1.
Start with the Foundation
Upon his arrival at Manchester, in 1986, Ferguson set
about creating a structure for the long term by modernizing United’s youth program.
He established two “centers of excellence” for promising players as young as
nine and recruited a number of scouts, urging them to bring him the top young
talent. The best-known of his early signings was David Beckham. The most
important was probably Ryan Giggs, whom Ferguson noticed as a skinny
13-year-old in 1986 and who went on to become the most decorated British
footballer of all time. At 39, Giggs is still a United regular. The longtime
stars Paul Scholes and Gary Neville were also among Ferguson’s early youth
program investments. Together with Giggs and Beckham, they formed the core of
the great United teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s, which Ferguson
credits with shaping the club’s modern identity.
It was a big bet on young talent, and at a time when
the prevailing wisdom was, as one respected television commentator put it, “You
can’t win anything with kids.” Ferguson approached the process systematically.
He talks about the difference between building a team, which is what most
managers concentrate on, and building a club.
Sir Alex Ferguson: From
the moment I got to Manchester United, I thought of only one thing: building a
football club. I wanted to build right from the bottom. That was in order to
create fluency and a continuity of supply to the first team. With this
approach, the players all grow up together, producing a bond that, in turn,
creates a spirit.
When I arrived, only one player on the first team was
under 24. Can you imagine that, for a club like Manchester United? I knew that
a focus on youth would fit the club’s history, and my earlier coaching
experience told me that winning with young players could be done and that I was
good at working with them. So I had the confidence and conviction that if
United was going to mean anything again, rebuilding the youth structure was
crucial. You could say it was brave, but fortune favors the brave.
The first thought of 99% of newly appointed managers
is to make sure they win—to survive. So they bring experienced players in.
That’s simply because we’re in a results-driven industry. At some clubs, you
need only to lose three games in a row, and you’re fired. In today’s football
world, with a new breed of directors and owners, I am not sure any club would
have the patience to wait for a manager to build a team over a four-year
period.
Winning a game is only a short-term gain—you can lose
the next game. Building a club brings stability and consistency. You don’t ever
want to take your eyes off the first team, but our youth development efforts ended
up leading to our many successes in the 1990s and early 2000s. The young
players really became the spirit of the club.
I always take great pride in seeing younger players
develop. The job of a manager, like that of a teacher, is to inspire people to
be better. Give them better technical skills, make them winners, make them
better people, and they can go anywhere in life. When you give young people a
chance, you not only create a longer life span for the team, you also create
loyalty. They will always remember that you were the manager who gave them
their first opportunity. Once they know you are batting for them, they will
accept your way. You’re really fostering a sense of family. If you give young
people your attention and an opportunity to succeed, it is amazing how much
they will surprise you.
2.
Dare to Rebuild Your Team
Even in times of great success, Ferguson worked to
rebuild his team. He is credited with assembling five distinct league-winning
squads during his time at the club and continuing to win trophies all the
while. His decisions were driven by a keen sense of where his team stood in the
cycle of rebuilding and by a similarly keen sense of players’ life cycles—how
much value the players were bringing to the team at any point in time. Managing
the talent development process inevitably involved cutting players, including
loyal veterans to whom Ferguson had a personal attachment. “He’s never really
looking at this moment, he’s always looking into the future,” Ryan Giggs told
us. “Knowing what needs strengthening and what needs refreshing—he’s got that
knack.”
Our analysis of a decade’s worth of player transfer
data revealed Ferguson to be a uniquely effective “portfolio manager” of
talent. He is strategic, rational, and systematic. In the past decade, during
which Manchester United won the English league five times, the club spent less
on incoming transfers than its rivals Chelsea, Manchester City, and Liverpool
did. One reason was a continued commitment to young players: Those under 25
constituted a far higher share of United’s incoming transfers than of its
competitors’. And because United was willing to sell players who still had good
years ahead of them, it made more money from outgoing transfers than most of
its rivals did—so the betting on promising talent could continue. Many of those
bets were made on very young players on the cusp of superstardom. (Ferguson did
occasionally shell out top money for established superstars, such as the Dutch
striker Robin van Persie, bought for $35 million at the start of the 2012–2013
season, when he was 29.) Young players were given the time and conditions to
succeed, most older players were sold to other teams while they were still
valuable properties, and a few top veterans were kept around to lend continuity
and carry the culture of the club forward.
