Chapter 728: Old man, we miss you so much!
When the Belgian referee Frank Debrecke blew the whistle to end the game, Ferguson sat in front of the visiting team's coaching bench, leaning forward slightly, his eyes fixed on the court.
Those turbid old eyes seemed to be shrouded in a layer of fog, making it difficult to tell what he was thinking at this moment.
He had no idea how long the gum had been in his mouth and it had no taste after being chewed, but he seemed to have forgotten to spit it out.
He just sat there quietly, watching, in silence.
Assistants Mike Phelan and René Meulensteen both walked out to comfort the players.
The knockout stage of the Champions League is one of the most brutal competition systems in the world. Although it has two rounds, the pain caused by defeat to the players is no less than those of single-round cup matches, even the European Cup or the World Cup.
Because every team that has made it here has gone through a season, dozens of games of hard fighting, or even several seasons of adjustment and accumulation, before being able to compete on this stage.
For them, the defeat was like the sky falling.
At this moment, Ferguson could definitely understand the players' feelings, because he was as frustrated as they were, or even more frustrated than they were.
This frustration makes them doubt whether all the efforts they have made in the past season are still meaningful?
He has always been an ambitious person who is never satisfied!
When he couldn't win the Champions League, he was thinking that if he could win one, his coaching career would be complete.
But after he won the treble, he was still not satisfied. He began to feel that he should win the second one.
So, he started to make changes, to reform, and to train a group of younger, more motivated and enterprising players to replace those successful stars.
He finally got the second one, but he was still not satisfied and wanted to get another one.
So he said that if he won one more Champions League, he would retire.
Even God doesn’t know, after he gets the third seat, will he still think about getting the fourth seat? The fifth seat?
He was born to be the kind of person who would not be easily fed or satisfied.
This was true during my professional career and it is still true during my coaching career.
This feeling of dissatisfaction has kept him making progress and improving himself over the years.
It seems that there is nothing wrong with it! At most, it is like now. After working hard for a season, in the end, the league was reversed by Ancelotti and the Champions League was eliminated by Bayern. This made him full of anger.
He really wanted to rush out of the stadium, scold the players, and ask them what the hell was going on in the game.
Ask them, Su Dong can still run 50 meters at the end of the competition, what about you?
But thousands of words and thousands of threads finally converged into a sigh.
He is impulsive, irritable, and easily gets carried away, but he is not stupid!
At this moment, he was more depressed and sadder than all Manchester United players on and off the field.
Even though Rafael is crying, he will probably forget about it as soon as he turns around because he is still young; even though Gary Neville is sad, he will also forget about it soon because he is already satisfied with what he has achieved.
There are others, all the Manchester United players, whose high salaries and fame have gradually corroded their inner hunger and made it easy for them to be satisfied with the status quo.
This is normal.
Because few people can be as hungry as Su Dong and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Sometimes, Ferguson even wondered, if Su Dong didn’t have Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi, and hadn’t experienced the turmoil of Barcelona’s transfer from Bayern, would he still be able to maintain this self-discipline?
He has made enough money, so he must have already traveled around the world with his girlfriend, who is famous for her world-wide beauty, right?
If there was no Su Dong, would Cristiano Ronaldo be able to devote himself to training so crazily?
And Messi, isn't he always chasing after Su Dong? He just hasn't achieved his goal yet, he's not satisfied yet, and when he's satisfied, maybe he'll slack off.
This is human nature! Like Su Dong, like Cristiano Ronaldo, like Messi, that is not human! This is not a derogatory term.
Because Ferguson felt that he was also a non-human.
He is never satisfied and is always hungry.
Sitting in the visiting team's coaching booth, watching the Manchester United players walking off the field in frustration and the Bayern Munich celebrating, Ferguson took a deep breath and swept away all the frustration in his heart.
He stood up, exhaled heavily, and at the same time let out all the negative emotions in his heart.
What's so depressing about this?
Isn't it just losing the game?
In his life, he has experienced many defeats. He has lost the Champions League final, let alone the knockout stage.
…
Ferguson walked out of the visiting team's coaching bench, hugged the Manchester United players who left the field one by one, comforted and encouraged them, and sent them back to the player tunnel. This is what he should do as a head coach.
If you lose, you lose. You have to look forward.
After seeing off the Manchester United players, Ferguson saw Heynckes high-fiving and hugging Su Dong not far away. He immediately took a deep breath, calmed himself, let out a polite smile, and walked up to them.
"Congratulations!" Ferguson extended his hand to Heynckes.
