Ryan Giggs specifies team talk detail Sir Alex Ferguson would always tell Man Utd stars

Ryan Giggs has detailed the key elements of Sir Alex Ferguson's management which set him apart from other elite bosses.

Whilst we don't need Giggs to tell us just how good Fergie was - given his trophy cabinet is testament enough - the Welshman certainly knows his old boss as well as anyone.

The pair worked together for 23 years at Man Utd, with Ferguson handing the ex-winger his debut in 1990.

And whilst Ferguson was famed for giving his players a stern ticking off when necessary, Giggs says there were so many more factors which made him such a brilliant boss.

"He really is the biggest influence of my career. He had everything as a football manager," Giggs told Laureus. "Tactically he knew his football, he knew his players.

"The human element was huge where he had to get the best out of these great players: when to give you the famous hair-dryer, where he would be that close to you shouting at you, but he also knew when to put his arm around you.

"He evolved with the times. If you go back to when he first started, he had a couple of staff; when he finished, there were more staff than players and he embraced that."

Giggs added: "He ticks every box and I model a lot of the things that I do when I’m coaching on Sir Alex, like standards and discipline.

"Within that framework, it’s how you handle the individuals, the man management. I’ve seen how he handled the likes of [Eric] Cantona. So these are all things that can only help you in regard to leadership and ideas that you can take forward in your job."

Giggs would probably never have believed he'd find himself following in Ferguson's footsteps less than a year after the Scot retired, when he was plunged into the dugout as United's interim boss after David Moyes' sacking.

After two years learning under Louis van Gaal, Giggs has since stepped out into the world of management on his own with the Wales national team.

And if he picked up anything from his time under Ferguson, it's to copy a phrase his old boss would use often during his team talks.

"One of the most important things that I think that people forget is to enjoy yourself," Giggs said. "That’s the last thing I say to my players when they’re going out.

"And it was what Sir Alex would tell the players before we would go out: enjoy yourself. And that’s really when you can express yourself. When you can be at your best."

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