Had a 'brutal' argument with Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson which almost ended in a physical fight

Peter Schmeichel has recalled the time he endured a “brutal” argument with Sir Alex Ferguson that almost turned into a physical fight.

The legendary Dane was as fierce a competitor as you were likely to find and that is why he goes down in history as one of Manchester United's greatest goalkeepers of all time.

But while he and Ferguson spent eight highly successful years together at Old Trafford, they were not exempt from their fair share of fairly heated disputes, including one after a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in March 1995.

Gary Neville, a young talent on the periphery of the first team at the time, asked Schmeichel about an argument that day during the Dane's appearance in Stay with footballsaying: “I came in at half-time and you had the fiercest argument – I mean, it was brutal.

“It was probably the worst thing I've ever seen in my life and I actually thought you were going to fight. What was it about?”

Schmeichel responded: “I don't know, but what I learned very quickly was that I needed an outlet and often it was in games when things were going well and I had certain players that I did that to. I was one of them, Pally.” (Gary Pallister) was one, you (Roy Keane) was one and Ryan (Giggs) was one.

“He came in and yes, it must have been brutal to watch, but you were allowed to respond as a player and he wanted it, he wanted that confrontation because it was shaking things up.

“What I learned was that 95 percent of everything he said, even in those situations, was intentional. “I would wait for the opportunity and pick those moments and then once it happened, it would be gone.”

This came a year after another argument between Schmeichel and Ferguson that led to the Danish goalkeeper almost being sacked after another highly emotional match at Anfield, this time in a match that ended 3-3.

Schmeichel explained: “I felt like he had picked on me after the game. The second half was very bad, but I made a lot of saves and I felt like I had kept the team there, but what he blamed me on was my goal kicks.

“They ended up with Razor Ruddock every time and I was like, 'he's 80 yards away, what the hell can I do?', so I felt really bad.

“Of course, I lost my mind and it's probably my biggest regret in football. I won't repeat what I said, it doesn't matter.

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“It was a Saturday game and on Monday morning he called me into his office and said: 'I'm going to fire you, I can't allow a player to do that' and I accepted it and apologized.

“Then he called a meeting in the locker room and went crazy; It's probably the worst I've ever seen him in my life, and I've never seen him do something like that in training before.

“Then he left and I apologized to the team because there are certain things you can do and certain things you can't.

“In the 90 minutes I feel like you can say whatever because the important thing is to win, but before and after the game you can't say 'you played badly' and that's what I did that day.

“But the story goes, he stood outside the locker room and listened and didn't think I would do that (apologize) and he never brought it up again. Never.”

Schmeichel becomes one of the best goalkeepers in Man United history after eight highly successful years at the club.

He helped them win five Premier League titles, three FA Cups and one Champions League; He is famous for being the man between the sticks during their treble campaign in 1998-99.