‘They wanted to kill each other in training’- Michael Owen reveals Manchester United’s mentality under Alex Ferguson

Former Liverpool and Real Madrid star footballer Michael Owen opened up on the winning-mentality of Manchester United during Sir Alex Ferguson era. Owen joined United in 2009, a decision that did not sit down well with his Liverpool fans, considering the bitterness between the two English clubs. Addressing the same on his former Liverpool teammate Jamie Carragher’s podcast Greatest Games, Owen said that he had no choice but to join United.

“I don’t know what else I can do. At the time I am thinking ‘I can go top of the league, Manchester United, mid table Everton, or bottom Hull. I would live away from home if I was at Hull. I don’t know what I could have done. You [Jamie Carragher] would do exactly the same and you know it,” he said, according to a report in Daily Mail.

Owen also revealed that United wanted to win at any cost, a mentality that he noticed when he entered the training ground. “It is a mentality thing with the players. Every single time you set foot on that training ground you can just feel that winning mentality, they can’t lose. The training - I went to Newcastle from Real Madrid and all of a sudden just thought ‘wow this is easy’, you get lackadaisical. I came to Manchester United and was like ‘wow I have to be on it every single day’.”

Owen further said that United players in the team were like “animals” and “wanted to kill each other”. “They wanted to kill each other. They were literally big mates and there was blood, everything big tackles and you think ‘wow steady on’ but they are just like animals wanting to win at all costs, all the time,” he said.

“Having gone to different clubs and seeing the mind-set of survival or just being mid-table and that is fine we can take our foot off, or champions – we can’t let anyone in to be as good as us – it is chalk and cheese,” he added.