The Transfer Playbook of Sir Alex Ferguson

[andersj]

Well, obviously he did not leave us one. But if he did leave one, what would have been the most important take-away?

Recently I had a look at the signings we made during the Ferguson-era, and while I expected it to be good, I were quite surprised at just how good it was. His era was just before we had the stastics and data available that we have today. While he did sign a few "poor" players during his time as a manager, but considering the money we spent on them, very few were expensive mistakes. Almost non.

And it made me wonder, what was the hallmark of a Ferguson signing? Looking through all the successfull signings he made, it is difficult to spot one at first. He signed players from so many different leagues, with different qualities and at all ages in different positions. So I tried to narrow it down a bit to see if I could find a pattern. The most expensive and best signings he made were;

Robin van Persie (29)
David de Gea (21)
Phil Jones (20)
Antonio Valencia (24)
Dimitar Berbatov (27)
Anderson (19)
Luis Nani (21)
Owen Hargreaves (26)
Michael Carrick (25)
Nemanja Vidic (24)
Patrice Evra (24)
Ji-Sung Park (24)
Wayne Rooney (19)
Cristiano Ronaldo (18)
Rio Ferdinand (24)
Juan Sebastian Veron (26)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
Dwight Yorke (27)
Jaap Stam (26)
Andy Cole (23)
Roy Keane (22)
Eric Cantona (26)
Denis Irwin (25)
Gary Pallister (24)
Paul Ince (22)
Neil Webb (26)
Danny Wallace (24)
Mark Hughes (25)
Brian McClair (24)
Steve Bruce (27)

The players in bold is the signings I think were most successfull/important for the club. Players who made an impact over several years. What were the hallmark of these players?

For one, the vast majority of them where in the age between 23 and 27. The only exception were Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane and Paul Ince. 4 players in a group of 19. We did not buy "winners". We made winners, by buying players who were about the enter their peak. No big stars. No big egos. Professional players, hungry for success.

We did not buy "blockbusters" who had already made it somewhere else. No players like Juan Mata, Angel di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, Raphael Varane or Cristiano Ronaldo. Not even a Paul Pogba. Maybe Juan Sebastian Veron and Hargreaves fit into that category, but of course, neither of them are to be considered successfull at Man Utd.

It was rare that we spent heavily on young players. Ronaldo was not very expensive. Rooney, and perhaps Roy Keane and Paul Ince, the most notable exception from the rule. While Rooney was exceptional, Rooney and Keane were proven in the PL. The risk associated with very young players with no experience from the PL will be higher. Considering the risk, we have spent too much money on players like Martial, Shaw, Dalot, Memphis, Bailly and even Sancho (yes, I know, he will turn out good).

Klopps signing at Liverpool actually paints a similar picture. His most expensive and/or influential signings are;

Diaz (25)?
Ibrahima Konate (21)
Diogo Jota (24)
Thiago (29)
Alisson (26)
Fabinho (25)
Keita (23)
van Dijk (26)
Salah (25)
Oxlade-Chamberlain (24)
Robertson (23)
Mane (24)
Winjaldum (26)

The players in bold are the players I would consider a success at Liverpool. Jota might be a bit early or a stretch. Thiago is probably not a flop, but I bet they feel he has not lived up to expectation.

In summary
1) Buy players at or entering their peak (23 to 27)
2) Avoid players who have "made it" (expensive, not hungry)
3) Be careful about spending heavily on youngsters

 

[Lentwood]

Well, obviously he did not leave us one. But if he did leave one, what would have been the most important take-away?

Recently I had a look at the signings we made during the Ferguson-era, and while I expected it to be good, I were quite surprised at just how good it was. His era was just before we had the stastics and data available that we have today. While he did sign a few "poor" players during his time as a manager, but considering the money we spent on them, very few were expensive mistakes. Almost non.

