Manchester United have been paying cruelly for 10 years under Alex Ferguson’s long reign. Again, the question arises: To sack or not to sack the coach?

Manchester United continue to flounder in big trouble. This is despite the fact that last season gave all fans hope for a better tomorrow. Sadly, this is not the case and the Red Devils are still paying the price for the long reign of Alex Ferguson, after whose departure and subsequent decline they have been unable to bounce back.

The reign of Alex Ferguson

“What brings you to the top eventually causes an internal crisis,” says Czech Egyptologist Miroslav Bárta, who studies history in depth. This phrase applies not only to a sports club, but also to a company, countries and even entire civilisations.

Manchester United is unfortunately no exception. Alex Ferguson led the English club for practically 3 decades. And in that time, a lot has changed in football. But despite all this, the Scottish coach has managed to stay at the top for all that time.

The club has benefited from his contribution, as he has not only been there as a coach, but has been involved in other activities as well. Ferguson managed it, it’s just that over time football clubs began to swell and analytics came into play, with more and more jobs being delegated to individual experts.

Manchester United really fell asleep in this regard and it was highlighted by several stars, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, who certainly failed to make a return home. But the list of failed reinforcements would be much longer!

Erik ten Hag or the first capable coach

Since the departure of the Scottish coach, there have been a lot of interesting names at Old Trafford. However, no one has been able to even come close to the past results with the Red Devils. And worst of all, the new coaches have not been able to do it on the pitch in terms of performance either.

Erik ten Hag is the first coach who can be said to be taking the team’s development somewhere. Yes, that is not quite the case this season, it’s just that several factors are to blame, which we’ll cover later.

But the truth is that the Dutch coach has no great experience in managing big teams. Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a very apt remark: “The new manager came from Ajax. It’s a club that works with the best talents in the world, there are no stars. So what is his experience? Working with talents, it’s different from working with stars.”

This is exactly one of the problems that Haga had, as he couldn’t even tame Jadon Sancho after Ronaldo. However, it must be added that he still rules with a firm hand at Old Trafford. However, no one can see into the cabinet and those who are closer to there, meanwhile, have been talking in the media about the club’s management being behind him.

The Hag has used practices after some embarrassing defeats, such as letting players run the same amount of mileage as the opposition after the loss to Brentford. After the Manchester City derby, he again allegedly had his players listen to the opposition celebrate their victory.

Current status:

Injuries

Many people might say that the man in question is making excuses. Yes, injuries are ubiquitous in football, however, Manchester United have suffered a really big disaster. Personally, I would compare it to the one Liverpool experienced recently when their entire defence fell apart.

A rather similar thing has now happened to the Red Devils, who last year not only stood on the trio Eriksen – Fernandes – Casemio, but also on the duo Varane – Martínez. Unfortunately, that is not the case at all this season. In addition, a number of attacking players have been missing at various times since the start.

For a low quality team, the point total is more than good!

Saturday’s game against Fulham is a typical example. The stopper duo Maguire – Evans. Extreme strikers Antony and Garnacho, with the Brazilian toy replaced by Pellistri.

With all due respect to the two aforementioned young talents, you can’t expect to put in great performances and the results that come from it when you rely on a player who has mostly come off the bench in 51 games in adult football, while only managing to produce one assist. In this case, we’re talking about Pellistri.

And we could list many other cases like this. But the result is simple, this Hag has few quality players available, mainly due to injuries. Plus, of course, the fact is that the bad mood at Old Trafford drags everyone down a level or two lower than they would be in a good mood.

so 18 points from 11 games is more than a great result. Of course, there is a lot of luck behind it too, with Manchester United often deciding games at the very end of games.

To throw out the Hague one or not?

From my personal point of view, it’s definitely not a path that would fundamentally benefit anyone. That Hag seems like a good coach. That’s borne out by the factors mentioned above. But he needs time to grow, to reshape the team in his image.

At the same time, Manchester United need to do the same. The constant speculation about selling to one or the other does not help the mood inside. A certain transformation in leadership began two years ago.

However, only when all the share takeover deals are done can the club bounce back to a better tomorrow. This Hag is therefore clearly the man for the job, as he proved at Ajax, for example. What is important, however, is that he does not lose the trust of the fans and players. There is nothing to do but to grit our teeth and fight. Sooner or later, this diligence will show.

Last season, he benefited from euphoria and a relatively well put together squad. This season, everything is taking longer, but hopefully the players won’t be injured for good and Manchester United at full strength could get going again.

Source: Manchester United, Transfermarkt