Manchester United to change manager! What three tasks has Richard Arnold been given?

There have already been a number of changes at Manchester United this season, and we’ll probably see a few more. Another who is leaving Old Trafford is Ed Woodward, who has been with the Red Devils since 2013, who will be replaced by Richard Arnold from February 1.

Ed Woodward’s actions at Old Trafford cannot be judged as anything other than a failure, having spent over £1 billion in his roughly nine years as Manchester United’s executive vice-chairman and, apart from winning the Europa League, FA Cup and English Cup, failing to build on the team’s previous successes.

After the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, a retreat from glory was logically expected for several seasons, however Manchester United have never been able to properly recover from this turmoil and are still playing well below their potential.

So on the pitch Woodward has failed, but that doesn’t mean he has been a disappointment to his bosses, quite the opposite. During his time, Manchester United nearly doubled profits and did a lot for one of the biggest sporting brands in the world commercially.

“I would like to thank Ed for his tireless work for Manchester United for 16 long years, 9 of which were spent as executive vice-chairman,” said Joel Glazer on the change.

Who is Richard Arnold?

“We now look forward to working with Richard and his team to usher in a new era of ambitious plans and investment to strengthen our relationship with our fans and achieve the most important goal of winning on the pitch,” continued the Red Devils owner.

Arnold has already been with United for 14 years, having first served as commercial director and taking over from Woodward as commercial director in 2013. He will now do so again when he becomes the club’s chief executive.

Arnold was certainly a good move after the Super League debacle, as the 50-year-old Brit is particularly well liked by the fans, for whom he has done a lot. Among other things, he was instrumental in ensuring that ticket prices have not risen in the last 10 years.

He was also in charge of the club’s television (MUTV), or was involved in the sponsorship deals with General Motors/Chevrolet in 2014 and Adidas in 2015.

Arnold’s tasks

The first and biggest challenge, which will determine the success or failure of the new CEO, will be to lead Manchester United to the Premier League title and the Champions League.

The second task will be to rebuild the relationship with the fans, as this previously very strong bond has become somewhat damaged in recent years for various reasons. But of course this will be linked to success on the pitch. But this shouldn’t be a problem given Arnold’s experience, if perhaps you couldn’t find a better man for the job.

His third task then will be the renovation of Old Trafford, when the 76,000-seater stadium deserves to be turned blue and maybe even increase its capacity a bit.

We will only mention that as far as transfers are concerned, these will be handled by sporting director John Murtough and technical director Darren Fletcher, of course in collaboration with coach Ralf Rangnick, for whom Arnold fought, who chose him for the new era of the Red Devils.

The new CEO looks likeable, has been with the club for many years and is a good businessman. He also understands how important the fans are to the club and has worked with them for a long time.

Source: Sky Sports, Goal