And it made me wonder, what was the hallmark of a Ferguson signing? Looking through all the successfull signings he made, it is difficult to spot one at first. He signed players from so many different leagues, with different qualities and at all ages in different positions. So I tried to narrow it down a bit to see if I could find a pattern. The most expensive and best signings he made were;

Robin van Persie (29)
David de Gea (21)
Phil Jones (20)
Antonio Valencia (24)
Dimitar Berbatov (27)
Anderson (19)
Luis Nani (21)
Owen Hargreaves (26)
Michael Carrick (25)
Nemanja Vidic (24)
Patrice Evra (24)
Ji-Sung Park (24)
Wayne Rooney (19)
Cristiano Ronaldo (18)
Rio Ferdinand (24)
Juan Sebastian Veron (26)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
Dwight Yorke (27)
Jaap Stam (26)
Andy Cole (23)
Roy Keane (22)
Eric Cantona (26)
Denis Irwin (25)
Gary Pallister (24)
Paul Ince (22)
Neil Webb (26)
Danny Wallace (24)
Mark Hughes (25)
Brian McClair (24)
Steve Bruce (27)

The common theme is that MOST (not all) of those signings were made from Premier League rivals. We don't have the luxury of doing that now really, because it's gotten exponentially more expensive.

 

[andersj]

The common theme is that MOST (not all) of those signings were made from Premier League rivals. We don't have the luxury of doing that now really, because it's gotten exponentially more expensive.

I think that is a good point aswell. But I do think we could afford it. Liverpool bought Mane, Robertson, Winjaldum, van Dijk and Jota from PL-rivals. Ox too (not a success though).

And while I’m not entirely convinced by Tielesman, considering the fee, he is a player I think Liverpool will be looking at this summer.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Said this a few times before, but one thing i'm almost 100% certain of is that Fergie would have bought Jamie Vardy after Leicester won the league.

The thing about SAF was he a) loved a striker and b) loved one who could definitely bang them in in the PL (Cantona, Cole, Sheringham, Yorke, Saha, Smith, Rooney, Owen, Berba, RVP etc etc). He always made sure we had a range of striking options, and quality back-up.

Though then again, if Fergie was still around, maybe Leicester would never have won the league, and Vardy would never have made such an impact... who knows.

 

[Skills]

Said this a few times before, but one thing i'm almost 100% certain of is that Fergie would have bought Jamie Vardy after Leicester won the league.

The thing about SAF was he a) loved a striker and b) loved one who could definitely bang them in in the PL (Cantona, Cole, Sheringham, Yorke, Saha, Smith, Rooney, Owen, Berba, RVP etc etc). He always made sure we had a range of striking options, and quality back-up.

Though then again, if Fergie was still around, maybe Leicester would never have won the league, and Vardy would never have made such an impact... who knows.

Last season & the Leicester season are the two seasons Alex Ferguson would just casually win the title even if he didn't have a great team himself.

 

[Ali Dia]

I said this back in 2015 when LVG was starting to bring in names and it was clear Mata wasn’t going to be half the player for us. Another 10 stuck out on the right wing. We were doing it wrong. Paying too much to players with very little to nothing left to prove

Fergie got a lot wrong in the market too but he was nearly always adding to winning team.

Players Im pretty confident he’d have bought over the years:

Kante from Leicester
Maguire from Hull
VVD and
Shaw from Southampton
Mc Neil from Burnley
Grealish from Villa
Kane from Spurs

 

[andersj]

I said this back in 2015 when LVG was starting to bring in names and it was clear Mata wasn’t going to be half the player for us. Another 10 stuck out on the right wing. We were doing it wrong. Paying too much to players with very little to nothing left to prove

Fergie got a lot wrong in the market too but he was nearly always adding to winning team.

Players Im pretty confident he’d have bought over the years:

Kante from Leicester
Maguire from Hull
VVD and
Shaw from Southampton
Mc Neil from Burnley
Grealish from Villa
Kane from Spurs

Not too sure about Shaw and McNeil. Do think he would have gone for Mane.

 

[leon24]

How are RVP, Cole, Yorke, Berba not considered “blockbuster” signings?

Just to name a few.

 

[Ali Dia]

Not too sure about Shaw and McNeil. Do think he would have gone for Mane.

Yeah I definitely think Shaw. PFA young player of the year at 18. Looked every inch a world class prospect before the leg break. Fergie would have been all over him. I think Herrera, Shaw and Thiago were signings Fergie was lining up for us.

