Managers live and die by their recruitment.

Peter Schmeichel could make the goal look much smaller when you glanced up to hit a shot.

The best goalkeeper I played with at United was Schmeichel… He just never wanted to concede, and he would do everything to stop you scoring.

When I watch Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund side, I see a manager who is determined to play in his opponent’s half, who is committed to attacking football, and, from the way he conducts himself on the touchline, is clearly an interesting, charismatic personality.

Our modern coaching culture is not to put too much pressure on any one performance, to let an individual flourish over time.

We know Mourinho can win league titles – he is brilliant at it – but how long can he do it at one club?

What I like about Pochettino is the way that he looks in control. He is in control of his players, in control of the way that they play.

I played for 20 years for Sir Alex Ferguson, and he could be a scary man.

I worked with many great assistants to Sir Alex Ferguson over the years. Yet sometimes a manager’s second-in-command is more suited to that role than any other. You confide in them – you tell them things that you would not tell the manager – and they are that bridge between the boss and the players.

My view is that the signing of players should be a simple process. The chief scout identifies them, the manager decides who he wants, and the chief executive is dispatched to do the deal. It really is as simple as that

I knew the shirt-swapping business in general was getting out of hand when opponents would ask me for my shirt while we were still mid-match. Those are the wrong priorities.

Let me be clear: I am sick of having to criticise the club which I gave my life to as a footballer.

Let me tell you what it is like playing against Messi. You are up against a footballer who can take the ball either side of you, and you have no idea which side that might be from any hint about his body-shape.

I don’t know why anyone would want to be a goalkeeper. It is a hard position to do well.

At United, we like to have wingers who give the team width and pace.

English clubs should not be pleased to go to places like Barcelona and get away without a thrashing. They should be able to compete. They have the resources.

Playing against Messi, as I’ve said before, is as tough a test of your concentration as any in football. At any moment, he can take the mickey out of you. Physically, it is demanding, but mentally even more so. You cannot switch off.

A cup final is all about seizing the moment. You cannot put right a mistake or a missed opportunity the following week.

I expect positive play from Manchester United all the time, whether you’re at home or away.

When it came to playing Arsenal over the last eight years of my career at United, we always went into games against them feeling like we would win – and we usually did.

At every opportunity, I wanted to play football.

There were players I shared a dressing room with who didn’t like each other. You don’t have to talk to each other. You just need to win matches.

There are times in the career of every young English footballer when they simply need to take their chance to establish themselves.

To beat opposing teams, you have to attack, and to attack, you have to take risks.

In the periods of my career when I stopped passing the ball forward or when I stopped looking for the risky pass that might open up a defence, the consequences were the same. The manager stopped picking me. I got back into the team when I went back to doing it the way he wanted.

Get up. Go to work. Play the game. Get showered. Go home.

There have been so many outstanding players I’ve had as team-mates, but if I had to choose I’d choose Giggsy, he can do anything.

I got sent off a few times in my life, but I never lost my head. I mistimed tackles, and I made mistakes.

United are about attacking football, and everything else has to takes its place behind that.

Winning the Ballon d’Or never bothered me. I just wanted to play for Manchester United.

I think about the great players with whom I have shared a pitch: Eric Cantona, Zinedine Zidane, Pirlo, Xavi, Cristiano Ronaldo – and the greatest of them all is Messi.

When it’s over I just want to be able to look in the mirror and say, ‘Well, you were a half-decent player.’

Things change, although I believe that certain principles – of attacking, entertaining football – should always be protected.

I don’t like compliments. No. I prefer criticisms; prefer to prove them wrong.

At United, we never used to change our style much away from home. The aim was always to score goals and dominate the match.

The way a top team develops means that once you have won the league title, the natural step is to try to win the Champions League.

As a striker, as I originally was, and then an attacking midfielder, it has always been my aim in life to embarrass goalkeepers: to dominate them, to force them into mistakes.

I am not a man of many words, but I can honestly say that playing football is all I have ever wanted to do and to have had such a long and successful career at Manchester United has been a real honour. This was not a decision that I have taken lightly but I feel now is the right time for me to stop playing. To have been part of the team that helped the Club reach that 19th title is a great privilege.