EIGHT YEARS after the club’s most glorious and prolonged era of success, Manchester United are still looking for a manager that can live with the past while moulding a new, contemporary future.
The departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, far from being a bolt from the blue, was always a case of “when, not if”. It would have been an uncomfortable decision to make, the dilemma of hiring favoured sons and then discarding them is never an easy situation once the goodwill and friendship tokens run out. Nobody ever wanted to criticise Ole too much, especially as coaches don’t always select their new squad members at some clubs, but the biggest problem was the cherubic Norwegian being one of United’s own.
It’s a warning to clubs in this hire-and-fire world of instant gratification that employing guys that were once part of the furniture and much-loved figures is not a good idea. It invariably ends in tears, even if those tears manifest themselves in the form of emojis on social media that include multiple hearts and kisses!
And who do United turn to now? Succession has long been a subject to avoid at Old Trafford by all accounts, going back to the days of Sir Matt Busby. United took almost a decade to compensate for the loss of the guiding hand of Matt and it’s heading in that same direction now in the post-Ferguson years. Since Sir Alex retired in 2013, United have had four permanent coaches and have won three prizes. By their own standards, this is a lean period, although they did go from 1968 to 1977 without a trophy. Two of the three were won by that lovable pantomime villain José Mourinho in 2017, the last time anything remotely gilded was placed in the trophy cabinet at Old Trafford.
Solskjær’s future was judged almost on a game-by-game basis. His appointment had the look of an interim holding job, but United got carried away by six consecutive wins and rather hastily gave him the job full-time in March 2019. For a coach to be on the brink for so long and for a rabbit to be pulled out of the hat at the 11thhour so very often tells its own tale – nobody was ever too convinced about Ole. Watford 4 Manchester United 1 was never going to look good for him.
It didn’t help Solskjær that Manchester City have been harvesting trophies like over-zealous farmers. Since 2013, City have won 11, including four Premier League titles, six Football League Cups and the FA Cup. As Morrissey once sang: “We hate it when our friends become successful, and if they’re northern, it makes it even worse.” Certainly, as City have taken over, United have had more than a hint of Morrissey melancholy about them. Meanwhile, Chelsea, the other thorn in United’s side, have lifted six, Arsenal four and reborn Liverpool have won two in that period.
When Ferguson left the job, he had won everything – 13 Premier Leagues, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two Champions Leagues and the European Cup-Winners’ Cup. It was always going to be impossible to follow such a record which, incidentally, was built on the back of 1,500 games in charge.
But United’s relative lack of success since Ferguson moved to the comfy seats is also down to their very average record in the transfer market. United cannot complain that they’ve lacked transfer market clout because since 2013-14, they have spent £ 1.22 billion gross and £ 855 million net. Only City and Chelsea have spent higher. Since 2018-19, United have spent more than City (£ 487m versus £ 474m) and are among the top six across Europe in terms of transfer activity.
But as well as some disappointing signings, they’ve also, rather curiously, become something of a retirement home for big-name players – Cavani, Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo – which hasn’t been a disaster but smacks of desperation and seems rather demeaning for one of the world’s biggest and richest football clubs. Cristiano Ronaldo’s signing now seems like a publicity stunt rather than part of a team-building strategy. He’s scored and kept his side of the bargain but United’s team doesn’t look better for his presence.
So who will want a job that should be one of the most coveted in world football? United have missed out on some big names who have recently found new employment, the most recent being Antonio Conte, but Allegri, Pochettino, Ancelotti, Benitez, Mourinho, Howe, Nagelsmann, Flick, Tuchel and Gerard have all moved into new jobs over the past year or so. Zinedine Zidane is out there, but apparently, he’s not interested. If United want or need a huge name, they may struggle, but others, such as Unai Emery, Roberto Martinez and Ajax’s Erik Ten Hag, will surely be mentioned in the coming days. Of these, Ten Hag may prove to be the favourite, but United’s board will be only too aware, they cannot afford to get it wrong and slip further away from clubs like City, Chelsea and Liverpool. Equally, they may decide to play safe and lure someone away from their club in mid-contract. Leicester’s Brendan Rodgers has been tabled as a possibility, but after leaving Celtic halfway through a season, will he risk being torn apart in the media for doing it again?
It’s not only United that have to make the right decision, the man who takes the job also has to be sure where he stands in terms of resources, transfer targets and long-term objectives. The club should not be as far away as it is from the main title challengers or lack the vision of most of its peer group at home and abroad. Not everything can continue to be blamed on an iconic manager’s long reign coming to an end. One possibility is that United’s success under Ferguson in the latter days of his career possibly masked other problems within the structure. In the coming months, United do not just have to make the right choice for the dugout, they also have to ask themselves what else is really wrong at Old Trafford?
GAME OF THE PEOPLE 