Why Manchester United's Manager Fired His Star Players
When you think about what makes a team successful, it’s easy to focus on talent. But for Sir Alex Ferguson, widely considered the greatest soccer manager of all time, something else always came first: culture.
During his 26-year reign at Manchester United, he won an astonishing 38 trophies. When he first took over the struggling club in 1986, he made his priority clear. “The most important thing at Manchester United is the culture of the club,” he said. “The culture of the club comes from the manager.” He believed that a team’s success wasn't just about the players or the game plan, but about shared values that everyone—from the stars on the field to the staff behind the scenes—lived by. This principle is vital for any growing team, especially in a new .
He instilled this from the very beginning. Patrice Evra, a player who joined United in 2006, told me Ferguson met him in a backroom at an airport in France before signing him. With a steely gaze, the manager asked him just one question: “Are you willing to die for this club?” When Evra said yes, Ferguson welcomed him to the team. He was looking for commitment, not just skill. This deep-seated belief in culture was the key to building sustainable success, a lesson that applies whether you're managing a world-famous club or turning a .
No One is Bigger Than the Club
A core tenet of Ferguson’s philosophy was that no individual could ever be more important than the team's ethos. He was famous for saying, “nobody is bigger than the club,” and he backed it up with bold, often shocking, decisions. He would unexpectedly transfer any player who no longer fit the “United way,” no matter how famous or essential they seemed.
I’ve spoken with five former Manchester United players, and they all pointed to Ferguson’s willingness to move on from star players as one of his greatest strengths. Rio Ferdinand told me, “Jaap Stam was the best defender in the world at the time, and Sir Alex said, ‘See you later’. David Beckham was in the form of his career and he let him go! Ruud van Nistelrooy was the top goal scorer at United and he shipped him out the team! The man just saw something early.”
Beckham’s case is a perfect example. After his marriage to a pop star, he became a media sensation, constantly hounded by paparazzi. This growing distraction clashed with the team-focused culture Ferguson was building. The next summer, Beckham was sold to Real Madrid. Similarly, team captain Roy Keane was let go after public outbursts criticizing his teammates. Ruud van Nistelrooy, one of the club’s best goal scorers, stormed out of the stadium after being left on the bench for the last game of a season and never played for the team again.
Most managers, in sports or business, wouldn’t have the conviction to fire their most valuable employee. But the truly great ones know that letting one bad apple spoil the bunch is far more dangerous.
The High Cost of a Bad Apple
This isn't just a sports philosophy; it’s a critical business principle. Barbara Corcoran, the founder of a billion-dollar real estate empire, stressed to me the importance of removing toxic influences from a team before they spread. “I couldn’t wait to fire individuals who were negative and didn’t fit,” she said. “They were ruining my good kids… These people are thieves in the night, they take your energy away.” She considers her biggest regret in business to be hesitating to fire someone who was a net negative for her company's culture.
Research backs this up. A Harvard Business Review study found that toxic employees are literally contagious. When a new coworker with a history of misconduct joins a team, existing employees are 37% more likely to commit misconduct themselves. The study showed that for every case of misconduct, another 0.59 cases are created as the behavior spreads—like a virus.
Another researcher, Will Felps, was inspired to study this phenomenon after his wife mentioned how much better her office atmosphere was when one particularly toxic coworker was out sick. People started helping each other and socializing after work. When the person returned, so did the hostile environment. Felps's research confirmed that a single negative team member can derail an entire group. He found that negative behavior far outweighs positive behavior; one bad apple can spoil the team, but a few good workers can’t un-spoil it.
This leads to a powerful lesson I’ve learned over and over: no one person leaving a good company kills it, but sometimes one person staying can.
A Simple Framework for Tough Decisions
Firing someone is never easy. The emotional turmoil it causes leads many leaders to procrastinate and avoid making a necessary decision. To cut through that friction, I developed a simple framework I call the “three bars.” It’s a tool I’ve used with my management teams for years to clarify who should be hired, fired, or promoted in any .
The framework starts by asking one simple question about a team member: “If everyone in the organization had the same cultural values, attitude, and level of talent as this employee, would the bar (the average) be raised, maintained, or lowered?”
This isn't about seeking clones in thought or experience—diversity is crucial. It’s about aligning on core values, standards, and attitude. The answer makes the path forward clear:
- need to be let go. Their negative influence is disproportionately damaging.
- are the people who should be promoted and given more influence.
This framework is also invaluable when evaluating new hires, especially in the early days of a or a where every person has a huge impact on the culture. As you work to see your , protecting that culture is everything.
With every new hire, you have to aim to raise the bar. And just like Sir Alex Ferguson, if anyone on your team becomes a bar lowerer—no matter how many past victories they’ve brought you—you have to act decisively. After all, a company is just a group of people, and the culture of that group will determine everything.
