Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has attempted to explain what has gone wrong for his old club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
The Dutch coach, who spent six years at United, believes there was a lack of stability and continuity at Old Trafford after Sir Alex Ferguson’s exit.
Rene Meulensteen has a point when you consider how David Moyes succeeded Ferguson, before being quickly replaced by Louis van Gaal. Then came Jose Mourinho. All of these managers signed players to suit their own, very different systems which is the reason why we’ve not had much balance in our teams down the years.
“Every successful football club is based on stability and continuity – this comes from having the right people with the right expertise. After Sir Alex Ferguson left, a lot of people left alongside him and new people came in. If you then start on the wrong foot you get media pressure, people get nervous, and you see what happened with David Moyes,” Meulensteen told the Debrief Podcast.
“Then they replaced him with a more experienced manager in Louis van Gaal, which again brought a lot of changes to the style and the personnel.
“Later Jose Mourinho comes in, he’s very result oriented, and doesn’t care how they win. Ferguson, by contrast, if we were 2-0 up he always wanted more – why not go for three, four, or five?
“One of the biggest qualities that Sir Alex had what his adaptability – he started in 1986 when United were in a difficult situation and he had to change a few things. When he won his first Premier League he made a bold statement about knocking Liverpool off their perch, so that always said he was there for the long haul.
“Ferguson was always aware that technology was going to play a role, but he was good at letting the people who were good at it do it.”
Meulensteen also spoke highly of Ferguson as a person, even if he has the reputation for dishing out the hairdryer treatment. They only ever had healthy debates because Fergie was a good listener.
“I never fell out with Ferguson, there was never any reason to,” he added. “He was a fantastic communicator and a very good listener – there were never disagreements, just healthy discussions. Everyone chipped in. It was a unique period with high ambitions and high expectations, and this created high standards, which leads to pressure.
“Still, working under Ferguson I never felt any negative pressure. We knew every game counts, every point counts, but because of Ferguson’s man-management, we never got carried away by the highs, and we never got carried away by the lows.
“It’s different now, so much has changed and so many other clubs have burst onto the scene. But if Sir Alex had stayed I think we would’ve been there or thereabouts for a bit longer, even if it was an ageing team. There is no doubt in my mind, we would’ve carried on – all those senior players like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick could have gone on for a bit longer.”
Things have changed since Erik ten Hag showed up. United fans will hope he can build on last season with another strong finish in the league as well as more trophies.
Get the latest Manchester United news, opinion, interviews and exclusive features with the Stretty Newsletter – Ad Free! Kick off your afternoon with the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
