Gerard Pique has spoken fondly of Sir Alex Ferguson and reflected on how the manager reacted after being told he wanted to return to Barcelona.
“When I arrived there I was 17 and it was really hard for me to leave my family here, to change club, to change all my friends,” said Pique. “For me, Sir Alex Ferguson was like a second father. He helped in all the ways, not only in football terms but also how to find a house and all my relations out of football. I think that, for me, he was a really helpful person. For me, Alex Ferguson will always be a second father. I remember when I went to his room to say that I wanted to leave because Barcelona was coming for me. It was my town, it was my club when I was young and I wanted to come back. He didn’t want me to leave and said I had a future at the club and he expected a lot from me. But I wanted to leave and he wrote me a letter saying that it was really difficult and really hard for him to let me go to Barcelona.”
Man Utd News 24/7
A shame he didn’t stay with us. An Evans-Pique partnership could have become legendary.
it’s good enough that he is grateful.. on a hindsight, it’s a blessing in disguise that we have him leave us early.. otherwise, i can see another ugly saga like Fabregas..
Pique is possibly the best CB in the game.
It’s a shame to lose a player that good to Barca, especially now they are showing themselves to be one of the worst clubs in the world for tapping players up. Look at what they’ve done with Fabregas and Mascherano and others. Real are as bad but of course nobody does a fucking thing. Real and Barca can do no wrong in the eyes of the football establishment.
Fuck Barcelona and Fuck Real Madrid, I’ve loved UNITED since i was a kid
@Doghouse Fabregas was stolen from barca first.. And in fact, Chelsea was almost banned for tapping players. The media is always covering up for english football, and also blowing the fan for english football. We only hear good things about english football…
Simplest example is the recent EC qualifiers reports at soccernet. Spain’s win was reported with a headline of “Torres Brace” when actually Villa also scored two goals in that game.
Rubbish cantona7, like we stole Pique? Fabregas wasn’t close to what he’s come to be until Arsenal trained him up.
Messi and fabregas was at Barcalona as kids,do you think that if some other club came in for messi at the time arsenal when for Fabregas barca would let him leave? not in a million years because at that age their realize that Messi was going to be special,their didn’t see any thing in fabregas thats why their let him leave,their only want him back because Arsenal turn him in to a star….Agree with Cantona7andred devil 19.sorry we didn’t get more for PIque.
Cantona7 – Villa didn’t get a brace. Silva got the other.
The Spanish really have a penchant for gaudy shirts judging by this
Jonny – Was thinking exactly the same. Its fucking hideous.
No one at Barca wanted him to leave. Arsenal came for him when he was 15. They tried to keep him for a year. Hell they went to court just to get some form of compensation and reported Arsenal but it was deemed legal as Arsenal exploited a loophole in the law in Spain where they could sign him and in Spain it is not legal to sign someone that young. They were pissed when he left!
And Fabregas would be a star anywhere he goes, he is that talented. Same for our Wayne Rooney.
They tried like hell to keep him and the ill will to Arsenal over it never went away. Also if you review the situation objectively aint it strange that Xavi would give exclusive interviews to a British rag while he was vacationing in four different places post WC? These same rags said Messi was doing a punk band tour with a heavy Oasis influence and quoted him on a twitter account he does not have!
As for Masch, he decided along with the coach not to play. The deal with Barca was all but done when Messi’s supposed statement came out. Had no impact on the money as that was set. Masch was the issue as he had to decide how much money he would offer up for the deal. Their initial offer for him was also way higher then what was first printed, they upped it slightly and Masch offered some cash and it was done quickly after that. Nothing wrong there sorry. That is just false.
He is a humble and good person ,utd culture he learnt under fergie ,will reflect in barca ,n he will become there captain soon..!! wish him all the best!!
@jonny and @king eric
it’s true that the spanish sometimes have hideous taste – look at the athletic bilbao away shirts or something from a few seasons back! looked like blobs on a shirt
Where does Pique get his shirts from? I wouldn’t want to go there by mistake.
I think it was inevitable that he wanted to return, but a shame all the same, he was a decent player for us, but was always going to have to wait to get a regular run at the time when Rio and Vida were established, coupled with the emergance of Jonny Evans. At least he is good enough to acknowledge the hard work SAF put in to help him feel a part of the club and feel settled. A stark contrast to what is being said about ex City players about their former employers – Robihno being the latest player to slate them.
Looks great in la liga, because he hasn’t got Kevin Davies on his arsehole.
5 mill we got for him .7.5 mill for a dud .10 mill for someone who could not get in fulham team no value there then.
http://sport.stv.tv/sports-centre/big-feature/195676-pique-sir-alex-ferguson-was-like-a-second-father-to-me/
video
Im a Spurs and Barca fan but I have to say this is the best blog around in terms of the quality of comments. If I read a Spurs or Arsenal blog I know there are gona be stupid arguments about something completely different after 5 comments.
As for Pique I think he has become one of the best center backs, excellent man to man marker and great awareness which makes up for his lack of agility and pace. I think he would have become a top player at United with Ferguson but was unfortunate that he had 2 of the best center backs in the world ahead of him
@prtich the red
you cant appreciate things rite!
@willierednut
spot on!…he would find it really difficult to cope with EPL and more over the possession style of barca eases a lot of pressure of him…even though evans still have lot to learn..he did way better if we pique was there in the same place…
I think its actually very big us to obey his wishes and let him leave for his childhood and hometown club. Manchester United understand the true meaning of “Loyalty” and they fully respected his wishes.
I seriously think he is the best CB today, looks like a younger Ferdinand when he plays
Pique , has the easiest job in the world . Defending for Barca , when their midfield gets overrun like once in 2 years , you can see how exposed he is , even for Spain , but yeah , he’s good at keeping the ball .
Vidic imo is the best CB right now. Pique is an excellent defender though – similar to Rio but not better either. No bias there.
He was always going to leave tbh , even if he stayed, letting him go for cheap is maddening.
To be to SAF and United, he wasn’t the defender he is now, so maybe that’s why we only got 4 million for him.
*fair to*
thats really nice to hear that from the lad
i was gutted when he left, but could understand why family, country, home club and all that
oh and to take up a much easier job too as well
i didnt say we stole pique from barca. if you are having a problem with your self-interpretation, i feel sorry for you.
and it was Villa who scored two goals against liechtenstein. not Silva. LOL.
and i am not saying what Real and Barca do are ok. I am telling you, that actually, not only Real and Barca do that, but also other clubs from all over the world. But as we read english news, we only get to hear the good things about english football, and bad things about english football’s rival. Premier League is painted as the saint, while La Liga and Serie A and other leagues are painted as craps.
@cantona7 Villa didn’t score 2 goals against Lichtenstein. David Villa scored the second goal and David Silva scored the 4th goal. It makes sense that Torres got the headline for the brace since he was the only one who scored 2 goals. Not saying I agree or disagree with your point, but in this case it doesn’t apply.
This showing Alex Ferguson was care about Soccer game and not Money!
Amazing Talent..if he hadnt blocked that Park Ji Sung shot goal bound..in Rome; We wud have had a 4th European Cup for sure !!
He is a breath a fresh air..but he has learnt some dirty tapping skills from his team mates…Respect to Real..Their players never did it..But Barca’s players look bigger than the club to me !!
pique is a decent defender IMO. but he seems to had difficulties dealing with speed in PL. la liga seems to suit him well, and he did win everything under the sun since leaving united. i had nothing but respect for him and glad that someone who had played for united had won everything that a football player can win.
gud luck kid.