Page 55 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

because of an injury, you’ve just got to work to get back. This can’t last forever,’ I told him.
He was assailed by guilt. He thought he was letting us down. He would send me apologetic texts to
that effect. I tried to impress on him that he had been unlucky, and that unlucky players could be found
throughout footballing history. Viv Anderson was one. When we were assessing Viv’s playing record

at Arsenal, we noticed that in four years he missed four games. Suspension, every time. Viv came to
us and was never fit. We gave him a free transfer to Sheffield Wednesday and he played there for
three years and hardly missed a game. I used to give him stick about that. I’d say, ‘I don’t think you
wanted to play for me.’ He’s a big United fan and was desperate to shine for us, but was halted by
persistent knee trouble.
Louis knew his injuries were hampering his form, and that’s where the guilt complex began biting
away at him. Carlos devised a two-week programme for him to enable him to be fully ready in a

fortnight. This was tailored work, which he did on his own. We explained that to him, and he
embraced it – shooting, turning, and generally throwing himself into these preparatory exercises. He
was flying. Friday, the day before the game, and Saha walks off, saying he had felt something in his
hamstring. We were never going to conquer that physical sensitivity, so we reached a deal with
Everton in 2008.
Everton copied our approach and tried to raise Louis to a level where he would be confident of

playing. It might have helped him to be away from the pressure of Manchester United. He was a
fantastic centre-forward, though. In the 2009–10 season, I thought France would be mad not to take
him to the World Cup.
A constant in our discussions about young players – in terms of whether they could handle the
demands of the Old Trafford crowd and the short patience span of the media – was temperament.
Would they grow or shrink in a United shirt? We knew the make-up of every young homegrown player
who came into the United starting XI, from the training ground, from reserve team football.

You can’t leave your character in the dressing room. It has to come out of that room, down the
tunnel and onto that pitch.
In the 2003–04 season we finished third in the League behind the Invincibles of Arsenal, but
finished off with a 3–0 win over Millwall in the FA Cup final in Cardiff. Ronaldo was majestic in
that match, scoring our first goal with a header before Van Nistelrooy added two more, one from the
penalty spot.

The year had been overshadowed by the death of Jimmy Davis in a road accident. Jimmy, 21, was
one of those bright, breezy individuals. He had a chance too. He would have had a career in the game.
We had loaned him to Watford. On the way to an academy game at our place that Saturday morning, I
heard that Watford’s game that afternoon had been postponed. There were no details given. Then I
was told, at the academy game, of Jimmy’s death in a road accident.
He was a tenacious wee lad, very popular. A large number from the club attended his funeral. Two
years later, at a wedding, I felt a creeping sense of déjà vu. As the photographs were being taken

outside, the minister came over to me and said, ‘Would you like to come round and see Jimmy’s
grave?’ I hadn’t made the connection, and it chilled me to the core. It was so sad. He would not be
forgotten by Manchester United.