Sir Alex Ferguson Revealed Manchester United’s Two Most Intelligent Players. One May Surprise You

Intelligence isn’t always obvious

Sir Alex Ferguson Revealed Manchester United’s Two Most Intelligent Players. One May Surprise You

When you have managed Manchester United for 27 years, won 13 Premier League titles and worked with some of football’s biggest names, you have plenty of players to choose from. But Sir Alex Ferguson’s answer to the question of who was the most intelligent may not be the names you expect.

Sir Alex Ferguson spent more than two decades building Manchester United into one of the most dominant clubs in English football.

Along the way, he worked with some extraordinary footballers.

Cristiano Ronaldo. Paul Scholes. Ryan Giggs. Eric Cantona. Roy Keane. David Beckham. Wayne Rooney. Rio Ferdinand.

So, when Ferguson spoke about the players he considered particularly intelligent, you might expect one of those household names to top the list.

But his answer took a different route.

According to a report by GiveMeSport, Ferguson identified Patrice Evra and Diego Forlán when discussing players who impressed him with their intelligence away from the pitch.

And there is a fascinating story behind both choices.

Patrice Evra: The defender with a brain for languages

Evra became one of Manchester United’s most recognisable defenders after arriving from Monaco in January 2006.

His first few months at Old Trafford were anything but straightforward. He struggled badly on his debut against Manchester City and was substituted at half-time.

But Ferguson saw something beyond that difficult introduction.

Evra eventually developed into a hugely successful left-back, winning five Premier League titles, the Champions League and several other major trophies with United.

But Ferguson’s admiration went beyond what Evra could do with a football.

Speaking to The Big Issue, Ferguson highlighted Evra’s intelligence, noting that he could speak five languages and was a valuable presence inside the dressing room.

It was another side of Evra that did not always make the headlines.

Then there was Diego Forlán…

This is where Ferguson’s choice becomes particularly interesting.

Forlán’s Manchester United career was hardly the stuff of Old Trafford folklore.

The Uruguayan striker arrived in January 2002 with a reputation as a promising goalscorer, but struggled to find consistency in England.

He eventually left United for Villarreal, where his career took off.

He later became a star at Atlético Madrid and one of Uruguay’s most important players, particularly during their run to the 2010 World Cup semi-finals.

Yet Ferguson had always recognised something in him.

Forlán was also a gifted linguist. Ferguson recalled that the striker could speak around five languages fluently.

And there was an anecdote that particularly impressed the former United manager.

When Forlán later moved to Japan, Ferguson was told that the striker had spent about a week preparing for an interview before conducting it in Japanese.

For a manager who spent his career obsessing over preparation, learning and adaptability, that apparently left an impression.

The Paul Scholes twist

There is an important distinction here.

Ferguson has also described Paul Scholes as one of the cleverest players he managed.

Scholes’ intelligence was primarily about football: his understanding of space, passing, positioning and the rhythm of a match.

Ferguson once called him one of Manchester United’s greatest-ever players, while Scholes’ ability to control games became one of the defining features of his career.

But when Ferguson spoke specifically about intelligence beyond the football pitch, Evra and Forlán offered a different kind of answer.

And perhaps that is what makes the revelation so interesting.



Football has a habit of reducing players to what happens during 90 minutes.

Goals. Assists. Tackles. Trophies.

But Ferguson’s comments offer another definition of intelligence.

Learning languages. Understanding people. Preparing meticulously. Adapting to new environments. Communicating with teammates.

Those qualities may not appear on a stat sheet, but they can be just as valuable.

And perhaps Ferguson, after managing thousands of training sessions and hundreds of players, knew better than most that football intelligence does not always announce itself with a spectacular pass or a winning goal.

Sometimes, it is the player quietly learning five languages.

Or spending a week preparing for a five-minute interview in Japanese.

And in Ferguson’s world, that was enough to make Patrice Evra and Diego Forlán stand out from an extraordinary crowd.

Source: GiveMeSport,Big Issue and BBC Sport.