BY JAKE LEWIS – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
Twenty-six years after drawing up to the gates of Old Trafford in a Ford Granada Ghia, fresh from a long journey south from Aberdeen, Sir Alex Ferguson, now 71, has called it a day. And what a day it was. Before I get into the ins and outs, the critique and questions, let’s first celebrate the amazing and surely unsurpassable achievements of the man.
In 26 years he won 13 League Titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions League titles, a Cup Winners Cup, a World Club Championship, A UEFA Super Cup and 11 Charity Shields.
Next person behind him has half that, and it’s unlikely anyone will ever match his haul. He did it over a span of 26 years, in which he had to overhaul many foes. Starting with Liverpool who were Europe’s dominant force in the 80’s, a club he famously said he wanted to “knock off their perch”. He withstood ferociously competitive teams like Blackburn, Arsenal and Chelsea, each time rebounding to take the league title from them. He did it by re-building his teams over and over. He did it by ensuring no player ever played who had lost the hunger to wear the red shirt. He did it by making his every move, every decision, and every statement, with the goal of improving Manchester United’s chances of victory. All the mind games, all the press conferences, all with this in mind.
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His decision to retire may have been a well-planned out one. Time I think will reveal this. It may have been brought forward through internal pressure as well. I think the choice of replacement may reveal whether this is the case. Should it be Mourinho, then I suspect that the impending move from the Bernabeu to Chelsea may have tipped United’s hand, though it is still possible Sir Alex was complicit in this and not pressed.
As a Liverpool fan I would like United to make a bad appointment and go off the rails. I have long believed that the best player at United has been Sir Alex Ferguson, and without him, an otherwise only “good” team would not be hitting the heights they have. However I will suspend my cynicism for a moment and suggest that Jurgen Klopp, manager of Borussia Dortmund will be an excellent choice. Klopp has shown that he can develop youth, and turn a competitive team into a great team, winning Bundesliga twice by overcoming an excellent Bayern team, he has had to re-model the team a couple of times too, when important players have been sold on. This is a man who likes his team to play attacking fast break football, with youth and vigour, and knows how to win.
We will know soon enough, United will not leave the window for speculation open for long, but I will say this, if it is Mourinho, then it ends badly…