Nobody will ever mistake Manchester United for anything other than the product of Alex Ferguson’s irresistible will. The team who, on Wednesday, attempted to return the championship of Europe to Old Trafford after an absence of 31 years are so identifiably Ferguson’s that the mark he has put on them might have been made with a branding iron.
Of all the elements assembled in a football team, it is this collective resolve which was most likely to unhinge Bayern Munich, undermining the Germans’ own, characteristic self-certainty and leaving them vulnerable. It is also the quality which deepens the respect and the faith the manager reserves for his players, the thing which underpins the conviction he feels every time they go to work.
It was no accident when Ferguson, addressing the euphoric 50 000 as they acclaimed a fifth league championship in seven years last Sunday, emphasised the vigour which is at the core of their success. “They are a fantastic bunch of players and they played with the style of Manchester United,” he told the crowd. “But, more importantly,” he added, “they played with the spirit of Manchester United.”
Every conversation with Ferguson is a rewarding reminder of the doggedness which was born and grew so strong in the environs of the shipyards in the south-west of Glasgow, but it is when assignments such as the one at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona loom that he is most animated and most obviously driven.
Wherever the talk may wander, he returns regularly to the moral fibre of his team, stressing its importance when the great occasions are upon them, when the glittering prizes are on the line. Ferguson has had this determination since he first kicked a ball, but his most telling gift is the ability to transfer it to others.
He has often looked at the calibre of player in Manchester United teams before his arrival in 1986 and wondered how they managed to go 26 years without winning a championship. The answer seems obvious, that his managerial predecessors since Matt Busby’s retirement were unable to imbue the talents with the bravura that is the hallmark of Ferguson’s teams.
At Aberdeen, his greatest achievement was not the collection of 10 trophies – three league titles, four Scottish Cups, one Scottish league Cup, the European Cup Winners Cup and the European Super Cup – but the confounding of a century of history and tradition by creating groups of players who could intimidate the Old Firm.
This was an astounding achievement, but it was the one he recognised as paramount the day he walked into Pittodrie in 1978. He knew that, by disturbing the old order, the rewards would flow as a natural consequence. Then, as now, there were players already at the club who had the no-surrender mentality; others required the transplant.
“When you have that extra thing that comes from within,” said Ferguson, just before beginning final preparations for Sunday’s victorious FA Cup final, “you’ll find it when you need it and these boys will find it down there in Barcelona. It’s what we look for in players, it’s what elevates them above the ordinary.
“We’ve been fortunate in having a lot of young players here with this quality, but it’s bringing in the Schmeichels, the Keanes, the Stams, the Yorkes and the Coles that makes the difference, that completes the picture. That’s why it’s so difficult for me to improve this squad through the transfer market.
“When you look at what we have, we could only improve it by getting players with the same character and there aren’t that many around. We would have to bring in people who would be the very best in the world.”
Even the loss of his captain, Roy Keane, because of suspension – incontestably the most influential figure in the team – was not enough to dilute Ferguson’s belief that United would overcome Bayern. But he does concede that those who carry the English banner will have to switch to a different style of play without the imposing Irish midfielder.
“I’m not going to minimise Roy Keane’s importance to us,” he said. “But we have the same situation now as we had when people said we couldn’t play without Bryan Robson. We did manage to overcome that and we simply have to do the same now without Keane. We have others here who do well for us.”
This is Ferguson’s third European final, having won the previous two, both in the Cup Winners Cup, with Aberdeen in 1983 and United in 1991. The opposition on those occasions could not be said to have been second-grade, as Real Madrid were overcome by the Scottish club in Gothenburg and Barcelona were the victims in Rotterdam.
But Wednesday’s occasion was different because of the constricted preparation time allowed to Ferguson and his players, thanks to their success on so many fronts this season. As he did previously, the manager will billet his team well outside the city, on the Costa Brava, and work primarily on their mental fortitude.
“When Aberdeen played Real,” he said, “we managed to bring forward a league game against Kilmarnock to the previous Thursday, which gave us a full six days of preparation. Before the Rotterdam game, we were able to postpone our match with Spurs until the Saturday after the European final, which allowed us 10 days of rest and preparation.”
“This time, of course, the Wembley match is only four days before, so all we’ll be doing in Spain is repairing the limbs. We’ll do more talking than ever, so the preparation will be mental, rather than practical work. We’ll have a little session on the Monday and then another at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, the night before the game.
“We have to make sure the players are calmed down about this match. Despite how well they’ve already done, big games are big games and they have to get the proper sense of it.
“They’re a good team, but we have a great chance over there. When we get ourselves right, we always have a great chance.”