THE
STORY OF
MAn UTDwo days after winning United’s third European Cup
on a rain-soaked night in Moscow, Sir Alex Ferguson
was back at the club’s Carrington training ground to
treat a group of journalists to a few glasses of
celebratory champagne.
He confided in them that he would continue for
only two more years. “Three at the very, very, very
most,” he said. “I’ll definitely not be managing at 70.
You have to think of time for yourself. And my wife is
getting older.”
Ferguson still had much he wanted to accomplish
during this remaining time, including winning
another Champions League to close the gap
between United’s three and Liverpool’s five, and
overtaking Liverpool’s 18 league titles.
In the close season he broke United’s transfer
record to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham for
£30.75 million and persuaded Cristiano Ronaldo to
spurn the interest of Real Madrid to remain at Old Trafford.
The 2008–09 season began slowly, but once Ronaldo returned
from injury in September to complete United’s attack, Ferguson’s side
built momentum and went on a run of 16 unbeaten league games
between November and March to reach the top of the table.
Despite a 4-1 defeat to main challengers Liverpool in March, United
held firm, securing dramatic wins against Tottenham and Aston Villa
to grasp a third consecutive title, making Ferguson the first manager
to achieve this on two occasions.
In December 2008, United also became world champions for
a second time, winning the FIFA Club World Cup final 1-0 against
the Ecuadorian side LDU Quito in Yokohama, courtesy of a goal from
Wayne Rooney. In March 2009 they added the League Cup, drawing
0-0 with Tottenham in normal time before triumphing in a penalty
shoot-out in the final at Wembley.
In the Champions League, United overcame Inter Milan, Porto and
Arsenal in the knockout rounds to set up a final against Barcelona in
Rome. As the reigning European champions, United were favourites,
but after dominating the first ten minutes they visibly shrank and had
no answer to the joyous football played by the Catalan side, who won
2-0 courtesy of goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi.
“It was just one-sided; they played the tiki-taka we now know all
about, while we were wide open and just chasing shadows,” Rio
Ferdinand has since recalled.
The final was Ronaldo’s last game before he joined Real Madrid
for £80 million – then a world-record transfer fee – but FergusonT
Below United
celebrate
winning the
2011 Premier
League, their
19th overall
title, to overtake
Liverpool and
become the
most successful
English side ever
Right David De
Gea and Louis
van Gaal lift
the FA Cup at
Wembley after
defeating
Crystal Palace in
the 2016 final“ [AFTER CITY SNATCHED THE TITLE] THE BOSS
WALKED UP AND DOWN TELLING US, ‘DON’T
YOU EVER FORGET WHAT THIS FEELS LIKE’”
surprisingly failed to reinvest most of this back into his squad, only
adding the modest trio of Antonio Valencia from Wigan, an ageing
Michael Owen and an unknown French winger in Gabriel Obertan.
Despite the loss of their Ballon d’Or winner and also Carlos Tevez
to Manchester City, United came close to winning a fourth
consecutive title, taking the race to the final weekend before finishing
a point behind Chelsea.
They had more joy in the League Cup, beating Aston Villa 2-0 in the
final with goals from Owen and Wayne Rooney, who filled Ronaldo’s
void during the 2009–10 season, scoring 34 goals and being voted
the Footballer of the Year.
It was in September 2002 that Ferguson had declared, “My
greatest challenge is not what’s happening at the moment – my
greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f***ing perch.
And you can print that.”
By the end of the 2010–11 season, he achieved his ambition by
winning United’s 19th title to overtake Liverpool. United remained
unbeaten in their first 24 league games and didn’t lose until the start
of February to finish nine points ahead of Chelsea.
United were powered by Berbatov, Rooney, the Portuguese winger
Nani and Mexican striker Javier Hernandez – known as ‘Chicharito’ –
who had signed for just £6 million in the summer. This quartet scored
67 goals between them.
United also reached their third Champions League final in four
seasons, where they faced Barcelona again. In the build-up,
Ferguson had spoken about not being terrified of the “Barcelona
carousel” – the quick passing of Xavi, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel
Messi – but over 90 minutes they still had no solutions to it and
slumped to a 3-1 defeat.
“Barcelona were easily the best team ever to line up against my
United sides,” Ferguson has said. “The Barcelona side that beat us
at Wembley in 2011 was [also] superior to the one that conquered
us in Rome two years earlier.”