Ferguson: We identified
three levels of players: those 30 and older, those roughly 23 to 30, and the
younger ones coming in. The idea was that the younger players were developing
and would meet the standards that the older ones had set. Although I was always
trying to disprove it, I believe that the cycle of a successful team lasts
maybe four years, and then some change is needed. So we tried to visualize the
team three or four years ahead and make decisions accordingly. Because I was at
United for such a long time, I could afford to plan ahead—no one expected me to
go anywhere. I was very fortunate in that respect.
The goal was to evolve gradually, moving older players
out and younger players in. It was mainly about two things: First, who did we
have coming through and where did we see them in three years’ time, and second,
were there signs that existing players were getting older? Some players can go
on for a long time, like Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Rio Ferdinand, but age
matters. The hardest thing is to let go of a player who has been a great
guy—but all the evidence is on the field. If you see the change, the
deterioration, you have to ask yourself what things are going to be like two
years ahead.
3.
Set High Standards—and Hold Everyone to Them
Ferguson speaks passionately about wanting to instill
values in his players. More than giving them technical skills, he wanted to
inspire them to strive to do better and to never give up—in other words, to
make them winners.
His intense desire to win stemmed in part from his own
experiences as a player. After success at several small Scottish clubs, he
signed with a top club, Rangers—the team he had supported as a boy—but soon
fell out of favor with the new manager. He left Rangers three years later with
only a Scottish Cup Final runner-up’s medal to show for his time there. “The
adversity gave me a sense of determination that has shaped my life,” he told
us. “I made up my mind that I would never give in.”
Ferguson looked for the same attitude in his players.
He recruited what he calls “bad losers” and demanded that they work extremely
hard. Over the years this attitude became contagious—players didn’t accept
teammates’ not giving it their all. The biggest stars were no
exception.
Ferguson: Everything we did
was about maintaining the standards we had set as a football club—this applied
to all my team building and all my team preparation, motivational talks, and
tactical talks. For example, we never allowed a bad training session. What you
see in training manifests itself on the game field. So every training session
was about quality. We didn’t allow a lack of focus. It was about intensity,
concentration, speed—a high level of performance. That, we hoped, made our players
improve with each session.
I had to lift players’ expectations. They should never
give in. I said that to them all the time: “If you give in once, you’ll give in
twice.” And the work ethic and energy I had seemed to spread throughout the
club. I used to be the first to arrive in the morning. In my later years, a lot
of my staff members would already be there when I got in at 7 AM. I think they
understood why I came in early—they knew there was a job to be done. There was
a feeling that “if he can do it, then I can do it.”
I constantly told my squad that working hard all your
life is a talent. But I expected even more from the star players. I expected
them to work even harder. I said, “You’ve got to show that you are the top
players.” And they did. That’s why they are star players—they
are prepared to work harder. Superstars with egos are not the problem some
people may think. They need to be winners, because that massages their egos, so
they will do what it takes to win. I used to see [Cristiano] Ronaldo [one of
the world’s top forwards, who now plays for Real Madrid], Beckham, Giggs,
Scholes, and others out there practicing for hours. I’d have to chase them in.
I’d be banging on the window saying, “We’ve got a game on Saturday.” But they
wanted the time to practice. They realized that being a Manchester United
player is not an easy job.
4.
Never, Ever Cede Control
“You can’t ever lose control—not when you are dealing
with 30 top professionals who are all millionaires,” Ferguson told us. “And if
any players want to take me on, to challenge my authority and control, I deal
with them.” An important part of maintaining high standards across the board
was Ferguson’s willingness to respond forcefully when players violated those
standards. If they got into trouble, they were fined. And if they stepped out
of line in a way that could undermine the team’s performance, Ferguson let them
go. In 2005, when longtime captain Roy Keane publicly criticized his teammates,
his contract was terminated. The following year, when United’s leading scorer
at the time, Ruud van Nistelrooy, became openly disgruntled over several
benchings, he was promptly sold to Real Madrid.
