16 August 2023 , 14:52
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Ex-Manchester United assistant coach Rene Meulensteen has had his say on where the Red Devils have gone wrong since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
The Dutchman spent six years at Old Trafford as Ferguson's right-hand man and knows the club better than most. Meulensteen has since revealed that he feels United suffered in the wake of Ferguson's departure due to a lack of stability and continuity, citing the number of managers the Red Devils have gone through in the last decade.
David Moyes was the first to occupy the Old Trafford hot seat after Ferguson, but he lasted little more than nine months at the helm. Then came Louis van Gaal, who guided United to FA Cup glory but was still relieved of his role and replaced by Jose Mourinho in the summer of 2016.
Mourinho lifted both the Carabao Cup and Europa League, but still couldn't last the length of his contract and was sacked in late 2018. He was followed by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, initially on an interim basis but the Norwegian ended up securing the job on a permanent basis, until he lost it in November 2021.
Ralf Rangnick saw it the remainder of that season and now Erik ten Hag is in charge. All this chopping and changing has hardly given the club the best chance of success, as Meulensteen explains.
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"Every successful football club is based on stability and continuity – this comes from having the right people with the right expertise," the Dutchman told the Debrief Podcast. "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.
“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?"
HAVE YOUR SAY! Is Meulensteen's assessment of United's situation fair? Comment below
Rene Meulensteen spent six years working closely with Sir Alex Ferguson as his assistantMeulensteen went on to explain what made Ferguson so good, adding that the legendary Scotsman was able to roll with the punches and make the changes required. He even made the bold claim that had Ferguson remained in his role a tad longer, United's dominance may have continued.
"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."
United have had to spend lengthy spells of their post-Ferguson era watching fierce rivals Manchester City and Liverpool lift the game's major honours. Now under the rule of Ten Hag, the expectant Old Trafford faithful are hopeful the good times will return sooner rather than later.