Chapter 558 Chief Poison Tongue

"Nonsense, absolute nonsense!"

At the club's training base in Carrington, west Manchester, Ferguson slammed a newspaper onto his desk.

This startled several people in the office, and they all looked at the Scottish coach.

"Jazz, what's going on?" Chief assistant coach Mike Phelan walked forward.

"Look for yourself!" Ferguson pushed the newspaper over and turned around to sit in the office chair.

Mike Phelan picked up the newspaper from the table and found that it was a column reprinted on the front page of The Sun.

The article was written by Charlene Lahri.

As soon as Mike Phelan saw the name, a graceful and charming English beauty immediately came to his mind.

It is beautiful, but the content of the article is very sharp.

For example, Charlene Lahri mentioned in the article that Manchester United's peak period should be from 2006 to 2009.

At that time, Manchester United had Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, Carrick and other midfield stars, and Evra, Ferdinand and Vidic in the backcourt, all of whom were at their peak.

Veterans such as Scholes, Giggs and Gary Neville are still in good shape.

So, the Red Devils Manchester United almost swept across Europe in those years!

Mike Phelan is not surprised at all by this view, because it is the truth!

But the following words angered not only Ferguson but also Mike Phelan.

In the article, Charlene Lahrie believes that since Cristiano Ronaldo left the Red Devils, Ferguson's team has been living off its past glory. Ferguson has been thinking more about his retirement and has long lost the desire and motivation to make progress.

"In the past few years, Manchester United has been like an old man struggling to survive. He is old but refuses to admit that he is old."

"After announcing his retirement last time because he had not won a trophy, Ferguson no longer had the ambition to lead Manchester United to glory. His persistence was more about wanting to put a glorious end to his Red Devils era."

"Everything the Red Devils do now is just to satisfy the competitive spirit of their aging head coach!"

When Mike Phelan saw this, he couldn't help but secretly glance at Ferguson again, and sighed in his heart, no wonder the old Jazz was so angry, who would not be angry if they were ridiculed like this?

Further down the line, Mike Phelan himself got angry.

Charlene Lahri once again pointed out sharply in her column that another important reason why Manchester United's performance in the past few years has been less than ideal is Ferguson's shortcomings.

"Those who think Ferguson is a tactical master are more from the perspective of results. However, in the football circle, Ferguson is famous for his stubbornness. He has always been willing to make minor adjustments to the 4-4-2 tactics and is unwilling to make revolutionary changes. The reason behind Manchester United's success from 2007 to 2009 was not Ferguson, but Queiroz!"

"Queiroz is a true tactician. After he entered Carrington, he helped Ferguson get rid of Manchester United's rigid 4-4-2 tactics and replaced it with a European tactical style. This made Manchester United's tactics more flexible, elastic and changeable in those years."

"After Queiroz left Manchester United, Ferguson's rigid tactical thinking once again constrained Manchester United's pace. Mike Phelan, who replaced Queiroz, was far inferior to his predecessor, causing the team's overall style to take a big step backwards. Coupled with the aging of the players, the gap between Manchester United and the European powerhouses is getting bigger and bigger."

"I believe that all fans who watched the 2011 Champions League final would not think that Manchester United and Barcelona are at the same level. It was a contest between two teams of completely different levels!"

"Even in the Red Devils' home base, the Premier League, Manchester United's dominance has been challenged by teams like Manchester City and Chelsea. Coupled with Southampton this season, Manchester United's advantage is becoming less and less obvious."

"The most obvious example was the 2011-2012 season. Ferguson had originally planned to retire after the season ended, but Manchester United lost the league title to Manchester City in the final round. Ferguson, unwilling to retire empty-handed, announced a postponement of his retirement."

"From this point it is not difficult to see that Manchester United's overall strength has been on a downward trend!"

"In the final analysis, the one who caused Manchester United's current predicament was none other than their head coach, Ferguson!"

"From the perspective of professional football, Ferguson is undoubtedly a great head coach because he has won almost all the honors a professional coach can get."

"But if we look at his contribution to football, Ferguson is not great. Among the current coaches, he is not as good as Guardiola, Rehhagel, or even his assistant coach Queiroz, not to mention the madman Bielsa who is still leading the development of football tactics even now!"

"From the perspective of a football practitioner and a senior fan, I believe that the enterprising Bielsa will be able to lead the vigorous Southampton to defeat the lifeless Manchester United led by the old-fashioned Ferguson!"

After quickly reading the article, Mike Phelan was so angry that he fell to the ground.

"Excessive! Outrageous! Ignorant!"

Looking at his angry expression, he was almost about to start cursing!

You actually said that I am far inferior to Queiroz?

Am I worse than that guy Queiroz?

But after venting for a while, Mike Phelan suppressed his anger and looked at his immediate boss again.

The old knight is still angry at this time!

"Sir, don't take it to heart. Everyone knows that this reporter is a staunch Southampton fan!"

Ferguson remained silent, obviously still not satisfied.

"Humph, at her age, she knows football? She actually said that I am far inferior to Queiroz, I..."

