Alex Ferguson Quotes

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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!

It was the most emphatic display of selflessness I have seen on a football field. Pounding over every blade of grass, competing as if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him.

There is no evidence that changing your managers repeatedly leads to success, but there is evidence at Manchester United, I was managing there for 26 years I won 38 trophies.

You can't applaud a referee.

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

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

All they can talk about is Manchester United.

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.

I have nothing but praise for the boy. He is easily the best player in the world. His contribution as a goal threat is unbelievable. His stats are incredible. Strikes at goal, attempts on goal, raids into the penalty box, headers. It is all there. Absolutely astounding.

My greatest challenge is not what's happening at the moment, my greatest challenge was knocking Liverpool right off their f*****g perch. And you can print that.

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

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

If ever there was one player, anywhere in the world, that was made for Manchester United, it was Cantona. He swaggered in, stuck his chest out, raised his head and surveyed everything as though he was asking: 'I'm Cantona. How big are you? Are you big enough for me?'

That lad must have been born offside.

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

Pippo Inzaghi was born in an offside position.

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.

Ronaldo could play for Millwall, QPR, Doncaster Rovers or anyone and he'd score a hat-trick. I'm not sure Messi could do it. Ronaldo's got two feet, he's quick, he's good in the air and he's brave, though Messi's brave too of course. I just think Messi is a Barcelona player.

We once went 13 games without winning. There's always pressure here. Winning is always important here. How do you handle yourself and compose yourself is important. (on Manchester United)

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

I do believe in fate.

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

I bet him he wouldn't get 15 league goals and I'm going to have to change my bet with him. If he gets to 15 I can change it and I am allowed to do that because I'm the manager. I'm going to make it 150 now!

Attack wins you games, defence wins you titles.

You start with what you believe in. I believe in building a football club rather than building a football team.

I always used to say to players at half-time, 'Be patient. The last fifteen minutes throw the kitchen sink at them. It's worth a gamble'. You are going to lose the game anyway. There is nothing better than when you get to that last fifteen minutes and you actually win the game late on. The fans are going out of the gates I gave it a try and it worked.

I'm going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V-formation but the second ones don't fly. They're the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over - so it's teamwork.

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

To not apologize for the behavior of the players to another manager is unthinkable. It's a disgrace, but I don't expect Wenger to ever apologize...he's that type of person.

I always say prepare to be a coach to anybody who wants to be a coach. At 24 years of age when I left engineering to become full time in football, I made sure that I was never going back to engineering.

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.

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

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.

He has an awareness of what's happening around him on the edge of the box which is better than most players. As a kid he always had a knack of arriving in the penalty area just at the right time, but he's proving just as effective from outside the box because he's using his experience in the right way. It doesn't matter who I am thinking about bringing into my midfield, Paul Scholes will be included, as he would in any side in the world.

There was one or two offers that did come along during my time at United, but I always came back to this point; why would you leave United? Where is the bigger challenge? And the thing about challenges is, once you have won something, you can't live on that. Not at Manchester United - you have got to win the next one. And that's the challenge. Maintaining that consistency of winning which is a mentality that I have had.

Players know that they can trust me which is really important. They know that I had the ability to adapt to change, and they have seen that many times over the years. I think these are important parts of being in control of footballers.

It's great news. The reality of negotiations today is that they take time. But these have always been conducted in a good spirit and we are very pleased with the outcome. We can now look forward to the future.

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

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

David Beckham is Britain's finest striker of a football not because of God-given talent but because he practises with a relentless application that the vast majority of less gifted players wouldn't contemplate.

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

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

I think Paul Scholes is the best player in England. He's got the best skills, the best brain. No one can match him. There isn't a player of his mould anywhere in the world. Paul is irreplaceable.