 

[Maluco]

I think the biggest takeaway from Fergies transfers, from the various accounts that have noted this trend, is the personal touch and really exploring the character of the player before they sign.

He would visit the family, ask the people that knew him, talk directly to the player and really explore their personality profile. He wanted to see if they had the correct personality to be a top player (or more importantly, contribute to a top club like United)

We haven’t got that anymore, and as such, have a squad of players who leak information, drop their heads when up against it and spend more time promoting themselves than the club.

The most obvious example of this is with Pogba. Fergie let him go (by choosing not to play him) and made a judgement call on him. Post-Fergie, we signed him based solely on his ability, and what we have gotten is a very expensive asset with patchy form, a horrible agent, a poor mentality and one which we will now lose for nothing. A ridiculously expensive mistake that Ferguson wouldn’t have made.

We need to take the opportunity in the summer to let these players go and really do our homework on the personalities that we bring into the squad from here on out.

Ferguson didn’t always buy proven articles, but he almost always bought driven professionals with a winning mentality that loved being here and rose to the big occasions. We need that back.

 

[andersj]

Yeah I definitely think Shaw. PFA young player of the year at 18. Looked every inch a world class prospect before the leg break. Fergie would have been all over him. I think Herrera, Shaw and Thiago were signings Fergie was lining up for us.

But he basically never spent heavily on fullbacks? And all his fullbacks were really aggressive players with high-intensity. I actually think he would have been more likely to sign Robertson.

The post above me talks about how he «explored their personalities», «driven professionals». I really think the Man Utd-move came to early for Shaw.

 

[Ali Dia]

But he basically never spent heavily on fullbacks? And all his fullbacks were really aggressive players with high-intensity. I actually think he would have been more likely to sign Robertson.

The post above me talks about how he «explored their personalities», «driven professionals». I really think the Man Utd-move came to early for Shaw.

Very fair point. Robertson didn’t come along for a while after that though. I do think Fergie would have been interested in him especially at that kind of price

 

[Isotope]

Kane, Vardy, Cavani, or Lewa would be his main targets. And i don't think he'd go for Sancho who isn't direct enough (and at that price).

 

[AFC NimbleThumb]

Thing that stands out from the list above is, the players emboldened were generally bought with a purpose to fit in the then system/team.

We’ve gone through a period where we’ve spent a lot of money on players without a firm system to bring them into. I feel like we have a group of decent individuals but no cohesion. Look at Veron on that list, world class but a luxury that didn’t fit/stay round. Fergie bought with purpose. Of course he got some wrong.

Players Im pretty confident he’d have bought over the years:

Kante from Leicester
Maguire from Hull
VVD and
Shaw from Southampton
Mc Neil from Burnley
Grealish from Villa
Kane from Spurs

Son from Leverkusen.

 

[afatzp]

If Fergie was still around, I think the below deals would happen:

ST - Harry Kane , almost screaming a Fergie signing , top professionals with consistent output who can lead the front line.

RB - Matty Cash , perpetual overlapping machine. always give you 7 / 10 performance and sometimes 8 or 9, just like Irwin .

LF - Sadio Mane , another typical Fergie-like target , sharp wing, low profile and work relentless, like Valencia

DC - Virgil van Dijk , Fergie seems prefer this tower type defenders who are tall, strong, tough and impose fears into those opponents .

MC - John McGinn / Yves Bissouma , both hungry to success , max work rate and perform consistently .

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

Spoiler: TLDR

Well, obviously he did not leave us one. But if he did leave one, what would have been the most important take-away?

Recently I had a look at the signings we made during the Ferguson-era, and while I expected it to be good, I were quite surprised at just how good it was. His era was just before we had the stastics and data available that we have today. While he did sign a few "poor" players during his time as a manager, but considering the money we spent on them, very few were expensive mistakes. Almost non.

