What Troubles Manchester United after Sir Alex’s retirement

On 8th May, 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson announced his decision to retire as the manager of Manchester United at the end of the season after 26 years at the helm. It was the end of an era, strewn with trophies and pampered with unmatched success. For the first time in the life of many Manchester United fans, their beloved club would be without the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson. The great Scot had managed a phenomenal tally of 38 trophies, including 13 Premier Leagues, 5 FA Cups and 2 Champions Leagues. In his last season, he led United to snatch back the title from their ‘Noisy Neighbors’, to the sheer delight of fans all across the globe.

Fergie's final leg

During the last 6 years, Fergie invested in the region of 160 Mn pounds to lay the foundation for the next cycle. However, most of these players and a few from the academy failed to live up to the club's standards and by now have been moved on or are at the fringes of the current squad. This crop included the likes of Nani, Ashley Young, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Smalling, Phil Jones, Berbatov etc. Currently only Smalling and Young are regular starters in the United squad.

The fact that Ryan Giggs had to play till his 40s and Paul Scholes had to come out of retirement spoke volumes about the lack of depth and quality in the squad. Although United sailed to victory in match after match in the last title-winning season, much of it was due to the sheer brilliance of Robin Van Persie who was scoring at will. This along with the swashbuckling style of football overshadowed the deep crevices that were developing underneath and would soon rear their ugly head under new management.

The United board is renowned for its 'patience is a virtue' stance when it comes to managers, amply exhibited by the six-year contract to Ferguson’s successor, David Moyes. After all, he had been handpicked by the Great man himself and was affectionately termed as ‘The Chosen One’ by the fans. Soon upon arrival, Moyes identified key areas of development in the squad like the left back position, the right back and the most-talked-about central midfield. All of his pursuits ended up in failure, with United signing only Fellaini on Transfer deadline day. The simultaneous loss of David Gill from the club did not help transfer matters either. The failed transfer window was one of the major reasons behind the undoing of Moyes.

Several of the players that Moyes inherited from his predecessor: Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick were 32 or older. Compounding the new manager’s problems was the injury and loss of form of Robin van Persie. Then again, that was a ticking time bomb waiting to go given the striker’s injury prone nature.

Another massive concern for Moyes was his credibility and reputation in the United dressing room. 11 years of impressive and diligent work at Everton hardly earned him legendary status in Manchester United. Even junior players like Anderson, Tom CLeverley, David de Gea and Rafael had EPL medals making the boss effectively the junior-most person in the room.

His PR skills did not do him any favors either. His reaction to defeats were miserable, and his frequent sad expressions looked like admissions of guilt. Before the home game against Liverpool, the manager said that United’s arch rivals were the favorites. After the home defeat in the Manchester derby, he said United must aspire to city’s standards. Reactions as feeble as these coupled with humiliating losses and insipid performances against one team after another began his downfall, and slowly he fell out of favor with the fans as well as the players.

Just 10 months into his six-year contract, the Scotsman was relieved of his duties marking the end of a disastrous spell - United finished 7th in the league and were thrown out of next year’s Champions League. United’s most decorated player Ryan Giggs took over as interim manager, and Louis Van Gaal was entrusted to guide the club back out of the dark.

Van Gaal and his steep fall

The Dutchman had an explosive transfer window with the exciting arrival of big money targets like Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw and Daley Blind. In pre-season, United defeated the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool.

The Dutch master managed to restore stability in the side by bringing back Champions League football and infused optimism for the 2015-16 season among the supporters. His wins against Liverpool, come-back from a goal down to defeat arch rivals Manchester City at Old Trafford won him popular support. The Dutchman also managed to improve the defense with the arrivals of Darmian, Luke Shaw and a much-improved Chris Smalling. The following transfer window he also stitched the wound in central midfield by bringing in Morgan Schneiderlin, Bastian Schweinsteiger. Also brought in were exciting young prospects like Depay and Anthony Martial.

The recent positive performances against Chelsea and Swansea are encouraging, and it seems that Van Gaal has taken inputs from his lieutenant Ryan Giggs, but United are a far cry from what they used to be. They just about managed to crawl over the line against Sheffield in the FA Cup, and drew 3-3 with Newcastle after taking a 2-0 lead within 38 minutes of the first half.

The board is still patient with the Dutch manager amidst cries from fans for his sack and trusts him to get things back in order. They are no strangers to what patience can bring, but at the same time in this age it is a virtue that can wear thin very fast. The clock is ticking on Van Gaal with potential suitors lurking around, and he will soon have to return to winning ways, preferably using the much-renowned ‘United’ way.