The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 45 How to manage a wealthy family?

"Why is Ferguson recognized as the world's best manager? Why can he make this club prosper for so long? Why can his management experience be taught in Harvard lecture halls?"

--Inscription

Ferguson's coaching of Manchester United is a very typical success story in management. His management practices and experience methods are the best examples for new coaches to learn. How to turn the situation around when taking over midway? How to quickly get out of trouble? How to continuously enhance the team's strength during the full contract period? How to achieve efficient and effective management in the locker room? How to continuously maintain prestige in the locker room? How to promote the team's progress and eventually reach the top? How to maintain the hunger for honor after success and continue to win championships? How to boldly rebuild the team and succeed?

Ferguson answered these questions perfectly, and the process of his management of Manchester United is even regarded as a valuable asset by modern management science.

Ferguson said: "Football is a team game and a competitive game. A successful coach needs to cope with various challenges and deal with various emergencies. He must always ensure that the team is constantly improving and striving for new success."

Ferguson has always been aiming at this. Supervision and trust, criticism and encouragement, restriction and tolerance, abandonment and retention, change and improvement, care and love... Ferguson has its own unique features in every link.

Mitten, a famous English journalist, was deeply impressed by Ferguson. "From what I could see, professional football in Ferguson's era was full of chaos and passion, far from being as wonderful and sacred as fans imagined. At that time, most head coaches did not manage the team or lead the team in training. They were more about raising slogans and buying and selling players. Some people would read from the script and implement tactics that they did not even know, while the main job of some people was to appease the directors and accompany the media. Then they could enjoy the flattery and praise and line their pockets. But Ferguson was obviously different. He was a true doer and thinker. He not only completed the task excellently, but also did more. This kept him at the top of the industry. In the club, every senior executive, every player, and every staff member would feel his presence and be pushed by him to complete the task. This is something I have never seen or heard of."

Manchester United legendary captain Keane had a conflict with Ferguson in the final stage of his career and has been at odds with Ferguson since leaving the team, but this did not prevent Keane from highly praising Ferguson.

Keane said: "The biggest difference between Ferguson and other coaches is that he pays great attention to details and always maintains high standards. He knows the team very thoroughly, including the players, assistant coaches and everyone else. He knew my detailed data before I joined Manchester United. Height and weight are all child's play, and the main foot is also a bonus. He knows the frequency and strength of my kicks, my speed, running distance, continuous running ability, confrontation strength, etc. He also knows that I have been on the underground boxing ring for black boxing. Not only me, he knows how high Bruce can jump, how fast Kanchelskis can run, how accurate Scholes' pass can be, and why Beckham practiced curve balls. He knows that Cantona's left foot is smaller than his right foot, and he will ask Ask sponsors to provide different shoes; he will let Robson put down his burden to recover, "enjoy" his health, and then consider playing. He will track Lee Sharpe and pull him out of the pile of women. Ferguson will keep a close eye on the youth training and teach him carefully. He is not only like this to Class 92, but to all children - he is like an old hen protecting her chicks. He will teach the troublemakers a lesson and directly expel some guys from the team, such as Ince, Stam, Ruud, and of course the worst is me; he will be angry at some guys for pretending to obey, mad at Beckham for distracting himself from his entertainment career, sigh and regret that Ronaldo is determined to go to Real Madrid... He has a special focus on every player. "

Ferguson's assistant McLaren said: "Ferguson's standard is very simple, that is to reach the best state and go all out. You don't have to worry about the opportunity to play, and don't have to worry about anything other than football. His on-the-spot command is very clear and a lot of tactical drills have been completed in the training stage. Keane always said that Manchester United's intra-team games are the most difficult, because Ferguson requires real swords and guns, and tactics are practiced into the consciousness of every player. Ferguson's temper is indeed bad, and everyone is in awe of him. Whoever has such achievements will naturally have such prestige."

Ferguson's assistant coach Queiroz said: "Ferguson attaches great importance to team training, tactical polishing, and overall focus. This is the condition for a team to succeed, and it is also the characteristic of Ferguson's leadership. I think his success at Manchester United cannot be replicated. No one has achieved his level, but his methods can be learned."

Ferguson knows everything about the club. Where do the players go after leaving the training ground? Where did the players stay last night? What kind of friends do they make? What kind of girlfriends and families do they have? These details that are almost private detectives are all gathered in Ferguson's head. When should players rest, when should young players play games, when to decide that someone should leave the team; when to set off for away games; how to prepare at the opponent's venue... All of this is to ensure winning the game.

Ferguson's concerns and management also extended beyond football affairs. He requested that a nursery be built at Old Trafford, that a family of lifelong Manchester United fans be found for each child during the youth training phase, and that every player's birthday be accompanied by his family at Carrington to watch home games... Ferguson also established a system for contacting players' families to help them resolve various worries. Children's education, finding a house, buying a car, family finances, personal safety... everything was taken into consideration by Ferguson.