And it made me wonder, what was the hallmark of a Ferguson signing? Looking through all the successfull signings he made, it is difficult to spot one at first. He signed players from so many different leagues, with different qualities and at all ages in different positions. So I tried to narrow it down a bit to see if I could find a pattern. The most expensive and best signings he made were;

Robin van Persie (29)
David de Gea (21)
Phil Jones (20)
Antonio Valencia (24)
Dimitar Berbatov (27)
Anderson (19)
Luis Nani (21)
Owen Hargreaves (26)
Michael Carrick (25)
Nemanja Vidic (24)
Patrice Evra (24)
Ji-Sung Park (24)
Wayne Rooney (19)
Cristiano Ronaldo (18)
Rio Ferdinand (24)
Juan Sebastian Veron (26)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
Dwight Yorke (27)
Jaap Stam (26)
Andy Cole (23)
Roy Keane (22)
Eric Cantona (26)
Denis Irwin (25)
Gary Pallister (24)
Paul Ince (22)
Neil Webb (26)
Danny Wallace (24)
Mark Hughes (25)
Brian McClair (24)
Steve Bruce (27)

The players in bold is the signings I think were most successfull/important for the club. Players who made an impact over several years. What were the hallmark of these players?

For one, the vast majority of them where in the age between 23 and 27. The only exception were Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane and Paul Ince. 4 players in a group of 19. We did not buy "winners". We made winners, by buying players who were about the enter their peak. No big stars. No big egos. Professional players, hungry for success.

We did not buy "blockbusters" who had already made it somewhere else. No players like Juan Mata, Angel di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, Raphael Varane or Cristiano Ronaldo. Not even a Paul Pogba. Maybe Juan Sebastian Veron and Hargreaves fit into that category, but of course, neither of them are to be considered successfull at Man Utd.

It was rare that we spent heavily on young players. Ronaldo was not very expensive. Rooney, and perhaps Roy Keane and Paul Ince, the most notable exception from the rule. While Rooney was exceptional, Rooney and Keane were proven in the PL. The risk associated with very young players with no experience from the PL will be higher. Considering the risk, we have spent too much money on players like Martial, Shaw, Dalot, Memphis, Bailly and even Sancho (yes, I know, he will turn out good).

Klopps signing at Liverpool actually paints a similar picture. His most expensive and/or influential signings are;

Diaz (25)?
Ibrahima Konate (21)
Diogo Jota (24)
Thiago (29)
Alisson (26)
Fabinho (25)
Keita (23)
van Dijk (26)
Salah (25)
Oxlade-Chamberlain (24)
Robertson (23)
Mane (24)
Winjaldum (26)

The players in bold are the players I would consider a success at Liverpool. Jota might be a bit early or a stretch. Thiago is probably not a flop, but I bet they feel he has not lived up to expectation.

In summary
1) Buy players at or entering their peak (23 to 27)
2) Avoid players who have "made it" (expensive, not hungry)
3) Be careful about spending heavily on youngsters

Good post but you say we didn't buy big stars? RVP was the league's best striker. Andy Cole has just smashed in forty goals for Newcastle so was a star.

Also harsh on Mata I think.

 

[andersj]

Good post but you say we didn't buy big stars? RVP was the league's best striker. Andy Cole has just smashed in forty goals for Newcastle so was a star.

Also harsh on Mata I think.

Mayby my wording was a bit poor. But RvP came her because he was desperate to win. He came to Man Utd with barely any titles, and entered a team full of winners. He had a big ego, but I’m sure that made him a bit humble.

In a way, any player Man Utd buy is a star. But I prefer someone that I’m sure is desperate to win. I think there is a bigger chance you get that from someone at a smaller team, still working their way up than someone looking to improve their contract at Bayern, Real Madrid or Chelsea.

 

[NicolaSacco]

Well, obviously he did not leave us one. But if he did leave one, what would have been the most important take-away?

Recently I had a look at the signings we made during the Ferguson-era, and while I expected it to be good, I were quite surprised at just how good it was. His era was just before we had the stastics and data available that we have today. While he did sign a few "poor" players during his time as a manager, but considering the money we spent on them, very few were expensive mistakes. Almost non.

