Park Ji-Sung, a former star of Manchester United, has shared behind-the-scenes details about his iconic former employer.
Park Ji-Sung, a former star for Manchester United, has opened up about the “completely different” side of Sir Alex Ferguson that he witnessed while playing at Old Trafford.
English football legend is filled with stories about Sir Alex’s ferocious demeanour, his no-nonsense management style, and the notorious “hairdryer” treatment, but Park maintains that this picture is untrue.
“Compared to what I saw in the media, Sir Alex Ferguson had an entirely different image,” the former South Korea international says to FourFourTwo. He was a pleasant and considerate individual. He addressed me as if I were a member of his family. He would approach players if they were having difficulties, either on or off the pitch, and his door was always open.
“When I first started at Manchester United, I couldn’t communicate with people in English, but he would tell me I was doing well and to keep going.” He would come in from time to time to make sure I was getting along OK. That significantly affected me.
Park also discusses Ferguson’s assistance in his mental recovery following a severe knee injury sustained at the conclusion of the 2006–07 campaign.
Park went on, “I had surgery on my knee at the end of my second season, so I missed nine or ten months of play.” He visited me and assured me that he was still thinking of me, that I was a key member of the team, and that I would make a greater comeback than before. I was really depressed and wasn’t sure whether I would be able to return. It made me feel something.
Park again shows the human side that his manager showed him, but Ferguson’s brutal side was shown when he left Park out of the team for the Champions League final.
“He didn’t include me in the team when we defeated Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League Final in Russia. On the day of the game, we had a private meeting when he gave me an explanation for my exclusion. He expressed regret to me after the game, and he continues to do so whenever I see him today on that specific choice.
As he grew to know my strengths during the time I played for him, my role organically changed. Getting asked to man-mark Andrea Pirlo against Milan in 2010 was one of my most well-known responsibilities. Before the game, we had a conversation in which he assigned me a particular task: to stop Pirlo whenever we had the ball. You want to prove to a boss that you are capable of handling a task like that.
