As Ferguson had said, Manchester United had always been a team that valued attacking football.
Red Devils, Red Devils—if you weren't crazy, you couldn't survive.
Manchester United had always been known for their attacking football. Even in clashes between top teams, they never played conservatively. It was only when facing possession-based sides like Barcelona and Man City that Manchester United had no choice but to compromise.
Ferguson was, after all, a pragmatist.
But tonight, in the Manchester Derby, when Man City scored less than a minute after kickoff, Manchester United still showed plenty of fight. The young players in the middle and front especially tried to launch a counterattack.
As the saying went: hot-blooded youngsters, welcome to Manchester United.
Ferguson loved energetic, aggressive young players like Phil Jones, Ashley Young, and Nani.
Manchester United launched a major counterattack, deliberately avoiding the middle and concentrating more on both wings.
Ashley Young and Nani were highly active on their respective flanks, but once they reached the area from the penalty box to thirty meters out, they ran into a problem: how could they move the ball from the wings into the middle?
Cross from the wings?
Please. That was an outdated tactic that countless teams had already abandoned. Its efficiency was far too low.
Welbeck and Rooney found it difficult to gain an advantage inside the box against Pepe, Kompany, and Javi Martinez.
These days, attacks through the half-spaces were the mainstream. Crossing from the wings was simply too inefficient.
They launched two counterattacks, creating only one foul on the right side of the penalty area.
When Kompany moved out to defend Ashley Young, he accidentally went in too hard and tripped Manchester United's left midfielder, conceding a Free Kick in an advanced position. But the angle was too narrow, so they