Life of Ryan: Caretaker Manager

What's the question I get asked most?

"Are we going to win the league this year?" I always get asked that.

What's the answer?

Not this year, no.

Pretty easy this year.

Sometimes it's, "Mmm..." I hope so.

"What's Rooney like?"

Used to be, "What's Cantona like? What's Ronaldo like?

"What's Beckham like?"

They're all right. (LAUGHING)

No, I'll tell you what. The most the last five years, "Are you going again this year?

"Are you going again next year?

"When you finishing?"

Manchester United symbolises, for me, the bedrock of my life.

Been there since I was 13. I learnt so much.

Winning, never-giving-up attitude, the history, meeting new friends, the fans,

learning things every day and just a great place to be fortunate

to go every day for over 20 years.

He was one of these players that,

once he stepped on the field,

you know that something special was going to happen,

and that's one of the reasons why he's had the career that he's had.

It's one of the reasons why he's been able to play

up until the age of 40 at the highest level in football.

Sometimes you get players who make you look better than you are,

and I think Giggs would be the best one I've ever played with.

If he played on snow, he wouldn't have left footprints.

You won't see a player with that athleticism, with that intelligence

and to have that hunger season after season, to turn up

to push your body through chasing trophy after trophy.

Thirteen Premier League trophies, two Champions Leagues as well.

Ryan Giggs will be remembered as the greatest player

to have graced the Premier League.

You don't sometimes recognise greatness whilst it's happening.

You usually have to wait 20 years or when you're dead to get a statue,

but he shouldn't have to for what he's achieved.

There's no player in the game today

that can get up and down that touchline

as an outside left,

attacking but willing to go back to defend,

the attitude to winning all the time.

There's no player in the Premier League who gets anywhere near that.

# Giggs Giggs will tear you apart again

# Giggs Giggs will tear you apart again

# Giggs Giggs will tear you apart again #

This was off Gary, Gary Nev, Gary Neville, a nice bottle of red wine.

Yeah, Italian, but I think

Roy Hodgson and Graham Souness have got him

into a tracksuit as well.

No, pyjamas.

Oh, Pyjamas, sorry.

Yeah, that shows my age that I'm getting excited when I get pyjamas.

This was off the club, Paul Smith bag,

so that was nice.

I mean, I started when I was 17, and I'm looking at people like Mark Hughes,

who was probably, at the time, 28, 29, as old, Brucey Robson,

32, 33, and I'm thinking, God, they're ancient.

So God knows what the likes of Adnan and Phil Jones

and Danny Welbeck, people like that, are thinking of how old I am.

It's killing me. Like making debut before people are even born and... Yeah.

I'll be glad when it's over.

When you were younger, 17, 18, you'd just go out and play

and it's no problem, you feel fit. But then after 30,

especially toward the end of your 30s,

you can play in a game and you just feel absolutely rubbish.

Maybe your preparation hasn't been right,

or maybe it's your first game, or even your second game,

and you just don't feel match fit.

Then you start thinking, are you ready to do it all again?

Have you still got the buzz? Have you...

Do you still feel fit? Are you still contributing?

Are you still happy?

I've come in from training, walked in and they've all got their Giggsy masks on,

and then around the dressing room was just different pictures of me

throughout my career, some not too flattering. Stuff like this, which...

Bit embarrassing.

Great cross, that's my Arsenal goal, claiming it was a cross.

That sort of thing.

So, yeah, I took a bit of stick today.

Few of these pictures have ruined me, haven't they? (LAUGHS)

He could switch from being Elvis

and rapping at a party where we've just won the league,

and then he's on the field and totally focused

in exactly what he needs to do.

That's one of the great things about Giggsy.

This season, obviously it was always going to be difficult

because Sir Alex had left and he'd been here for so long.

As a player, yeah, you know that the results ain't going right

and you want to do better, both as an individual and as a team.

At the moment,

well, I'm not playing and

we're obviously not winning every game, so, yeah, it's, uh...

Yeah, it's been an obviously disappointing season all round for me.

Can I tie my shoelaces without dropping the ball?

Go on, go for it.

- There you go. -(LAUGHING)

Suddenly, when you get to 38, 39, you have to say...

You say to yourself, "When is he going to quit?"

