Alex Ferguson: I’ve made a team with an intention to beat Liverpool

Motivating players with a story of geese, creating his team in order to defeat Liverpool, and valuing players with mental toughness, there are stories for everybody in a rare sir Alex Ferguson interview. When one of the greatest coaches ever decides to talk, everyone listens. Fans are looking to hear some ’behind the scene’ stories, while managers are trying to ’pick up his brains’ and learn from the best.

The 13-time Premier League champion talked to his former player, now a TV pundit Garry Neville about a number of subjects. Ferguson will be the subject of a new film releasing this summer, documenting the brain hemorrhage he suffered in 2018.

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During Ferguson’s managerial career with St Mirren and Aberdeen, he soon realized that in order to win in Scotland, you need to win against Celtic or Rangers. In England, he had no doubt – it was Liverpool. That’s how a great rivalry got even more heat.

“It’s my respect of Liverpool. When I was the manager of St Mirren, I went down to Liverpool’s training for a week and I saw the intensity of their training, the consistency they had, so when I came to United, they were winning all the titles. It’s like when I was at Aberdeen, there’s only two teams you need to beat in Scotland to win everything, that’s Rangers and Celtic. When I came to United, there was only one team you needed to beat to win the league and that’s Liverpool. That was my intention. I put everything into producing a team to beat them, not necessarily beat them every game but beat them throughout the weeks. I knew if we beat Liverpool, we’re on the right path" admitted the Scotsman.

Along with those 13 titles, sir Ferguson also won two Champion Leagues, along with 9 FA and League cups. With Fergie, the Red Devils were winning league titles in a row, as well as reaching later stages of the Champions League. And motivating players to do it all over again year after year was a big problem for him. He admitted of having sleepless nights thinking about that aspect of the game.

"I lost my first away game 5-2 and I didn’t expect it. I realized then that if I didn’t get a working mentality, mental strength in my players, then I had no chance. The first team talk I had the next year was about the geese. My friend had a farm in Canada and he was telling me this story about geese flying 4,000 miles for a bit of heat. I said to the players, ‘All I’m asking you to do is play 38 games to win the league’. The motivation, I’d be sitting in my bed at night and thinking about ways of motivating players because if you’re at a club like United for 27 years - you don’t want players to think: ‘Oh, here we go again’” explained Ferguson.

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The mental toughness of the players was one of the most seeking assets for the Scotsman. He knew not everyone could handle the pressure in the big club and a full stadium, and the kids who came through the ranks at United knew full well the history of the club.

"We bought through players who developed a good mental strength. A toughness so that they could play in front of 75,000 people. I used to say it to the parents, I hope Gary and Phil Neville play in front of 75,000, that's the aim. Of course, they don't all make it. But the amazing thing is a lot of those players are still playing today at different clubs. So the preparation and education they got at United was really important" explained Ferguson.