Former Manchester United youngster shares bizarre Sir Alex Ferguson sword story

30.04.2022 - 12:45 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Ryan Shawcross has named Sir Alex Ferguson as the most difficult manager he ever faced during his time at Stoke City and also revealed that he once brandished a sword in his direction.

Tough centre-back Shawcross joined Manchester United's academy as a 15-year-old and progressed all the way to the first team before a successful loan spell at Stoke became a permanent switch in 2008. However, it was while he was still at Old Trafford following an FA Youth Cup defeat to the Potteries that Ferguson pulled out the weapon to emphasise how disappointed he was with the loss.

Shawcross was naming his 'nightmare XI opposition' for the Stoke Sentinel which contained United legends Edwin van der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo. The now-retired defender has no hesitation in naming Ferguson in the dug-out.

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"Easy decision. We went up against some good teams and Wenger would always moan about us, even Pep would have a gripe," Shawcross wrote. "But Sir Alex would look at us for what we were and just say: 'We'll beat you.'

"They came with the mindset that if we or anyone thought Stoke was tough, they would match that and beat us at football. We found those games so hard. He was so tactically aware too.

"When you've got a manager making excuses before you've set foot in the stadium you're on the back foot. Society today always has a ready excuse and in football you hear about Financial Fair Play or Covid or the pitch. Well, we're in a very fortunate position to be paid for basically a hobby. If you lose on the day, it's usually because you weren't good enough.

"I came through probably the best youth team