Responding forcefully is only part of the story here.
Responding quickly, before situations get out of hand, may be equally important
to maintaining control.
Ferguson: If the day came
that the manager of Manchester United was controlled by the players—in other
words, if the players decided how the training should be, what days they should
have off, what the discipline should be, and what the tactics should be—then
Manchester United would not be the Manchester United we know. Before I came to
United, I told myself I wasn’t going to allow anyone to be stronger than I was.
Your personality has to be bigger than theirs. That is vital.
There are occasions when you have to ask yourself
whether certain players are affecting the dressing-room atmosphere, the
performance of the team, and your control of the players and staff. If they
are, you have to cut the cord. There is absolutely no other way. It doesn’t
matter if the person is the best player in the world. The long-term view of the
club is more important than any individual, and the manager has to be the most
important one in the club.
Some English clubs have changed managers so many times
that it creates power for the players in the dressing room. That is very
dangerous. If the coach has no control, he will not last. You have to achieve a
position of comprehensive control. Players must recognize that as the manager,
you have the status to control events. You can complicate your life in many
ways by asking, “Oh, I wonder if the players like me?” If I did my job well,
the players would respect me, and that’s all you need.
I tended to act quickly when I saw a player become a negative
influence. Some might say I acted impulsively, but I think it was critical that
I made up my mind quickly. Why should I have gone to bed with doubts? I would
wake up the next day and take the necessary steps to maintain discipline. It’s
important to have confidence in yourself to make a decision and to move on once
you have. It’s not about looking for adversity or for opportunities to prove
power; it’s about having control and being authoritative when issues do arise.
5.
Match the Message to the Moment
When it came to communicating decisions to his
players, Ferguson—perhaps surprisingly for a manager with a reputation for
being tough and demanding—worked hard to tailor his words to the situation.
When he had to tell a player who might have been expecting
to start that he wouldn’t be starting, he would approach it as a delicate
assignment. “I do it privately,” he told us. “It’s not easy. I say, ‘Look, I
might be making a mistake here’—I always say that—‘but I think this is the best
team for today.’ I try to give them a bit of confidence, telling them that it
is only tactical and that bigger games are coming up.”
During training sessions in the run-up to games,
Ferguson and his assistant coaches emphasized the positives. And although the
media often portrayed him as favoring ferocious halftime and postgame talks, in
fact he varied his approach. “You can’t always come in shouting and screaming,”
he told us. “That doesn’t work.” The former player Andy Cole described it this
way: “If you lose and Sir Alex believes you gave your best, it’s not a problem.
But if you lose [in a] limp way...then mind your ears!”
Ferguson: No one likes to be
criticized. Few people get better with criticism; most respond to encouragement
instead. So I tried to give encouragement when I could. For a player—for any
human being—there is nothing better than hearing “Well done.” Those are the two
best words ever invented. You don’t need to use superlatives.
At the same time, in the dressing room, you need to
point out mistakes when players don’t meet expectations. That is when
reprimands are important. I would do it right after the game. I wouldn’t wait
until Monday. I’d do it, and it was finished. I was on to the next match. There
is no point in criticizing a player forever.
Generally, my pregame talks were about our
expectations, the players’ belief in themselves, and their trust in one
another. I liked to refer to a working-class principle. Not all players come
from a working-class background, but maybe their fathers do, or their grandfathers,
and I found it useful to remind players how far they have come. I would tell
them that having a work ethic is very important. It seemed to enhance their
pride. I would remind them that it is trust in one another, not letting their
mates down, that helps build the character of a team.
In halftime talks, you have maybe eight minutes to
deliver your message, so it is vital to use the time well. Everything is easier
when you are winning: You can talk about concentrating, not getting complacent,
and the small things you can address. But when you are losing, you have to make
an impact. I liked to focus on our own team and our own strengths, but you have
to correct why you are losing.