Heynckes quickly shook Ferguson's hand and said, "Thank you."
Ferguson turned to look at Su Dong, stretched out his hand and smiled slightly.
Su Dong quickly stretched out his hands and shook the hand that Ferguson handed over. After shaking it tightly, he felt a little hot.
"You know what? I had originally planned to retire after winning the championship this season, but you..." Ferguson stared at Su Dong and paused for three or four seconds. "Your goal canceled my retirement plan."
When Su Dong heard this, he immediately laughed, "Really? This is great news."
Ferguson paused for a moment and wanted to grab Su Dong and hit him on the head, but he was too high.
How can you talk like that? I lost the game, and you said it was great news?
"I mean, we can continue to see you on the football field, which is definitely good news that fans all over the world are eager for, because we can't adapt to the person standing in the position of Manchester United head coach, not you!"
In the end, Su Dong's words were sincere from the bottom of his heart, and both Ferguson and Heynckes could feel it.
This is a tribute to Ferguson! Okay, I see you can talk, so I won’t knock your head.
"Just wait, I will definitely come back!"
After saying these harsh words, Ferguson patted Su Dong on the shoulder and turned away.
Behind him, Su Dong was a little amused.
Why does this sound so familiar? "Do you believe he really plans to retire?" Heynckes asked, standing next to Su Dong and looking at Ferguson's back.
Su Dong shook his head. "It sounds very realistic and full of emotion, but I don't believe a word of it."
Heynckes nodded. "Yes, I don't believe it either. This old man is very bad."
Su Dong turned his head and looked at Heynckes with a red face, then thought of the red-nosed Scottish old man and felt happy.
"Yes, just like you."
Heynckes was stunned for a moment, then reacted immediately.
Damn, who are you scolding?
When he wanted to use the German shadowless kick he learned when he was playing football, Su Dong had already run away.
"Run? If you have the guts, don't come to training tomorrow, or I'll kill you!" Heynckes also made a harsh remark.
Su Dong waved at him from a distance. He didn't believe a word of Heynckes' harsh words.
This old man is as bad as Ferguson.
But whether what Ferguson said was true or not, he was really happy to hear that he would continue to coach.
Although he has never played under Ferguson and has not had much contact with Ferguson, he admires Ferguson from the bottom of his heart.
He really couldn't imagine what kind of disaster it would be if Manchester United lost Ferguson one day. If European football and world football lost Ferguson, it would definitely be much more boring.
And he should call Ferguson and tell him.
Old man, we miss you so much! …………
…………
Manchester United finally fell at the Allianz Arena! Su Dong scored again!
This is not big news. As early as after the first leg, when Manchester United was reversed 2-3 by Bayern at home, everyone basically concluded that it would be difficult for Manchester United to make a comeback at the Allianz Arena.
Losing 1-2 in an away game was within everyone's expectations.
The real news came in the post-match press conference.
Ferguson publicly announced in front of numerous media from all over the world that he would postpone his retirement plan.
As early as a few years ago, he repeatedly emphasized one thing: he would not work for Manchester United until he was 70 years old, and his retirement time would be 2010. Before that, his contract renewal with Manchester United had been delayed.
Many media and fans are speculating that if Manchester United wins the treble this season, Ferguson will retire.
But now, Manchester United suffered a reversal at the hands of Chelsea in the league and was eliminated from the Champions League, making the treble impossible.
Ferguson said that the defeat made him feel very painful, but at the same time he also felt very unwilling. He did not want to leave the professional football field with such regret, so he still wanted to continue coaching Manchester United.
He hopes to lead Manchester United to its third revival and win its third Champions League in the next two to three years.
"After returning to Manchester, I will have a good talk with the management about this matter and make detailed plans for the new season."
This undoubtedly made fans all over the world cheer.
All the media and fans put it on the front page headlines to highlight Ferguson's status and influence in world football.
Su Dong also made an exception and publicly expressed his support for Ferguson to stay in office when he was interviewed by the media after the game.
"I know his desire and passion are as strong as ever and I hope he can keep coaching because he is one of the most unique coaches in the world."
Su Dong said that every time he saw Ferguson, he felt that he should consider becoming a head coach in the future.
"A manager like Sir Alex Ferguson!"
…
The news that Ferguson had postponed his retirement plans quickly spread around the world.
Many star legends, including Beckenbauer, have come out to welcome the news.
Even in the Premier League, many head coaches, including Guardiola, Ancelotti, Benítez, and even Wenger, expressed support for Ferguson's decision.
However, this is not good news for Premier League teams.
(End of this chapter)
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