Goodbye, Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson. Thank you.

For me, Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson are one and the same. The Scot was at the helm when, at the age of eleven, I completed my collection of Pro Set collector cards featuring the likes of Clayton Blackmore and Mal Donaghy and announced myself as a fully-fledged fan.

As Sky’s pumped-up Premier League allowed armchair football fanatics their greatest ever access to the game, my support for the club became an obsession. I distinctly remember watching a match with my dad and asking him why Bryan Robson was wearing an armband. “He’s the captain,” my old man responded – the first in a long line of inspirational figures deputised as Fergie’s leader on the pitch: Bruce, Cantona, Keane, Neville and Vidic.

This collection of snarling warriors emblemise everything Ferguson stands for: heart, spirit, courage and a never-say-die attitude which has rescued so many late goals for a club which refuses to admit defeat – the qualities which, allied with no little skill, have seen Manchester United dominate English football for more than twenty years.

Stamping his personality so clearly on his club has led to Ferguson being despised by many, and his run-ins with Kevin Keegan, Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez have been edged with a spitefulness which has occasionally gone too far. But this siege mentality was identified today, by fellow retiree Paul Scholes, as Fergie’s greatest strength. Who are we to argue with that?

Those who know him best, of course, point to an altogether different kind of character. Always available to offer advice to fellow managers, father figure to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs, devoted family man and, as the years have rolled by, an increasingly endearing character dancing his strange half-jig in the dugout.

My love and admiration for the man is intrinsically tied to my love for the club. I’ve never known one without the other. So many wonderful memories are tied to the club: obvious highlights like the Camp Nou comeback in 1999, Fergie and Brian Kidd leaping around as Steve Bruce headed two title-winning goals in 1993, Yorke and Cole combining beautifully against Barcelona. 

But it’s not just those glory nights which make Sir Alex Ferguson’s teams special. Rather, it’s that sense of comfort and security he offered. While other clubs chop and change, fight and fuss, Manchester United simply evolve. Wholesale tinkering is not the Ferguson way. Instead, he seamlessly integrated new players into his sides, marrying young local talent with experienced old timers, fancy foreigners with wise European campaigners. He built at least three great sides in this way: the powerhouses of Keane, Ince, Schmeichel and Hughes; the treble winning buccaneers; the 2008 vintage of Ronaldo and Rooney.

I can offer little more tribute than those which have already been paid. His emotional interview with his old pal Geoff Shreeves (“Well done, Geoff”) was a beautiful tribute to his patient wife Cathy, and yet another signifier of his strength of character: the decision was made at Christmas but was kept completely secret so as not to distract from the club’s title tilt.

He will remain at Old Trafford forever: cast in bronze, the stand bearing his name, his presence in the directors’ box. But more importantly he will remain in the supporters’ hearts, woven into the fabric of the great club he built, his name sung forever more on the Stretford End and his legacy enduring long after he is gone.

For what it’s worth, my favourite Fergie team would be picked on the basis of personality not ability and would consist of the following eleven players:

Schmeichel, Neville, Ferdinand, Vidic, Irwin, Ronaldo, Keane, Scholes, Giggs, Hughes, Cole.

Subs: Van Der Sar, Beckham, Evra, Carrick, Cantona, Sharpe, Solskjaer

Messi Makes Me Dribble

On Wednesday night, Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in a Champions League knockout game. He also completed his eight hat-trick of the season and notched his 47th goal of the campaign. There can no longer be any doubt that he is the greatest player in the world. There remains little doubt that he’s the greatest of all time. But of all his many qualities, which is it that marks him out as being ‘the one’?

Quite simply, Messi is the greatest ever dribbler of a football. Like his fellow Argentine, Diego Maradona, he possesses a low centre of gravity, is deceptively strong and has an exquisite first touch. Where he differs from Maradona, and everyone else, is in the way he runs with the ball.

Messi has very few tricks in his locker. No Cruyff turns. No Ronaldo-style step-overs. No lollipops, rabonas or seal dribbles. He has no need for such unnecessary embellishments. Instead, he relies on keeping the ball mere millimetres from his left foot. He doesn’t push the ball in feet front of himself and chase it. He rarely knocks it past an opponent before running around them and collecting it.

Rather than raw power or trickery, Messi relies on an almost magnetic ability to keep the ball attached to his toes. Allied with his amazingly quick feet, he’s able to twist, turn, feint and fool defenders with relatively simple movements. His touch is so perfect that he can simply nudge the ball wherever he wants it to go - tantalisingly out of reach of defenders. He cushions and caresses the ball until he decides to release it. His touch is so soft and so delicate that it’s often impossible to see exactly where and when he’s touched the ball. He weaves in and around the opposition, gliding across the turf: his mastery is almost magical.

And when Messi decides to pass or shoot, he does so quite unlike anyone else. He’s capable of smashing a shot into the top corner or rifling a pass into a teammate’s feet. But he rarely does. Instead he coaxes, cushions or chips the ball around the pitch as if he’s playing a different game to everyone else: one where points are awarded for artistry rather than goals.

