Manchester United, the most fearful and successful club in the Premier League era and English football history with 20 title won, have been at rock bottom in recent seasons.
Five years have passed since United won their last trophy after Europa League final win over Ajax in May 2017, lifting another trophy has become a nightmare for the red devils.
United used to be the king of England as they have won every trophy in all competitions they featured in. However, it’s a great embarrassment for the club even with the huge number of renowned professional footballers they acquired with enormous expenses incurred and yet couldn’t win a trophy since 2017.
Liverpool have won six trophies and Manchester City have won 11 titles within the same time frame, why is it now difficult for Manchester United to win a trophy in the last five years?
Under the legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson, United usually got the players they wanted, through a combination of their status and financial might, and these players were doing wonderfully well winning trophies consistently.
Meanwhile, in the post-Ferguson epoch, their transfer policy has been a colossal failure, with more than £1b spent on players since 2013, having absolutely nothing to show for it.
While Manchester City and Liverpool buy and sell superbly and with the minimum of fuss, United are often embroiled in drawn-out transfer sagas or end up paying above the odds for players simply not worth the fee they’re acquired.
The influx of Alexis Sanchez, Morgan Schneiderlin, Memphis Depay, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Angel Di Maria, and, more recently, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fred, Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, and current skipper Harry Maguire are all glaring examples of United’s failed recruitment policy, in contrast to Manchester City and Liverpool, who rarely get in the wrong when buying or selling players.
Manchester United are also hopeless when it comes to retaining players, with the club record £89m signing of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Cavani all out of contract this summer and leaving as free agents, while United have also handed lucrative long-term contracts to players who do not play regularly enough, like phil Jones.
While Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola and his staff improve players with their coaching techniques, the same cannot be said of United in recent seasons. It is hard to think of one player who has improved as a result of the coaching methods at Manchester United.
Last week Sunday’s match against Brighton was a terrible reality check for Ten Hag being the fifth manager in nine years after receiving a heavy 2-1 blow at Old Trafford. In contrast to Jurgen Klopp who has been at Liverpool since 2015 and Pep Guardiola in charge of Manchester City since 2016 with the duo performing well in their respective clubs.
Both of United’s rivals knew the type of managers they wanted and went out and recruited them, ensuring the right support structures were in place for them to aid their success.
Unlike United who have gone through David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and now Ten Hag since the departure of Ferguson, and none of them were able to do the job right as the current manager seems not to get it right too.
Manchester United fans are really blowing hot and would not embrace any humiliation from the incessant poor performances the squad has been showcasing. They hope the same mistakes are not repeated this season as they expect a come back from the squad to put the club above others and win titles this season.
