Sir Alex Ferguson insists he does not like coming down hard on his players.

The Manchester United chief is renowned for not holding back on his teams - should they be failing to live up to his own high expectations.

Known as the 'hairdryer' treatment, Ferguson's most infamous incident came in 2003 following United's FA Cup defeat to Arsenal when he kicked a boot which hit David Beckham in the face leaving him with several stitches.

But the Scottish legend says he does not enjoy that side of the game.

"I don't enjoy it if the team isn't playing well," Ferguson told the Daily Mirror.

"I'd rather not be in that position. It's much better to come in at half-time and everything has gone according to plan.

"Here, of course, more often than not it does, simply because of the players we have. But that brings its own challenges.

"That's when you need to talk about concentration and the necessity of not taking our foot off the pedal or the importance of going for that killer goal.

Team talk

"So there are two types of team talk - one if you're doing well and another if you're not.

"The observations on the first-half are the most important thing. You only have about seven or eight minutes to rectify or resolve the situation if the match isn't going to plan.

"You should never dodge any issues. I don't know what team talks are like in other dressing-rooms but I try to get to the nub of the problem and solve it as quickly as I can.

"After that, you have to motivate your players to start the second half.

"As manager you have to produce the right words and the right volume to make players very aware of their - responsibilities and how they can improve."