alex fergusson statue at old trafford

Sir Alex Ferguson’s Top 5 Greatest Managerial Rivalries

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What happened to the fury, the bitterness and the pure hatred between managers?

That relentless desire to win, not only for the team but to get one up on your rival coach.

We’ve gone from Jose Mourinho running around the pitch, launching his arms in the air in arrogant jubilation, to so-called ‘respect’ between managers.

The seething detestation between coaches is dying.

But one Scottish man will always be known for creating such tensions.

A certain Sir Alex Ferguson.

The managerial legend wasn’t shy to an argument and had many foes in his 39 years of coaching.

But who were his greatest rivals?

5. Sir Alex Ferguson vs Sir Kenny Dalglish

The least fierce on the list. This rivalry started in 1969 when both Sir Kenny Dalglish and Ferguson were playing. In a Scottish Reserve Football League Old Firm fixture at Celtic Park, Ferguson and Dalglish faced off for the first time.

Dalglish was just an 18-year-old forward labelled as the next potential big thing, whereas Ferguson was a 28-year-old striker who’d just been put into the second team. Ferguson played for Rangers and Dalglish Celtic.

Despite being a natural striker, the coaches put Dalglish in at centre half for this game. Subsequently, he came up against Ferguson. Both Ferguson and Dalglish have different recollections of the game, with the Rangers striker claiming he scored, while the Celtic forward believed he turned out his rival’s tracksuit pocket in a gesture that he had him pocketed.

Ultimately, Celtic won the game 4-1.

In 1980, with Ferguson managing Aberdeen, Dalglish was influential in knocking the Scottish side out of the European Cup.

In 1986, Ferguson was the assistant coach for Scotland’s World Cup campaign in Mexico. However, Dalglish decided to have surgery on his knee rather than join the squad.

But the managerial rivalry between the two began in 1988 at Anfield. United had secured a 3-3 draw in dramatic fashion with United’s Gordon Strachan taunting the Kop.

After the game, Ferguson complained that referees are intimidated at Anfield.

He said: “A lot of managers leave Anfield choking on their own sick.”

Dalglish happened to be walking past at the same time with his six-week-old daughter. He remarked to the interviewer and said: “You might as well talk to my daughter. You’ll get more sense.”

The two legends had played each other various times but Dalglish got the first big win guiding Liverpool to their 18th league title in 1989-90.

Dalglish left Liverpool on medical grounds but the rivalry continued with him taking up the helm at Blackburn Rovers. His first season saw Rovers finish fourth with Ferguson winning his first league title at United. The following year United won the double. But in 1995 Dalglish got his revenge after Rovers won the league by just one point.

Just after winning the league, Dalglish left for Newcastle but didn’t live up to expectations. He was sacked two games into the 1998/99 season after finishing a poor 13th place in 1997/98.

13 years later Dalglish returned to Liverpool after Roy Hodgson was sacked.

Steven Gerrard got sent off and Ryan Giggs scored the winner to see United beat Liverpool 1-0 in Dalglish’s first game back.

Years later and both Dalglish and Ferguson have huge respect for each other. Although they were rivals, it wasn’t as bitter as some of the others on this list.

4. Sir Alex Ferguson vs Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho

This rivalry started in 2004 when a young Jose Mourinho and his Porto side faced United in the Round of 16.

Porto won 2-1 at home in the first leg but United looked to be through winning 1-0 in the second leg, before a big mistake by Tim Howard gifted Porto a goal to see them through and knock United out. Mourinho had got the better of Ferguson immediately.

‘The Special One’ would move to Chelsea in the summer of 2004 and so faced United in the Premier League.

The Portuguese manager had Ferguson on strings, with the Scottish manager needing seven matches before he could beat Mourinho. In that seventh attempt, United won 1-0.

This ended Chelsea’s unbeaten league run of 40 matches.

In a League Cup semi-final victory for Chelsea, Mourinho lightly accused Ferguson of cheating.

He said: “Sir Alex was very clever if you can say that, at half-time by putting some pressure on the ref.

“In the second half it was whistle and whistle, fault and fault, cheat and cheat.”

But with back-to-back titles in 2004/05 and 2005/06, Mourinho’s Chelsea were dominating.

To secure the title in 2005/06 Chelsea needed just a point against United but beat them 3-0 to do so.

Ferguson felt it was a harsh reflection on their performance and in a showing of respect, so did Mourinho, who said it didn’t reflect how well United played.

United would fight back to win the 2006/07 title but failed to beat Mourinho’s Chelsea home or away. However, in the away fixture, United played a second-string side as they had already secured the Premier League title at this point.

Both sides faced each other in the 2007 FA Cup final with Mourinho’s side coming out the victors in a 1-0 extra-time victory.

A few months later Ferguson would get a victory over Mourinho in a penalty shootout win in the Community Shield.

Mourinho left for Inter Milan in 2008, after disagreements with owner Roman Abramovich.

The pair would next face each other in the Champions League Round of 16 in 2009.

Mourinho was full of positivity ahead of facing United.

