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Rob Dawson, CorrespondentNov 27, 2024, 05:08 AM ET
It was late February 2014 in the Karaiskakis Stadium when former Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward lent forward from his seat in the directors’ box to take a picture of the scoreboard. With Olympiacos leading the Champions League tie 2-0, Woodward decided that the image on his phone would serve as a reminder that the club, less than a year into life without legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, would never be allowed to sink so low again.
It’s been 10 years since Woodward — who stepped down as CEO in 2021 — took the picture. But rather than a blip, that humiliating night in Greece is just one in a catalogue of embarrassments and disappointments collected during the post-Ferguson era.
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There have been isolated triumphs since Ferguson — four domestic cups and the Europa League — but he remains the last United manager to win the Premier League or Champions League. David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag have tried, and failed, to replicate Ferguson’s success at that level.
Ruben Amorim is the latest man charged with returning the club to former glories. There is, though, a growing suspicion among some supporters that it’s become an impossible job. The demands are too much, the pressure is too great and United are already too far behind their rivals at home and abroad.
It was even something Amorim was asked about in his first news conference before Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich Town.
“Call me naive, but I truly believe I am the right guy in the right moment,” Amorim said about getting the gig. “I could be wrong but the earth still will turn, the sun will rise again, it doesn’t matter, I’m not worried about that. I truly believe I’m the right guy for this job.”
Right guy or not, is the job one in which anyone can succeed?
A decade of (relative) failure
Amorim’s task is to re-awaken a sleeping giant. Where United were once the dominant force in English football in the 1990s and 2000s, they’ve fallen drastically behind over the past 10 years.
A sign in the away end at Portman Road on Sunday laid out the challenge. “Good luck Ruben Amorim,” it read. “Make our team great again.”
The bulk of the work since Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival as co-owner in February has focused on the club’s structure. Omar Berrada (CEO), Dan Ashworth (sporting director) and Jason Wilcox (technical director) have come in and there’s a belief that — finally — United are set up in the right way, and it’s been a long time coming.
Ferguson was appointed in November 1986 and the club grew around him for 27 years as football became bigger and bigger business. At the centre of everything for more than a quarter of a century, winning 13 English league titles, three Champions Leagues and 19 other domestic trophies, cracks appeared quickly when he stepped down.
“He was an absolute phenomenon,” one source said. “Sir Alex leaving was a seismic event for the club. Every single person had been marching behind a pied piper. Everyone was utterly embedded in everything he was doing and saying and bought into it completely and focused everything around him.
“Everything was delivered for him, and that’s where the jarring event of him leaving had a major impact on everyone.”
Ruben Amorim looks every bit the right man to take Man United forward, and he should benefit from a resolved and repaired management structure above him. That said, it’s going to be hard to turn things around quickly. Richard Pelham/Getty Images
Ryan Giggs won everything as a player under Ferguson from 1990-2012 and saw issues develop first-hand as a coach under Moyes and then Van Gaal.
“I think everyone recognises it was always going to be difficult after Sir Alex and that’s been the case,” Giggs tells ESPN. “There’s been big managers, proven managers, who have come in and not quite done it. It’s been difficult.”
Internal sources have told ESPN that it became apparent very quickly following Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 that the club — without the Scot in the driving seat — was not built for success. As a result, United were left playing catch-up with clubs who were already being run in a more modern way. Elsewhere, managers were predominantly focused on the first-team coaching and surrounded by specialist teams handling recruitment, scouting and the academy. It wasn’t until 2021 that United appointed their first football director (John Murtough) and technical director (Darren Fletcher).
“Man United will always have the same ambitions, but season upon season they haven’t been able to fulfil the expectation,” Rene Meulensteen, who spent five years as Ferguson’s first-team coach between 2008 and 2013, tells ESPN.
“The culture at the club has gone from an almost invincible winning culture to an almost a culture of not-winning. That’s where the club is. They have fallen off the pedestal.”
Amorim is the first United boss to take the title of head coach rather than manager. It means the responsibilities handed to Ten Hag when he arrived from Ajax in 2022 have been stripped back and Amorim’s job will, in theory, be less complicated. He will have a voice in recruitment decisions, but the process will be led by Ashworth and Wilcox.
The idea is that the previous structure failed Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho, Solskjaer and Ten Hag because they were asked to be too much like Ferguson — involved in anything and everything — while also expected to manage the team and win games. Amorim’s remit has narrowed significantly and in that sense, it’s a fresh start.
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The pressure to win
What’s not new is the scrutiny that comes with being the figurehead of one of the biggest clubs in the world. As the most successful team in English football history, the first job is to win and it’s not happened nearly enough over the last 11 years.
“When United lose one game it’s bad,” Giggs says. “Two is a disaster and three? Forget about it. United are always in the headlines, no matter what. The fascination around it is just massive.”
