Sir Alex Ferguson believes that consistency will be pivotal in determining whether Manchester United can secure their 10th Premier League title this season. Style and flair have characterised Ferguson's young side this campaign as well as a strong bond from the dressing room to the pitch. Sir Alex Ferguson discusses title pretensions, pressures of management and an impending 25th anniversary with Sue McCann.
Your team is playing with a real joy and freedom and you can see exuberance and vibrancy about them can't you?
“The players have that joy of being at a club with a lot of ambition at Manchester United. They’ve come to a massive club so you can expect enthusiasm and they enjoy playing. Also it does happen and I see this; when you get a collection of them all together with the different cultures and different humours, it is quite interesting to see how they combine all these humours.
The most important place is the football field of course and it is good to see young players having the energy and the commitment to try and enjoy themselves. I think there’s a lot about the modern day game that sometimes you see a restriction of people’s abilities and maybe the pressure from the manager or the club or the supporters makes it difficult for players to express themselves. I think in fairness we work hard at making sure that they (our players) are relaxed in that respect with a responsibility to use their talents all the time to express themselves. We’re fortunate with the kind of talents we have got, it is easier for them, than a lot of other players because they are exceptional talents.”
It is probably still a three horse race for the Premier League title between Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. Whilst you and Arsene must pretty much have the measure of each other after years of competing, Avram Grant is more of an unknown quantity so you need to keep an eye on that too I imagine?
“The number of points they (Chelsea) are behind Arsenal is not insurmountable by any manner because in this Premier League points can be dropped. The fact that they have got us and Arsenal at home and their home record is so good, you would have to think they have still got a big chance in the Premier League.
The Champions League, which I think is what they are really after given Abramovich’s contribution to Chelsea’s rise in the last few years, is within their grasp too. I think they have got the easiest draw of the English teams and have got the best chance of qualifying out of the English teams given the opponents they are up against.”
Some managers have lost their jobs recently, others have been under sustained pressure and I’ve heard views that players should be professional enough not to let such circumstances affect their focus... it has to doesn’t it?
“Yes I think it happens and it is inevitable. I think when a manager is under pressure, that a lot of times it transfers itself to the players. I see it time and time again and it is unavoidable and quite often it becomes an epidemic. The manager comes under pressure through bad results, the supporters start showing discontent, then the media start to get involved. It’s just a snowball effect that gets to the Boardroom eventually and that is when they react. Players are trying their best and the mental part is saying ‘I need to help the manager here’ but can’t really transmit itself.”
You play Roy Hodgson this weekend who is a good advert for a manager who has worked hard throughout his career, made some fantastic opportunities for himself and has a lot of varied experience as well....
“Roy Hodgson is very fortunate.... he has done what a lot of us would loved to have done, go abroad and work abroad. I always remember Bobby Robson saying that the best thing he ever did was go to PSV, Sporting Lisbon, Porto and Barcelona and he was out of the country for maybe 10 or 12 years. Working in different climates with different cultures definitely broadens your education. I remember meeting Roy Hodgson in Malmo in 1987 when I had just joined Manchester United. Malmo were playing Ajax in the European Cup and Roy was at the game. Of course over the years he’s gone to Inter Milan, Switzerland, Finland, Udinese, Blackburn etc... it’s incredible all the teams that he has managed.
Sometimes I used to say to myself ‘I’d love to have tried (managing) abroad sometime’ but then it was difficult for me. My choices were cut off simply because I was the manager of Manchester United which is amazing and you don’t leave Manchester United. So Roy has had a fantastic career of managing all over the world which has been fantastic for him and you can see when he’s interviewed that he knows what he is talking about.”
It’s 25 years in May since you won the European Cup Winners Cup as Aberdeen manager, made all the more remarkable since you also broke the Old Firms dominance of Scottish football. When you look back at that, where does it rank for you personally amongst all that you have gone on to achieve... because it was a big achievement?
“When you look back I suppose it becomes bigger, because the problem of course with looking back is that Aberdeen at present are nothing like they were in that period. Scottish football first of all was pretty strong; Jim McLean at Dundee United took them to the semi-final of the European Cup and Aberdeen and Dundee United were really the strongest teams in Scotland for 5 years in a row. When you look back you say to yourself ‘how did I manage to beat Bayern Munich who were the favourites and then beat Real Madrid in the final?’. It was special because Aberdeen was a small club. I just had two girls working for me in the office, the secretary, a couple of people were running the pools in another office, I had Archie Knox, my reserve coach and a physiotherapist and that was it.”
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