Sir Alex Ferguson once revealed that former Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola constantly “annoyed” him during his playing career.
The Italian became one of the most eye-catching players in the Premier League during his time at Stamford Bridge. He won two FA Cups and a solitary League Cup during his time in West London. Whilst he was not able to play a role in the Blues winning the Premier League - that only being achieved once Roman Abramovich took over and appointed Jose Mourinho - Zola certainly made an impression, none least on Sir Alex.
The Scottish manager has suggested that the Italian creator’s attitude on the pitch and quality on the ball on more than one occasion left him furious.
He said: “Now little Zola, he annoyed me. He was one of those players who was unperturbed about who he was playing against.
“He always seemed to have a smile on his face and that annoyed me. I said ‘how can he be enjoying himself playing against United? Nobody else does.’
“He was fantastic. Talented. Beautiful balance. Brave. I remember we played Chelsea in the FA Cup a couple of years ago in the treble. We got them in the early rounds and we drew 0-0 at Old Trafford and I man-marked him. That’s how much respect I had for him.
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“But he was a fantastic player. I loved watching him. He was enjoyable. That was the thing, for me to say that of an opponent tells you how much I admire them.”
Intriguingly, Zola actually does not have the best record against United as a Chelsea player. In all, he appeared against the Red Devils on 19 occasions, scoring three times and only managing to finish on the winning side on a further three occasions.
Sir Alex is not the first to have expressed his admiration for Zola. Ex-United defender Phil Neville also detailed the specific tactics that the Scot deployed in an attempt to keep him quiet.
Speaking of United’s 3-2 win against Chelsea back in 2000, he said: “We’d won the league so we were really relaxed.
“The manager had made a few substitutions but the one thing about playing Chelsea, particularly at this point, was the unbelievable respect that Sir Alex Ferguson had for Gianfranco Zola – he loved him.
“In terms of the positions he took up he was similar to Eric Cantona [but also] in terms of the effect he had on English football. He always made it a tough game.”
