There is no doubt that Sir Alex Ferguson looks for a certain type of player when he builds his Manchester United squads. Basically, he is after the footballer who has the mentality to play for United. That's the crucial element when I speak to him about this: he assesses the mental side, not just the skills-based side.
He is, in particular, trying to understand whether the player can handle performing for United and the pressures the club suffer in terms of how every game must be won, and so can they be part of the club's relentless winning campaign. There is no let-up to that drive from Sir Alex, and from the club. Losing two games on the trot at Manchester United is a crisis, it's a disaster, it is talked about everywhere.
So selecting the type of player who has the winning mentality to carry this on throughout the years is one element he has mastered on many occasions.
Spotting talent is pretty easy but whether that talent will be able to produce its best in the high-pressure games is one of the hardest things to gauge. I think that's why Sir Alex often tries now to buy players younger [as he has this summer], with Phil Jones [19] and the Spanish goalkeeper [David de Gea, 20].
This allows him to ease them in slowly, accustom them to the Man United way, how it's done at Man United now, and how he views them as part of the year-in, year-out regeneration there.
What's kept Sir Alex ahead of the game is how he focuses on the match in hand, the season in hand, while also looking at the future. His foresight in selecting players has been crucial. He had a year or two when it didn't quite work for him. But out of 25 [since joining United] that's not too bad. Everybody has a few bad signings here and there, but I think he'd had fewer than anybody else.
The second thing is that he's always sensed the right time to rebuild another team – his timing has been immaculate when getting rid, say, of those huge players that have had immense influence at Manchester United. You can go way back to the early days of him knowing when it was time for Bryan Robson, who was the leader, to [move on, in 1994]. Then you've got the Guv'nor [Paul Ince, who left in 1995], [David] Beckham [2003], and other big players such as these.
He always seemed to master the right time for players to leave the club, and always seemed to find the right ones to replace them. That's another part of why he's as great a manager as he is.
And then, he changes his staff, he regenerates his staff. It's a modern-day game, and most managers of his age tend to find a winning formula that's successful and then stick with it. But they can lose sight of change and fall by the wayside. Sir Alex has always implemented change on and off the field. His staff has grown in many different departments to work in the new areas that modern football has created.
Many of the changes off the field he's researched, and thought about, and then decided how best to move forward with them.
He still has some old-fashioned values and he's obviously never going to lose those. But he's kept up to date with the changes in football such as sports science, the psychology side, the strength and conditioning, the live data and analysis you can get.
Now, he probably holds one of the biggest staffs in the country. In the early days it might only have been five or six people. It has risen to 25 or 26, so he is right up there regarding having the right people in the right jobs.
He's in his late 60s and he's still there with it, he's still interested in it, he still craves it and that's the real reason why he has been so successful: his desire and ambition is greater than anyone else's at his club. I think that's what makes him so great.
His biggest challenge now is to knock Barcelona off their perch, isn't it? When you see them in the Champions League final [beating United 3-1 at Wembley], you know he's not going to stand still and just take that. He wants to be the best all the time, and he's always felt he should have won more Champions League trophies [than two].
So, now, he's gone and rapidly done something about this [with his summer buys, which also include Ashley Young]. His was a side that won the Premier League by nine clear points, he adapted it to make sure they won the title – it was not the most creative team he ever had but it was one of the most effective.
He wants, though, not only to be challenging for the league, but for the club to be better and more equipped to challenge Barcelona next time round in the Champions League. So he went out straight away and bought new players as soon as possible, which we'd all love to do.
As for those new players – Young, Jones, and De Gea – if Sir Alex Ferguson comes calling for you it's an honour. It is not something that you can turn down – there's really only Real Madrid and Barcelona that are on a par with Manchester United.
They are the three clubs, aren't they? Unless a player wants to choose money. Manchester United pay good money but they won't be paying as much as Chelsea or Manchester City. But as a footballer, if you're going for money you're going for the wrong reason anyway.
And Sir Alex wouldn't want you. He wants players who want trophies.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/aug/08/sam-allardyce-sir-alex-ferguson
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