Sir Alex Ferguson reveals his biggest mistake at Old Trafford was his attempted retirement in 2002

Sir Alex Ferguson talks about the biggest mistake he made while managing Manchester United

Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson revealed his biggest mistake at Manchester United was to talk about his plans on retiring before the end of the season in 2002, according to ESPN. The 73-year-old though went back on his decision and ended up retiring in 2013, by which time he had won 13 Premier League trophies, five FA Cups, four League Cups and two UEFA Champions League trophies.

Ferguson felt that his team went trophyless in 2005 mostly because of his failed retirement decision.

“It’s important to listen to your staff. In 2005, that period we didn’t win anything, just before that I had an attempted retirement, and I think that affected everyone,” said Ferguson.

“It was a mistake, and my wife and my three sons changed my attitude towards it and I started to think.

“The biggest mistake I made was announcing it at the start of the [2001-02] season, and I think a lot of them had put their tools away; they thought, ‘Oh, the manager’s leaving,’ but when I changed my mind in January, I started thinking about United again and how we could get back on top.”

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo helped United back to the top

Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo helped Manchester United become a dominant team in the mid to late 2000s

The Scotsman said that the team had become dull during that period, and it was Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing that rejuvenated the club.

“After that is when [Wayne] Rooney and [Cristiano] Ronaldo came to the club and we had to regenerate everyone. The youth side of it, the scouts; we’d gone to sleep. Strangely enough, the period from there on has been glorious; it’s been fantastic with the numbers of league titles we won,” he explained.

“The moments you don’t win anything register very strongly with Manchester United.”

Ferguson was known for developing young players and making them into stars, and his ideology has helped him win several trophies. During his reign, he had two majorly successful periods and both these periods were lead by youngsters he developed.

The first period was lead by the members of the Class of ‘92 which consisted of stars like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and Nicky Butt while the second era included players like Ronaldo and Rooney.

While Ferguson’s first team saw more trophies, the attacking prowess of the second group was considered deadlier. United won their second Champions League trophy under Ferguson with Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Rooney leading United’s attack. They were so good that several fans dubbed them as the new Trinity.