Four Manchester United players were given special treatment by the hierarchy
Sir Alex Ferguson manager of Manchester United and Dimitar Berbatov look on prior to the FA Community Shield match between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium on August 9, 2009 in London, England.
Dimitar Berbatov claimed some players didn't get the cross side of Sir Alex Ferguson often
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Manchester United's infamous hierarchy had one of the toughest reputations the Premier League has ever seen. The club was managed by Sir Alex Ferguson for almost 30 years and it was well-known how he ruled the team with an iron fist.
Cross Fergie and it may be your last time appearing on the team sheet. The success was there for all to see with a staggering 38 major trophies won during his time in charge.
However, Dimitar Berbatov admits that not everyone was held to the same standards within the walls of Old Trafford. The Bulgarian has previously claimed there were four players within the squad that received "special treatment" from thethe Scot and everybody in the dressing room saw it.
Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo were all namedropped by the former United striker as players who would be trusted to produce the goods on matchday no matter what.
Speaking to the Mirror in 2022, Berbatov said: "The hierarchy in football, it's always there with the players. It doesn't matter when anyone tells you. When you are a star in a football team and you deserve to be one, of course, from time to time you will have special treatment from the manager.
Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Gary Neville receive awards for being named in the Premiership team of the Decade during the Manchester United open training day at Old Trafford on August 9, 2003 in Manchester, England.
The trio became some of United's greatest ever players(Image: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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"I remember Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville when we used to train, they trained a bit differently so they could save themselves for the games, and there is nothing wrong with that. This is normal in football.
"So it was the same with Cristiano Ronaldo, and in the end, we saw the results."
Despite this preferential treatment being obvious to the other players in the dressing room, Berbatov insisted that it never caused a rift. He added: "When you are a great football player sometimes the manager is going to give you more special attention. As long as you help the team win the game, this is normal in football.
"Sir Alex was very good at making a point to speak to everyone individually, so you didn't feel left out. Even if you didn't play he would know how to speak with you."
Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the UEFA Champions League Final match between Manchester United and Chelsea at the Luzhniki Stadium on May 21, 2008 in Moscow, Russia.
Ronaldo's name speaks for itself
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The special treatment these four stars received certainly worked wonders as they won a combined 88 major honours under Ferguson at United. Neville spent his entire career at Old Trafford and is a Premier League Hall of Famer.
Aside from two appearances for his son's football team, Royton Town, in 2018, Scholes was also a one-club man and crops up in many debates about who the best Premier League midfielder of all time is. Giggs spent his whole career in Manchester and won more Premier League titles than any other player in the history of the league.
Ronaldo's name speaks for itself as he went on to become arguably one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen. Ferguson's preferential treatment of these four former United stars certainly paid dividends in the success of each of them and the club as a whole.