Sir Alex is often criticised for his record in Europe however people seem to overlook a few factors When Sir Alex Ferguson took over at Manchester United English teams were banned from taking part in European competitions. This meant that not only could his side not compete in the European Cup/Champions League but the English game was miles and miles behind it's European rivals. The ban wasn't lifted until the 1991/1992 season and it would take the English Premiership years to catch up to the standards of the other European leagues as a result. Up until the 1995/96 season clubs were hampered by the 3 Foreigner rule. British clubs were particularly hard hit as UEFA considered Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales to be separate nations for this rule. This meant that clubs were unable to field their strongest sides. Another factor to consider is the changes to the format of the European Cup/Champions League which meant that teams had to play more games against higher quality opposition (with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th best teams from countries such as Spain and Italy being of higher quality than the champions of Sweden, Belgium etc). All factors considered it is probably best to look at Sir Alex's record in the European Cup/Champions League from around 1996 onwards in comparison with Managers of the same era in which case his record is up there with the very best.
That is impressive considering some teams have never won it. Including the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea
my opion being a lfc fan is that fergie has done a great job,but it has always been good to see english clubs doing well beyond the group stages especially dare i say it when lfc were involved.
I agree - that's one of the great things about the CL in my opinion, there's a lot more English clubs (and top clubs in general) to follow. Even if your team doesn't get through you can stay interested
it will be interesting to see what happens to man city in the champions league next season(if they qualify)with all there millions they have, see them doing well or will they fall at the qualifying stages? it is a well known fact that they have great players,but are they together enough as a unit to progress? myself i have my doubts,but we have to wait and see.i personally want to see the tradional english clubs qualify after next years prem and yes i am adding liverpool in that catorgary(spelling doh) along with man utd chelsea arsenal,it just makes it seem more interesting,sorry thats the way i feel whether you agree or not.
