Decoding Alex Ferguson's autobiography

Ferguson with David Beckham

On David Beckham : “Beckham had to go because he thought he was bigger than the manager. You cannot have a player taking over the dressing room.”“David was only player I managed who chose to be famous.”“I had no issue with him, he was a marvellous guy. How can I argue with how he has turned out, he is an icon.”

“That” boot-kicking incident always pops up in our minds when we think about the relationship that they shared. The latter half of the quote above was obviously not shared extensively by the media because it portrays their relationship in good light and the “unbiased” media conveniently chooses to ignore these bits.

The passages about David Beckham are far from bitter. The only criticism that is levelled at Beckham is the one issue we expected to be raised; David’s penchant for fame. Whether or not this is true or not, Sir Alex has a few lines here and there expressing his disapproval of David’s certain antics, particularly one incident where he refused to take off his hat because he was unveiling a new hairstyle the next day. He also describes the famous incident that led to Ferguson accidentally kicking a boot at Beckham, no further explanations required.

Barring these references, he is quite appreciative of Beckham’s achievements and praises his ability to prolong the longevity of his career at a top level. He writes that Beckham made a mistake though and should have stayed on at United where he would have gone on to be revered like Scholes and Giggs, Becks is a legend at United nonetheless.

How the media blew this out of proportion with headlines like “Ferguson tears into Beckham in an explosive autobiography” is a mystery in itself.

On Rafa Benitez : “The mistake he made was to turn our rivalry personal. Once you made it personal, you had no chance, because I could wait.

The pair have shared their differences openly in the past especially during the 2008-2009 Premier League campaign when United and Liverpool were top dogs. He expresses the usual criticism expected when Benitez is in question. He writes “I found Liverpool hard to watch when he was there. I found them dull. Benitez has more regard for destroying a game than winning.”

As ardent followers of the game but with no authority to question a manager’s tactics, we can only pass this off as yet another observation perceived in the eyes of Sir Alex Ferguson, an opinion which is well respected whether or not it strikes a chord with an individual.

Keeping with the theme of the book in praising and criticizing equally, he writes in adulation of Benitez’s signings namely Pepe Reina and Fernando Torres, the latter whom we know terrorized United in his time at Liverpool.

Sir Alex goes on to write about other figures in his book, with honesty and wit offering some funny one-liners along the way.“Mancini bought very nice wine! I’m sorry he’s left!” being one of the many lines that brings a smile. The blatant manipulation of these snippets by the media have given the book an image of an old bitter’s man view on the world which is far from truth.

The words of Sir Alex himself has re-iterated the very point I’m trying to make:

“This is a football book, not just a news tornado.”

My advice ? Buy the book and be the judge and jury yourself. Alex Ferguson has never never been known to be dull and boring.