In our training sessions, we tried to build a football
team with superb athletes who were smart tactically. If you are too soft in
your approach, you won’t be able to achieve that. Fear has to come into it. But
you can be too hard; if players are fearful all the time, they
won’t perform well either. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to see that showing
your anger all the time doesn’t work. You have to pick your moments. As a
manager, you play different roles at different times. Sometimes you have to be
a doctor, or a teacher, or a father.
6.
Prepare to Win
Ferguson’s teams had a knack for pulling out victories
in the late stages of games. Our analysis of game results shows that over 10
recent seasons, United had a better record when tied at halftime and when tied
with 15 minutes left to play than any other club in the English league.
Inspirational halftime talks and the right tactical changes during the game
undoubtedly had something to do with those wins, but they may not be the full
story.
When their teams are behind late in the game, many
managers will direct players to move forward, encouraging them to attack.
Ferguson was both unusually aggressive and unusually systematic about his
approach. He prepared his team to win. He had players
regularly practice how they should play if a goal was needed with 10, five, or
three minutes remaining. “We practice for when the going gets tough, so we know
what it takes to be successful in those situations,” one of United’s assistant
coaches told us.
United practice sessions focused on repetition of
skills and tactics. “We look at the training sessions as opportunities to learn
and improve,” Ferguson said. “Sometimes the players might think, ‘Here we go
again,’ but it helps us win.” There appears to be more to this approach than
just the common belief that winning teams are rooted in habits—that they can
execute certain plays almost automatically. There is also an underlying signal
that you are never quite satisfied with where you are and are constantly
looking for ways to improve. This is how Ferguson put it: “The message is
simple: We cannot sit still at this club.”
Ferguson: Winning is in my
nature. I’ve set my standards over such a long period of time that there is no
other option for me—I have to win. I expected to win every
time we went out there. Even if five of the most important players were
injured, I expected to win. Other teams get into a huddle before the start of a
match, but I did not do that with my team. Once we stepped onto the pitch
before a game, I was confident that the players were prepared and ready to
play, because everything had been done before they walked out onto the pitch.
I am a gambler—a risk taker—and you can see that in
how we played in the late stages of matches. If we were down at halftime, the
message was simple: Don’t panic. Just concentrate on getting the task done. If
we were still down—say, 1–2—with 15 minutes to go, I was ready to take more
risks. I was perfectly happy to lose 1–3 if it meant we’d given ourselves a
good chance to draw or to win. So in those last 15 minutes, we’d go for it.
We’d put in an extra attacking player and worry less about defense. We knew
that if we ended up winning 3–2, it would be a fantastic feeling. And if we
lost 1–3, we’d been losing anyway.
Being positive and adventurous and taking risks—that
was our style. We were there to win the game. Our supporters understood that,
and they got behind it. It was a wonderful feeling, you know, to see us go for
it in those last 15 minutes. A bombardment in the box, bodies everywhere,
players putting up a real fight. Of course, you can lose on the counterattack,
but the joy of winning when you thought you were beaten is fantastic.
I think all my teams had perseverance—they never gave
in. So I didn’t really need to worry about getting that message across. It’s a
fantastic characteristic to have, and it is amazing to see what can happen in
the dying seconds of a match.
7.
Rely on the Power of Observation
Ferguson started out as a manager at the small
Scottish club East Stirlingshire in 1974, when he was 32. He was not much older
than some of his players and was very hands-on. As he moved up—to St. Mirren
and Aberdeen, in Scotland, and then, after spectacular success at Aberdeen, to
Manchester United—he increasingly delegated the training sessions to his
assistant coaches. But he was always present, and he watched. The
switch from coaching to observing, he told us, allowed him to better evaluate
the players and their performances. “As a coach on the field, you don’t see
everything,” he noted. A regular observer, however, can spot changes in
training patterns, energy levels, and work rates.
The key is to delegate the direct supervision to
others and trust them to do their jobs, allowing the manager to truly observe.
