Alex Ferguson spent 38 years managing soccer teams, most notably at England’s Manchester United, where he won 49 trophies, among them 13 Premier League titles and two Champions League crowns. In a recent interview in New York, he discussed his career, a few of his contemporaries and the tyranny of fans’ expectations. His remarks have been condensed and edited.
Q: You’ve been out of the game as an active manager for a few years. Anything you miss, or anything you absolutely do not miss?
A: I miss the staff, and of course the dressing room I always miss, because that’s where you get the energy and the atmosphere. It’s always been fantastic at United. But the things you don’t miss are that the game is very serious in terms of the money that’s in the game and the pressure that coaches are under. I didn’t necessarily think I was ever under great pressure, but there’s a pressure. So that’s eliminated from your life. So you get up in the morning — I used to get up at 6 o’clock, head to the training ground. The first week I woke up at 6 and went to go to get out of bed and stopped — “I don’t need to do this.” And I went to breakfast with my wife. First time in 40-odd years.
Q: When did you start to sense the growing influence of money in the game?
A: The television deals had a lot to do with that. I have no dispute over the top players getting the best salaries, because if they’re the guys that bring 75,000 people into Old Trafford, they deserve it. Tennis players, golfers, American football — they get paid more than the soccer players. The difference is that a lot of maybe average players are getting very well paid in the Premier League.
Q: Was it hard to deal with that second group once the money came in?
A: You say: “Look, let’s be reasonable. You maybe could earn something better away from United, but will you win anything? Do you enjoy being here? Is this the right club for you?” Because apart from the prospect of winning, you’ve also got to look to the training ground, the family spirit. These are important issues, things you have to look forward to going to the workplace every day. Good people working with you. Treated the right way. So I think there’s a lot of value for anyone being at United. So when it comes to the negotiation, obviously with their agent, if he’s stupid, he probably wants to leave. But if he’s sensible and we can come to a reasonable agreement, then we can sign a new contract and he’s enjoying himself.
Q: You’ve said you always learned more from failure. Why? You didn’t experience a whole lot of it.
A: I had enough. I was better after a defeat. I had a certain purpose about me and a desire to make sure it didn’t happen often. For instance, if you look at our record in the Premier division: We won it 13 times, but five other occasions we were second, and the following year we won it. In other words, the character of the club, the character we built in that dressing room, made sure that they understood what losing meant. They didn’t enjoy it. Neither did I. So we did something about it.
Q: There was a time early in your career at United when the fans wanted you fired and there was talk it would happen. Could the Manchester United of today — or any another club of that stature — have stuck with you through those days in this era?
A: They can, if the people who run the club believe in the coach’s conviction, and the path he is taking them down. But you need a strong trust in the owners to back the manager in bad times, because the press are playing their part, even fans can play their part, and a lot of club directors could not withstand that.
Q: You’ve just written a book about leadership. What do you think about the job FIFA is doing running the game you’ve devoted your life to?
A: Everyone in the world, we’re all supporters of the entity; we’ve lost confidence in what’s happened. We all welcome the investigation, and we all hope that the investigation gets the truth. That’s what we’re waiting on; it’s out of our hands now. You hope the right people are doing the investigation, and you hope they get to the root of it.
Q: You had a brief tenure in international soccer, coaching Scotland at the 1986 World Cup after the death of your mentor, Jock Stein, but you went right back to club soccer and the week-to-week managing of a team. Are some managers better suited to the international game?
A: I loved Jock Stein; he was a great mentor to me. And he was the right age to be a manager, 62. I think to manage a national team, you need someone who’s completed a course in club management. In other words, he’s achieved everything he’s wanted to achieve in club football. You need that experience to be able to sit in your house and do nothing for three or four weeks. That’s what it is. And for a young manager to take it? Very difficult, because he wants to be every day out on the field, coaching.
Q: We’re having that debate in the United States now about the national team coach, and whether he’s the right fit for the team, and people asking if he’s making enough progress.
A: You have to think about where the expectation is. What’s the people’s expectation of where U.S. soccer is going? It’s been a long road for them. You see the progress in MLS; it’s getting better. They’re getting academy systems at the clubs, the stadiums are great. At least I think you’re in the right direction now. I see real promise. Big country. The great thing is that they’re athletic, they got good desire, good stamina, and they’re fit. And they seem to have a good strong unit together. And I think that’s helped them.
Q: It’s just that everyone here expects the team to win every game now, to be further along.
A: It’s easy to do that. The supporters, when they go to watch that game on Saturday, they’re not going to see the team lose. They’re all thinking they’re going to see them win. Every team’s the same. Every start of the season, they think they’re going to win the league. It doesn’t pan out that way, but that’s the optimism of every fan. The United States will be the same. Expectations are a horrible thing to live by.
Q: It could be worse. You could be Wales, or Scotland — countries that go to the World Cup once in a generation.
A: Tell me about it.
Q: Quick impressions about a couple of managers in the news: What did you think of Liverpool’s signing of Jurgen Klopp?
A: I know Jurgen from his time at Dortmund, and he’s also at all the coaching seminars in Geneva. Very strong personality. Big, physical presence. Intelligent guy. Always looks like he’s got a strong control of things. Looks as if he won’t be messed about. So he fits the bill of a successful football club.
Q: Did Chelsea’s fall this season under José Mourinho surprise you?
A: Oh, it surprised me. It surprised everyone. But I think good managers always find a solution. And I think he’ll be working on a solution. As anyone who’s been successful will tell you, when you hit that abyss, you have to get out of it. He’ll be sitting at home, sitting in his office, thinking, “What’s going on?” Because that’s what good people do. They find a way out of it.
