Durban - Since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, Manchester United have struggled to find glory.
There were a few false dawns under virtually all of their managers before the progress was ultimately undone. The fault of the club’s lack of success does not lie on the managers totally, but also on the board.
If the board wants incoming manager Erik ten Hag to lead it to success, they will have to change their ways of thinking and back him. United’s struggles for consistency this season have proven that they are still a long way from being worthy of winning the Premier League.
Fans cannot expect instant success under Ten Hag.
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It’s going to take a lengthy effort similar to the one that Jurgen Klopp carried out over nearly five years at Liverpool to rebuild them.
The Red Devils are certainly not short of cash. Since Ferguson’s retirement, they have continued to hire highly-rated managers while also signing some of the best players in world football.
Surely the fact that they have been unable to win consistently despite spending big, points to a lack of action on the part of the board? One thing that Ten Hag does right is that he always deploys attractive, healthy football and never employs defensive tactics to preserve results as United have done in recent years.
The role of United’s new chief executive Richard Arnold is also especially vital as he must ensure that the new boss is given time to transform the club and implement his vision. CEOs play a very important role in a football team’s success even though the bulk of their work happens behind the scenes.
United’s struggles have not only coincided with Ferguson’s retirement but also with the exit from the club of former CEO David Gil. David Moyes did not fail at Manchester United due to his own doing, but also because he did not have Gil to work with.
Gil played a big role in ensuring that ‘Fergie’ always had his desired signings available. Moyes did not have that luxury as he had to work with Ed Woodward, a man who has become a symbol of hate amongst United fans in general.
United have made some catastrophic decisions in recent years to their own detriment under Woodward.
This included handing outcasts such as Phil Jones, and Marcos Rojo new contracts while they also kept players like Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard at the club despite it being evident that the duo needed new environments in order to reach their potential. In Ten Hag, United can be confident of change.
He is not a coach that tries to implement superficial changes to try and bring immediate results as Mourinho did.
Instead, he works from the root causes of structural problems i.e. youth development in order to bring positive change at the highest level. It is just up to the United board to make sure that they support the 52-year-old and let him implement his vision.