Man Utd: Sir Alex Ferguson ‘scared me’ at the beginning, says Nani
Nani has lifted the lid on his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson, admitting that he was „very scared“ of the Manchester United boss during the early part of his spell at Old Trafford.
The former Portugal international, who Sir Alex brought to United from Sporting Lisbon in 2007 for £23m, got 40 goals and 73 assists in 230 games during his eight-year stay at Old Trafford.
Speaking to the UTD Podcast, Nani provided a unique insight into how Ferguson’s expertise and man-management helped him become used to playing football in the English top-flight.
He said: „At the beginning, I was very scared of him. Like a father, you know? To make a mistake or do something wrong.
„But I was scared of him until I learned to understand and was able to express myself.
„My English has never been perfect or is going to be, but at that time it was worse than now and when he found I could speak more with him, he started coming to me and giving me more attention.
„And from then, I learned more about Sir Alex Ferguson. What he wanted to do, who he was and the relationship started to be better.“
Whilst becoming accustomed to life as a United player, the winger reveals he used to occasionally travel alone with Sir Alex on the way to and from training and matches.
„He was my neighbour and we used to go to London by train,“ Nani recalled.
„His wife or his family used to leave him in the train station so on the way back he has no driver to take him so he was looking for someone who lives close to him to give him a ride.
„So I said, ‘OK boss, I’ll take you home!’ But the day I took him home was after a game against Fulham away, and I was on the bench.
„I was playing unbelievable with a lot of confidence. We won a penalty and it was Ryan Giggs who took the penalties. I felt confident and Giggs didn’t say anything. I took the penalty and I missed.
„The penalty should make it 3-2. We are going back home that day and I say, ‘Boss, I can take you home’. I drove him back home and he didn’t talk to me in the car!
„In the dressing room, he killed me! He said, ‘Nani, who do you think you are? Who gave you permission to take the penalty?! Ryan!’
„And then he killed Ryan Giggs, because he said, ‘Ryan, why did you let him take the penalty!’ Ryan said, ‘He grabbed the ball and I let him.’
„Oh my god, that day was incredible. I took him home and I felt very uncomfortable driving home.
„He [Ferguson] is a man who knows how to manage all characters, all different ages, all different personalities.
„My personality in that time, I was young, and not easy. I know that and I learned a lot, I changed a lot. That is life. You must learn.“
Soccer Accumulator Bonus
Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.
This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.
The maximum bonus that you can receive is ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.
If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:
Bet Type Bonus
14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus ˆ100,000 or currency equivalent. Soccer Accumulator Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.
If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.
If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.
Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.
In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.
All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.
bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.
