Former Arsenal centre-back Martin Keown has reacted angrily to Rio Ferdinand’s revelations about Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson's previous team talks.
Ferdinand revealed earlier this week that Ferguson once labelled the Arsenal players 'babies' during a team talk. The United icon, who was discussing what the Scotsman used to say to him and his teammates before clashes against title rivals, admitted that Ferguson often told his players to 'get in their faces'.
Ex-Gunners boss Arsene Wenger and Ferguson often clashed on the touchline during their managerial careers. The French manager led the London side to three Premier League titles, seven FA Cups and seven Super Cups between 1996 and 2018.
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Meanwhile, Ferguson guided United to 13 Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues during his time at Old Trafford, as well as a whole host of other domestic trophies.
Speaking to William Hill’s Stripped Podcast, Ferdinand explained what Ferguson used to say to his players before important matches, stating: "He [Ferguson] just said, ‘I don’t even need to talk to you, really. It’s the worst Liverpool team I’ve ever seen on a team sheet'.
"That was it. And then yeah, we won that day. And then something he used to say about Arsenal during his team talks was, 'Get in their faces. They don’t like it, they can’t deal with it'.
"'They’re babies. Get right up against them and you’ll win this game. Rio, you’ll overrun them, you’ll overpower them…'"
However, former Gunners defender Keown — who came up against Ferguson's United on a number of occasions — suggested that it was a 'poor' tactic from the Scot.
"It’s poor, it’s poor," Keown began on talkSPORT's White and Jordan show on Friday.
"Not a great topic, was it? I thought the great Alex Ferguson would’ve found a bit more to have gone at with the players to motivate them.
"Were they playing to stop us? Or were they playing to be success for themselves? In our dressing room, for [Arsene] Wenger it was about us, not about the opposition."
The ex-England international also suggested that, despite Ferguson winning more league titles than Wenger, he prefers the Frenchman's style of management - even more so after Ferdinand's revelation.
He continued: "I’ve been in dressing rooms towards the end of my career where I went to work for a manager who would just ridicule the opposition manager.
"I wasn’t learning anything from that. I was very motivated myself, but thinking back to Graham Taylor as a club manager [he] was very good, George Graham of course very good, an extreme I suppose [compared] to Arsene Wenger.
"But I preferred a quiet approach, coming in at half time you play the game back in your mind’s eye, you work it through yourself and then you’re wanting to hear from the manager.
"But when you come in and they’re continually talking, you can’t think straight. So I just needed a quiet moment, but then tell me what I need to know, and let’s go and do it and improve and win the game."
Ferguson and Wenger came head-to-head on 49 occasions, with the ex-United boss winning 23 matches, while the former Gunners manager was victorious in 16 games.
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