Manchester United legend

Chapter 71 Jost's Red Card
Manchester United was out of the League Cup early this season. No matter how strong Ferguson's team is, it is impossible to rely on more than 20 people to fight in the fourth line.Therefore, the traditional giants have gradually used the League Cup as a competition platform for training newcomers in the team.

Although the players of Manchester United's reserve team are full of talents, they still need to be tempered and tempered in such a real and cruel game.

Therefore, Manchester United's League Cup did not come to the end this season, which is an acceptable ending for fans.

Unlike the League Cup, Manchester United still attaches great importance to traditional events such as the FA Cup.

Ferguson dispatched the main force to fight every round, with a fierce fighting spirit. The Red Devils' three armies used their lives and the main force to fight with all their strength. They wanted to fight for the championship wholeheartedly.

Aspiring to be champions, Manchester United made their debut in the third round of the FA Cup against Sheffield United. They easily won 2-0 and advanced.

Ince scored a miraculous goal in that game. He rubbed the ball with his right foot directly outside the right corner of the penalty area. The ball drew a beautiful arc like a precise guided missile, and it was enough to hit the crossbar and hang it into the goal guarded by the opponent's goalkeeper.

After scoring the goal, Ince looked proud, looking like a king patrolling his territory - you know, the opponent fouled him violently just now, and even slapped him when the referee didn't notice.

A perfect goal - that's how Ince responded to it.

In the fourth round, Manchester United defeated Westham 5-2 at home. It is worth noting that Ferguson continued to give new players opportunities to exercise. This time, Philip Neville got the starting opportunity. He also performed very well on the left.

Then Manchester United eliminated Leeds United 3-1 at home, and all three goals were headers.Bruce, Ince, and Pallister became the header trio.

Manchester United's next opponent is Queens Park Rangers. Although the Manchester United forwards did not get more chances, Irwin suddenly showed great power. He sent a free kick inside the opponent's penalty area, which made the opponent unable to resist. The sharp rotation of the arc, the arc that penetrated the wall, the precise angle, and the fast flight... All these made the opponent's goalkeeper sigh.

With the outstanding performance of the king of left-backs, Manchester United was able to advance to the next round.

When it came to the semi-finals, Manchester United ushered in the Crystal Palace team, which had a new feud this season-the incident of Cantona kicking the opponent's fans made the two sides incompatible.

The Manchester United players on the away game ushered in the most intense boos and shouts from their opponents.

After fighting with the opponent, Manchester United found that the opponent's combat effectiveness and desire to fight far exceeded the normal level.

The game started in an extremely fierce atmosphere. The Crystal Palace team played with momentum at the beginning, and their fierce attack suppressed Manchester United.

In the first half, Crystal Palace launched an attack with a throw-in tactic. The ball was thrown high into the Manchester United penalty area. Manchester United defender Bruce headed out to the right side of the penalty area. Crystal Palace continued to pass the ball towards the Manchester United penalty area. Jack in.Crystal Palace lead 9-1.

At the critical moment, Erwin stepped forward again.Manchester United get a free kick in front of the opponent's penalty area.

Irwin is another full moon scimitar. His arc free kick is like a guided missile, drawing an arc 32 yards away, and hitting the upper corner of the goal.Manchester United equalized the score!

After the opening of the second half, the Crystal Palace team continued to strengthen their fight. They once launched fierce interceptions in every corner of the midfield and on every lawn, and waited for an opportunity to launch a fast break.

Their strategy worked. Manchester United lost ground in the face of this wave of ferocious pressing. Crystal Palace grabbed the ball in the midfield and immediately launched a blitz. They passed the ball with a big foot in the middle circle and directly hit the back of Manchester United's defense.He singled out Manchester United's defense.

Manchester United fell behind again.However, Manchester United, which never gave up, responded strongly.

Gary Neville kicked a sideline kick from the right, launched a grenade tactic, and the vigorous sideline ball flew straight into the opponent's penalty area. Pallister leaped high in the small penalty area, and a lion shook his head to head the ball into the opponent's goal. Manchester United struggled to draw the opponent.The two teams had to play a rematch.

Before the rematch, Ferguson singled out the incident and Cantona's "flying leg incident".

He told the players: "You know the Crystal Palace team is very aggressive, ignore them, don't be provoked by them. Focus on playing our football well, so we can win."

However, the Manchester United players on the stage will not show weakness, they simply intend to confront each other.For Jost and the others, English football itself is aggressive. What they are willing to do and what they can do is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

Jost and the others mobilized like this on the field, "Only when our opponents know that we are better than them in rushing and daring to fight, can we play well."

There were more fierce confrontations in the rematch, and there were more hot scenes. It seemed that the irritated Crystal Palace team was frantically looking for opportunities to play against Manchester United players. In the first half, Darren Pitcher had been staring at Jost and injured Jost’s knee. According to Jost, that guy must have done it on purpose.

A fighting man United responded to their opponents' rough play with two clean goals.

First, Bruce received a corner kick from Lee Sharp and successfully scored with a powerful header.

However, Manchester United also paid a price. Jost insisted on treatment until the halftime break. Team doctor Frank sewed him with 7 stitches, and Giggs also strained his thigh ligament.Jost's will is made of steel. When Ferguson asked him if he could still play, he felt that he could still persist.

"Jost encouraged himself, he said to himself, this is the semi-final of the FA Cup. If we lose, the whole season's hard work will be in vain. We must fight, no matter how painful. We must get something, and we must not go home empty-handed on the bus!"

So, Jost continued to challenge.But no one expected the situation to change suddenly. Five minutes after the start of the second half, Jost felt that he could not persevere. He signaled to the coach to replace him. Just when Ferguson was about to make a substitution, Southgate of the Crystal Palace shoveled Jost to the ground.

