In an exclusive interview with "High Performance," Young revealed that Moyes, within weeks of taking over Manchester United, had completely eroded the winning mentality and drastically changed the training methods, to the point where players were reluctant to even enter the training ground.
What was going on with the fights at Manchester United's training ground? The public's perception seems completely different from the players'.
It wasn't at all what the outside world imagined, not a problem or a breakdown. Everyone, especially under Ferguson, had a winning mentality. Everyone wanted to win. It could be triggered by anything, like a player not giving 100% in training, a tiny detail in a small-sided game, like not tracking back, or a tackle.
Sometimes punches were indeed thrown, but someone would step in to separate them, or eventually, they'd sort it out themselves. Ferguson didn't do much; he just stood by. Because he knew the players he had possessed that aggression, that winning mentality. Ferdinand was the loudest person ever; if he won, the whole training ground knew; but if you won, everyone would make sure Rio knew too. This only happened because everyone wanted to win, everyone wanted to succeed, and when you achieve success, you have to go through things like this.
Sir Alex Ferguson said that when he saw players fighting, he knew they would win the league.
Absolutely correct. He turned around and said, my players are fighting. You might not consider it a physical altercation, but in daily training, you want to win, because you don't want to know that others are beating you. If you have that winning mentality, you want to win. There are always goals to achieve, whether it's wanting to win the Premier League, the FA Cup, there are always trophies, but there's also the feeling in training that I don't want to lose this training session.
After missing a penalty at Euro 2012, did you feel like a failure?
Yes. If I had scored that penalty, we would have had a chance to advance, but I didn't. I failed. That was hard to accept. When another penalty comes, you wonder, can you really step up and take another one? I've overcome that mindset because the failure wasn't solely my fault.
Of course, I missed the penalty, but there were other cumulative factors that led to our elimination. I've always had this mentality, I often tell my sons and my family that I'm like a mindset monster. If you tell me something will go wrong, I'll turn it into a positive. When many people say you're too old, you're done, you can't run up and down the pitch anymore, I'll say, "Okay, watch me." No one will work harder than me in training.
There were also tough times at Manchester United, like how did it feel to lose the title on the final day?
It was really, really tough. We lost the title on the final day. Anytime Aguero's goal is shown on TV, I have to turn it off; any related newspapers must be thrown away, I can't read them, can't look at them.
That was the hardest moment walking into the dressing room. There was complete silence for about half an hour to forty-five minutes. I remember Ferguson walking in, looking at everyone, and saying, "I want you all to remember this feeling now, and take it into next season." He basically just said those words. For me, it was one of the toughest moments.
What was your situation like after David Moyes took over?
I wasn't enjoying football then. I remember sometimes sitting in the car, looking at the clock. I'm the kind of person who would arrive early for training, but players were texting each other in the car because we weren't enjoying it at all. From the success we had, to directly plummeting to no success at all, plus being told you wouldn't play, you might be sold. For me, if you have good management skills, you'd know how to deal with players.
When you go from Ferguson – who had an open-door policy, come talk to me about anything – to a manager who didn't talk much, didn't like players talking to him, you think, wait, something's not right here. Moyes came in for about three weeks and said he wouldn't change much. But within five weeks of pre-season, things had completely changed. Ferdinand was told he wouldn't play, Vidic wouldn't play, and neither would Patrice. The training methods were completely different, the winning mentality was different, that kind of thing was basically non-existent. Although he achieved great success at Everton and West Ham, coming to Manchester United, I don't think any manager could do the same as Ferguson.
What was the situation like after Mourinho came, and why wasn't it successful?
I think the Mourinho we encountered was different from the one in his first spell at Chelsea or at Real Madrid. He wasn't able to bring out the best in the players. And at that time, player power was starting to grow, plus against big opponents like Liverpool and Manchester City, it felt like the club's DNA was no longer there.
Under Ferguson, there was a core group of homegrown players who understood the Manchester United way, who knew what success looked like. But there was no alignment between the new players and staff, players wanted to succeed but didn't really know how to achieve that specific kind of success. The manager also wasn't able to get the players to perform at the highest level in the same way. He later came out and said that finishing second one season was his greatest achievement. For a Manchester United manager or player, you'd think, I'm a bit unsure about that.
What do you think is the secret to a football club maintaining consistency?
Between the owner, sporting director, and head coach, they must first be aligned. Once they are aligned and support what the head coach wants to do, it's easy.
I look back at Ferguson's era, and then at everything Emery has done at Villa. If you have a head coach who has the full support of the owner and significant say in player recruitment, then everything aligns. The head coach is key to player success and also key to the club's success.
When Emery first went to Villa, it took some time to stabilize the team before achieving success in getting the club back into European competition. Because he brought in the coaching staff he wanted and a compatible sporting director, and recruited players he knew were hungry and willing to play the way he asked. That's the secret to success.
If you look at successful people, like Ferguson, Klopp, Guardiola, if a coach knows everyone's name at the training ground, whether you're the cleaner or a player, and cares about your family, that's consistency, and it's crucial for everything.
What impact has social media had on the modern dressing room?
Under Ferguson, our phones would be under the TV. For at least half an hour after a game, no one touched their phone because we were either discussing the game or celebrating a win. But as the power of social media took over, players would be scrolling on their phones even in full kit. A few of us older players would look at each other and say, we just lost the game, and the younger players were already scrolling on their phones as soon as they entered the dressing room, just to see what others were saying about them on social media. Even to this day, I'm not used to this.
I don't understand what benefit there is. If the praise doesn't come from the coach, teammates, or family, what's the point? I've seen social media really seriously affect players; they throw their phones on the ground after seeing negative comments. But if you see that person on the street, they wouldn't say it to your face, because it's easy to speak from behind a screen. For me, if the coach says I didn't perform well, if teammates say I didn't perform well, even before they say it, I know in my own heart whether I played well that day or not.
What do you think about the current direction of football media?
I find the direction the media is taking now quite disheartening. I saw recently after an England game, national broadcasters were shouting into microphones about firing Tuchel and so on. If a former player wants to do that, what signal does that send to the fans? I understand everyone has a platform to speak, but when it comes to personal attacks on players, for me, it's completely wrong.
As a novice commentator, I won't attack someone saying this person should be fired or this player is rubbish. The way I do things is honest and authentic. Many things can happen that week; the coach might tell you to play this way or that way, fans don't know, but they have a right to speak. You won't see me shouting into a microphone because that's not me. If people want to say your opinion only gets five hundred likes, while the person shouting gets twenty thousand, so be it, if you don't want to listen to me, you don't have to.
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