Former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has hailed Sir Alex Ferguson for the way he added "characters" to the United dressing room, as well as admitting that he doubts his managerial qualities will ever be bettered by anyone.
United enjoyed the most successful period of their rich and colourful history during Ferguson's 27-year reign as manager, which included 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League crowns.
While you can argue that Ferguson was blessed with outstandingly talented players throughout his tenure, ranging from David Beckham to Wayne Rooney, the Scot always found a way to bring the very best out of what he had and make it work.
And former United goalkeeper Schmeichel, who was signed by Ferguson in 1991, however, believes spotting players that would add a sense of character to United's squad was one of his biggest successes, insisting he embraced working with players who, including Schmeichel himself, were "difficult."
Schmeichel told Soccer AM : "I don’t think the game will ever see a better manager than him. I think there are a lot of things that are in his toolbox, but his communication was absolutely brilliant.
"But his ability to deal with difficult people like myself and Roy [Keane]… the dressing room was full of it. But he kind of embraced it.
"It was important to him to have those characters in the dressing room and I think, in scouting, that was part of what they had to look for; it needed to be someone that stood out as a character.
"You can find a million explanations as to why that was important."
One of the most famous matches in Ferguson's tenure as United boss was the 1999 UEFA Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Nou Camp. Trailing 1-0 heading into stoppage time, United, somehow, turned the game on its head through stoppage time goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
For Schmeichel, who was in goal for the Reds that evening, it was moments like that which optimised what Ferguson was all about.
"Using the Champions League final in 1999 as an example, where players that don’t have time to go out and get instructions from the manager of what to do next, when we were not scoring or breaking through… but the characters in that team, every single of them, stepped up, took more chances and took more risks," continued the Dane.
"That is the way that we were. I think he looked for those characters, who could achieve that on the pitch and, as I say, make decisions and change the course of a game.
"He was brilliant at managing that."
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