Page 82 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

someone who had experienced all the emotional extremes in the game and enjoyed our conversations.
My indignation in that first leg stemmed from all the diving his Porto players were doing. I think he
was a bit taken aback by my anger. I went too far. There was no need for me to vent my feelings on
José. I was more angry with Keane for being sent off. Playing on my mind was the knowledge that

Martin O’Neill had complained about the conduct of José’s players in the UEFA Cup final between
Porto and Celtic, which Porto won. There was a seed in me. I had watched that final but didn’t think
they were atypical of a Portuguese team. But when Martin O’Neill kept on and on about it, I started to
persuade myself that José’s team were cynical.
My first impression in the away leg was that Roy had been the victim of a refereeing misjudgment.
On review, it was clear he’d tried to leave his mark on their goalkeeper. That reduced us to ten men
and meant Keane was suspended for the return leg.

In the Old Trafford leg, the referee behaved bizarrely. We attacked three or four minutes before the
end of the game. Ronaldo beat the full-back and he chopped him down. The linesman flagged but the
Russian referee played on. Porto went to the other end and scored.
I congratulated José at the end of that match. When a team knock you out, it’s imperative to find a
way to say ‘all the best’. We had a glass of wine and I told him: ‘You were lucky, but good luck in the
next leg.’

The next time he appeared at Old Trafford, he brought a bottle of his own wine, a Barca-Velha, and
that started a tradition. The wine at Chelsea was awful, which I could never understand. I said to
Abramovich once, ‘That’s paint-stripper.’ The next week he sent me a case of Tignanello. A great
drop, one of the best.
As for José’s gallop along the touchline at Old Trafford, I’ve done it myself. I think back to when
we scored against Sheffield Wednesday and Brian Kidd was on the pitch, on his knees, with me
rejoicing on the touchline. I admire people who show you their emotions. It shows you they care.

That Champions League victory over United launched José. Beating Celtic in a UEFA Cup final
was an achievement, but defeating Manchester United at Old Trafford and then going on to win the
European Cup was a fuller demonstration of his talent. I remember saying to him around 2008, ‘I
don’t know when I’m going to retire. It’s difficult when you get older because you’re scared to retire.’
José said: ‘Don’t you retire, you’re keeping me going.’ He said he had other challenges, but definitely
wanted to come back to England. He won the Champions League with Inter Milan and La Liga in

Spain with Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea in June 2013.
Everyone I speak to tells me that José is exceptionally good with players. He’s meticulous in his
planning, the detail. He’s a likeable person when you get to know him, and he can laugh at himself,
turn a joke back on himself. I don’t know whether Wenger or Benítez had that capacity.
Watching José tackle the Real Madrid job after his appointment in 2010 was fascinating. It was the
most interesting appointment I could remember in the game; the most intriguing match of styles,
managerial and playing. Every coach who has worked there has had to adhere to their philosophy.

The galáctico philosophy. When they appointed Mourinho, I’m sure they must have accepted that they
would need to bend to his thinking if they were to win the European Cup.
It’s like any profession. You bring someone in and suddenly everything is altered, and the authors
of that appointment say, ‘Just a minute, we didn’t know we were going to get this.’ There would have
been a few fans sitting in the Bernabéu thinking: ‘I’m not happy with this. I didn’t pay for this. I’d
rather lose 5–4 than 1–0.’

So the spectacle of José’s time in Madrid held me in its grip. It was the greatest challenge of his
working life. He had proved the merits of his ways, at Porto, Chelsea and Inter Milan. He had won