As part of a personality trade of his, Sir Alex Ferguson hated a specific thing as a manager according to Wayne Rooney.
Wayne Rooney is one of the few people who can tell us some of the most interesting details about Sir Alex Ferguson. The Scottish manager chose the English youngster to play for Manchester United when he was just a teenager. After coming to the club, he immediately made an impact without knowing he would someday become the club’s all-time top scorer.
There is no question that the most successful era for Rooney under Ferguson was between 2007 and 2013. But the most memorable came during the 2007-08 season, which was when the Red Devils won the UEFA Champions League. Out of the two times Sir Alex won this title as a manager, there is no question that the most recent was also the most dominant.
Even though he won the treble in 1999, that squad truly suffered to reach the stars. As a more experienced manager in 2008, Sir Alex didn’t like it when his teams played defensive football.
Rooney remembers Ferguson’s tantrums from 2009.
As part of Jamie Carragher’s book, there’s a section where Rooney talks about Sir Alex Ferguson’s offensive-minded philosophy. “Sir Alex hated playing defensive. Really hated it,” Rooney recalled via The Mirror.
“When we got to the final in 2009, he said to us he knew we could beat them playing that way, but then he said, ‘We are Manchester United and we are not going into the Champions League final to sit back all game. We are going to attack them and do it the right way.’
“We were all sitting there in the team meeting thinking, ‘Oh f***.’ “Sir Alex went through their side, saying, ‘Let’s go at them.’ Then you saw the names like Messi, Eto’o and Henry! “I was like, ‘F****** ’ell, how much pace do you want in one team?’”
“In my opinion that was the only way you could beat them (Barcelona),” he added. “I think it made a difference that the assistant, Carlos Queiroz, was still there then.
“Carlos was brilliant with Fergie. Whenever the manager was following his instincts and thinking ‘we’re going to attack’, Carlos would make him rethink. He was the one who gave us the tactics in 2008 and was the cautious one we needed.”
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