And it made me wonder, what was the hallmark of a Ferguson signing? Looking through all the successfull signings he made, it is difficult to spot one at first. He signed players from so many different leagues, with different qualities and at all ages in different positions. So I tried to narrow it down a bit to see if I could find a pattern. The most expensive and best signings he made were;

Robin van Persie (29)
David de Gea (21)
Phil Jones (20)
Antonio Valencia (24)
Dimitar Berbatov (27)
Anderson (19)
Luis Nani (21)
Owen Hargreaves (26)
Michael Carrick (25)
Nemanja Vidic (24)
Patrice Evra (24)
Ji-Sung Park (24)
Wayne Rooney (19)
Cristiano Ronaldo (18)
Rio Ferdinand (24)
Juan Sebastian Veron (26)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (25)
Dwight Yorke (27)
Jaap Stam (26)
Andy Cole (23)
Roy Keane (22)
Eric Cantona (26)
Denis Irwin (25)
Gary Pallister (24)
Paul Ince (22)
Neil Webb (26)
Danny Wallace (24)
Mark Hughes (25)
Brian McClair (24)
Steve Bruce (27)

The players in bold is the signings I think were most successfull/important for the club. Players who made an impact over several years. What were the hallmark of these players?

For one, the vast majority of them where in the age between 23 and 27. The only exception were Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane and Paul Ince. 4 players in a group of 19. We did not buy "winners". We made winners, by buying players who were about the enter their peak. No big stars. No big egos. Professional players, hungry for success.

We did not buy "blockbusters" who had already made it somewhere else. No players like Juan Mata, Angel di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, Raphael Varane or Cristiano Ronaldo. Not even a Paul Pogba. Maybe Juan Sebastian Veron and Hargreaves fit into that category, but of course, neither of them are to be considered successfull at Man Utd.

It was rare that we spent heavily on young players. Ronaldo was not very expensive. Rooney, and perhaps Roy Keane and Paul Ince, the most notable exception from the rule. While Rooney was exceptional, Rooney and Keane were proven in the PL. The risk associated with very young players with no experience from the PL will be higher. Considering the risk, we have spent too much money on players like Martial, Shaw, Dalot, Memphis, Bailly and even Sancho (yes, I know, he will turn out good).

Klopps signing at Liverpool actually paints a similar picture. His most expensive and/or influential signings are;

Diaz (25)?
Ibrahima Konate (21)
Diogo Jota (24)
Thiago (29)
Alisson (26)
Fabinho (25)
Keita (23)
van Dijk (26)
Salah (25)
Oxlade-Chamberlain (24)
Robertson (23)
Mane (24)
Winjaldum (26)

The players in bold are the players I would consider a success at Liverpool. Jota might be a bit early or a stretch. Thiago is probably not a flop, but I bet they feel he has not lived up to expectation.

In summary
1) Buy players at or entering their peak (23 to 27)
2) Avoid players who have "made it" (expensive, not hungry)
3) Be careful about spending heavily on youngsters

How can you do this analysis without looking at the players that failed? Also, how do you ‘be careful’ about spending heavily on youngsters? What does that even mean? I assume they were already fairly careful when spending 50m or whatever on Martial.

 

[andersj]

How can you do this analysis without looking at the players that failed? Also, how do you ‘be careful’ about spending heavily on youngsters? What does that even mean? I assume they were already fairly careful when spending 50m or whatever on Martial.

See OP.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

One of his tests was if a player came to Old Trafford and performed brilliantly for the opposition as he saw this as a sign they could cope with the pressure of being a United player

 

[NicolaSacco]

See OP.

I have!

 

[andersj]

I have!

Good!

 

[NicolaSacco]

Good!

You should look up the concept of survivorship bias if you want to understand why your posts doesn’t have statistical significance.

 

[ShoePolish]

He came in and made a winning culture. From then it was the case of getting 1-3 players in every year in key areas, let the mentality rub off on them, so they can be part of the group that teaches other incomings.
What we have right now is a group of failures. Last two cups we won since Fergie retired, is an FA cup, that was followed by managerial change with a new brand of playstyle, and an Europa league, a secondary tournament.
2014 summer was the best showcase for this, major squad overhauls rarely yield any success in short term.
We can't seem to focus on any cup runs, because every march/april we still seem to not know which side of the top 4 race we will end up at, so we end up focusing on getting the Arsene Wenger trophy. It's more a financial victory that a sporting one, and Ole said early on, he wanted firsthand to change the clubs inside culture, but ultimately, he just wasn't good enough/was let down at the final hurdles.
If we're getting 4-5 brand new shiny toys this summer again, I wouldn't get my hopes up.

