PRESSURE ... Alex Ferguson
This season’s Quintuple charge is a case in point. All
those titles and gongs from the past are in the bag but still he
wants more. And more. And more.
The current crop of Red Devils stars is arguably his
greatest ever. A side dripping with world-class performers who
would walk into any team in the world. A squad to die
for.
Fergie is loving every minute but the Scottish
managerial master is a realist, too. He knows time is not on his
side, that he can’t stay in charge at Old Trafford for ever. There
are not too many seasons left in the tank. His departure from
football will leave a seismic hole in the fabric of the beautiful
game which will be felt the world over.
And in one of his most forthright and emotional
interviews, the United boss said: “When I reached 60, I asked
myself the question. I almost left. “But I quickly realised, with
my family, that it was a mistake. Today, I fear the idea of
retiring. “I have been on the train for so long that when I get off
I fear my system will collapse.
“I have decided not to ask myself the question any
more. “Three things can make me stop. 1. My health. 2. If I don’t
take pleasure any more. 3. If I don’t have the strength for new
challenges any more.
“Each summer, I have a look at those three things. I go
to my doctor first. I had a pacemaker set up four or five years
ago. “Today, I am playing the penalty shoot-out of my managerial
career. I know that. The rest is decided between me and
me.
“I see my doctor every summer. He says ‘boss, you are
67. You will have more and more back pains. Getting up in the
morning sometimes won’t be easy.’
“This is the penalty shootout.”
Over the years, Ferguson has proved he is master of all
managerial trades. Mind games, motivation, tactical masterclasses.
You name it, he’s nailed it. But it is his ability to man-manage a
team of stars and make them play and sweat blood for the badge
which sets him apart.
He digs deep into the psyche of players. Fergie
explained: “I like to remind them of their roots, so they remember
where their parents and grandparents come from. “I want them to
think of the history of their family. To carry the values of their
class. Being from the working class today is facing a world full of
technology and comfort that you can’t afford.
“The players can afford everything but I make sure they
keep an ethos. And that starts by working hard. “I try to touch the
players in their heart. I tell them that nobody will knock on their
door to offer them a trophy. “That only work and solidarity will
reward them. Of course you need technique, work and team spirit but
you also need the sense of sacrifice. Bryan Robson was a complete
and perfect example. To win, you need eight players in the rhythm
and the good spirit. Then, they can carry the other three. Less
than eight, it’s tough.
“I like to see a part of my personality in the players.
Every manager is like that. It’s reassuring. “At Aberdeen the
players looked so much like me. Here, it’s in Bryan Robson that I
found me the most. He was a manager playing football. What
intelligence.
“It’s rare that players respect my tactical wishes
throughout the heat of the game. “It’s why I have always taken
young players and never neglected the local players. So they can
understand the United challenge.
“I prefer a player who can have a bad day but works
like a madman more than a naturally-gifted player. I will give more
time to the first one to improve because I know he will try and
try. Roy Keane was like that. He maybe didn’t have the potential
but he became an absolute Manchester United player.
“He strangled the life out of his opponents. He raised
his game. Cristiano Ronaldo is another example. He had talents but
above that I believed in his mental strength. “In three or four
years, he has become the best player in the world. Their success is
the success of a club that has given them the right
values.”
Fergie, speaking to L’Equipe sports magazine, has
always loved a battle but his one with Real Madrid last summer over
their pursuit of Ronaldo will go down as one of his finest. He
said: “First, you have to listen to the will of the
player.
“If two clubs came to offer £100million for Cristiano
and Cristiano wants to go to Madrid, do you think I could make him
sign for the other club? You think I could go against his wishes?
All I can do is advise him. But all this makes sense only if we are
ready to sell Cristiano for £100m.
“We have already sold players to Madrid: Heinze,
Beckham, Van Nistelrooy. We sold them those players because we
wanted to. We didn’t sell Cristiano because we didn’t want to. It’s
just a business question, not an ethical question.
“I won’t let my personal feelings influence my decision
making.” That decision making included signing keeper Edwin van der
Sar from Fulham four years ago.
Fergie added: “At the end of January, something
interesting happened with Van der Sar. When he beat the unbeaten
record for a goalkeeper, he absolutely wanted to get the match
ball.
“And he was so excited that in the dressing room he
went and kissed each of his team-mates. “At 38, achieving that
still meant a lot to him. This made me proud. It means that maybe I
have brought something to my players.
“I am like the keeper of the temple. For 23 years, it
has been my motto to never let the perfectionism go.” It’s a motto
he is taking into his very own penalty shootout.
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