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Peter Schmeichel names the only manager who Sir Alex Ferguson feared while at Man United
Former Manchester United star Peter Schmeichel has now been discussing the one manager that slightly unnerved Sir Alex Ferguson.
Schmeichel, who played for Man United 395 times winning five league titles, spent some excellent years with Sir Alex.
The duo won an incredible amount of honours together, including a Champions League lift in the 1998/99 season.
And when speaking on the ‘’ podcast recently, Schmeichel has now been telling stories of how Ferguson would wind up other managers whilst at United.
The goalkeeper said Ferguson was clever with his tactics, choosing his moments wisely.
And after recalling an incident in which his manager really ended up getting the better of Kevin Keegan, Schmeichel then admitted there was one manager who proved to be a bit of an anomaly.
Peter Schmeichel says Arsene Wenger unsettled Sir Alex Ferguson at United
Schmeichel explained that Ferguson was very wary when Arsene Wenger first arrived in England, worried how his new methods would affect Manchester United.
The pundit was initially asked if Ferguson would change his behaviour in the lead up to a tie with Wenger.
He replied: “Not so much running up to it, and not so much around those games, it was more, he was deliberately winding other managers up but it always came around other games, so if they played someone else and said something he would, you know.
“Of course Wenger and Ferguson is one of the classics, but just to sort of illustrate how he was playing it was Kevin Keegan eventually snapped when they lost 4-3 to Liverpool.
“That was kind of how he played it, I don’t mean to insult anybody but it was great entertainment for us players, to see our manager playing around with the other managers.
“But I think with Wenger it was more, I think he was a little bit not scared but this guy came in with a different background, wanted to play football in a different way, and he was a little bit scared of how that would impact his way of playing and if it would be better.
“I think the two of them are very much responsible for the level of what we have in the Premier League now.”
Two of the best
Of course, there was so much to enjoy between that rivalry, one of the best the game has ever seen.
Schmeichel was a great character in that context himself, a United player who would never duck a big occasion, just as Ferguson would expect.
And when you look at Erik ten Hag’s United side today, it really is a million miles away from that era.
That being said, perhaps there is some merit to Chris Sutton’s recent call to bring an exciting new manager in.