Ferguson's vision is not limited to Manchester. His team travels all over Europe and reaches all over the world. He and his assistants visited top clubs in Spain, Germany and Italy, and visited the national team training centers in France, Brazil and Japan to learn from them and improve the work of various competitions. Ferguson built the world's most advanced and perfect sports rehabilitation treatment center for Manchester United, introduced the most complete and advanced medical rehabilitation equipment, and improved the level of emergency rescue and injury recovery...

Ferguson would consider the players' emotions when participating in games and training. Giggs recalled many years later: "Players have different attitudes towards training. I used to like training very much. I felt that it was a part of my life, necessary and indispensable. I don't particularly like physical confrontation. I like to pass and sprint through speed and skills. When I fail to pass with all my strength, I will just laugh it off and continue next time. The old man always encouraged me, praised my skills, speed and body flexibility, and cheered for my breakthrough every time. This is the model that suits me, but some people in our team are more dedicated than me, some need the atmosphere to be excited; some are worried that their special skills will be revealed to others in training; and some people hate training... The old man's excellence lies in that he controls everything, mobilizes everything, allows everyone to find the most suitable method, and blends everyone together. He seems to have done this without much effort, and even the training plan can be different for each person. When I tried coaching after retiring, I really felt the challenge in it."

Solskjaer, who also coached Manchester United, said: "I know we are all learning from Boss, but how he devotes himself to daily training every day is something we can never achieve. He spends a lot of time on training, which is no less than the thinking, decision-making and response they spend on any game."

"Think about Beckham. Ferguson had a way to make him obsessed with free kicks, corner kicks and long-distance passes. He was able to take the initiative to practice more after completing all the training subjects. This is not a task or pressure. This is the charm of Ferguson," Giggs said. "As long as he talks to you in detail and points out your direction, you will devote yourself to it and improve yourself at all costs. And he will give you opportunities personally."

In the memories of all Manchester United players, there is a picture that is almost common. That is that every morning Ferguson is always the first to arrive at the training ground and always starts his work in advance. "Even if we can't see him, we can feel his presence." This is the feeling that almost every Manchester United player has.

Ferguson's management has always kept pace with the times. When he first took office, he implemented the prohibition of alcohol, which caused a major earthquake in the club. He never gave in to various sharp contradictions. After three years of coaching, he encountered the crisis of being fired, but Ferguson saved his position with a cup championship. After successfully winning the championship, Ferguson's management of the locker room was more effective. Whether it was Cantona's independence, the discord between Ince and Keane, the fight between Keane and Schmeichel, the conflict between the old players and the 3 generation, the black forces brought by Kanchelskis, the boycotts encountered by Argentine players and the incompatibility of other South American players, Beckham's departure in anger, the rise and fall of the Portuguese gang, Van Nistelrooy's insult to Ronaldo's father, the conflict between Smith, Rooney and Ronaldo, Bart's beating of Ronaldo in a rage, Keane's scolding of Fletcher, Tevez's disturbance in the locker room, Rooney's remonstrance at the press conference... All of these were quickly resolved by Ferguson.

Manchester United's locker room looks calm, but it is more complicated and crazier than other teams, but Ferguson handles everything.

In 1990, Ferguson encountered the most serious crisis in his coaching career at Manchester United, but he responded to all the doubts with an FA Cup; in the 1994-95 season, Cantona kicked a fan and caused the team to lose the championship, but Ferguson insisted on standing on the side of the players; then in the summer of 1995, he cleaned up several core players, and finally won face with the help of these little brats from Class 92; when Wenger's Arsenal emerged as a dark horse, Ferguson suddenly showed his dominance and won the unprecedented "Triple Crown" in English football history.

There are also some problems that suddenly appeared. McGrath got into trouble because of alcohol, Kanchelskis was addicted to gambling and attracted gangsters, Ince threatened with a gun, Lee Sharpe was a playboy, Cantona kicked fans, Keane fired at his own fans, Van Nistelrooy beat Ronaldo, Rooney forced the palace with ambition, Ferdinand missed the drug test, Ronaldo made up the "slave theory", Tevez publicly humiliated... These are all crises at the level of a major earthquake. The most acute contradiction occurred with Keane. The old captain was ruthlessly "expelled" by Ferguson in the late stage of his career. But Keane did not deny the value of Ferguson, "Without Ferguson, there would be no Manchester United, and there would be no stars of Manchester United. Even if there were, they would not be so dazzling. The same statement applies to me. Without Ferguson, there would be no me now. This is an undeniable fact."

Ferguson is the founder of the Manchester United dynasty and the long-term patron saint of this Premier League hegemony. He not only made Manchester United strong again and led Manchester United to the top of the Premier League championship, but also led Manchester United to create the miracle of the treble; he not only rebuilt the team, but also completed multiple upgrades and maintained his dominance over the league... Ferguson can not only destroy opponents, but also overthrow himself; he can not only dismantle old and outdated teams, but also rebuild a new team; he constantly explores and innovates, and is always able to keep pace with the times.

This is almost the most difficult task in football history: to smoothly transition from one championship team to another, and Ferguson did it so easily.