Soccer
Sir Alex Ferguson Autobiography: The 10 Most Interesting Revelations From Fergie's New Book
The long awaited autobiography of Sir Alex Ferguson was finally released and as expected, it gave an insight into the Scot's 26 year reign at Manchester United.
Here are ten of the most interesting revelations that Fergie makes in his book...
9. Owen Hargreaves: The injury prone midfielder, who is now retired, was chosen by Ferguson as one of his worst ever signings during his 26 years at Manchester United, as seen in this latest autobiography. The former England international signed with big expectations in 2007, but left four years later as a major disappointment.
The 32 year old had his injury problems, only making 27 league appearances in four seasons, but Fergie also identifies the Canadian born midfielder as not having enough determination in training.
8. Steven Gerrard's Potential Move
Gerrard is a player that embodied the rivalry that Liverpool continued to have with Manchester United during Ferguson's reign on Old Trafford. Sir Alex, in his new book, berates the England captain, claiming he was insignificant on the pitch when playing against Paul Scholes.
However, he did admit that the club tried to sign the Liverpool legend in 2005. After rumours had spread that Gerrard may be on his way out of Anfield, United were preparing a move to bring the player over to Manchester.
7. England Manager Job
Despite being Scottish, every English fan would have loved to have seen Sir Alex Ferguson manage the national side and those dreams could have been realised had Fergie accepted the Football Association's offer of a job on two different occasions.
The man who won 13 Premier League titles was formally approached by the FA in both 1999 and 2001, before the appointments of Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran-Eriksson respectively.
6. Wayne Rooney's Transfer Request
Another burning issue in question surrounding Manchester United in recent months has been the question of Wayne Rooney's future at the club. Ferguson revealed in his book that the England striker did approach him about leaving, but a written transfer request was never given.
However, Ferguson further explained that by issuing a formal transfer request, Rooney would have consequently had to forgo his signing-on bonuses. The Scottish boss also criticised the striker for not being able to stay in top physical shape all the time.
5. Arsene Wenger's Transfer Policy
As already mentioned, Wenger and Ferguson shared a healthy rivalry over the years, yet Ferguson still managed to make a comment over Wenger's transfer policy over the years. While some will say Fergie felt threatened by Arsenal over the years, the United legend called Gunners signings "clones", dismissing his rival's reputation as a master in finding young talents.
He also pinpointed Jack Wilshere as the club's only real homegrown player, while also stating that the long serving Arsenal boss is unable to laugh at himself.
4. Mark Bosnich's Professionalism
Controversy has consistently followed Mark Bosnich around since his emergence in English football and now Sir Alex Ferguson has pushed the knife even deeper into the Australian's reputation. Fergie claims in his book that the goalkeeper made a terrible start to his Manchester United career turning up late and overweight.
Like Keane, Bosnich has already angrily responded to Ferguson's comments about him in the book, telling the press that he wants confront the veteran manager, claiming much of what he said is embellished.
3. The 2009 Champions League Final
2009 saw Manchester United reach the Champions League Final where they met an in-form Barcelona side. The Catalan club ruled the game from early on, completing a dominating 2-0 victory over Sir Alex Ferguson's men.
It was revealed in the autobiography that Ferguson blames Carlos Tevez and Anderson for the defeat. He claims that the Brazilian midfielder was below par, while the Argentine forward played in a selfish manner when brought on in the second half.
2. Roy Keane
Roy Keane was Sir Alex's captain marvel for many of the glory years during the 1990s, but their relationship ended sourly when he was shown the door at the club where he had spent nearly 13 years. Ferguson explained that the central midfielder "overstepped his mark" as a player and was therefore sold on.
He disapproved of the way the former Republic of Ireland international publicly spoke out against the club in last few years at Old Trafford. Keane has already responded to his former manager's claims against him, stating that the Scot doesn't appreciate loyalty.
1. "Pizzagate"
One of Sir Alex's and Manchester United's biggest rivalries in recent times has been with Arsene Wenger's Arsenal, who posed a serious challenge on the domestic front. Following a feisty game at Old Trafford in 2004, the two managers clashed in the tunnel at the end of the game.
During the argument, a slice of pizza was thrown at Fergie, with many believing Cesc Fabregas to be the culprit. In his book, Sir Alex still explains that he does not know who threw the pizza, but has described the corridor as becoming "a rabble", following the incident.
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