Witness the numerous occasions Messi ghosts across a penalty area, the ball velcroed to his left boot. He skims across the surface, poised to capitalise on any slip or mistake. He lets defenders get as close to the ball as they like – his mastery means he can move it away from them at will. His perfect balance keeps him upright as others flounder and, then, just as he runs out of space he flicks his boot under the ball. It’s a barely imperceptible movement: crafty, quick, accurate. The ball teases the goalkeeper as it is dinked within inches of his despairing grasp - before nestling in the net. In England we still eulogise such goals by Georgie Kinkladze, Paolo Wanchope and Noel Whelan. At the Camp Nou, they happen every week.

Not So Cleverley, Sir Alex

The news that Darren Fletcher is suffering with ulcerative colitis is a huge blow for a player who had transformed himself from Old Trafford boo boy to terrace hero. He faces a year out of the game at a point where he ought to be firmly establishing himself in Sir Alex Ferguson’s midfield. Hopefully his proven resilience will ensure that he returns as a driving force next season.

For the club, Fletcher’s illness worsens a midfield crisis of epic proportions. With injuries to Anderson and Tom Cleverley, only Michael Carrick remains of United’s specialist central midfielders. Park Ji Sung, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Phil Jones have been pressed into service in these roles recently and with the festive fixtures looming, Ferguson seems set to continue deploying square pegs in round holes.

Shouldn’t a manager of Ferguson’s stature and experience have recognised that United have been desperately short in midfield for some time? Anderson has always been injury-prone and has just returned from knee surgery. Fletcher has already spent long periods out of the team with his previously undisclosed illness. And the reliance on Cleverley is bizarre and alarming given how few games he’s actually played for the first team.

Perhaps the current crisis is indicative of a wider problem under Ferguson’s tenure: an alarming lack of quality midfield signings. Over the course of his stewardship, Ferguson has seen some legendary midfielders pull on the red shirt: Bryan Robson, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane. An assortment of extremely capable players have also filled the central berths: Paul Ince, Nicky Butt, Michael Carrick. But the best of those were either inherited or were products of United’s famed youth academy. The only truly outstanding purchase has been Keane –the greatest driving midfielder of his generation.

Attempts to replace the Irishman have largely failed. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel picking out those who fell so far from the required standard: Liam Miller, Kleberson and Eric Djemba-Djemba spring readily to mind. Perhaps it’s unfair to expect anyone to replicate Keane’s role for the team. But whilst tacticians the world over have long thought a holding midfielder a necessity, Ferguson has rarely played that way.

Occasional deficiencies in central midfield have often been masked by a dazzling array of wingers. In wide areas, Ferguson has long been able to spot talent: bargains like Andrei Kanchelskis and Lee Sharpe blossomed at Old Trafford, Ryan Giggs was stolen from under the noses of Manchester City, Cristiano Ronaldo became the world’s most expensive player under Ferguson’s tutelage. And his commitment to wide players continues even now with Luis Nani overcoming a difficult start to become the team’s most threatening attacker.

But now, finally, it seems that the potent widemen who’ve characterised Fergie’s time in the Old Trafford dugout can no longer hide the glaring holes in the middle of the park. It’s a long time since Manchester United brought in a top quality midfielder in either of the two positions they seem to be screaming out for: a scheming battler and creative lynchpin.

Owen Hargreaves ought to have been the former but his time at the club was destroyed by injury. This cannot have been foreseen, but the fact remains that his four year contract expired with him having played less than thirty games for the club – and in that time no attempt appears to have been made to replace him. It’s perhaps telling that Ferguson has consistently selected defenders in this position – and not just recently. Players such as Ronnie Johnsen, Phil Neville and John O’Shea have played in front of the back four many times over the years: the deployment of Phil Jones in the position should surprise nobody. Identifying the kind of player who can shield a defence and bring the ball out from the back has long been problematic for the United manager.

Similarly, it seems that the role of creator has not been adequately filled following Paul Scholes’ retirement. Instead of recruiting from elsewhere a succession of players have filled in. Rooney’s attacking thrust has been diluted in this role, Park hasn’t got the nous for it and Giggs is simply too old to be relied upon regularly. Perhaps Ferguson remains scarred by the failed acquisition of Juan Sebastian Veron – a player who arrived for a huge fee which he never came close to repaying.

One only needs to look around United’s rivals to see just how comparatively weak they are in central areas. Spurs boast players like Luka Modric, Scott Parker, Tom Huddlestone and Sandro. At Arsenal Alex Song, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsay are the first choice picks. Chelsea can call on the dynamism of Ramires, Raul Mereiles and (when fit) Michael Essien. At the base of midfield they’ve unearthed a gem in Oriel Romeu. Every single one of the players mentioned would improve the United first team. And Manchester City’s collection of megastars hasn’t even been mentioned.

It’s almost sacrilegious to criticise Sir Alex Ferguson for any perceived shortcomings. He’s consistently unearthed gems in the transfer market and nurtured wonderful players through United’s academy. His sides have constantly excited fans, won games and garnered trophies. But if the great man has one blind spot it’s in central midfield: it’s a situation he’ll need to resolve as soon as possible if his side are to remain competitive in a football world where tiki-taka, midfield passing and ball possession are more important than they ever have been.