It is a common fallacy that Sir Alex Ferguson played fast, attacking football as Manchester United manager.
During the first decade of Fergie’s reign the Premier League was not a place for intricate tactical models, for possession domination or for the kind of slick fast-tempo attacking moves we see in the modern game. Even by standards of the time English football was far behind mainland Europe and matches were defined mostly by winning individual battles and waiting for the right moments to strike. It was about psychological and technical power above anything else.
In the 2000s English football started to catch up and Ferguson adapted to the cautious defensive game that Jose Mourinho helped introduce, and although his final act in the 2010s is remembered for the attacking pace of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Carlos Tevez their partnership has been romanticised by highlights reels and nostalgia. It was, after all, a team coached predominantly by Carlos Queiroz.
Leave a Reply