But anyone with an old injury would inevitably lose control after being injured again and again. At that moment, Jost began to erupt. After he cursed angrily, he stood up, raised his foot and stomped down, trampling viciously!This time, not only the referee rushed up, but also the players from both sides rushed over immediately.

Jost was shown a red card by the referee, but the opponent's Crystal Palace player obviously didn't want to let him go, and a fierce conflict broke out between the two teams.

Jost is not soft tofu. After learning boxing, Jost is like a different person on the field.After receiving the red card, he still rushed in the melee, scuffled with Patterson in the conflict, pressed Patterson under his body and kicked him, and finally got his teammates off the field.

Mixed with pain, anger, and frustration, Jost left the field, and Manchester United, who played one player less, withstood Crystal Palace's attempt to counterattack with difficulty.

Jost knew he did something wrong before he was sent off. After the game, Ferguson asked him: "What the hell were you thinking at that time? Are you so stupid?!"

Jost could only keep saying sorry.However, after the criticism, Ferguson didn't blame him too much. He knew why Jost exploded. After all, that game was hot enough. Not everyone can play calmly after being violated by the opponent.

It was Jost's first red card in the FA Cup, and Ferguson's troubles continued to escalate due to successive clashes with Crystal Palace.

Although Manchester United defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 in the end, the media called Jost's malicious foul on Southgate another "disgraceful day" for Manchester United, and unanimously clamored for the FA to impose severe punishment on Jost, instead of just banning him for 3 games as usual.

The media and football critics unanimously and selectively believe that Jost is a thug who made Manchester United's game disgraceful, unjust and immoral.Yes, the media always likes to create something out of nothing, and put all the shit on Jost and Manchester United.

No one mentioned Darren Pitcher's tackle or Jost's seven-stitched knee, no one realized that "a slap won't ring" and that it was Palace, not United, who turned the game into physical confrontation and combat.

Jost's red card and how the FA punished became the focus of the media, which also put Manchester United at the forefront of public opinion.

First, Cantona kicked the fans, and then Joost maliciously stomped on the opponent... Manchester United's competitive ethics began to be criticized, and English football is waiting for the official severe punishment.

Some media even dug up more old stories of bad fouls by Manchester United players, stood on the "moral high ground to judge Manchester United", and suggested that the FA should punish Manchester United for the above bad incidents. The most whimsical formulation is "to ban Manchester United from participating in the FA Cup final."

This is another challenge that Ferguson has encountered, not just external pressure, the entire media - not just the sports page - are firing on Manchester United.

They wanted to force Ferguson to submit, eager for Ferguson to kill, and clamored that if Ferguson didn't deal with Cantona, they would deal with Ferguson.

Similarly, the team is also waiting for Ferguson's decision to see what his decision is at such a moment, whether he supports the players, and whether he still insists on standing with the team.

Ferguson has never been afraid of such a challenge. At this moment, he showed the whole Manchester United team and the whole football world what true independent personality is.

When the media brought up Cantona’s old story again, he insisted on his original point of view, that is, to sort out the facts and punish wrongdoing, but he strongly stated, “Unless Cantona gives up, I will always stand behind him!” He even said to the media reporters, “Whoever wants to spread rumors and say that Cantona is fired, then we will see the truth in law!”

Not only that, Ferguson even did not hesitate to slam the table, throw glasses and quarrel with club management such as Manchester United Chairman Edwards.

Regarding Jost's red card, Ferguson showed an extremely protective side.Although Ferguson taught Jost a lesson in private, he sided with Jost in public. He accused Southgate's tackle of being "rough" and pointed out that the opponent's players had repeatedly fouled Jost (it was the opponent's fault). Jost's reaction was just a "thing that normal men would do".

After emphasizing the responsibility of the opponent team, Ferguson said that he himself did not see what Jost did at the time, and the distance was too far.

He asked Jost to apologize briefly - to the Manchester United fans and the club, not the opponents!
It also allowed Jost to show reporters his injured knee, which required seven stitches.

later?Ferguson directly implemented the silence order, and any media can no longer dig out any bad news.

Although the reporters were not satisfied, Ferguson reversed the situation from the public opinion.In the end, the FA dealt with Jost with a three-match suspension and a fine of 3 pounds, while the club was fined a week's salary.

For Jost, this is already a good result, Manchester United is still three games away from entering the final, anyway Jost will not miss the FA Cup final.

Much later Ferguson spoke of why he stood up for his players: "Loyalty is one of the most valuable qualities in a human being and I am very proud that I have always had the unselfish support of my players.

I was constantly accused of being too protective of some of my players when their behavior was criticized by the public.

I admit that sometimes those accusations are justified, but I still don't change my mind.I grew up in a working-class Scottish family and it was in my nature to favor friends or partners.

My life background makes me believe that there are good people and bad people everywhere in the world, with different abilities, and there will always be someone by my side who deserves my trust and support.

There are some people you can totally trust when you're in trouble.Mutiny is not in their vocabulary.I feel it the most here at Manchester United. "

Ferguson said: "In modern society, selfishness has become a common phenomenon. Players will gradually be influenced by agents, media, business activities and different people around them.

It is often difficult for them to maintain pure affection for football.Players who become stars have a harder time maintaining humility and trusting obedience to the coach in the team.In this case, the quality of loyalty is even more cherished. "

Ferguson said: "I have the best players, so I am willing to be the kind of person who is completely trusted."

After stepping into the semi-finals, Manchester United has been short of major generals. Where will the Red Devils go?How will Manchester United deal with the final of the FA Cup, and is it still capable of winning the last championship trophy?

How Ferguson has dealt with successive crises this season.

(End of this chapter)