‘Beckham thought I was trying to get rid of him’
“You can’t win anything with kids,” former Liverpool and Scotland defender Alan Hansen said after a youthful Manchester United side lost 3-1 at Aston Villa in August 1995.
Midfielder Paul Ince, 27, and 31-year-old forward Mark Hughes had been moved on in the summer to Inter Milan and Chelsea respectively.
Meanwhile, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and David Beckham, all 20, and 21-year-old Ryan Giggs were beginning to make a name for themselves.
By the end of the season, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side had won the Premier League and FA Cup Double.
“We’d worked really hard getting youth into the club again and this bunch of young lads became the spirit of Manchester United,” Ferguson told BBC Breakfast.
“They added something. Apart from the great abilities they had, they had desire. I put Beckham out on loan at Preston [in March 1995] and he thought I was trying to get rid of him, which was not true.
“David was the last to really develop because of his physique. Although he grew to 6ft, he was small and thin as a young kid.”
Did Ferguson ever fear that throwing his young players in at the deep end could backfire?
“I did exactly the same when I was in charge at St Mirren and Aberdeen,” he said.
“I had belief in young people because if you give them an opportunity there are two things that happen – they become real stars and they can remain loyal to you as a manager.”
