen side were humbled 4-0 at Anfield on November 5, 1980 and did little to quieten early doubters of the Glaswegian's managerial credentials.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
An underwhelming 1-1 draw against Coventry City at Highfield Road followed the hammering at the Lane before a last day win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford meant Ferguson's men finished 11th in the First Division. A stark contrast to the glory days that were to come under the Scot but, after having been languishing in the relegation zone only months before, it was a steady, if unspectacular sign of things to come under the United manager.
 | 5-1 | | DERBY DEMOLITION AT MAINE ROAD, 23/09/1989 |
The 6-1 win over United at Old Trafford on Sunday may herald the beginning of a golden age laced with silver for Manchester City, but for Blues fans of a certain age, the 'Maine Road Massacre' will forever remain as their greatest day.
A David Oldfield brace ensured he took the headlines while Trevor Morley, Ian Bishop and Andy Hinchcliffe also got on the scoresheet. A Mark Hughes rebuttal with City 3-0 up was to prove little more than scant consolation in a game that is now deeply engrained into Manchester derby folklore. Paul Lake, who played up front for City on the day, later told of his inspiration behind the win to the Guardian, quoting ex-City star Ken Barnes: "It was the fear of losing, the fear of letting your fans down in front of their biggest rivals" - which is exactly what United did.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
The result sent shockwaves around United's Cliff training ground and they took time to recover, winning only four of their 13 remaining games before the turn of the decade, and losing to the likes of Charlton, Aston Villa and Crystal Palace to leave them languishing in 15th on January 1. In true Ferguson fashion, however, the Old Trafford outfit improved in the New Year and despite only finishing 13th, United, quite crucially, finished above City, albeit on goal difference.
 | 4-0 | | CRUSHED AT THE COUNTY GROUND, 2/5/1990 |
In the 4,000th game in Manchester United's history, Ferguson's burgeoning side collapsed in pathetic fashion at the County Ground.
A phenomenal volley from Gary Parker broke the deadlock and the hosts then saw their tally doubled via a low Stuart Pearce free-kick. Nigel Clough then hit a deflected looped effort over Jim Leighton to make it three before the half-hour mark before an audacious overhead kick from Nigel Jemson bounced off the bar and into the path of defender Steve Chettle, who nodded home to complete the rout.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
United's response was impressive, securing a 1-0 win on the last game of the season before drawing a quite ludicrous FA Cup final with Crystal Palace 3-3 at Wembley, with an extra-time strike from Mark Hughes enough to take the game to a replay after second-half substitute Ian Wright scored twice to make it 3-2 to the Eagles.
A tight replay followed as the Red Devils won 1-0 to give Ferguson's side a passage to the European Cup Winners' Cup and more importantly, his first piece of major silverware in Manchester. He's won 23 trophies since.
 | 4-0 | | DALGLISH'S REDS DESTROY THEIR RIVALS, 16/9/1990 |
Derby defeats against Manchester City are always likely to hurt United but for true humiliation, the Red Devils' hammering at the hands of Kenny Dalglish's side topped the lot for many in the Stretford End, as the Anfield club dished out the same scoreline to Ferguson that he had suffered in front of the Kop with Aberdeen in 1980.
Having drawn in the Charity Shield a month earlier with their north west rivals, champions Liverpool delivered a performance befitting their near untouchable stature, with Peter Beardsley hitting a hat-trick and John Barnes finishing the other to make clear how far Ferguson had to go before he could even think about knocking his club's arch-nemesis off their perch.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
United responded fairly well to the defeat at Anfield, beating Pecsi Munkas in the European Cup Winners' Cup before scraping past Southampton with a 3-2 win at Old Trafford. That said, the Red Devils' following league game, also at the Theatre of Dreams, was to end in a 1-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest. The Red Devils finished the season in sixth as Ferguson began to build a team capable of challenging for the title.
 | 4-0 | | FERGIE HUMILIATED ON THE CONTINENT, 2/11/1994 |
In a case of history repeating over the last couple of seasons, Ferguson's 1994 United side, the team that he claims is his favourite, were utterly humbled against an unstoppable Barcelona side.
