This is also Sir Alex Ferguson's best formation.

Ferguson is a world-recognized legendary coach. In the more than 26 years since he took over Manchester United, Manchester United has gone from being in decline to becoming a leading team in the Premier League and even in world football, and he has also ushered in a passionate era for the Red Devils.

Strictly speaking, Ferguson is not a tactical head coach. His most core ability is management, and it is godfather-type management.

What is a godfather? To put it simply, it is a dad.

Since Ferguson trained the Class of 92, he has been the big daddy of all Manchester United players. Whether it is Keane, Beckham, or Ronaldo, Ferguson always appears as a strict father.

Keane is fearless, but when he sees Ferguson, he respectfully calls him "boss".

Not to mention Beckham. The flying boot scandal almost ruined Beckham's handsome face, which he relied on for survival. However, Beckham still did not dare to fall out with Ferguson.

Sunderland defender Bardsley, who once tackled Manchester United's popular star Cristiano Ronaldo in his debut match, said in an interview more than 10 years after Ferguson retired and stopped coaching that he was walking on the road without recognizing anyone, and suddenly the window of an old car rolled down, and then Ferguson's father leaned out and yelled at him: "Son! What did I tell you? Shave your damn beard!"

Bardsley said that he was terrified at the time. The fear of being dominated by his father when he was young in Manchester United's youth team and Manchester United's first team instantly rushed to his mind. Even though he is no longer a Manchester United player and even though Ferguson has not been the head coach for more than ten years, the feeling between father and son is still so strong.

During Ferguson's time as coach of Manchester United, there was no Manchester United player who disrespected or feared Ferguson.

Ferguson is called the hair dryer, and this nickname is definitely not groundless.

If Manchester United players don't play well enough, Ferguson will really scold them.

Manchester United at that time was full of world-class stars, but in front of Ferguson, no big name was a big name.

In Ferguson's locker room, Ferguson himself is the biggest.

This is the Godfather type of coach.

Ferguson is a team-building and management coach, so when he just moved from the Scottish League to the Premier League to take over Manchester United, Manchester United's performance was still a mess.

Fortunately, the Manchester United executives at the time gave Ferguson great trust, and Ferguson also patiently built the world-famous Class of 92 for Manchester United according to his own ideas.

It can be said that Ferguson's coaching philosophy and Manchester United's never-admit-defeat-never-give-up Red Devil spirit complement each other. This is why Ferguson coached Manchester United for more than 26 years. He led the team in more than 1,500 games and achieved an astonishing 895 victories.

In the 26 seasons that Ferguson coached Manchester United, Manchester United won a total of 38 championship titles including 13 Premier League titles, 2 Champions League titles, 5 FA Cup titles, etc.

The most glorious one was in the 1998-1999 season, when Ferguson led Manchester United to achieve the feat of the "Triple Crown", for which he was awarded an honor by the Queen and became a lower-level knight in the UK, with the aristocratic suffix "SRI" in front of his name.

You know, these dazzling results apparently took 26 seasons, but in fact, Ferguson spent the first five years of his tenure at Manchester United quietly cleaning up Manchester United's connections and cultivating Class 92 youth training talents.

So, all in all, it took Ferguson only 22 seasons to win these awards.

One of the main reasons for Ferguson's success at Manchester United is that he adopted a high-pressure management method for the resilient Manchester United. This godfather-style management was very popular in the 1990s. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that it was the times that created Manchester United.

However, godfather-style and paternalistic management is actually a double-edged sword.

First of all, the paternalistic management that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s has become a bit outdated for players after 2000.

As the players' fame grew and as other clubs began to poach them in a dog-licking manner, many well-known players began to become less interested in godfather-style, paternalistic management. The sense of collective honor and the idea of ​​sacrificing one's own interests for the collective were also replaced by a free and casual social atmosphere.

Therefore, with the changes of the times, Ferguson's coaching style has encountered unprecedented difficulties.

Ferguson also saw this. When he realized that his absolute authority in the locker room was being challenged by the entire era, Ferguson knew that his era had passed. This is why he chose to retire after 2012.

However, the glory of the Ferguson era also led to the mess in the post-Ferguson era.

Only a godfather-like, patriarchal head coach like Ferguson can control a top club like Manchester United - not only can he suppress world-class players, Ferguson can also suppress mentally ill senior executives, preventing them from doing anything wrong.

Once Ferguson leaves the locker room and retreats to the second line, all the evildoers will come out to breathe, and may even become even worse.

After Ferguson retired, neither Moyes, Ferguson's chosen successor, nor Van Gaal, the famous master of personnel, nor Mourinho, the tactical master, could truly control Manchester United, which had already run away from its reins.

Manchester United suffered a lot of "benign suppression" during the Ferguson era, and after Ferguson left, the chaos became even worse.

Especially with the constant bloodsucking of the Jewish consortium, the Glazer family, it has only been a few years since Ferguson retired, and the club that once dominated the Premier League and even world football is falling at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Apart from Ferguson, no head coach can perfectly rule Manchester United, a wealthy club that already has various contradictions and problems, like Ferguson.

So, from this perspective alone, Ferguson is really awesome as a club manager.

After retiring, Ferguson often gave lectures at universities, and the content of his lectures was management.

but--

It would be a big mistake to just regard Sir Alex Ferguson as a patriarch who can only yell and use high-pressure policies to manage troublemakers.

Ferguson is definitely a top-level head coach in terms of tactics, especially in chasing trend tactics.

For 26 years, almost no coach has been able to fully understand his tactical system.

...(End of this chapter)