'I told you' - Sir Alex Ferguson showed true colours with brutal Man United reaction

Sir Alex Ferguson pulled no punches as he delivered a brutal ‘I told you’ message to his crestfallen players straight after Manchester United’s title defeat to Manchester City.

The 2011/12 Premier League title battle has gone down as one of the greatest of all time. Another championship was in United’s hands for most of the final day, which saw them win 1-0 at Sunderland.

City needed three points against QPR, who led for much of the game at the Etihad. Entering injury time, the London club were 2-1 in front, with many dejected City fans already pouring out of the stadium in tears.

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But then Edin Dzeko headed home in the 92nd minute before Sergio Aguero – accompanied by Martin Tyler’s iconic commentary on Sky Sports – smashed home the goal that won the league on goal difference. The stunning news soon filtered through to dumfounded United players and fans at the Stadium of Light.

Despite losing the title in such devastating circumstances, Ferguson didn’t go easy on his squad, bemoaning their failure to top up their goal difference earlier in the season. Former United player Tom Cleverly will never forget what the manager said.

“The manager said to us all: 'I told you. That's why I wanted you to be more ruthless and really kill teams, because you can lose leagues on goal difference',” recalled Cleverley, now Watford’s head coach, to United's official website.

"That's how much of a winner he was, how ruthless he wanted us to be. If we'd done that, scored more goals, really killed teams, we'd have won the league in 11/12."

Cleverl