When he said this, Ferguson suddenly raised his head and stared at him.

Everyone at Manchester United, especially at Carrington, knew that Queiroz was a thorn in Ferguson's heart.

It is said that when Queiroz was going to coach Real Madrid, Ferguson advised him.

Later, the Portuguese coach failed in his coaching career at Real Madrid and was sacked. Ferguson then invited Queiroz back to Manchester United.

But within a few years, Queiroz got the chance and chose to leave Manchester United again to coach the Portuguese national team alone.

Ferguson was angry about this for a long time.

Because Queiroz has always been the most ideal successor in his mind!

If he were to ask himself, Mike Phelan would have to admit that in Ferguson's mind, he would never be as good as Queiroz.

As for the Portuguese, they certainly have the ability.

Didn’t a British journalist recently go to investigate the reasons for the rapid development of football in the United States in recent years?

As a result, in 1994, the United States invited Queiroz to write a more than 100-page outline for the development of American football, and then in 1996 the Major League Soccer was established.

From that time on, American football entered an era of rapid development.

Therefore, some people also say that Queiroz laid the foundation for the rise of American football!

Mike Phelan, who knew all this, felt depressed and resented Charlene Lahri even more.

Yes, I know, I am not as good as Queiroz, but you don't have to be so blunt, just say it in the newspaper, right?

After all, I am the chief assistant coach of Manchester United and a well-known figure in English football. Where can I put my face if you say that?

But Mike Phelan's thoughts didn't last long, as Ferguson quickly stood up.

“Mike!”

"I'm here!" Mike Phelan reacted immediately.

"Notify the News Department that from now on, I will ban Charlene Lahiri and the Southern Echo she works for. Also warn the Sun and tell them to be careful!"

Mike Phelan was a little hesitant when he heard this. "Sir, warning the Sun is not a good idea, right?"

"Stop talking nonsense. At the crucial moment of winning the championship, they dare to do this. Why don't we dare to do the same?" Ferguson almost got furious.

He has always been a man who will take revenge on his neighbors, so don't mess with him!

Seeing how strong the old jazz was, Mike Phelan had no choice but to agree.

"Inform the players again that they must win the game against West Ham United this weekend no matter what!"

At this point, Ferguson gnashed his teeth and shouted word by word: "I will make them despair!"

…………

…………

Three hours later, at the London Sun headquarters

Editor-in-chief Rebekah Wade received news from Manchester United conveyed by her subordinates.

"What? A warning?"

Rebekah Wade was also furious.

"Fuck, in this land of Britain, we are the only ones who warn others. When will it be Manchester United's turn to warn us? Do we need Ferguson's consent for what we report and what we don't report?"

"Well, Editor-in-Chief, actually, Manchester United's attitude is not that tough, it's just..."

"Just what?" Rebekah Wade interrupted her subordinate.

"They've called us, and you still say we're not being tough? Do we need them to ban The Sun? That's what we call being tough?"

Rebekah Wade is not someone who is easy to deal with, so the Sun newspaper under her is also notoriously difficult to deal with.

On ordinary days, which of those celebrities is not polite to The Sun and respectful to Rebekah Wade?

Manchester United? Ferguson? How dare they issue a warning?

He is rebelling!

"Okay, you dare to warn me. If I don't reciprocate, others will think that we, the Sun Newspaper, are easy to bully!"

Rebekah Wade immediately dialed the phone on the table and shouted as soon as it was connected, "Steven, come here!"

A minute later, Steven Howard appeared in Rebekah Wade's office, breathless.

"Go, I'll give you an afternoon to write a manuscript for me immediately."

Steven Howard was immediately excited. This was an order given by the editor-in-chief himself. Wasn't this a good opportunity to flatter him?

"Editor-in-Chief, the topic is..."

"You can come up with your own title. The theme is that Manchester United has no hope of winning the championship. Ferguson will definitely come away empty-handed this season!"

Steven Howard was stunned for a moment. This topic was a bit...

"Why? You can't write it?"

Rebekah Wade was a little unhappy when she saw him in a daze.

Why are all his subordinates so afraid of Manchester United and Ferguson?

Is The Sun still the uncrowned king?

"Oh, no, write it, I can definitely write it!" Steven Howard immediately nodded in agreement.

"Well, you must collect negative materials about Manchester United and Ferguson right away, and write a powerful commentary for me, preferably one that will piss Ferguson off to death!"

Steven Howard nodded hurriedly, but he was sweating in his heart.

Oh my goodness, poor Ferguson, poor Manchester United, how did you get into trouble with our editor-in-chief?

Steven Howard could fully foresee that if this article in The Sun was published, it would cause an uproar.

It would be fine if Manchester United just endured it, but if they dared to fight back, The Sun would be eager to make news!

By that time... there will definitely be a series of verbal battles!

Steven Howard's eyes lit up at the thought of this.

A war of words is good. Once there is a war of words, doesn't it give him, the chief sharp-tongued man of The Sun, a chance to display his talents?

Well, let’s do it!