As mentioned by many Manchester United players over the years, a no-nonsense Sir Alex Ferguson often knew their whereabouts – just ask David Beckham, who has told some previously untold stories about his former boss.
A four-part documentary series with unprecedented access to David Beckham's life has officially dropped on Netflix.
The show features never-before-seen personal archive footage from the last 40 years, as well as candid current-day moments and interviews with family, friends and footballing figures that have been part of his journey.
Beckham, who has been kept busy in recent years as the co-owner at MLS side Inter Miami, has made several media appearances ahead of launch day, including an entertaining cameo on The Overlap's YouTube channel.
Here, he touched on a number of subjects alongside former teammates Roy Keane and Gary Neville, which included several anecdotes about his relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson.As Beckham opened up about Ferguson and how things changed over time, he reminisced about the time when Sir Alex caught him out after flying to Barcelona.
“There were some things that got highlighted because once Victoria and I were together, everything we did was more highlighted than anything the manager had seen," Beckham said.
"All he [Sir Alex] was worried about was the football side. I’m sure he was worried about me as a person as well because I’d grown up at the club and he cared about us as players. I wasn’t travelling to London as much as the manager thought.
“There’s one moment I talk about in the Netflix documentary that when I was in Manchester and my phone rang, it was the gaffer. He said ‘David, where are you?’ and I said I’m in Manchester, driving past the Trafford Centre. He said ‘no you’re not – you’re in Barcelona Airport and my mate is sat opposite you’ and put the phone down.""I remember Victoria being on tour with the Spice Girls and they were in Dublin for four or five weeks," he added.
"Without telling anyone, I went to see Victoria one night as we had the day off the next day. I’m on the way back to Manchester, waiting for the flight to board, and the gaffer walks in – he was on the same flight!”Beckham knew that Ferguson would disagree with the lifestyle he was leading, and that led to disagreements. In fact, when he turned up to Wembley one day with a mohawk, things escalated quickly.
"We were playing in the Charity Shield and the gaffer looked at me once I took my cap off and said, ‘shave it off,’ as I was just about to go out for the warm up," said Beckham.
"I had to get a pair of clippers, go into the changing room at Wembley and shave it off. He wouldn’t have played me [if I didn’t shave it off].”
Roy Keane would later give his opinion on the matter, saying: “Power and control – that’s how he [Sir Alex Ferguson] managed.
"You [David Beckham] were getting older, we were all getting older, and people were getting married and having kids – the manager certainly didn’t like not having that control over the players. Whether it be the agency, your haircut, or where you were living – I have no doubt that he was getting fed up with it, losing that control over the players.”
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