Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre has spoken about the high standards expected by former boss Sir Alex Ferguson in the latest edition of the club's official podcast.
The 44-year-old, who appeared 360 times for the Red Devils between 1999-2008, spoke about Fergie’s expectations of his players, both on and off the pitch.
“I think [social media] affects you." Silvestre said.
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"Everybody says I’m not reading it, but you have to, and you are just curious to know what people think about you. It’s important to not be obsessed by it, which is difficult to assess when you are a player when you are just turning 20, playing first-team football and you are under a lot of scrutiny.
“Yourself, your performance, [and] your private life is exposed, so I think it would have been tough [for me]. But the fact that I was settled with my wife [helped] and I think also the manager was a good policeman in that respect. In a good way.
"I use this word because at my time we just started the players to have our own website, so I was tempted to do it, so I did. Someone was running a page for me.”
It is fascinating to see that social media was apart of the game during Silvestre’s spell with United. As social media usage continues to rise in the modern day, it has become more of a factor in the modern players day-to-day lives, both for good and bad.
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The former French international continued, "In the beginning, we would do interviews after every game so, about I don’t know, 10 questions after every game. On the phone, someone would write down and then we’d post it on the website the day after, probably.
"But then it started being picked up by the tabloids, you know the papers, and when it was translated then the boss could read it. And with some of them, he wasn’t happy at all. You know, when you say, ‘I don’t think we performed well,’ he thought that only he could say that.
“So, for me, it was my interview on my website and then it was on the back page of the paper, so I got the hairdryer twice. So, I shut down the website straight away after that!”
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As Silvestre reveals, this wasn’t the first time he had been on the receiving end of one of Sir Alex’s infamous ‘Hairdryer’ treatments.
“[The first one] was my second home game, recovering the ball from midfield position, like 40 metres from our goal. I carried on, on the right side, lost possession and then they equalised.
“The other one was at Watford away, I lost a one vs one against Ashley Young, and he crossed, and they scored for the equaliser. Yes, I think we scored first. I scored first. But still, it doesn’t matter if you score or whatever performance you do, with the gaffer if you make a mistake you’re going to hear about it."
Rather wisely, Silvestre added: “I never argued back. You just sit and you want to go into your shoes. To be as little, as small as possible!”
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Nowadays, Silvestre has gained experience on the Director of Football pathway and worked as pundit. He also represented Manchester United against Liverpool in ‘Legends of the North’ game last month.
Topics: Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United
Callum Owen