 

[andersj]

You should look up the concept of survivorship bias if you want to understand why your posts doesn’t have statistical significance.

Your post would make sense if I did overlook the players who were not very successfull at Man Utd under Ferguson. But I did not. I included Wallace, Webb, Berbatov, Veron, Hargreaves etc. So either, you did not read my post properly or you dont understand the concept yourself.

My argument was neither that the Ferguson/Klopp-way eliminate risk, but that it reduce risk.

Furthermore, it is a post on RedCafe!

 

[sullydnl]

For one, the vast majority of them where in the age between 23 and 27. The only exception were Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Roy Keane and Paul Ince. 4 players in a group of 19. We did not buy "winners". We made winners, by buying players who were about the enter their peak. No big stars. No big egos. Professional players, hungry for success.

A point I read somewhere else (possibly in regards to Rangnick's recruitment or possibly in regards to moneyball-style analytics) framed it in terms of player contracts. In other words are you targeting players on their first, second, third major contract, etc. The idea being there's a sweet spot between them having done enough to be lower risk signings but not so much that they represent poor value or arrive knowing they're already at their peak in terms of financial rewards.

 

[Jim Beam]

Thiago - Herrera for midfield in 2013. and then replacing Herrera with Kante in 2016 is my guess.

He always had an eye for a striker, so no worries there. At the back, Evans would stay longer and in general he wouldn't dismantle that winning team so easily. Also, don't think Liverpool would have a free run at VVD.

In general, yeah, players on the up mixed with young talents who were joining an already established team full of winners (this group played a massive role as they set the standard for all newcomers).

 

[Red the Bear]

As others have said he definitely would have gone for kane as we always tried to get the best British talent out there. He also didn't like *fancy* players that much and that one time we tried to get one in veron it unfortunately turned out to be a failure so definitely no mata or sanch or the like.

Also one more I like to add is vlahovic, he loved strikers and though we never did business we serve a that much he clearly admire many of its talent, in fact he tried to get the great Bautista for example, so if he had stayed here long enough i do think he'd have gone for the lad as a cheaper alternative to halland.

 

[GueRed]

The best of British and the Premier League. A lot of the names already mentioned in above posts....All those contacts and background checks. All he had to do was pick up the phone to any PL Manager, coach and scout...and would get the lowdown on any player plying their trade in the UK.

100% he would've gone Kane.

Of our current bunch I think only Varane, Maguire and Shaw

He'd be going for Rice if he was in charge today. Talent with the mentality to match. Fergie wanted leaders.

 

[tenpoless]

Conclusion: the bolded players are very good players.

 

[Josep Dowling]

I think that is a good point aswell. But I do think we could afford it. Liverpool bought Mane, Robertson, Winjaldum, van Dijk and Jota from PL-rivals. Ox too (not a success though).

And while I’m not entirely convinced by Tielesman, considering the fee, he is a player I think Liverpool will be looking at this summer.

Mané and Jota are a good example of identifying good players in the league. Would anyone have expected them to be as good as they have been for Liverpool? I know it’s harder to draw players from the Premier League these days. I feel the club should take a bit more advantage. I’m sure the club is looking at Rice at West Ham. Likely £70m plus. Soucek is a key player to West Ham’s success and likely half the price. Our problem is we constantly go for the big names rather than considering how they fit in a system we want to play. But then actually having a system in place is something the club hasn’t thought about for years as well, and with each manager the system changes every 2/3 years.

 

[Champ]

I think the biggest takeaway from Fergies transfers, from the various accounts that have noted this trend, is the personal touch and really exploring the character of the player before they sign.

He would visit the family, ask the people that knew him, talk directly to the player and really explore their personality profile. He wanted to see if they had the correct personality to be a top player (or more importantly, contribute to a top club like United)

We haven’t got that anymore, and as such, have a squad of players who leak information, drop their heads when up against it and spend more time promoting themselves than the club.

