Karl France

🚨Carlos Baleba on his conversation with Sir Alex Ferguson at Carrington: 🗣️ Carlos Baleba: “When I first arrived at Manchester United, I was still trying to take everything in. New club. New dressing room. New teammates. New expectations. And, honestly, I hadn’t even made my debut yet. So when I saw Sir Alex Ferguson at Carrington, I wasn’t expecting him to come over and speak to me. He looked at me for a few seconds and said, ‘You’re Baleba, aren’t you?’ I said, ‘Yes, boss.’ He smiled and said, ‘Good. At least you know who you are.’ I laughed because I didn’t know what he meant. Then he said, ‘Listen to me, son. You haven’t played a minute for Manchester United yet, so don’t start thinking you’ve achieved anything.’ That caught me. I was thinking, ‘Wow, this is Sir Alex Ferguson.’ But he continued. ‘You’ve got ability. That’s why you’re here. But ability is the easiest part. Plenty of young players have ability. The difficult part is convincing yourself every day that you belong here.’ Then he pointed towards the training pitch. ‘That’s where you’ll find out who you are.’ He told me something I’ll never forget. ‘When you walk into that dressing room, don’t walk in thinking you’re the new signing. Walk in thinking you’re a Manchester United player.’ I asked him, ‘What’s the difference?’ He said, ‘A new signing wants everyone to notice him. A Manchester United player wants to help the team win.’ That stayed with me. Then he said, ‘Your first training session might be difficult. Someone will kick you. Someone will shout at you. Someone will try to make you uncomfortable.’ ‘Good.’ ‘Don’t complain. Get up.’ ‘If someone knocks you down, get up quicker than they expect.’ Then he looked at me and said, ‘And don’t try to prove you’re a tough man. Just play football.’ That was when I understood what he was trying to teach me. He wasn’t talking about showing off. He was talking about mentality. He told me, ‘You’re young. You’re going to make mistakes. You might lose the ball. You might have a bad game. You might even sit on the bench for a while.’ ‘But the biggest mistake you can make is allowing one bad day to convince you that you’re not good enough.’ Then he smiled and said, ‘And when the manager finally puts you on the pitch, don’t spend the first ten minutes looking around at Old Trafford.’ ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Because if you spend ten minutes admiring the stadium, you’ve wasted ten minutes playing football.’ [Laughs] That was very Sir Alex. Then he became serious again. ‘When you get your debut, don’t try to play like the player people expect you to become. Play like yourself.’ ‘The supporters don’t need you to be somebody else. They need you to give them everything you’ve got.’ He told me Manchester United was different. ‘At some clubs, you can have a good game and people are happy. Here, they expect you to have another good game next week.’ ‘Then another.’ ‘Then another.’ ‘That’s the standard.’ And before he walked away, he stopped and said something that I think I’ll remember for the rest of my career. ‘Carlos, don’t be desperate to become a star.’ ‘Be desperate to become reliable.’ ‘If your teammates know they can trust you when the game is difficult, you’ve already become important.’ Then he shook my hand and said, ‘Your debut will come. Don’t chase it.’ ‘Prepare for it.’ ‘And when it comes, make sure the manager has a problem.’ I asked, ‘What problem?’ He smiled. ‘The problem of deciding how he can possibly leave you out of the next game.’ Then he walked away. I stood there thinking about everything he’d said. I hadn’t even played a minute for Manchester United. But somehow, after ten minutes with Sir Alex Ferguson, I felt like I understood exactly what it meant to play for this club. He didn’t promise me anything. He didn’t tell me I was going to be a star. He didn’t tell me my debut was guaranteed. He basically told me, ‘Earn it.’