He is extremely controlling. Wants everything his way. What Beckham should wear, how he should cut his hair, how many days he should spend on his honeymoon, who should he marry and who should he not be with … Is this OK for you? And he would get away after physically assaulting him? For SAF, everything was always about himself.
Arsene Wenger on the other hand is so different. He only controlled what people ate (and that too, through education and not “enforcement”). I never hear any such stories about him. He too was a winner, wasn’t he? But completely different style of management.
Seems Ferguson controlled through fear while Arsene Wenger coached through love.
A lot of players saw Ferguson as a father figure and by all accounts, he took many young players under his wing and nurtured them both as players and as people.
He was an absolute master at getting the best out of his players. But you cannot do that by ruling in fear - he didn’t demand respect… he commanded it.
He was also a ruthless mofo and would discard anyone who no longer suited his purpose or who got in the way of his vision.
Both of these things made him one of the greatest football managers of all time. Love him or hate him, that’s what it takes to achieve that level of success.
THE greatest manager of all time. I’m not even a united fan, but it’s a fact.