It’s been revealed that Manchester United players weren’t impressed with Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1999 Champions League final decision.
The 1999 Champions League final in Barcelona was one of the most historic games in the history of Manchester United.
Now, 25 years on a documentary has been made detailing this final and also the entire treble success achieved by Sir Alex Ferguson and his brilliant team.
It’s revealed some interesting moments which we otherwise wouldn’t be aware of and one of these moments has shown what the players thought of the manager’s team selection.
Specifically David Beckham‘s delight, and everyone else’s immediate concern.
READ MORE: 99 Man Utd Documentary: Release Date, How to Watch and Stream, Trailer, Cast and More
What Sir Alex Ferguson did which left his Manchester United players baffled
With suspensions forcing Roy Keane and Paul Scholes out of the final, Sir Alex had to move things around within his winning team.
While in hindsight it all worked out, the changes he made, left his players baffled.
Here’s how he lined up;
This of course saw unfamiliar positions for Beckham and Ryan Giggs, and in the documentary on Amazon Prime, the players have been explaining how they felt.
David Beckham loved Sir Alex’s decision but nobody else did
Speaking in the documentary, Beckham said: “I’d like to think it was a huge statement for the manager of how much he trusted me. I always wanted the opportunity to play central midfield.”
This thinking however wasn’t shared by his teammates as they all explained how confused they were.
Dennis Irwin said: “I would have never called that team. It was a bit of a surprise.”
Afterwards, David May explained: “I honestly thought he’d have played Ronny [Johnsen] in midfield alongside [Nicky Butt] Butty. Becks on the right, Giggs on the left. But he didn’t.
“Giggs was in his pomp, terrorising full-backs, yet he’s playing on the right side. Jesper’s [Blomqvist] on the left, Becks is in the middle, but you’d want Becks to supply those crosses for [Andy Cole] Coley and [Dwight Yorke] Yorky, that they’ve lived off for that season.
“What was he thinking? I had a few things I would love to have said but I couldn’t and I wouldn’t because of the respect I had for him.”
Peter Schmeichel also spoke out: “I just felt that it was a little bit unbalanced. When you take Becks away from the right-hand side, you then lose a lot of quality that we have in our team.”
While Giggs was directly affected by the position swap and explained he wasn’t happy about it: “I’d obviously played right wing, but it’s not a position that I enjoyed playing. At all.”
Nicky Butt explains how he felt prior to the Champions League final for United
After the players gave their views, Butt added his own view and spoke of the nervousness he had prior to playing the final in midfield.
“I did feel a bit of extra responsibility. I felt a sick feeling. I’d never felt that before.
“Your mind’s racing and then you’re thinking _______ hell, it’s a big game. Don’t ____ up don’t make a mistake.”
This isn’t a surprising way to feel and we’re sure most players would feel that way before the biggest game of their careers.