Teachers' Day Special: Ryan Giggs and Sir Alex Ferguson

At 39 years of age, with every possible domestic glory under his belt and a hoard of records to boot, Ryan Giggs is the grand old man of English football. The only player to have played and scored in all the seasons of the ‘Premier League’, Giggsy is also the only player still around to have played in the old ‘first division’. The Welshman’s past is doused in memorable moments – that one magical run and goal against Arsenal in the FA cup semi-final of ’99 comes to mind. After scoring from an improbable situation to dig United out of deep trouble, Giggs ran bare-chested to produce one of the most picturesque scenes in footballing history, before being engulfed in celebration by his teammates.

And at this epitome, a Scotsman celebrated with childlike glee, seeing his find, his nurture, his produce grabbing the world by storm. That Scotsman, not for the first nor the last time clapping his hands in admiration and joy, is who Ryan Giggs owes his entire career to. For if Sir Alex Ferguson, yet to be knighted back then, had not landed up at Giggsy’s house and persuaded him to leave Manchester City‘s school of excellence and sign for United, things today might have been very different.

It was by no means a one-way street, of course. When Giggs ran half the pitch after scoring straight through Seaman, he was metaphorically running to the dramatic treble of ’99; one in which he would have much more part to play. It was that treble which triggered the knighthood being conferred upon Sir Alex, much to the chagrin of Liverpudlian fans, for his overall service to football.

A major portion of that service has been to raise generation after generation of pedigree footballers, none classier nor devoted than Giggs. Breaking into the first team a good couple of years ahead of any of his golden generation peers, Giggs’ longevity is incredible, but not surprising considering he was mentored by the best brain football has known. If not for the judicious application of Sir Alex, it is hard not to believe that the speedy legs of Giggsy would have burned out many a year ago.

In his heyday, Giggs was the benchmark for speedy wingers, and after flummoxing Fabio Coentrao on more than one occasion in the Champions League last season, one can easily argue that he retains some of those qualities. It’s not just exercise and conditioning which have contributed to this extended performance, mind you. The tactical acumen of the recently-retired gaffer has had a major part.

Transforming one of, if not the best winger that English football has ever seen into a play-maker was never going to be easy, if at all possible. Yet, over an extended period, Sir Alex managed to mould Giggs into a natural-seeming central midfielder. The change was imperceptible to those that did not intentionally seek it, and yet made a world of difference in the era of Ronaldo’s emergence. More than just as a player on the pitch, Giggs has learnt plenty off Sir Alex off it as well.

When a player is so good you have to play him in an unfamiliar position ahead of someone who specialises in playing there, you know you have a real gem. That’s how it was with Giggs when Ronaldo made it through the United ranks on his rapid rise to fame. Where others might have sulked and made demands of the club, Giggs put Sir Alex’s philosophy of ‘the club comes first’ before himself and went about his business in a thoroughly professional manner.

In spite of struggling to adapt immediately to the central region in midfield, the Welshman stuck to the task, falling back on the wise advice and familiar shoulders of Ferguson in times of doubt. Such was his dedication to the game, and the quality of Ferguson’s tactics, that Giggs won his only PFA player of the year award in ’09, well after his prime days as a winger.

Sir Alex’s greatest teachings to Ryan Giggs, perhaps, have to be the hunger to win and the desire for more. Having knocked Liverpool “off their f**king perch”, one might have thought Ferguson would have finally retired. But there’s no rest for the wicked, as they say, and only after well and truly overtaking the former dominant force in England did the reign end.

In similar fashion, pundits have been predicting Giggs’ retirement for about half a decade now, but it doesn’t seem remotely close. It was him and dear friend Scholesy who stepped up the tempo in many a game last season, when United looked to lack inspiration. It worked. A galvanic 20th title was reached. But with the master now gone, along with all but one of the golden generation, it is up to the pupil, the last survivor to guide the newcomers through the storm.

No matter how hard it got, Sir Alex never gave up. His pupil, we know, will do no worse.