The most obvious example of this is with Pogba. Fergie let him go (by choosing not to play him) and made a judgement call on him. Post-Fergie, we signed him based solely on his ability, and what we have gotten is a very expensive asset with patchy form, a horrible agent, a poor mentality and one which we will now lose for nothing. A ridiculously expensive mistake that Ferguson wouldn’t have made.

We need to take the opportunity in the summer to let these players go and really do our homework on the personalities that we bring into the squad from here on out.

Ferguson didn’t always buy proven articles, but he almost always bought driven professionals with a winning mentality that loved being here and rose to the big occasions. We need that back.

Ole literally said in multiple interviews that he looks at the background and character of a player first before deciding if he is correct for the team...

 

[OrcaFat]

I said this back in 2015 when LVG was starting to bring in names and it was clear Mata wasn’t going to be half the player for us. Another 10 stuck out on the right wing. We were doing it wrong. Paying too much to players with very little to nothing left to prove

Fergie got a lot wrong in the market too but he was nearly always adding to winning team.

Players Im pretty confident he’d have bought over the years:

Kante from Leicester
Maguire from Hull
VVD and
Shaw from Southampton
Mc Neil from Burnley
Grealish from Villa
Kane from Spurs

Good shouts, all of those. Grealish and Kane, definitely.

 

[Maciej]

This thread made me realise that van Persie was 29 when we bought him and he was then "old" for many

 

[NicolaSacco]

The best of British and the Premier League. A lot of the names already mentioned in above posts....All those contacts and background checks. All he had to do was pick up the phone to any PL Manager, coach and scout...and would get the lowdown on any player plying their trade in the UK.

100% he would've gone Kane.

Of our current bunch I think only Varane, Maguire and Shaw

He'd be going for Rice if he was in charge today. Talent with the mentality to match. Fergie wanted leaders.

I think that’s one of the key parts, that doesn’t necessarily mean the current transfer strategy is wrong. When Rooney came through it felt like a dead cert he’d join Utd. Same for Andy Cole, arguably Yorke too, and certainly Carrick. That certainty just isn’t there any more. But that’s not necessarily a criticism of the current managers, the financial outlook is a different one.

 

[Maluco]

Ole literally said in multiple interviews that he looks at the background and character of a player first before deciding if he is correct for the team...

Ole also talked about having a high pressing system etc…. He said a lot of things.

Maguire’s record breaking fee, arrest and subsequent terrible form(as Captain), would suggest at the very least that he wasn’t very good at it.

Ole was very good at saying things, but just saying them isn’t enough.

 

[Lee565]

It's a shame we couldn't have had fergie as our director of football, the guy had a very good eye for talent and it's not like the talent he picked only performed under him, many of his players that he moved on ended up still doing really well for their next club.

Definitely think ralf has it in him to be as good with player recruitment if given the freedom whether it be as manager of the club if hypothetically he was to carry on past this season or as a consultant behind the scenes, we would really be dropping the ball if fletcher has more say than him in this department.

 

[NicolaSacco]

Your post would make sense if I did overlook the players who were not very successfull at Man Utd under Ferguson. But I did not. I included Wallace, Webb, Berbatov, Veron, Hargreaves etc. So either, you did not read my post properly or you dont understand the concept yourself.

My argument was neither that the Ferguson/Klopp-way eliminate risk, but that it reduce risk.

Furthermore, it is a post on RedCafe!

I think you might have a point there, fella!

 

[Champ]

Ole also talked about having a high pressing system etc…. He said a lot of things.

Maguire’s record breaking fee, arrest and subsequent terrible form(as Captain), would suggest at the very least that he wasn’t very good at it.

Ole was very good at saying things, but just saying them isn’t enough.

Ole said multiple times that he would take on board the players character before anything else.
He said alot of things, most of which were a success.

 

[Maluco]

Ole said multiple times that he would take on board the players character before anything else.
He said alot of things, most of which were a success.

I am not a fan of the work that Ole did at the club, and I don’t see any proof that this was ever the case, so we will agree to disagree. I think there were far more failures than successes and his transfers have added to the issues at the club rather than resolved them.

But like I said, we won’t be on the same page if you were a fan of his work, so we won’t go back and forth and derail the topic.