Part one of an interview between Andy Roxburgh UEFA Technical Director and Sir Alex Ferguson, giving an insight into his thoughts on coaching at the highest level.

Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United is one of the world’s greatest coaches. In a coaching career spanning over three decades, he has won the UEFA Champions League (1999 with Manchester United), the European Cup Winners’ Cup twice (1983 with Aberdeen FC and 1991 with Manchester United FC), the UEFA Super Cup (1983 & 1991), and the European/South American Cup (1999).

Alex was also named the UEFA Coach of the Year in 1999. Domestically, he has accumulated three Scottish Championships, four Scottish Cups one Scottish League Cup, eight English Premier League titles, five English Cups and two English League Cups. He managed the Scottish National Team at the FIFA World Cup in Mexico (1986) and is the longest serving head coach in the English Premiership, having been the boss at Manchester United FC since 1986. In addition, Alex, who was knighted for his services to football in the UK, is a regular, valued member of UEFA’s Technical Groups and Elite Club Coaches’ Forum. Currently, he holds the position of Honorary Leader of the UEFA Coaches Circle, a UEFA project which provides a technical service for practising coaches.

What are the main qualities required by a coach at the top level?

I have thought about that a lot, and there are a number of things. As I progressed as a coach, I learned that observation was vital. To coach and watch at the same time is difficult. If you are involved in too much coaching, you miss many things. I started to delegate more things to my assistant and to stand back sometimes. Observation is definitely an important issue in order to make sure that the quality is high and that you get out of a training session what you want. Next, I think you need perseverance because coaching at the top today is not an easy job. If you come in on a Monday morning after a defeat and you lack this quality of perseverance, then it will show and that will affect the players. So on Monday morning, you have the ‘fire in the belly,’ you are ready. The passion has to come out.

I also think that a top coach needs an imagination. When people ask you what was your best ever goal as a coach, you want to identify a perfect goal that you influenced. It is about your imagination, inculcated into a training session and which the players take on board. They then do it by habit. I remember as a young coach teaching take-overs in important areas of the pitch, which was unusual at the time. So you put this imagination into a player’s mind, and he can then take it to another level, because he realises that you both want to try things. You create a chain reaction which produces thinking players, and this is a wonderful thing to develop. It is also important to have simple communication. You see those training sessions where the coach talking all the time and the message is lost – the words get lost in the wind. Keep it simple, be brief, but be decisive. Make it perfectly clear what you are after in a session. Remember when we were players – we were standing there and we wanted to get on with it and the coach was rambling on. Talking too much is a big danger for a coach.

How did you develop as a coach?

Well I was an apprentice tool-maker, and then at 22 years of age I got the chance to become a full-time player. I decided to take the gamble, but I was determined not to fail, so I wanted to learn everything about the game. I started going to the Scottish coaching school when I was 23 years old. In the first year, I got my B Licence, and then quickly progressed on to my full badge. I had decided that when I finished playing, I was going to be prepared to be a coach. My ambitions were not necessarily focused on becoming a manger or a coach, but I did want to stay in the game in some capacity and I wanted to be ready for that. I used to read all the coaching books, not that I wanted to replicate everything I read, but I was curious and hungry for knowledge. I was fortunate that the Scottish FA’s courses were very practical and the staff coaches were top professionals.

What would your advice be to a young coach?

Most young coaches have been players, and they are cocooned, protected by agents or coaches. Most players live in a fortunate environment. Yes, you need to sacrifice to be a top player. But make no mistake, when you become a coach there is a bigger sacrifice to be made, because you are giving up your whole day, everyday. Coaches are not only working with their team but travelling all over the place to watch players or opponents. When you go into this game you have to work extremely hard, you and your family have to sacrifice. You need a natural work ethic. The really good coach is the one who is happy to work, and believe me, it is not easy to work hard in coaching for your whole life. The drive, the hunger, the passion must be inside you, because players need to recognise that you care. And, of course, the aim is to get the players to care along with you. If the young coach has these qualities I have been referring to, and they have the ability, then they have a chance. One last point, they must take their steps. I started the right way at the lowest level and built my way up. But don’t forget, everyone needs a bit of luck along the way.

What are the biggest problems facing coaches today?

There is a player ego today that you have to deal with. As a coach, the one thing you must have is control. You can’t afford players to take charge of a training session. There has to be a strong discipline in the training and in general. Simple rules must apply, such as time-keeping, concentration at training, etc. Another thing, of course, is the pressure of results. When I came into the game the media demands were less than we have today. No agents or freedom of contract back then. More and more, we are dealing with player power. I grew into all of that, but a young coach must realise that he is walking straight into all of that. They have to find a way of navigating all of these pressures. Also, if you have a good chairman and board, then you are lucky. If not, then you have to handle that situation as well. You need to understand your bosses and what their expectations are. There are some presidents or chairmen who expect to win a title every day. The main advice I would give to a young coach is to focus on his job. Forget all the peripheral things; don’t get involved in the politics, just concentrate on your job, on your squad, because players are the best weapon you have.

This interview was first published in The Technician supplement of the October edition of UEFA Direct. It is published with their permission