He is extremely controlling. Wants everything his way. What Beckham should wear, how he should cut his hair, how many days he should spend on his honeymoon, who should he marry and who should he not be with … Is this OK for you? And he would get away after physically assaulting him? For SAF, everything was always about himself.
Arsene Wenger on the other hand is so different. He only controlled what people ate (and that too, through education and not “enforcement”). I never hear any such stories about him. He too was a winner, wasn’t he? But completely different style of management.
Seems Ferguson controlled through fear while Arsene Wenger coached through love.
The reason SAF was so controlling is because these are young men who have never experienced fame and money in the way football brings to them. Without proper discipline and structure the kids would go wayward, certainly not live up to the standards that he ended up getting them to. After identifying their potential at their pre-teens, SAF developed probably one of the most successful single group of footballers to ever play the game
The documentary never came across as him being irrationally controlling as much as him inculcating strict focus and discipline in the players while they developed into world class players. It is a small price to pay for the success that they achieved as a team