Paul Parker sat down for an exclusive interview with the Manchester Evening News as he discussed Sir Alex Ferguson’s success at Man United.
Sir Alex Ferguson (Image: 1999 Manchester United)
It must’ve been a unique experience for Paul Parker as he strolled along the Bosporus front and into the luxurious Çırağan Palace – taking in the Turkish sunshine. One of his previous trips to this part of the world, back in 1993, was the polar opposite: a ferociously cold welcome into Istanbul by the most fierce of Galatasaray faithful.
Manchester United had touched down for their second-leg tie of the newly-branded Champions League after a 3-3 draw at Old Trafford. The contested 90 minutes were hostile, with Eric Cantona sent off after the final whistle and a goalless draw seeing United knocked out at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium.
Parker – who made over 100 appearances for United between 1991 and 1996 – played the full 90 minutes that night. His trip back to reflect on the encounter, alongside ex-Galatasaray man Hamza Hamzaoğlu, features in the upcoming BT Sport Film Back Into The Sunshine, which follows English football’s rebirth following its five-year European ban in light of the Heysel Stadium disaster.
Exposure to the different cultures and cities in Europe is something Parker never got to experience back in his playing days – when the squad would be flown in and out, with strictly business in between. The opportunity to do so nowadays is therefore not taken for granted, nor is looking back on his days in United colours. There will always be a great sense of pride for Parker, whose eyes were well and truly opened by the Galatasaray clash.
“Someone said to me about Istanbul and I would always think about that game against Galatasaray,” Parker told the Manchester Evening News. “I would’ve been about 27 or 28 at the time. I was senior by my age, but when it came to playing in Europe I was still a novice compared to the majority of the other players. My first time experiencing it came as a Manchester United player; I turned up after they had just won the Cup Winners’ Cup.
“My first time was in the UEFA Cup when we lost to Atletico Madrid. After that season, the next bit was going into the Champions League – which was something completely different. It was turning up in Istanbul – a place I’d never been before – and something so different given what went with being in the Champions League at that time. It was in its second year, everyone was talking about it and it was big for the club.”
Representing a club of United’s stature naturally brought added pressure and expectation for Parker, who had previously plied his trade at Queens Park Rangers and Fulham. But stepping onto the European stage took things to a whole new level, with the restrictions placed on United making the task even tougher.
“It did make a difference because the club is everything about Europe,” said Parker. “It was about the European Cups and, in theory, it should still be called that nowadays instead of a free-for-all with a false name of the Champions League. But it was the way the boss was as well about it. Everything about him was always Europe and Champions League, but it’s just a shame that we couldn’t have gotten into it more because of the foreign player ruling.
“It cost Sir Alex the opportunity to kind of build towards it as quickly as he wanted. But he couldn’t because he had to try his best to work with that and win a Premier League at the same time. And at that given time, the two did not go together. It was very, very difficult; almost impossible to compete properly because you had to make too many changes.
“We went from one game – winning at Highbury 1-0 – to making so many changes for the next game out in Europe. It didn’t matter how good you were. At that given time, you just couldn’t afford it because clubs had so many top players just sitting there watching. Even Manchester United could not afford to do that.”
Parker won two Premier League titles and three domestic cups with United – the club’s success on the continent coming after his stint at Old Trafford. But Parker saw Sir Alex Ferguson’s meticulous approach to big European nights and his insight goes some way to showing why glory wasn’t far around the corner.
“That was always his thing,” said Parker. “He was just so focused on that. The week leading up, after the game on the Saturday, everything was about that game on a Tuesday or Wednesday night in Europe. That first training session on a Monday, after the game at the weekend, was one where nobody really spoke. Everyone was kind of on edge, waiting for the boss to say the first thing.
“Nobody was taking the mick or anything, because they knew how focused he was. He would sometimes walk around with a clipboard in his hand, which was quite rare for him to do. He did that before games in Europe and sometimes big games like Liverpool or Leeds. That is how he was and if you were not the same as him, you had a big problem.
“There was every chance you weren’t going to play too many games for Manchester United. We already knew, but the clipboard kind of emphasised the point even more of where his head was and maybe where we should be as well. He wanted us to get everything down to a fine tee with our preparation.
“Playing a game in Europe was nowhere near the same as playing a game here. You could not relate to it; league position didn’t matter or where the team was from. At one point, we were sitting there against Atletico Madrid with it 1-1 and comfortable. Within a few minutes we were 3-1 down and having to chase Atletico Madrid at Old Trafford.
“It flipped around in the last five minutes and Sir Alex always said that about Europe. You always had to be on the front foot. It didn’t matter if you were sitting there 2-0 up. They have got good individuals and prepare in a way where that tournament is their life. And you have to be prepared for that because if you didn’t you would get found out.
“That is one of the reasons as well why when Sir Alex was building for Europe, he always wanted strikers who could adapt, were clinical and could score goals in tight games. That is why you look at what Ruud van Nistelrooy did, what he did for United in Europe. You look at Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke – those players who scored a lot of goals in Europe at that time were clinical. They were big players who you could trust and he wanted his big players to react in games.”
Needless to say, the hardy souls who followed United over land and sea made the experience all the more magical for Parker.
“Yeah, United would get big followings in whatever competition you played in,” he said. “That was one of the things that surprised me about when I first arrived. Yes, you knew about Old Trafford, but you didn’t know that when you played away you were virtually taking over grounds. United in Europe was something incredible.”
For all of Parker’s fondness for his European exploits as a player, the Champions League leaves him frustrated nowadays. United’s former full-back feels the competition has weakened significantly compared to the one he experienced.
“The Champions League has evolved into something now which is ridiculous, to be perfectly honest,” said Parker. “It is not really about champions; it is about as many teams playing in Europe, put into a bowl and stirred around. The competition was definitely better; I think everyone knows that, even today.
“The group stages are virtually becoming like international weekends, where everyone hates it – virtually like suffocating orange squash with more water. It is just getting thinner and thinner and tasting awful. That is what the Champions League, in my opinion, has become now compared to then. Teams were more competitive. Europe has changed and in my opinion, the Champions League is nowhere near as strong. It is geared up now for the big boys.”