Johan Cruyff's so-called Dream Team made the most of the Scot being forced to do without Peter Schmeichel or Eric Cantona who were – alongside Ryan Giggs – the Red Devils world-class players, due to Uefa's rule on foreign players restricting United's options. The magnificent Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov proved a superb foil for the world's finest striker Romario, as both players, as well as Albert Ferrer, humiliated United at Camp Nou.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
The quality of Ferguson's side still proved far too much for most on the domestic scene, however, and with Cantona and Schmeichel back in the side, the champions bounced back in impressive fashion, winning 2-1 away to Aston Villa before running riot at Old Trafford, hammering Manchester City and Crystal Palace 5-0 and 3-0 respectively.
 | 5-0 | | FIVE STAR MAGPIES BATTER THE CHAMPIONS, 20,10,1996 |
After having spectacularly thrown away the title amid a flurry of mind games in the previous season, Newcastle exacted revenge on Ferguson's United side in a victory that remains one of the most iconic in Premier League history. United simply had no answer as Darren Peacock, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer put the hosts 4-0 up before Belgian defender Philippe Albert, not known for his deftness of touch, sweetly chipped Schmeichel from 20 yards to leave Tyneside, and Ferguson, rocking.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
What followed is arguably the most troubling response to a heavy defeat in Ferguson's time at Old Trafford. Similarly to Tuesday's win at Aldershot, United restored some pride with a 2-1 win over Swindon in the League Cup before being hammered against Southampton at the Dell - a defeat made famous by the Red Devils changing their infamous grey kit while 3-1 down at half-time. It made little difference, as Saints won 6-3 before Ferguson's men lost to both Fenerbahce and Chelsea at home in the week that followed.
Always a team that enjoyed the last laugh, however, United were crowned champions ahead of Newcastle once again by May, taking the title with a seven-point gap.
 | 5-0 | | TREBLE HEROES TROUNCED AT THE BRIDGE, 3/10/1999 |
Having not lost for 29 games and travelling to Stamford Bridge as treble winners, Sir Alex's side were favourites to pick up yet another win in west London as they chased consecutive titles but their collapse was as heavy as it was shocking.
Two goals from Gus Poyet and Chris Sutton gave Gianluca Vialli's men a comfortable early lead before Nicky Butt was sent off for kicking out foolishly at Dennis Wise. As was the case at Old Trafford on Sunday, Ferguson's men capitulated as further strikes from Poyet, Jody Morris and a Henning Berg own goal condemned the champions to their joint worst Premier League defeat.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
The defeat at the Bridge left Ferguson's men second behind Leeds United and their immediate response was poor, losing three out of their next four games against Aston Villa, Marseille and Tottenham. That said, after recovering from the autumn setback, the Red Devils didn't look back, losing only one more league game for the entire season and eventually finishing as champions by a mammoth 18-point margin ahead of Arsenal.
| 1-6 | | NOISY NEIGHBOURS CRANK UP THE VOLUME, 23/10/2011 |
Having threatened to dethrone the kings of Manchester with an FA Cup semi-final win last season, Roberto Mancini's men committed a not-so-peaceful coup d'etat at a fortress that had not seen six conceded against United since 1933. Braces for Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko were added to by Sergio Aguero and the irrepressible David Silva, who delivered one of the finest individual showings that the Theatre of Dreams has ever seen.
| WHAT HAPPENED NEXT? |
The champions' 3-0 win over Aldershot Town in the League Cup will have steadied the ship somewhat but convincing league wins on a consistent basis over a sustained period will be required to calm the nerves around Old Trafford. Goodison Park has been a fairly happy hunting ground for United in recent years but history suggests that choppy waters remain for Ferguson and his side.
If Everton 'know their history', to quote the famous Gwladys Street song - then they'll know the champions could be there for the taking once again.
0 comments:
Post a Comment