Sir Alex Ferguson Gave Louis Saha The Hairdryer Treatment Just Two Games Into His Manchester United Career
Louis Saha has revealed he received the hairdryer treatment from Sir Alex Ferguson just two games into his Manchester United career.
The former France international joined United from Fulham in 2004 and was one of the Premier League's most feared strikers at the time.
He scored three goals in his first two games in a Red Devils shirt but despite being the new boy, Ferguson felt he had to get involved.
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Speaking to SPORTbible via Freebets.com, Saha replied when asked about the famous 'hairdryer': "Yes, I've been on the end of this, but when he gave you the hairdryer treatment, he did it because he wanted you to improve.
"He didn't do it because he had an ego, it was because he was protecting the institution of Man United and how standards needed to be respected.
"It was good for the club, it was good for the players, and it was good for his position as a manager, maintaining order with the players.
"I remember, it was my second game, and I had a big hair dryer treatment as I missed two sitters and it was close as we almost lost the game. But getting that treatment was a positive, because he made us realise, we are messing around and there is no way you can accept such standards."
The game Saha is referring to saw United win 4-3 against Everton and he scored twice. Ferguson was just that demanding of his players.
It's a trait Saha would like to see from those at his former club, given their poor form this season.
He continued: "At the club now, the managers have the same body language as the players and just accept the result. Nobody is enraged and you build a culture that allows players to be the way they are."
United are currently fifth in the Premier League and were eliminated from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.
Ralf Rangnick replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in December on an interim basis and will steer the ship until the end of this season.
United will then make a permanent appointment, hopefully to take them back to the top.
It's been five years since they last won a trophy, their longest drought in 40 years.
Ajax's Erik ten Hag and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino have been linked in recent weeks.
Thomas Tuchel has also emerged as a candidate given Chelsea's current state of disarray.
Saha threw another name into the hat however. Zinedine Zidane.
The former Real Madrid manager has been out of work since leaving 'Los Blancos' at the end of last season and Saha believes he'd command respect from the dressing room, being a multiple time Champions League winner and La Liga winner as a player and manager.
He continued: "I like the idea of Zidane as he'll get the respect from the players. But the Premier League is so difficult I'd expect even him to struggle at first.
"Erik ten Hag has benefited from working at a well-run club in Ajax with a very clear structure. He's got quality, he's got people around him, the Dutch are very knowledgeable in football but I'm sorry, United are a different animal to Ajax.
"Ajax is a trampoline for big clubs, they are respected in world football, but they are not in that elite group. They aren't [AC] Milan, they aren't Real Madrid, so most of the players won't know about him. They'll have heard of his name but that's about it.
"Managing United is a different beast, we have seen some big names come in and get chewed out. Mourinho is one of the biggest and he got the best results, but we claimed that his spell was unsuccessful.
"I think Solskjaer did great to reign back some spirit that was missing, the addition of the new players were good, especially for the future but now we need aggressiveness and attitude from the players to not accept defeat."
Whoever takes over at Old Trafford will likely be tasked with getting the best out of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner returned to United from Juventus last summer and despite scoring 18 goals in all competitions, it's not all gone according to plan.
Saha, who played with Ronaldo for four years, thinks there is too much responsibility being placed on the 37-year-old.
He declared: "At Ronaldo's age, we shouldn't even be giving him the responsibility to play up front against Arsenal or Chelsea and expect him to score goals.
"With all the respect, I don't think [Marcus] Rashford or anyone else in that squad is anywhere near his level, even at his age.
"I've seen Ronaldo has had a so-called 'bad spell' of going seven or eight games without scoring - which is human - but people shouldn't be focused on him, they should be focused on Rashford, [Jadon] Sancho, [Anthony] Elanga, those players who are here for the longer term.
"Being in the first team, there's no question about that - Ronaldo is still the main man for United."
Topics: Manchester United, Premier League, Sir Alex Ferguson, Spotlight
Daniel Marland