Legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reveals the methods and mentality that saw him win 28 major trophies in 26 years in charge.

The Old Trafford legend allowed professors from
Harvard Business School to carry out a case study on
his methods during his last season and explains what
made him a winner.
In a wide-ranging interview published in full in the
Harvard Business Review, Sir Alex explained that his
first move upon joining the Red Devils was to establish
his famed focus on youth.
"From the moment I got to Manchester United, I
thought of only one thing: building a football club. I
wanted to build right from the bottom," he began.
"I knew that a focus on youth would fit the club's
history and my earlier coaching experience told me
that winning with young players could be done and
that I was good at working with them. So I had the
confidence and conviction that, if United was going to
mean anything again, rebuilding the youth structure
was crucial. You could say it was brave but fortune
favours the brave.
"At some clubs, you need only to lose three games in a
row and you're fired. In today's football world, with a
new breed of directors and owners, I am not sure any
club would have the patience to wait for a manager to
build a team over a four-year period.
"Winning a game is only a short-term gain - you can
lose the next game. Building a club brings stability and
consistency.
"Although I was always trying to disprove it, I believe
that the cycle of a successful team lasts maybe four
years and then some change is needed. So we tried to
visualise the team three or four years ahead and make
decisions accordingly.
"Because I was at United for such a long time, I could
afford to plan ahead - no one expected me to go
anywhere. I was very fortunate in that respect.
"Everything we did was about maintaining the
standards we had set as a football club - this applied to
all my team building and all my team preparation,
motivational talks, and tactical talks.
"I had to lift players' expectations. They should never
give in. I said that to them all the time: 'If you give in
once, you'll give in twice.' And the work ethic and
energy I had seemed to spread throughout the club.
"Superstars with egos are not the problem some people
may think. They need to be winners because that
massages their egos, so they will do what it takes to
win. I used to see [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [David]
Beckham, [Ryan] Giggs, [Paul] Scholes and others out
there practicing for hours.
"If the day came that the manager of Manchester
United was controlled by the players - in other words, if
the players decided how the training should be, what
days they should have off, what the discipline should be
and what the tactics should be - then Manchester
United would not be the Manchester United we know.
"Before I came to United, I told myself I wasn't going to
allow anyone to be stronger than I was. Your
personality has to be bigger than theirs. That is vital.
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