‘Today, boys, it’s a running game,’ he’d say. ‘Run more than them, run over the top of them and fucking beat them. They don’t like it. Run forward! Pass forward!’ That would be it, the thrust of the team talk –not tactics but heart and mindset. ‘It’s sheer aggression today,’ Sir Alex would say. We’d storm out there and press them, run, be aggressive, tackle, play forward, run forward, support. The running game didn’t work against Arsenal that day, but it usually did. When the Boss went ‘running game today’, I’d always tell myself, We’re going to win. Physically it’ll be a hard game, but we’ll
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