General

EPL: How Sir Alex Ferguson used envelope trick to motivate Man United players – Owen Hargreaves

Published

2 years ago

July 3, 2022

Share this post:

Former Manchester United midfielder, Owen Hargreaves, has revealed how ex-manager, Sir Alex Ferguson used envelope trick to motivate his players.

Hargreaves, who joined United from Bayern Munich in 2007, enjoyed a successful first season under coach Ferguson as he won both the Premier League and Champions League before enduring an injury ravaged three seasons.

The ex-England international recalled a time of when Ferguson used to inspire his United players by telling them he has some names inside an envelope that people think are going to let the club down.

“I remember when I first signed for United, we were in Asia somewhere, pre-season,” Hargreaves told BT Sport.

“He [Sir Alex] said we have all these players from all different countries, we should win the league and the Champions League. And he had an envelope and had some names in it.

“He said, ‘there are some names in here of people I think are going to let us down. Make sure your name is not in here. And everybody ran out of the room and basically tackled through the door not wanting to let the gaffer down.

“That’s what he did well, he made you want to not fail him because you didn’t want to disappoint him.”