Sir Alex Ferguson: Managing Manchester United - Essay Example

Sir Alex Ferguson Case Indeed Sir Alex Ferguson is undeniably the most successful manager in British football antiquity. It is undisputable that Ferguson led Manchester United to success despite the challenges he underwent at the start of his career in the club. Coaching a team without winning any tittle is not an easy thing (Elberse & Dye 1-3). Ferguson’s greatness and achievement can be linked with his patience at the club. Also it may possible that Fergusson’s style of play that he instilled in his players that was purely attacking football earned him a place in the football world. Claim that Fergusson prioritized youth player development may not actually define his preference and style of football. With the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the transfer of Robin Van Persie from Arsenal football club, who according to football profession, was not a young player are some of the indications that Fergusson did not prioritize youth development. In fact youth development should not be linked with his success. Instead, Fergusson preferred quality players and it can therefore be said that he was a manager who fully understood the kind of employees he wanted to keep the fire burning. Nevertheless, Fergusson literally succeeded in the English Premier League by making Manchester United club scoop nineteen league titles and two champions’ league trophies (Elberse & Dye 2-5). Sir Alex Fergusson’s success in the football world can further be measured in terms of the fierce rivals he faced both in the English Premier League and globally. Actually, knocking out clubs like Liverpool football club was not an easy task but through hard work and better strategies, Fergusson managed to topple Liverpool. He was also faced by clubs whose owners had very strong financial muscles such as their neighboring Manchester City and the Russian’s billionaires, London based Chelsea football club. It therefore apparent that Sir Alex Fergusson’s strategies were superior to the finances and some great football styles played by clubs such as Arsenal. Indeed, Fergusson achieved what may not be easy for any manager to achieve in the football world (Elberse & Dye 4-8). Football is really the most popular sport in the world with a good number of players, viewers and heavy financial investment. Additionally, English premier League is regarded superior to other League’s globally because of the ability to contribute a lot of revenue as well as the popular support it enjoys worldwide. English premier League football clubs have a larger worldwide support thus increasing their global viewers. on the other hand, the Champions League is the most lucrative tournament which, for sure, earned Manchester united $72 million in prize money for being runner up in the 2010-2011 season. Nonetheless it was not easy for Fergusson to successfully and simultaneously win both the Champions League and the English Premier League. Fergusson claims that Pressure and competition placed on him by the local clubs and tribalism to be the main reason behind the inability to win more Champions League trophies as he won English Premier League titles. This may not be genuine reason behind failure to severally capture the most lucrative global football tournament (Elberse & Dye 5-9). Other football clubs like Barcelona and Bayern Munich have managed to reach the peak of the tournament or even win the Champions League titles and their local League trophies easily. It is obvious that the main hindrance was the intense competition from other European clubs. Fergusson’s role in Manchester united was wider than any other football manager because his degree of control was wider. He also allowed open communication with the Manchester united director as a way of getting things done smoothly and efficiently. He had his own policies and beliefs that guided his actions and eventually great performance in Manchester United (Elberse & Dye 4-7). Fergusson is an individual who learned from his previous mistakes and improve of his successes. After his clash with the chairman of St. Mirren FC, he later developed a good and strong relationship with Aberdeen FC’s chairman thus leading to his success at the club, including winning European Cup defeating European giants such as Bayern Munich ad Real Madrid. His success as a professional footballer however cannot be linked with his achievements as a manager. There is a great distinction between a great manager and a good player particularly as far as management skills is concerned. Fergusson simply possessed wonderful management skills that made his career as a football manager more successful than his career as a player (Elberse & Dye 5-10). Fergusson’s entrance in Manchester United in 1986 evidently reflected his management style of instituting discipline and family wood in the club. This resulted into many successes that included five EPL tittles out of six probable occasions between 1995 and 2001. He encouraged team spirit and understood his opponents before any game. He dwelt on expansion of talent centers and the club’s scouts in order to nature young talents. Indeed Ferguson initially believed in youth talents as was seen when he consistently played young David Beckham, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes despite complaints from fans which eventually earned the club a tittle in the EPL. It is however likely that this trend did not continue for a very long time (Elberse & Dye 7-10). Fergusson largely depended on a strategy that encouraged and corrected players whenever they did not perform well. This was actually a great disciplinary action which propelled the players to up their performance particularly in the last fifteen minutes. He always believed and instilled belief that Manchester United would win despite employing tactics that encouraged gradual buildup. He admitted his mistakes and forged ahead without waste of time. Ferguson strategically managed Manchester united in such a way that the key players would play significant games while other young players were played in less important games. This is however not a big issue because every manager would certainly do the trade off to avoid embarrassment and somehow maintain positive performance (Elberse & Dye 9-13). Sir Alex Ferguson was also very consistent when it came to training sessions. He maintained skills and tactics which he deemed important although he left his assistants to lead the sessions as he observed the players performance from a distance. This was actually very unique of his strategy because most coaches would not delegate such kind of activities to their subordinates for fear of making mistakes or just disbelief (Elberse & Dye 11-14). It is undisputable that Sir Alex Ferguson has left a mark, not only in English Premier League but also in the football coaching and in the Manchester united fraternity. Works Cited Elberse, Anita & Dye, Tom. “Sir Alex Ferguson; managing Manchester United.” Harvard Business School 513.51 (2012):1-25. Print Read More