Sir Alex Ferguson is the greatest manager in the history of football. He secured title after title and provided Manchester United fans with an extended period of top-quality football. Throughout his career, Sir Alex Ferguson provided the football world with many amazing quotes. Some of his quotes were genius and tactical, while others were amusing. Today, we highlight five of the manager’s greatest quotes.

“I’m going to tell you the story about the geese which fly 5,000 miles from Canada to France. They fly in V-formation, but the second ones don’t fly. They’re the subs for the first ones. And then the second ones take over – so it’s teamwork.”

Sir Alex Ferguson knew a thing or two about subs, and this quote shows just how integral he knew that they were. In the 1999 Champions League Final, Ferguson made two subs. Those two subs were Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. With United down 1-0, Teddy Sheringham equalized in the 91st-minute, and Solskjaer won the Champions League for the Reds with his 93rd-minute goal. When Sir Alex speaks on the impact of subs, everyone should listen.

“I remember the first time I saw him. He was 13 and just floated over the ground like a cocker spaniel chasing a piece of silver paper in the wind.”

This is how Sir Alex Ferguson described 13-year-old Ryan Giggs. As humorous as this quote is, Ferguson was right. Ryan Giggs became known for his blistering pace down the line. That pace served him well as he finished his career at United with 168 goals and 255 assists in 963 games.

“You can’t applaud a referee.”

You can’t.

“That lad must have been born offside.”

Sir Alex was probably right when he said this about Fillipo Inzaghi. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Inzaghi was a legend of the game. The Italian striker was known for his excessive offside incidents, but it was part of his game. He played on the last defender and scored many goals by doing so. Inzaghi was a legend as a player and is now making a name for himself as a manager.

“All they can talk about is Manchester United.”

Here is a quote that still rings true today. Sir Alex Ferguson said, “All they can talk about is Manchester United,” in reference to Manchester City. Despite City’s recent successes, they are always on about Manchester United and trying to compare themselves to the great United teams. No matter what City does, they will always be in the shadow of Manchester United.

What quote of Sir Alex’s is your favorite?

Main image from: Aodanbiswashughes on https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mark_Clattenburg_and_Sir_Alex_Ferguson.png