*This post was written late December 2021, the day after the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in the Premier League.*

The Situation

Manchester United, the once great and legendary side who dominated domestic and were a European powerhouse, and crumbling inside and out. With 4 permanent managers (and 3 temporary) taking the reigns since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, it feels strongly like the heart and soul of the club has been taken away since that point. With each manager determined to change the club in their own image, we have seen managers try to recreate attacking football, play defensively and quite frankly play the most dull and slow football I’ve ever seen at Old Trafford. With Solskjaer recapturing the United spirit, things looked more optimistic, however he very much reached his limit as coach and disharmony creeping in meant his main USP was lost and OGS was he has gone after some dreadful results. Ralf Rangnick has taken the reigns for now, and will see out the season in the dugout before taking up an advisor role at the club, showing a bit of long-term planning and thought, however in his early games, including last nights abysmal 1-1 performance against Newcastle, there are still huge issues at the club.

With this season almost being written off entirely before we’ve even hit January, things aren’t looking too good despite the change in management. There is still no indication of who will take the wheel long-term, and although conversations must be happening in private, we are waiting on any news. Meanwhile, with some huge concerns in midfield and defence, United must resist splashing even more cash trying to fix the problem, and so Rangnick will need to work his magic and pick out some gem signings in January to bolster the defensive unit and fix these silly and costly errors.

Furthermore, the other issue to arise in recent weeks, is the clear disharmony in the squad. Since the arrival of Ronaldo, there’s a clear disharmony taken over the squad, as last season they were very much a unit working with each other and giving each player support and belief even when things weren’t going too well, however now (as Gary Neville) made clear, the disharmony is visible on-field as well as reports off it. With players waving their arms at their teammates for misplaced passes or poor decision making, the blame is being given out before the final whistle, as ego’s have taken over from the common goal, and it very much appears like some players are trying to scapegoat others before the journalists and reporters have fed on the scraps of the game. Additionally, several reports of training ground discussions and dressing room conversations just add to this feeling. While I would agree with the likes of Keane, Scholes and Neville that United need that kick up the backside, on the pitch in front of everyone is not the place to do it, and it needs to be support given from the leaders rather than blame and negativity. Therefore, whoever comes into the club needs to deal with ego first and foremost, as Ferguson made very clear, nobody is bigger than the club, and with Solskjaer being more ‘relaxed’ and focussed on morale, it appears some players have lost that understanding. So, there are big issues to deal with, who will take charge? How do you deal with some egos in the club? What direction do the club go in on-field and off-field? How can they compete without another £500million spend? All these questions, and we’ve tried to answer just a few of these in this post.

The Stats

The main stats I will focus on come from this season, as rather than repeating numbers from Ferguson, Moyes, Van Gaal or Mourinho, it’s the here and now that needs addressing.

So, to start off, Manchester United splashed out around £125million in the summer, one of the highest in World football once again, things looked promising, with 3 expected first-team players arriving, things just haven’t clicked, and United sit currently in 7th spot, already 19 points away from the title leaders and local rivals City. Having played 17 games, they have won less than 50% with 8 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses, putting them behind West Ham, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and City. When splashing out on Sancho, Varane and Ronaldo, they had leapt to become title favourites for many pre-season, however things are in a dire state currently in the league. What’s most worrying for United is perhaps the manner of defeats, having scored only 27 goals, they have conceded 25, including some massive defeats to Liverpool, Watford and Leicester City. Despite the arrival or Rangnick, the previous two fixtures included an abysmal 1-1 draw with 19th placed Newcastle and a fortunate 1-0 victory over bottom of the table Norwich. None of the wins have really given any confidence, and many have been scraped last minute winners, lucky chances or penalties in the last few moments or just about getting over the line.

