Page 99 - Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography

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FROM adversity, the really illustrious clubs return to their cycle of winning. Maybe I was lucky to have
joined United in a troubled phase of their history. The League title had not been won for 19 years and
I inherited a culture of low expectation. We had become a Cup team, and the fans anticipated a good
run in the knock-out competitions more than in League action, where their hopes were kept in check.
My predecessors Dave Sexton, Tommy Docherty and Ron Atkinson were successful men, but in

their years there was no consistent or sustained challenge for the championship. The same was true of
Liverpool in the years when United were on top from 1993 onwards, but I could always feel their
breath on my neck from 25 miles away.
When a club of Liverpool’s history and tradition pull off a treble of cup wins, as they did in 2001,
with the FA, League and UEFA trophies under Gérard Houllier, you are bound to feel a tremor of
dread. My thought that year was: ‘Oh, no, not them. Anybody but them.’ With their background, their
heritage and their fanatical support, as well as their terrific home record, Liverpool were implacable

opponents, even in their fallow years.
I liked and respected Gérard Houllier, the Frenchman who took sole charge when the joint-manager
experiment with Roy Evans was ended by the Anfield board. Steven Gerrard was starting to emerge
as a youthful force in midfield, and they could summon two sensational goal-scorers in Michael Owen
and Robbie Fowler.

The big cultural change was investing power in someone from outside the Liverpool religion. The
succession of internal appointments from Shanks to Bob Paisley to Joe Fagan to Kenny Dalglish to
Graeme Souness to Roy Evans maintained consistency of purpose. Towards the end of Kenny’s first
spell in charge, you could sense a shift. The team had grown old and Liverpool were starting to make
unusual purchases: Jimmy Carter, David Speedie. These were untypical Liverpool signings. Graeme
Souness made the right move but too quickly, breaking up an ageing team too fast. One mistake was to
discard one of the best young players, Steve Staunton. Graeme would admit that himself. There was
no need to let Staunton go. Graeme is a good guy but he’s impetuous. He can’t get there quickly

enough. And his impetuosity cost him in that period.
A virtue of dealing with Liverpool back then was that they would all come into my office mob-
handed after the game. I inherited the tradition of every member of our staff going in to see them at
Anfield and each one on their side reciprocating at Old Trafford. The Liverpool boot-room men had
far more experience in that regard than me, but I learned quickly. Win, lose or draw, there would be a

full turn-out and a rapport between the two managerial clans. Because there was such a divide
between the two cities and such competitive tension on the field, it was even more important to retain