He said: “My wish has been granted.

“It will be unforgettable to go back to Manchester. I want to face the best and United are a team of champions with a super coach in Alex Ferguson. Some say I have a good record against Alex. But the record isn’t mine. It’s Chelsea’s.”

Ferguson was the victor on this occasion winning 2-0 on aggregate.

Their last matchup came in the 13x Premier League winner’s final season before retirement.

United faced Mourinho’s Real Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16.

Ferguson’s side looked to be going through before a controversial sending-off for Nani in the 56th minute saw Madrid crawl back and beat United 2-1 to progress to the next round.

Mourinho was once again very modest about the win.

He said: “The best team lost. We didn’t deserve to win but football is like this.”

This left Mourinho with seven wins, six draws and just three losses to Ferguson in his career.

While not as personal of a rivalry, it was an intense footballing matchup with both coaches respecting each other.

3. Sir Alex Ferguson vs Kevin Keegan

This rivalry is far shorter than some of the others but just as explosive.

Centered around one main event, it’s an all-time great Premier League moment.

It came in 1996 when Kevin Keegan managed Newcastle. The Magpies were 12 points clear at the top of the table in January.

However, with just a few games to go, United had found themselves ahead of Newcastle.

In a post-match reaction after United beat Leeds, Ferguson made some bold claims.

He claimed that Leeds players were cheating their manager by performing the way they did against United but not in other games. Also suggesting that if they did that every game they would be a top-six side. He claimed that they only played like that because it’s United and against Newcastle they wouldn’t try as hard. Likewise, he also suggested that Nottingham Forest might let Newcastle win in Stuart Pearce’s testimony.

Keegan didn’t comment until after his side beat Leeds.

But when they did, he went all in. In a Sky Sports interview, he was asked whether Ferguson’s comments were just psychological warfare. But Keegan didn’t agree.

Keegan said: “No, no… when you do that with footballers like he said about Leeds, and when you do things like that about a man like Stuart Pearce, I’ve kept really quiet, but I’ll tell you something, he went down in my estimation when he said that.

“We have not resorted to that, but I’ll tell you, you can tell him now if you’re watching it, we’re still fighting for this title, and he’s got to go to Middlesbrough and get something, and… and… I’ll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them, love it!”

Speaking about the rant years later, former United winger David Beckham said: “But we came into training and we knew we’d won the league by then.”

Ferguson’s psychological games had worked again as United went on to win the league title.

2. Sir Alex Ferguson vs Rafa Benitez

Manchester United vs Liverpool.

Scotland vs Spain.

2009 was the last time United and Liverpool competed for a Premier League title and it didn’t come without controversy.

It all started when Ferguson questioned whether the fixture list favoured Benitez’s Liverpool side.

In response, Benitez set out a list of things which he deemed facts.

It was a four-and-a-half-minute rant about United and Ferguson and the ‘favouritism’ towards them.

Here are some of his best lines.

Benitez said: “I was surprised by what has been said, but maybe they [Manchester United] are nervous because we are at the top of the table.

“During the Respect campaign – and this is a fact – Mr Ferguson was charged by the FA for improper conduct after comments made about Martin Atkinson and Keith Hackett. He was not punished. He is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things.

“We had a meeting in Manchester with managers and FA about the Respect campaign. And I was very clear, forget the campaign because Mr Ferguson was killing the referees, killing Mr Atkinson, killing Mr Hackett. But he is not punished. How can you talk about the respect campaign and criticise the referee every single week? You can analyse the facts and come to your own decision and ideas.”

In response, Ferguson said: “I think you’ve got to cut through the venom of it…and hopefully he’ll reflect and understand that what he’s saying was ridiculous. I think he’s an angry man, he’s disturbed for some reason or another.”

A few months later and Ferguson would refer back to the incident again.

He said: “I would need to read more of Freud before I could understand all that went on in [Benitez’s] head.”

In response, Benitez said: “I read about Freud when I was at school and university.”

At the point of the outburst, Liverpool sat top of the table, but a few months later and it was Ferguson lifting the Premier League title.

Ferguson’s mind games had prevailed again.

In former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard’s autobiography, he revealed how he felt during the facts rant.

He said: “Rafa kept saying ‘fact, fact, fact’ and I could not believe what I was hearing.

 “I was grabbing the couch, digging my fingers into the arms, feeling embarrassed for him.”

Likewise, Jamie Carragher was concerned with Benitez’s approach.

He said: “I didn’t think it was the right thing to do at all. I don’t think we gained anything from it.

“I think Rafa was trying to put pressure on the referee at Old Trafford to help Chelsea get something from the game, but I think there are ways of going about things. I just thought it put all eyes on us. It put pressure on us then and we drew 0–0 away at Stoke City in a terrible game.”

In Ferguson’s 2013 autobiography, he touched upon that crucial rant.

He said: “The mistake he [Benitez] made was to turn our rivalry personal. Once you made it personal, you had no chance, because I could wait. I had success on my side. Benitez was striving for trophies while also taking me on. That was unwise.”

