The name Manchester United used to mean something. It was said with pride- you knew your team was the best and spared nothing to hide the fact. Under the leadership of one of the greatest managers in football history, Sir Alex Fergusson, Man United was an unstoppable force, securing 38 trophies in 26 years; 13 Premier leagues, 10 FA Community Shields, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 2 Champions Leagues, 1 FIFA Club World Cup, 1 Intercontinental Cup, and 1 European Super Cup. This was indeed the glory days of the team. He retired gloriously after bagging the 2012-2013 Premier League title.
However, things above him were being changed.
In 2003 Malcolm Glazer put on a leveraged buyout on Manchester United in 2003, pulling the team into substantial debt which had and still has disastrous effects and caused the direction of the team to shift as a whole which is apparent in the coming years of Manchester.
After Fergusson’s retirement in 2013, David Moyes took his place with a six year contract. He had a lot to live up to.His squad was an aging one so an overhaul was to be expected, but he quite literally failed the transfer window, only choosing three primaries and managing to sign only one on the deadline day, which proved to be a huge mistake.
Under Moyes, Manchester United went for the first time without an European League and Manchester City, their rivals, beat United with three goals and a clean sheet in their home stadium- Old Trafford– for the first time in 35 years.
David Moyes was sacked, just 10 months into his contract.
“That was the lowest point of the decade,” said Gary Neville, a prominent figure in football. “To give a manager a six-year deal – whether it was right or wrong – and sack him after eight months, to me that signalled the start of a new period of reactive leadership.”
And based of the managerial cycling alone it turned out to be indeed reactive leadership
With a three year contract Louis Van Gaal replaced Moyes and, perhaps learning from his predecessor, signed a total of 13 players. Most notably Angel Di Maria was a record transfer in British football at the time; however, he left just one season in as he was ill-fitting into Van Gaal’s style of play- possession based.
The possession-based style was more predictable and at one point United had the most backward passes than any other Premier League Club. The lowest percentage when it came to moving the ball forward and the joint second highest ratio sideways.
Many fans hated this kind of ‘cowardly’ play as it was foreign to the attacking giant.
Louis Van Gaal was sacked, two years into his contract.
With a contract until 2020 and even the option for an additional year, Jose Mourinho took the helm. He had some initial successes, winning the Europa League, League Cup and Community Shield. He adopted a defensive approach with focus on counter attacks.
Those would be the highlights of his stay at United.His tensions with upper management over signings, with players themselves notably Paul Pogba and a general decline in performance with a win rate of 41.7% would lead to his chapter at the team being closed.
Jose Mourinho was sacked, two and a half years into his contract.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s was appointed as a caretaker manager following Mourinho’s for the rest of the season winning 14 of his 19 games and became the first in history to overturn a 2-0 first-leg home defeat in Champions league by winning against PSG 3 to 1 securing their advancement in the Champions League.
He got a contract and later a contract extension with an option for a one year extension to be a permanent United manager. There is a visible trend going on, with managers being hired and achieving varying degrees of success but a single final conclusion, being sacked when things were turning rough.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær was sacked, after only 2 and a half years.
This has been the pattern of United ever since Fergusson’s departure and hints at boardroom incompetence. Everyone of these managers has a particular style– some are ill-fitting for the Red Devils yet they are still appointed by the board.
Jurgen Klopp, a past prominent manager highlighted two things essential to a manager’s security: success and owners who know what they are doing.
By looking at trends alone this rings out to be very true. the Glazer takeover, managers are being wantonly fired. The next manager, Erik Ten Hag, was also sacked 2 and a half years after joining.
Ruben Amorim is the current manager, 5 months into his tenure, taking over from Ten Hag after he was sacked during the Premier League. Manchester United finished with 42 points, their worst since the 1973-74 season.
Whether the Red Devils will go up from here remains to be seen.
