There
was an instructive moment in Wednesday night’s derby game between Man City and
Man United. In about the fifty fifth minute, after having plucked the ball out
from the nights sky, Man United goalkeeper David de Gea almost instinctively
rolled the ball out to an open Fred, a ball playing midfielder, Fred fairly
assuredly played the ball to Matteo Darmian, who promptly hoofed the ball up field
more in hope than ambition. The wing back was all at sea with the ball at his
feet in his own final third, and it showed. Juxtapose that against a move
earlier in the game where City’s Vincent Kompany whacked a volley at his own
keeper Ederson, who without batting an eyelid chested the ball down with
typical Brazilian nonchalance, before calmly rolling the ball on to Americ
Laporte who efficiently found a city midfielder, thus beginning an attacking
move. The difference in playing style between the two rivals is decidedly
distinguishable. Without being disrespectful to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his
new coaching contingent, it is fair to say City play how United wish they
could. The difference in quality is-sadly for me-immeasurable. A team that won
the league with a record breaking points haul, virtually at a canter, versus a
team that limped to second place looking despondent and dare I say, bleak.
Everybody
has had a go opining at the difference between the two clubs. The same is true
for me. I’m going to do it once more, because United is my club; my drug of
choice if you will. Aren’t drugs meant to bring some measure of euphoric
jubilance? I digress. Man United in its current guise is a hollow club. A kind
of ghost going around trying to remind people of its former glory, while also hoping
it might scare them in to thinking that glory is only moments away again. Its fans
(myself included) have become like that drunk old superstar at the local pub
reminding all and sundry of their former glory. That guys face normally tells a
story of melancholy and nostalgia. He normally smells of missed opportunity and
regret. His tales will take you back to some of the sweetest memories ever, but
you learn that you can’t dine on the tales of yesteryear alone.
United
have stagnated in a league where stagnation is banished to the scrapheap of
also rans. The unenviable truth of the current Man United tale is that United
is the sixth best of the “big six” teams in England. It does not matter how
many tales of former glory we regale follow fans with, the sad fact is, we are probably
only good enough for position six in the English Premier league.
How have
we got here? This is the most interesting part of this story, because there are
so many divergent views on the matter. Some will tell you, it was poor planning
on United’s part post Ferguson retirement. Others will tell you unequivocally
that the Glazers lack of investment or poor investment strategy has brought us
down this rabbit hole, while others will talk about an investment banker named
Ed Woodward who has proved incapable of steering this ship through choppy
waters. My take is… it’s been a bit of everything. The Glazers are not the
ideal owners of a club the size of Man United. You only need to look at Ed
Woodward still leading matters concerning football to understand that. On that,
the fact that Ed Woodward has yet to learn that the football aspect of the job
is beyond him speaks to his weakness. I will never forget him smugly jetting
off to Barcelona to go and capture Cesc Fabregas’ signature. Cesc, who that
same window ended up at Stamford Bridge, while we in turn got a (still very professional)
geriatric named Bastian Schweinsteiger. I
was a big admirer of the Bavarian, and had he come two seasons earlier I have
little doubt that he would have carved out a cult following for himself in
Lancashire. The management of Sir Alex’s departure leaves much to be desired. It
still beggars belief that United opted for Moyes when both Guardiaola and
Mourinho were available around that time. Mourinho would actually have been a
perfect replacement for Sir Alex at that time with a club having just won the
league, and most of the players in that squad in the prime of their careers. Had
Man United understood right then that every manager post Ferguson was going to
be at the club for three or four years, Mourinho would have been a no brainer.
However,
they did not, and we are where we are. The
rebuilding process is going to be as difficult a task as the Glazers have ever
seen. First they need a complete rethink of what the Man United asset is to
them, and to their biggest shareholders who I’d venture are the legions of fans
scattered across the globe. The club isn’t something as crude as a cash cow. It
is a mega club, one of the biggest footballing institutions in the world and
must be respected as such. Ed must continue on the commercial side of things
but failure to build a functional footballing arm with clear targets and checks
and balances will ultimately cripple the club. Attracting top football administration
talent should be far easier than playing staff. Edwin Van de Sar, Ji Sung Park,
David Gil and even Rio Ferdinand are all names we should be hearing in the
conversation about Uniteds new football business arm.
Once the
administration is sorted then of course we need to have a serious discussion
about playing style. Let me quickly outline a scenario. Let’s say United have a
CEO of football called Van de Sar, under him is a Director of Football called
Phelan, and then there’s a manager called Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Solskjaer and
Phelan must devise a plan to win the league in 20/21. To do that, the manager
must ensure a mix of youth team players and hungry experienced players who can
uphold the ethos of the club. That ethos for me is built on a solid defensive
unit. A ball playing centre half paired with a more aggressive tackling centre
back. Outside them should be two energetic fullbacks able to get up and down
the pitch without tiring. I can’t remember a United back three being
successful. Then we need an intelligent ball playing midfield. One box to box
midfielder, a holding midfielder with the technical acumen to both pick a pass
and break up play, and two energetic wide players with pace and power who can
contract in to the midfield in defence and stretch the play and whip quality
crosses in on offense. Up front we need a technically gifted, intelligent
number ten playing not far off the number nine, who needs to be big strong and
physically inclined. Football has changed, there is little doubt about that,
but even in its evolution, it remains about doing the fundamentals correctly. Press
with purpose without the ball, and pass to an open man then provide an option
for him in possession.
Indeed players must be moved on, the deadwood cut
or whatever other cute term one would like to use, but the spending needs to be
much more nuanced than the recent “throw money at the problem” sentiment that
has prevailed over the last little while. My suggestions for what that looks
like at present goes a little something like. To be moved on are: Marcus Rojo,
Phil Jones, Ashley Young, Matteo Darmian, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Nemanja Matic, Juan
Mata, Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard. That’s ten players,
almost an entire team. That will allow for academy players to be blooded in to
the team. James Garner, Tahith Chong and Mason Greenwood can join Scott
McTominay from the academy side. Then new arrivals in my view should be Kalidou
Koulibaly, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tangouy Ndombele, Jadon Sancho and Jamie
Vardy. Pace, power, tactical acumen and football IQ.
I really and truly hope Man United can find a way
through this challenging period. I hope rebuilding can be a priority project
for the owners and executive management of my team! I we can return to the
glory days of old!
