Andy Kite

🚨 Jose Mourinho on Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola comparisons: “Someone asked me this question before and I said, ‘Before I answer, tell me something. Where are we starting Alex Ferguson’s career?’ She said, ‘Manchester United.’ I said, ‘No, no. Then already we have a problem.’ People talk about Ferguson and immediately they see Old Trafford. The trophies, Cantona, Beckham, Cristiano, Rooney, the Champions League. I see Aberdeen first. This is a man who went into Scotland when Celtic and Rangers were supposed to own everything. He wins the league with Aberdeen. Then he does it again. And again. Then apparently dominating Scotland with Aberdeen wasn’t difficult enough, so he goes into Europe. Bayern Munich. Real Madrid in the final. European trophy. Then the Super Cup. I remember once joking with him, ‘Mister, you could have retired before Manchester United and still spent the rest of your life telling everybody you were a very good manager.’ He laughed and said something like, ‘I would’ve been bored.’ That tells you everything about him. Because then he goes to Manchester United. And people speak today as if he arrived at the Manchester United we all know now. No. They hadn’t won the league for 26 years. So this man had already disturbed the natural order in one country, came to another country and apparently decided the natural order there needed disturbing too. Thirteen league titles later, now everybody remembers United as the giant. That is the funny thing about football. Sometimes a manager becomes so successful that people eventually use the size of the club he helped build as an argument against what he achieved there. So if you ask me to choose? I remember Aberdeen. Because before Ferguson had Manchester United, Manchester United had to go and find Ferguson. And they found him in Scotland with a European trophy he’d just taken off Real Madrid. For me, that changes the conversation completely.”