Mourinho At United: ‘I Am Where I Want To Be’

SIR ALEX FERGUSON has backed new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’s decision not to keep Ryan Giggs on as an assistant – and believes the Welshman is now ready for his own top job.

Mourinho was blunt but fair when detailing Giggs’s departure, insisting he was simply offered the job ahead of the former assistant before leaving the door open to any future return.

‘You have got to have, in your assistant, someone you have trusted all your life, ‘ he said.

Mourinho is tasked with resurrecting a United side who missed out on Champions League qualification after a fifth-placed Premier League finish so how confident is he of restoring their fortunes as fellow newcomer Pep Guardiola galavnises rivals Manchester City?

And Ferguson, who retired from the club in 2013, says Mourinho was right to stick to what he knows.

“It is such a highly intense results industry, you need people who go into it to have a bit of steel about them, a bit of character and personality”.

“When I came to United, I brought Archie Knox because he was a valuable person for me”.

Never one to hold back, he started off by saying what United meant to him as a manager: “I arrive into a club that is hard to describe”.

During his first press conference as United manager, the new man at the helm was asked about his relationship with Sir Alex and whether he had received any words of wisdom from him.

“If he hadn’t had an assistant, I know Jose would’ve taken Ryan, but that’s not the case so therefore, quite rightly, Jose has stood by his own man”.

“I know the responsibility, I know the expectations, I know the legacy”, he added.

He wants Giggs to “be himself” and make sure he picks the right club to join.

Speaking on the merits of being United manager, the former Chelsea boss said: “The reality is I think it is a job every one wants and not many have a chance to have and I have it”.

The fact that both Mourinho and Ibrahimovic have previously battled with Guardiola during their spells in Spain makes for an exciting Premier League season with plenty of big games to look forward to.

Ferguson was confident Giggs would be a great player the moment he saw him play. “His feet never seemed to touch the ground”.