Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho don’t share a footballing philosophy, and that’s reflected in their respective Manchester United teams.
Ferguson’s teams, across 26 years at Old Trafford, played wonderful, exciting attacking football, and always took the game to the opposition, with their persistence often rewarded with last minute winners.
He’s only been manager a year, but we have seen what type of football Mourinho will instruct his team to play. United have been cagey in big games, playing direct, and surrendering possession in order to prevent mistakes and capitalise on opposition errors.
Ferguson’s teams played with flying wingers, Mourinho turns his wingers into auxiliary full-backs. The contrast between their outlooks on the game was highlighted again by comments the former United manager made in an interview earlier this week.
Ferguson was asked about the emphasis in modern football on playing in an attacking manner.
“That’s a lot to do with the fitness of players,” Ferguson said about the importance of attacking football in an interview with UEFA.
“The counterattack has become more prominent today – the condition of pitches is superb today. And also the protection of footballers has become more prevalent, so a lot of these things add up to what you’re seeing as a far better spectacle.
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“I think you have a duty and a responsibility to entertain. We have to always remember that there’s a public to be entertained. In my time at United, it was ‘as long as you win’ – if it was 4-3, OK, or 5-4, OK. My last game was 5-5 [at West Brom on 19 May 2013]! I couldn’t ask for a better score in my last game at United.”
Ferguson went on to praise the great Barcelona team coached by Pep Guardiola, which beat United in the 2009 and 2011 Champions League finals, and spoke about the importance of teams using the ball well.
“Possession now is definitely starting through your centre-backs and your goalkeeper,” the 75-year-old said.
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“Barcelona, I think, were the originators of that – Pep’s team. It was probably one of the best European teams of all time. As long as you have possession, your opponents don’t. When I was at Aberdeen, that was one of the lessons we had to instil in the players.
“We have to make sure we’re still producing players that can penetrate with a pass – like Paul Scholes or Michael Carrick, Zinedine Zidane, Andrea Pirlo.”
Needless to say, Mourinho wouldn’t agree with Ferguson’s views on possession football. Both men are winners, but the comments made by the former United manager emphasis that he views the game in a completely different light than Mourinho.
