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Manchester United: Managerial issues


After Manchester United‘s 20th title in 2013, legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson decided to retire after one of the most succesful manager runs in the world.

Sir Alex chose David Moyes as his successor which was the start of all of Uniteds issues for the past few years. David Moyes took charge on 9 May 2013.

Photo 1: Sir Alex Ferguson and David Moyes. Picture taken from eurosport.com, link: https://www.eurosport.com/football/premier-league/2015-2016/sir-alex-ferguson-highlights-david-moyes-biggest-mistake-as-united-manager_sto4921570/story.shtml


Moyes had a historically terrible season by all standards. In my opinion, the problems started in the pre-season. Moyes gave out huge contracts to players who should not have gotten them, he only signed 2 players, Mata and Fellaini both were decent signings, but with such an old squad he should have gotten rid of more deadwood and not handed these players huge contracts. Many of our key players were getting to retirement age so it would have been very beneficial to bring in young players that can be played in rotation and developed into first team players.


Moyes also brought terribly boring football to United. The infamous 2-2 game vs Fulham proved that by smashing the Premier League crossing record, ending up with a staggering 81 crosses at Old Trafford. One fan‘s sarcastic comment says it all about the season that United suffered under David Moyes. „You have a top playmaker like Mata in your team. So what do you do? Stick him on the wing to ping crosses in the box.“


United were struggling hard in the first half of the season ending up at 7th in January, this is where Moyes should have signed players to at least strive for a top 4 finish, but for some reason, he did not.


Moyes was sacked on 22 April 2014 and Ryan Giggs was brought in as an interim player-manager until Louis van Gaal signed

with United on 19 May 2014.

Photo 2: Louis van Gaal. Picture taken from express.co.uk, link: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/541717/Man-Utd-Louis-Van-Gaal-RVP-Victory-Match-Reaction-Old-Trafford-Update-Stars-Latest with United on 19 May 2014.


Van Gaal was a bit more active in the transfer department than Moyes. He had to fix the mess of a squad Moyes had left. In the 14-15 season he sold Kagawa for £5.60m, Zaha for £2.68m, Keane for £1.79m and Evra for £1.05m. All of which could either be of use in United‘s current squad, or could be sold at a much higher price than what they ended up selling for. He brought in Di María for £52.5m, Luke Shaw for £26.5m, Herrera for £25.5m, Rojo for £14m, Blind for £12.25m and brought in Falcao on a loan. This was a breath of fresh air for United, bringing in many squad players which are valuable to United today, but the next season was terrible in regards to transfers. Schneiderlin, Depay, Schweinsteiger, Romero, Darmian and Martial. None of the players he brought in worked for United, except for Romero, who he brought in on a free transfer and Martial which was a huge risk for United but ended being worth the price tag.


Van Gaal‘s first 10 games in the league in the 14-15 season did not go as plannned, ending up at 9th following a defeat against Man City. However for the next 10 games United would go on a 10 game unbeaten run with 7 of them being wins. The season ended up being a decent success. Qualifying for the Champions League was a breath of fresh air since the Moyes season, but both managers played dreadfully boring football compared to the Fergie era.


The 15-16 season was more of the same from the 14-15 season. Boring football and underperforming in all competitions except for the FA Cup which United ended up winning. Two days later Van Gaal was sacked on 23 May 2016.


Four days later on 27 May 2016, the infamous José Mourinho signed for the club. The run in the league was nothing special for United, ending up at 6th. However it did not seem to matter that much since United won the Europa League and ended up qualifying for the Champions League from there. United also won the Community Shield, the EFL Cup and managing to get to the Quarter-finals in the FA Cup.

Photo 3: Vice-chairman Ed Woodward and José Mourinho in 2016. Picture taken from independant.co.uk, link: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/jose-mourinho-new-contract-deal-extension-2020-manchester-united-a8178231.html


The transfers José made were absolutely terrific bar one player. Paul Pogba was a record breaking signing for United and has been a great transfer so far. Bailly was a bargain for £38m and Zlatan on a free was well worth the big wages. As Van Gaal had to do, Mourinho had to unload a huge number of players which had been doing nothing at the club such as Depay, Schneiderlin and Schweinsteiger.


In the current season he has brought in even more fantastic signings. Lukaku, Matic, Lindelöf and Sanchéz. All of which are first team players and will be very valuable in the near future. United currently sit in 2nd in the league, are in the Round of 16 in the Champion‘s League, still in the FA Cup but were surprisingly knocked out from the EFL Cup against Bristol.


Mourinho has been a breath of fresh air for United and is continuing to rebuild what this club used to be. Van Gaal managed to fix a lot of the damage Moyes did and instill structure into the club, but in the end unfortunately he was not the right fit for United.


Photo 4: Manchester United squad 17-18. Picture taken from manutd.com, link: http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Club-News/2017/Oct/Manchester-United-release-official-team-photo-for-2017-18-season.aspx


Post by: Hákon Þráinsson

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