Sir Alex Ferguson: ‘The most interesting team talk I ever gave was at Tottenham when we were 3-0 down at half-time [in 2001]. I just looked at them and said, “What we’re going to do is score the next goal and see where it takes us.” Teddy Sheringham, the Tottenham captain, came out of the door, looked at me and said to his team, “Don’t let them score early.” We scored in the first minute. We were three-nothing down but playing all right. It’s just that the defending was rubbish. Three-nothing down at half-time at Tottenham.’ United won the match 5-3. ‘There are two team talks,’ Ferguson continues. ‘One, if you’re losing, and two, if you’re doing OK. I used more detail when we were winning, to avoid complacency, stop them taking their foot off the gas. When you’re losing you have to get to the core of it right away. Why are we losing? Who’s letting themselves down? Once you do that, you move on to the building-them-up part, to motivate them. Some need a pat on the back. I would normally say, “Paul, that is not you I’m watching out there. That is not you. You’re better than that.” In other words, criticise them with a velvet glove, knowing they’ve let themselves down. ‘Sometimes I would be ferocious in my criticisms. But I would only be ferocious with the ones who could take it, the ones I expected more of. People tell me I never criticised Bryan Robson, which is probably true. He says I did criticise him, once. People said the same of Willie Miller at Aberdeen. One, I could see myself in them. Also, they very seldom let you down. They had a consistency about them, a level that was amazing. Every game meant something to those players. Not everyone has those powers. -Conor-
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 08:34:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015