Ultimately, the rivalry didn’t end there.

Ferguson went at Benitez again after the Spaniard called Everton a small club and made a ‘game over’ gesture against Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn. He called it: “beyond the pale.”

A few years later and in 2012 Ferguson called Benitez ‘lucky’ to get the Chelsea job.

He said: “On his CV he could have two world championships and nothing to do with the construction of the teams.

 “Rafael Benitez is very lucky. Jose Mourinho won the treble at Inter; Rafa took over and they won the world title without having to do anything.”

In response, Benitez said: “I like to respect people, but sometimes I cannot because they push you.”

A classic Premier League managerial rivalry in which Ferguson definitely came out on top.

1. Sir Alex Ferguson vs Arsene Wenger

It had to be.

There’s no rivalry in the Premier League quite like it.

Spanning 17 years from 1996-2013.

Arsenal had finished 12th in 1995 before Arsene Wenger arrived.

United were the dominant force in England.

Their rivalry really started in 1997 when Ferguson belittled Wenger.

He said: “They say he’s an intelligent man, right? Speaks five languages? I’ve got a 15-year-old boy from Ivory Coast who speaks five languages.”

United won the league again in 1996/97, but Wenger was unhappy with the scheduling.

He said: “It is wrong the league programme is extended so United can rest up and win everything.”

Ferguson didn’t let that comment go, he said: “He has no experience of English football. He has come from Japan and now he is telling us how to organise our football.

“Unless you have been in the situation and had the experience, then he should keep his mouth shut, firmly shut.”

As Arsenal began to challenge United, the tensions continued to grow.

In 2002, Arsenal won the double, but Ferguson claimed his team were the best in the country despite finishing third.

He said: “They [Arsenal] are scrappers who rely on belligerence. We are the better team.”

In response, Wenger wittingly said: “What do you want me to say? Everyone thinks he has the prettiest wife at home.”

Ferguson was reportedly incredibly angry at Wenger’s comments believing it to be a personal attack on his wife Cathy.

But from 2003-2005, the ferocity would reach an all-time high.

The Battle of Old Trafford

It started when Ruud van Nistelrooy missed a last-minute penalty at Old Trafford which saw Arsenal then go on to do the invincibles. Patrick Vieira had been sent off earlier in the game after attempting to kick out at Nistelrooy. At the full-time whistle, several Arsenal players surrounded the Dutch striker taunting him.

As a result, five Arsenal players and two United players were forced to pay fines by the Football Association (FA).

Lauren, Martin Keown, Patrick Vieira, and Ray Parlour all received suspensions between one and four games.

Ferguson called the Arsenal player’s behaviour as ‘terrible’ and credited Van Nistelrooy for how he left the pitch, whereas Wenger didn’t see the Dutch striker in such a positive light.

He said: “If you want to convince me that Martin Keown is a devil and Van Nistelrooy is an angel then you will have a big problem.

“I think Van Nistelrooy does not help himself frankly…he is always looking to dive.”

Pizzagate/Battle of the Buffet

A year later and the stakes were just as high.

This time the result would favour United. At the time Arsenal were still invincible and top of the league.

In the 73rd minute, United were controversially awarded a penalty after Wayne Rooney was deemed to have been fouled. This was converted by Van Nistelrooy. Rooney also scored to secure United a 2-0 win.

Arsenal fans were furious, with many deeming Rooney to have dived.

But the drama continued after the final whistle.

In a moment where tempers boiled over between the staff of both sides, a pizza slice was thrown at Ferguson’s face. 17-year-old Cesc Fabregas was the culprit.

Ferguson’s response to the antics was firm.

He said: “Their behaviour was the worst thing I have seen in this sport. They got off scot-free.”

Wenger responded strongly.

He said: “Ferguson does what he wants and you [the media] are all down at his feet. He doesn’t interest me and doesn’t matter to me at all. I will never answer to any provocation from him anymore.

“He has lost all sense of reality. He is going out looking for a confrontation, then asking the person he is confronting to apologise.”

Following this defeat, Arsenal and Wenger lost their way, eventually conceding the title to Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.

The following year, an incident in the tunnel between Vieira and Roy Keane continued the rivalry.

However, after this, the rivalry cooled as Arsenal became less of a threat.

The last of the tension came in 2007 when Wenger said he’d never speak about Ferguson again. But by 2008 he proclaimed that he and the Scottish manager had a ‘much better understanding and mutual respect.’

Likewise, Ferguson also shared this new kindness between the pair.

Speaking about Arsenal in 2009 Ferguson said: “The other thing is that Arsène and I have been here for such a long time now it’s hard to imagine we were not going to have one or two arguments. Longevity brings that, whereas we have loads of situations now where new managers come in and vanish after a couple of years. It’s just the two of us, and we’ll probably ride out in the sunset together.”

The tension between 2003-2005 was truly special. We will never see anything like that again.

The Premier League at its very best.

After 17 years, Ferguson won 23 times, drew 10 and lost 16 against Wenger.

Safe to say Ferguson got the better of Wenger over the 17 years.