Outside of the league, a poor showing in the League Cup 3rd round saw them knocked out to admittedly a decent West Ham side, however this has cost many rotation players and youngsters being given a fair share of game time, and thus a major contributor to the discontent of these big name players stuck on the bench. In the Champions League, the qualification was by no means easy, however they got over the line and topped their group, meaning they will now meet Atletico Madrid in the first knockout round, not an easy draw. Finally, January will see them enter the FA Cup, with a 3rd round tie with Aston Villa, and again this won’t be easy, and United could see their most realistic chance of silverware this season slip away early into the new year. So, the stats don’t make great reading however you look at it, and things need to change.

The Solution

The solutions are varied at Old Trafford, and we are beginning to see the formation of an actual long-term plan at the club. With Rangnick being sensible enough to sign a contract with the future in mind, his advisory role will actually mean the club have a man at the top that knows football and can think about the on-field as much as the off-field finances (Ed Woodward). Therefore there is a start to a solution being formed, however as we mentioned in ‘The Situation’, there are many other concerns to be addressed before United recapture former glory.

First of all, we have the permanent managerial post. There are still several candidates being touted, from currently unemployed Zinedine Zidane, PSG’s Pochettino, Leicester City’s Brendan Rodgers and my personal choice, Ajax’s Erik Ten Hag. Leaving the decision to the end of the season will allow a thoughtful decision to be made and one that suits the clubs vision, whereas the previous managerial appointments have been rushed, emotional or with plans to rebuild the club in their own image. As mentioned, my personal choice would be the current Ajax manager Ten Hag, an attack minded coach ready to make the step to the Premier League. Having worked in the Ajax setup for around 4 years, his win % sits at a huge 74 from 193 games. In those games, his side have netted 528 goals and only conceded 162, showing how his focus on attack brings entertaining and successful football, which United have not seen since the glory days of Sir Alex. With United having a serious strike force that are disjointed and underutilised, Ten Hag could work his magic with these stars and get them clicking. Meanwhile, the role of Rangnick will allow the pressing game to feature heavily and continue to help in developing the defence, and looking at United’s current options, the best form of defence is certainly attack. United would be strongly advised to build in the Ajax model as it links youth and attacking football, two features of the historic club that fans at Old Trafford desire.

The alternative option for myself would be the current PSG manager Pochettino, however this would require him to step aside from the biggest job in football currently. His ability to work within a project would make him the perfect fit, however he may struggle with off-field politics which have plagued the end of his Spurs career and may prove an issue in Paris with such big names struggling to respect the authority of the coach. Therefore, Poch would be a solid appointment, proven in the Premier League, however I think with Rangnick in his advisory role, a young exciting and attacking crop of players, and a passionate fanbase, Ten Hag would find the switch easy and with recent successes in the Champions League, he is proven at arguably overperforming with what he has in Holland.

The other solutions to the issues raised of personality clashes, and the ‘Ronaldo’ conundrum, is a case of waiting really. Although the clear discontent brought into the dressing room since Ronaldo’s arrival is evident, it is likely to remain a short-term deal and I cannot envisage the new era wanting to extend the deal if the disharmony continues. Therefore, I believe that the arrival of a manager such as Ten Hag, and with Ronaldo having 1 last year on his contract will actually give the new coach enough reason and authority to play the younger players ahead of the main man. It won’t be easy, and will take some balls for sure, however if managed correctly, and with up to 50 games in a season, there should be enough room to satisfy Ronaldo’s craving for personal glory and game time, whilst giving the younger lads enough time to satisfy their development. Therefore, the disharmony issue will resolve itself either over time, or with the success arriving on-field.

Aside from the managerial issues and disjointed squad, the remaining issues such as off-field structure, defensive woes, the club infrastructure will all be remedied in the short and long term, and many of these issues would need a 10,000 word piece to merely scratch the surface. However, if the two biggest issues of a permanent managerial appointment for the long-term and the squad with all it’s superstars beginning to gel are resolved, the results will surely follow and all of a sudden, the sun will begin to shine at Old Trafford and the remaining concerns will ease for sure.

What do you think is the issue at Manchester United? What’s going wrong? Who should have been signed/appointed? Let us know on Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) and we will potentially follow up with some of your thoughts.