‘I played under Sir Alex Ferguson - he wouldn’t allow what I saw from Man Utd star'
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Joshua Zirkzee would've "been done" at Manchester United if he walked down the tunnel under Sir Alex Ferguson. The Dutchman endured the embarrassment of being hauled off in the first-half as the Red Devils were beaten by Newcastle in their final game of 2024. Some poor selections from Ruben Amorim meant changes were quickly needed and he didn't wait until the interval.
Instead the manager acted, with Zirkzee the man to be sacrificed. He grabbed his coat and headed straight for the tunnel, highlighting his misery. He eventually returned but Ben Foster, who played under Ferguson, admits that wouldn't be tolerated under the Scot.
Ferguson was known for his ruthless nature and acting a certain way was important. Zirkzee's show of frustration was understandable but Foster maintains the ex-United boss would've wiped his hands with any player who acted likewise. He said on his YouTube channel: “When he walked off down the tunnel… If Alex Ferguson would have been manager, that player would have been done. Whoever that is, if you walk off that pitch when you’ve been brought off after 30 minutes, get a coat and walk straight into the dressing room. You’re done. I promise you, you’re done. It just doesn’t work like that.
“And I guarantee you, when he got back to the changing room, somebody would have said to him, ‘You need to get back outside. This is not a good look… The camera has just watched you walk all the way down the line, the fans are booing’. “It is a horrible situation. I really feel for him. At that moment in time, the atmosphere in Old Trafford was horrible. United were getting pumped. They were on the back foot and it was almost like he was the scapegoat. He was just one of 11 problems on that pitch.”.
