Alex Ferguson Quotes

Don't play the occasion, play the game.

The work of a team should always embrace a great player but the great player must always work.

The most important thing in a game like that is to win it.

I am such a bloody talented guy. I might go into painting or something like that.

That lad must have been born offside.

I'm no f****** talking to you. He's a f****** great player. Yous are f******* idiots.

When he's at the top of his game, there's not a team in the world that can handle Giggs' speed and penetration

you learn more from defeats than you do from victories

If Chelsea drop points, the cat's out in the open. And you know what cats are like - sometimes they don't come home.

A housefly has a longer life expectancy than the manager of a Premier League team.

We are very focused this time and our preparation has been better. We maybe made one or two mistakes last time, but not this time.

Onde you bid farewell to discipline you day goodbye to success

If he was an inch taller he'd be the best center half in Britain. His father is 6 ft 2 in - I'd check the milkman.

As with every young player these days, Ronaldo is 18.

They (the press) have a hatred of Manchester United.

You would have thought that I had left 11 corpses on the steps of a funeral home.

Never give in or give up easily on a cause.

As long as there are games to play it is not over.

Inexperienced, or insecure, leaders are often tempted to make any infraction a capital offence.

Sometimes you're not sure about a player. Sometimes you doubt. Sometimes you have to guess. Sometimes ... you just know.

They had Jan Venegoor of ... whatever you call him.

As long as there are games to play its not over

I had to lift players' expectations. They should never give in. I said that to them all the time: "If you give in once, you'll give in twice.

You can't do anything about them ...

Gianfranco Zola once sent Gary Pallister the wrong way to such an extent that he needed a ticket to get back in.

I tried it 100 or a million times it couldn't happen again. If I could, I would have carried on playing.

Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position.

A leader who arrives in a new setting, or inherits a big role, needs to curb the impulse to display his manhood.

I think his team are mirroring Stuart Pearce as the player he was.
(on Manchester City)

The most important aspect of our system was training. Whatever happens on a Saturday afternoon has already occurred on the training ground.

I understand the intensity of the supporters. I wonder how they could turn up for work on Monday morning after we lost 5-1 to Manchester City.

Don't lie, don't steal and always be early.

In any normal season, most of the teams below Chelsea would think they are doing quite well.

Everest in his slippers. That's what he was like.

Origins should never be a barrier to success. A modest start in life can be a help more than a hindrance.

You are not going to be happy if you lose to a goal in the last minute. It is difficult to take and difficult to get out of your mind.

Jose was one of those guys on a surfboard who can stay longer on the wave than anyone else.

I tell the players that the bus is moving. This club has to progress. And the bus wouldn't wait for them. I tell them to get on board.

It's a conflict of parallels.

You can't applaud a referee.

Hard work will always overcome natural talent when natural talent does not work hard enough.

He's fiery, he's competitive, ... I think it was an unfair booking, and Wayne reacts like this against injustice.

He is improving all the time. He is only 21 and who knows what he is capable of.
(on Cristiano Ronaldo)

Jose understands winning and losing are twins in a way. When you win you don't gloat and when you lose you don't go bananas.

Once you bid farewell to discipline you say goodbye to success

Go make your mistakes in the first team. You'll learn more in a month in the first team than you will in two years in the reserves.

The culmination of three trophies was the pinnacle of my career and it has been rewarded with a knighthood.

Part of the pursuit of excellence involves eliminating as many surprises as possible because life is full of the unexpected.

You are responsible to each other because when you win a game of football, you only need eight players to perform well.

If you're going to be a footballer, be a great one.If you're going to have a dream, dream big.

The philosophy of a lot of European teams, even in home matches, is not to give a goal away.

They say he's an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages! I've got a 15-year-old boy from the Ivory Coast who speaks five languages!

I don't like losing but I've mellowed. I maybe have a short fuse but it goes away quicker now.

If we can play like that every week we'll get some level of consistency.

I'm privileged to have followed Sir Matt because all you have to do is to try and maintain the standards that he set so many years ago.

I've never played for a draw in my life.

We have to try to beat Everyone.

The way to win battles, wars and games is by attacking and overrunning the opposing side.

There are members of the London press who seek to antagonise me, deliberately.

When you run any organisation, you have to look as far down the road as you can.

Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.

I've got a temper if I need it. Nothing wrong with losing your temper, if it's for the right reasons.

All they can talk about is Manchester United.

When an Italian tells me it's pasta on the plate, I check under the sauce to make sure.

He's a novice - he should keep his opinions to Japanese football

The credit to them, the better team won and there's nothing we can do about that now.

You cannot lead by following.

Sometimes in football you have to hold your hand up and say, yeah, they're better than us.

But there is always that unpredictability about a derby match and that's what it was today.

Manchester United might not win Premier League every year, but we'd always be up there competing for it every year.

The lads really ran their socks into the ground.

I can't believe it. I can't believe it. Football. Bloody hell.

There's a lot of satisfaction that comes from knowing you're doing your best, and there's even more that comes when it begins to pay off. I

drive means a combination of a willingness to work hard, emotional fortitude, enormous powers of concentration and a refusal to admit defeat.

the best leaders tend to be missionaries rather than mercenaries.

Well, football is a hard game; there's no denying it. It's a game that can bring out the worst in you, at times.

They say it was Cesc Fabregas who threw the pizza at me but, to this day, I have no idea who the culprit was.

Only true champions come out and show their worth after defeat- and I expect us to do that.

Keeping players happy is not easy and I think anyone with a big squad will tell you that.

Kindness is a universal language regardless of age, nationality or religion.

Evolution happens. There's no football team in the world that has stayed together for time ever more.

Distinguish between power and control, delegate, be decisive - and always remember people's first names.

Jamie Carragher trained with United as a youngster. When he was with us he was a midfielder and a mundane, run-of-the-mill player.

It was our worst-ever day, the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1.

He's such a great threat because of his power and pace.
(on Cristiano Ronaldo)

He could start a row in an empty house.

Once you shake hands with the devil, you have to accept they are in control.

I feel sympathy for the working class lad. I've always championed about ticket prices and try to equate that to people's salaries.

If you need one person to change your destiny, then you have not built a very solid organisation.

I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cockier spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.

Wayne is truly blessed. He doesn't just have ability, he has a fire inside him.

I used to have a saying that when a player is at his peak, he feels as though he can climb.

Promise is one thing. Fulfilling that promise is quite another.

One mark of a leader is his willingness to share information.

Cole should be scoring from those distances, but I'm not going to single him out.

If I have my health I can carry on. There will be a point when I do quit but I have absolutely no idea when that is.

He was taking 30 seconds to book a player. He was needing a rest. It was ridiculous.

Her Majesty said she hoped I would have time for my horses - I own two and have shares in four.