Ferguson’s formula of turning ‘average’ players into winners

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. AFP PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • Sir Alex says his first order of business was bringing in young players and building a youth system that could sustain the club for years, rather than signing veterans for short-term success.
  • Ferguson argues that your team, including staff, will pick up cues from you on how to conduct themselves: “I used to be the first to arrive in the morning.
  • Early in his career, he delegated practice sessions to assistant coaches so he could simply watch and observe what was going on with each individual player.

Don’t stop reading now, Arsenal fans, but it is exactly three years ago this week when one of the most remarkable matches the Premier League has seen took place, ending in Manchester United putting eight past Arsene Wenger’s men.

The result, 8-2, was a milestone (the worst defeat for Arsenal since 1896) but the fact I find most remarkable is the personnel with whom Alex Ferguson achieved that result.

This was the Manchester United line-up on August 28, 2011: De Gea, Evra , Jones, Evans, Smalling, Anderson (Giggs - 68’), Nani (Park Ji-sung - 68’), Young, Cleverley, Rooney, Welbeck (Hernandez - 35’).

Take De Gea and Rooney out of that team and you are left with players who no serious Champions League team would buy. In fact, a lot of the names in that starting line-up would comfortably line up for a mid-table team like Newcastle or a slightly more average one like Aston Villa.

Yet, with distinctly ordinary players, Ferguson was able to achieve incredible success, particularly in his final years at Old Trafford. Instead of lamenting the difficulties his successors are facing, perhaps the bigger story is the question of just how Ferguson did it.

Louis van Gaal is a good manager and he will need time to adapt to the United hot-seat (although I fear the 3-5-2 “total football” system might never work because it needs highly cultured footballers brought up in a proper coaching environment such as is to be found in Holland or Spain and Englishmen will never quite understand it).

Still, a mystery needs to be resolved. How did Ferguson win the Champions League while stubbornly refusing to buy a central midfielder since Owen Hargreave’s injury? How did he get the likes of Young (who scored twice that day against Arsenal) look like a world beater?

There must be something about coaches who can make average players seem far better than they are. Another example is probably Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid which thoroughly outplayed, outfought and outthought a star studded Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup with a very ordinary looking team.

Fortunately, Ferguson offered up his thoughts, in a series of interviews with the Harvard Business Review for posterity. The Harvard academics reduced it to an eight-point summary they dubbed “Ferguson’s Formula.” Here are selected highlights, as recorded in part by the Business Insider:
Start with the foundation

Sir Alex says his first order of business was bringing in young players and building a youth system that could sustain the club for years, rather than signing veterans for short-term success.

“I wanted to build right from the bottom. With this approach, the players all grow up together, producing a bond that, in turn, creates a spirit.”
This approach was famously criticised by the ex-Liverpool player Alan Hansen who declared, in 1998, that “you can never win anything with kids”. Manchester United won the treble in the 1998-99 season.

Dare to rebuild your team

Since he wasn’t afraid of being fired, he made decisions based on what the team would look like in four years. Ferguson’s argument was that one should reshape and rework the team in cycles and he famously disbanded many great teams. He was never shy to let stars such as Beckham, Kanchelskis or Roy Keane leave when he felt they had run their course.

“The cycle of a successful team lasts maybe four years, and then some change is needed. So we tried to visualize the team three or four years ahead and make decisions accordingly.”

Set high standards — and hold everyone to them

Ferguson argues that your team, including staff, will pick up cues from you on how to conduct themselves: “I used to be the first to arrive in the morning. In my later years, a lot of my staff members would already be there when I got in at 7am I think they understood why I came in early — they knew there was a job to be done.”

Never, ever cede control

You have to get rid of an employee if he’s creating discord and trying to wrest some of your power, even if he is the best player in the world. Don’t worry about whether employees like you.

“You can’t ever lose control—not when you are dealing with 30 top professionals who are all millionaire. And if any players want to take me on, to challenge my authority and control, I deal with them.”

Match the message to the moment

One must balance between the moment when to criticise a player or when to hold back or praise them. This great anecdote on dealing with Rooney in his autobiography sums it up.

“He would rage in the dressing room when I picked him out for criticism. His eyes would burn as if he wanted to knock my lights out.” Somehow, the results came along.

Prepare to win

He argues you should not be shy to take risks. Ferguson’s philosophy is that if you’re down 2-1, you might as well put on an extra attacking player and lose 3-1 rather than play conservatively and lose 2-1 anyway.

“Winning is in my nature. I’ve set my standards over such a long period of time that there is no other option for me—I have to win. I expected to win every time we went out there. Even if five of the most important players were injured, I expected to win.”

Rely on the power of observation

Early in his career, he delegated practice sessions to assistant coaches so he could simply watch and observe what was going on with each individual player. He said, “I don’t think many people fully understand the value of observing. I came to see observation as a critical part of my management skills. The ability to see things is key—or, more specifically, the ability to see things you don’t expect to see.””

Never stop adapting

The game went through several cycles in Ferguson’s time at the helm, he faced managers of very different types, the meticulous Mourinho, highly tactical and combustible Benitez, the purist, attack-minded Wenger, but somehow he learnt to live with all of them.

“Most people with my kind of track record don’t look to change. But I always felt I couldn’t afford not to change. We had to be successful—there was no other option for me—and I would explore any means of improving. I continued to work hard. I treated every success as my first.”