Sir Alex Ferguson named only English player to rival Cristiano Ronaldo

Sir Alex Ferguson is widely regarded as the greatest football manager of all time and is responsible for Manchester United’s 20-year reign.

The Scottish player arrived at Old Trafford in 1986 with the reputation he had built at Aberdeen and went on to redefine what it meant to run a top-flight football club.

Over an extraordinary 26 years, he won 38 trophies for Manchester United. These include 13 Premier League titles, two Champions League titles, five FA Cups and four League Cups, including the iconic 1999 treble that cemented his place in history.

To achieve all of that, of course, Ferguson needed great players, and he worked with some of the best players in the world for 30 years.

From the warrior leadership of Bryan Robson to the mercurial genius of Eric Cantona, perhaps the player who first made United believe they could conquer it all, Sir Alex has made a living by coaxing the best out of elite talent while fostering a team mentality.

In midfield, there was the telepathic partnership of Roy Keane and Ince, the instinctive flair of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke and the unstoppable force of Wayne Rooney.

Peter Schmeichel is arguably the greatest goalkeeper England has ever seen, Rio Ferdinand redefined the modern centre-back – the list goes on.

However, Ferguson himself believes that only four of the players he has coached at United can truly be described as ‘world class’.

Cristiano Ronaldo was one of them, of course, while Cantona also made the list, as did Ryan Giggs, who spent nearly 30 years at Old Trafford, but only one English player was selected.

Sir Alex Ferguson gives special praise to Paul Scholes

Indeed, in his 2015 book, Ferguson named Paul Scholes as one of the four “world class” players he coached at United.

Scholes is widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders in Premier League history and spent his career with understated brilliance earning manager Ferguson’s approval.

Two league titles became five, then 10, then 11. He won two Champions Leagues, three FA Cups and was still pulling the strings in United’s midfield well into his late 30s. He played in over 700 games and scored over 150 goals for the club he supported as a boy. It was a surprising return for a player whose job was ostensibly to sit back and control.

He did everything without making any noise. No chasing money overseas, no fabricated headlines, no autobiography serialized in the tabloids. Scholes showed up week in and week out and was better on the pitch than just about anyone else.

Zinedine called him the greatest midfielder of his generation. He said that Xavi is the player he respects the most. But Fergie’s praise may mean more than anything else.