Articles

1. What Does it Take to Build and Maintain Exceptional Teams?

On the day that Chelsea play Manchester United in Moscow, I began to wonder what it takes to stay at the top of one’s game? I was curious about Alex Ferguson and the traits that have made him so exceptional as a football manager. And was there anything that we might learn from him? It is hard to know exactly why Ferguson has been so successful, but conclusions can be drawn from various aspects of his personality.

Personal Drive: Ferguson never gives in. He refuses to accept defeat and he has infused his United teams with the same attitude - they just keep going to the final whistle. It is because of this that United have scored so many late goals down the years, rather than leaving it to pure luck. Even when he has a success under his belt, he never rests. He is always looking to the future. And he is not afraid to start all over again when that moment of victory has gone.

Tactics/Strategy: Ferguson is a manager who is not afraid to follow his instincts or to take a gamble. His instincts, whether it be luck or some sort of intuition, always seem to be right. He seems to recognise that if you want to win things then you need to take a chance. Sometimes an unexpected risk can swing things in your favour and it throws off your opponents. He took risks buying Eric Cantona and Dwight Yorke and when he took the young Beckham and Scholes, his gamble paid off and made his team even stronger.

From an early age, Ferguson was exposed to the Scottish working-class work ethic of hard graft and toil. He has instilled that same hard work ethic into Manchester United. All members of his team have a high work rate, even Beckham, Giggs and Rooney have been made to earn their keep by backtracking to help out the defence, constantly moving and slogging it out for the ninety minutes. No team works harder than Fergie's United.

Like every exceptional manager, Ferguson has introduced new tactics which differentiate his team from all others. In the 90's United were the first British team to use the lightning counter-attack as a deliberate tactic. Arsenal later copied it.

Player Management/Psychology: Alex Ferguson is probably the greatest motivator in European football. Player motivation is a finely balanced art. Too much of it every day and it can eventually have no effect, and the constant pressure of it can also destroy players. Ferguson believes in using it every so often at the optimum moments, when it has its greatest power. Observe his potent words of motivation during half-time in the European Cup Final 1999 with United 1-0 down: "At the end of this game, the European Cup will be only six feet away from you and you'll not even able to touch it if we lose. And for many of you that will be the closest you will ever get. Don't you dare come back in here without giving your all". Undoubtedly he honed his man-management skills in his early pre-football management days as a shipyard shop steward.

He will always gets the best out of his players and demand 100%. His handling of United's young stars has also been first class, protecting the likes of Giggs from frenzied media attention. In the Cantona "kung-fu kick" incident, Beckham's 1998 World Cup ordeal and Ronaldo after the 2006 World Cup, he stuck by his players and supported them through the difficult times, which in the end they repaid him with great comeback performances.

Ferguson will rarely attack his players in public or in the media. If they have under-performed or done something stupid, he will leave his criticism to behind closed doors. He can also be ruthless. Ask Jim Leighton, Paul Ince, David Becham and Ruud van Nistelrooy about how he tackles people whom he feels are no longer delivering the goods. If it is for the good of the team Ferguson will not hesitate to swing the axe.

Buying/bargains: In Ferguson's working class background, there was economic hardship and extravagant spending was avoided. This philosophy of thrift is still evident even with United's large transfer budget. He is often reluctant to spend unless it is absolutely necessary. When he does spend big money, he has bought wisely with players like Pallister, Keane, Cole, Yorke, Stam and Barthez. And Ferguson is still the master of the bargain buy: Cantona, Schmeichel, Solskjaer, Johnsen, Irwin, Sharpe, Kanchelskis and Van der Sar. Remember, United's two greats of the 1990's, Cantona and Schmeichel cost less than £2 million between them.

Fergie's rivals fear and respect him above all other managers. His achievements at United and Aberdeen make him the most successful British manager ever, on the continent only Giovanni Trapattoni, Fabio Cappello and Ottmar Hitzfeld can even come close. The Glazer family knew it needed him on their side when they launched their takeover. They could not incur the wrath of the man who built a dynasty.

So, what are you building with your team?
How will you be remembered as a manager?
What is the one thing that you want to do differently? And what’s the first step to making that happen?