Ferguson: Observation is the
final part of my management structure. When I started as a coach, I relied on
several basics: that I could play the game well, that I understood the
technical skills needed to succeed at the highest level, that I could coach
players, and that I had the ability to make decisions. One afternoon at
Aberdeen I had a conversation with my assistant manager while we were having a
cup of tea. He said, “I don’t know why you brought me here.” I said, “What are
you talking about?” and he replied, “I don’t do anything. I
work with the youth team, but I’m here to assist you with the training and with
picking the team. That’s the assistant manager’s job.” And another coach said,
“I think he’s right, boss,” and pointed out that I could benefit from not
always having to lead the training. At first I said, “No, no, no,” but I thought
it over for a few days and then said, “I’ll give it a try. No promises.” Deep
down I knew he was right. So I delegated the training to him, and it was the
best thing I ever did.
It didn’t take away my control. My presence and
ability to supervise were always there, and what you can pick up by watching is
incredibly valuable. Once I stepped out of the bubble, I became more aware of a
range of details, and my performance level jumped. Seeing a change in a
player’s habits or a sudden dip in his enthusiasm allowed me to go further with
him: Is it family problems? Is he struggling financially? Is he tired? What
kind of mood is he in? Sometimes I could even tell that a player was injured
when he thought he was fine.
I don’t think many people fully understand the value
of observing. I came to see observation as a critical part of my management
skills. The ability to see things is key—or, more specifically, the ability to
see things you don’t expect to see.
8.
Never Stop Adapting
In Ferguson’s quarter of a century at United, the
world of football changed dramatically, from the financial stakes involved
(with both positive and negative consequences) to the science behind what makes
players better. Responding to change is never easy, and it is perhaps even
harder when one is on top for so long. Yet evidence of Ferguson’s willingness
to change is everywhere. As David Gill described it to me, Ferguson has
“demonstrated a tremendous capacity to adapt as the game has changed.”
In
the mid-1990s, Ferguson became the first manager to field teams with a large
number of young players in the relatively unprestigious League Cup—a practice
that initially caused outrage but now is common among Premier League clubs (the
Premier League consists of the country’s top 20 teams). He was also the first
to let four top center forwards spend a season battling for two positions on
his roster, a strategy that many outsiders deemed unmanageable but that was key
to the great 1998–1999 season, in which United won the Treble: the Premier
League, the FA (Football Association) Cup, and the UEFA (Union of European
Football Associations) Champions League.
Off
the field, Ferguson greatly expanded his backroom staff and appointed a team of
sports scientists to support the coaches. Following their suggestions, he
installed Vitamin D booths in the players’ dressing room in order to compensate
for the lack of sunlight in Manchester, and championed the use of vests fitted
with GPS sensors that allow an analysis of performance just 20 minutes after a
training session. Ferguson was the first coach to employ an optometrist for his
players. United also hired a yoga instructor to work with players twice a week
and recently unveiled a state-of-the-art medical facility at its training
ground so that all procedures short of surgery can be handled on-site—ensuring
a level of discretion impossible in a public hospital, where details about a
player’s condition are invariably leaked to the press.
Ferguson: When I started, there were
no agents, and although games were televised, the media did not elevate players
to the level of film stars and constantly look for new stories about them.
Stadiums have improved, pitches are in perfect condition now, and sports
science has a strong influence on how we prepare for the season. Owners from
Russia, the Middle East, and other regions have poured a lot of money into the
game and are putting pressure on managers. And players have led more-sheltered
lives, so they are much more fragile than players were 25 years ago.
One
of the things I’ve done well over the years is manage change. I believe that
you control change by accepting it. That also means having confidence in the
people you hire. The minute staff members are employed, you have to trust that
they are doing their jobs. If you micromanage and tell people what to do, there
is no point in hiring them. The most important thing is to not stagnate. I said
to David Gill a few years ago, “The only way we can keep players at Manchester
United is if we have the best training ground in Europe.” That is when we
kick-started the medical center. We can’t sit still.
Most people with my kind of
track record don’t look to change. But I always felt I couldn’t afford not to change. We had to be
successful—there was no other option for me—and I would explore any means of
improving. I continued to work hard. I treated every success as my first. My
job was to give us the best possible chance of winning. That is what drove me.
By: Anita Elberse is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School