And he probably has asked the same question himself,

but he's such an exceptional human being

that he carried on, and that's quite amazing.

After this short break,

we'll have more reaction to the managers' press conference.

What did il: say there? MU I V?

He did mention retiring quite a few times last season

and he was on the verge,

um, because he said, "I could be going out on a high,"

which we all thought, "Great,"

and then he was persuaded to stay.

I think he's going to really struggle when he finishes

because he's had that same routine for 25 years,

and to then have, well, maybe nothing to do,

it's going to be really hard.

The kids bought him these, and the club sends him one of them every year,

and I think that one's from the BBC, this yoga one.

- That one's good. -(ALL AGREEING)

Because that's him.

Just spotted this. What is this? Lunch with the Nevilles?

That's getting recorded.

"Gary and Phil Neville join together for a special Q&A event

"to raise money for their hometown club Bury FC, hosted by Mandy Henry."

I'll be watching that.

First memory of him was an overhead kick he scored at The Cliff

against Lewisham when we were Under 15s,

and thinking, "I've got a long way to go to get to that level."

He was just streets ahead of everybody

that we'd ever met, really, in terms of football. Never seen anything like it.

The ball was stuck to his feet.

His left foot, sorry, not his feet. (LAUGHS)

He can't dribble with his right.

As a United fan, you never think anybody can beat Sir Bobby Charlton's record.

Growing up, you just think that it's a mountain of games over 20 years.

The achievements of him are just incredible.

It'll never be beaten. No one will ever win as many Premier League titles as Ryan Giggs.

I've got very few stuff around the house, but this is presented to me

by the Barclay's Premier League.

They sort of had a celebration of 20 years of the Premier League,

and this was in recognition of over 500 Premier League appearances,

which they gave me in 2012.

These were the boots that I wore in Moscow,

when we won the Champions League.

It was the game that I broke Sir Bobby Charlton's appearance record.

I supported the appointment of David Moyes as British coach,

done brilliantly with Everton,

similar sort of traits as Sir Alex and, yeah,

I thought it was the right appointment.

I'd signed another year in March, April. David Moyes rang me in the summer

and asked me if I'd like to be part of the staff as well,

which I thought it was a great challenge for me and the next step in my career.

I started my coaching maybe ten years ago. We had the facilities of United,

we had the access to the players

and it just seemed the right thing to do at the time.

Obviously 30, so you could be finishing in two or three years' time,

so it was that sort of mindset, "Right,

"we need to start getting ready and prepared for finishing."

You know, you come to your end of your career

and it's horrible, it's the worst...

It's the worst thing probably I've ever had to deal with professionally.

Coming to the end of your football career,

everyone tells you to play for as long as you possibly can

because the next stage of your life is not as good

because you're not playing football, the sport that you love,

so he's gotta somehow find...

Find something inside him that brings closure on his football career.

It's been a difficult year playing-wise, not enjoyed the results and the playing,

so have I contributed? Not as much as I have done previously.

If I'd have retired last year, I'd have gone out on a high, United's 20th title

and everything would have been rosy.

But life isn't like that.

Yeah, there's definitely an issue where you can't be too open,

whereas other sports, that probably isn't the case.

You're guided by the press office, really, on what not to say.

I do.

Most definitely. It's a really good competition.

It's been very good for us so far...

...a very inexperienced manager in the Champions League.

But we've done well, and then we'll be at the ultimate test with Bayern.

- Players, obviously, apart from myself. -(REPORTERS LAUGHING)

I don't know.

I'll tell you after tomorrow, maybe.

I mean, yeah, of course, as a player you want to play all the time.

I mean, the last time I played was probably the first time

in six or seven weeks, but we've got a lot of players to choose from

who are always ready to play, and that's what you've gotta do.

Ooh!

Nearly died.

- All good? - Yeah.

- Right, see you later. - All right, thanks, Ryan.

Yeah, he's all gone.

A bit naughty, really, asking if I'm going to take over from the manager.

There was one right at the end

where he asked about us falling out.

But if you lose a game, then you're obviously going to have to handle the stick

because you're not expected to lose games,

you're not expected to lose so many games at Man United.

So... And the manager knows that,

and it's not a problem that. You take that criticism all day long.

I honestly don't know if I'm going to go into management or not.

I've prepared myself for it as best I can,

and that's all you can do, really.