Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that a fear of failure still motivates him, despite his enormous success within the game.
Speaking to The Observer, the Manchester United manager also revealed that he did not feel “bullet-proof” even though he has guided the club to 11 Premier League titles.
“I never regard myself as bullet-proof,” the Scot explained.
“I might be bullet-proof at this very moment, before a ball has been kicked, but I have always worked under a fear of failure.
“I think every manager would say the same. Failure for Manchester United might be a poor performance against Birmingham in the first game.
“What you have won before counts for nothing, in that respect, because the most important thing is keeping a winning mentality going from day to day.”
The 67-year-old also admitted that he had tunnel vision when it came to winning and that results are all that matter.
“I've just got something in me that doesn't think about anything else but winning. You try to transmit that mentality to the players – that winning is what matters and losing matters even more,” said Sir Alex.
“Every manager is under pressure from bad results. It's a results-based industry, a must-win industry, and I don't see any way of getting away from that.”
Ferguson begins another Premier League season this afternoon with the visit of newly promoted Birmingham City, and the Scot insisted he still believed the Premier League was as competitive as any other in the world.
“This is the most competitive league in the world: some of the top players might have gone to Spain, but I don't agree that their league is any harder than ours,” he added.
“The Premier League is hard work every week and, if the results don't happen, the manager carries the can.”
Speaking to The Observer, the Manchester United manager also revealed that he did not feel “bullet-proof” even though he has guided the club to 11 Premier League titles.
“I never regard myself as bullet-proof,” the Scot explained.
“I might be bullet-proof at this very moment, before a ball has been kicked, but I have always worked under a fear of failure.
“I think every manager would say the same. Failure for Manchester United might be a poor performance against Birmingham in the first game.
“What you have won before counts for nothing, in that respect, because the most important thing is keeping a winning mentality going from day to day.”
The 67-year-old also admitted that he had tunnel vision when it came to winning and that results are all that matter.
“I've just got something in me that doesn't think about anything else but winning. You try to transmit that mentality to the players – that winning is what matters and losing matters even more,” said Sir Alex.
“Every manager is under pressure from bad results. It's a results-based industry, a must-win industry, and I don't see any way of getting away from that.”
Ferguson begins another Premier League season this afternoon with the visit of newly promoted Birmingham City, and the Scot insisted he still believed the Premier League was as competitive as any other in the world.
“This is the most competitive league in the world: some of the top players might have gone to Spain, but I don't agree that their league is any harder than ours,” he added.
“The Premier League is hard work every week and, if the results don't happen, the manager carries the can.”
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