Amorim has already had a brief glimpse of the intense interest in his new club. “This week I spoke more than in four years at Sporting,” he said after the draw with Ipswich. “I spoke with [director of media relations] Andrew [Ward]. I just want to work with my players, nothing more but I understand that it’s a different game here.”
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When Ferguson retired, United bosses at the time laughed off suggestions that they could copy Liverpool — dominant in the 1970s and 1980s before going 30 years without a league title after their own legendary manager, Kenny Dalglish, stepped down in 1991. They were too big and too rich. More than 10 years on, they’re still waiting.
However, it’s not been a completely barren decade. The trophy haul since Ferguson’s retirement stands at two FA Cups (2016, 2024), two League Cups (2017, 2023) and the Europa League (2017). There were FA Cup final appearances in 2018 and 2022 and a Europa League final in 2021.
For many other clubs, it would be considered a period of success. But not at United. Particularly when it’s set against Ferguson’s reign and the 13 league titles, two Champions Leagues, nine domestic cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Van Gaal, Mourinho and Ten Hag all won trophies, but discovered it wasn’t enough. Mourinho (in 2017-18) and Solskjaer (in 2020-21) both finished second in the Premier League and within a matter of months lost their jobs. The only real measure of success at Old Trafford is to win the Premier League or the Champions League. Anything less is considered failure, which is a big part of what makes Amorim’s job so daunting.
Rene Meulensteen, right, worked alongside Sir Alex Ferguson and frequently referred to the pressure of expectations among Man United’s fans. ‘With expectation comes pressure, and with pressure comes scrutiny.’ John Walton – PA Images via Getty Images
“The expectation at Manchester United is massive,” Meulensteen says. “Every season, the ambition is to win the league, try to get to the Champions League final, win the FA Cup and win the League Cup.
“With expectation comes pressure and with pressure comes scrutiny. It’s a difficult task. Manchester United is a club which is constantly under media attention.”
Ferguson won the FA Cup, European Cup Winners’ Cup and the League Cup before finally winning the title in 1993 — United’s first for 26 years — having narrowly missed out to Leeds United a year earlier.
“In my first season we lost out to Leeds in the old First Division and I really felt the true enormity of it and the pressure the summer after that,” Giggs says. “We were so close, and I remember being on holiday and fans coming up saying ‘are we ever going to win the league?’ It was the closest we’d been for so long and people had started to wonder whether it would ever happen.”
Setting major titles as the benchmark is only the norm at heavyweight clubs like United, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich. It was one of the reasons why United turned to Van Gaal in the summer of 2014 after Moyes was sacked.
Moyes had vast Premier League experience with Everton, but was untested at the top level. Van Gaal, on the other hand, had won before with Barcelona and Bayern. He knew all about the pressure that comes with managing a big club, yet he was still taken aback by the competitiveness of the Premier League. It’s hard enough to win consistently with any super club, but more so in a league where there are multiple rivals with the same ambition and financial might.
“The size of the club was never a problem for Louis,” Frans Hoek, part of Van Gaal’s staff at Old Trafford, tells ESPN. “We had that experience with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
“The only difference in the Premier League is the competition. The level of all the clubs in the Premier League is incredibly high. In other competitions, Bayern would be champions in Germany eight times out of 10. Barcelona would normally be champions of Spain, out of 10, six or seven times.
“That’s because in a certain amount of games you are not challenged. You normally win these games and that’s the big difference with the other competitions. In the Premier League, every game is really a top game. You never say ‘this is going to be an easy game.’ You always have to fight.
“It’s maybe like that even more now. Every game is a challenge to win because the level is incredibly high, and that’s a big challenge. You need to be prepared for that, with a big enough squad to play 50 or 60 games. And they are all competitive. That’s different to the Bundesliga and different to LaLiga.”
It’s something Amorim, who has never coached outside Portugal, will have to deal with.
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Where Ferguson usually only had to worry about one other title contender each season — whether it be Aston Villa or Blackburn or Arsenal or Chelsea — United are now in a pack of at least eight teams who can challenge every year. Not only will Amorim be up against Pep Guardiola’s City, who have six of the last seven titles; there’s also Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Newcastle.
“Louis was surprised by the level, not only of the big sides but also the strength in depth of the Premier League and how difficult every game was,” says Giggs. “There is never a given. The level of the Premier League has increased, but United are still expected to win every game, particularly at Old Trafford. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing.”
Even winning is not enough
Winning is a big part of the job, but the demands don’t stop there. You have to win, but also do it by playing exciting, entertaining football.
Van Gaal was sacked after winning the FA Cup in 2016 — the first trophy of the following Ferguson’s retirement — amid concerns that his tactics were boring. Solskjaer’s team finished third in 2020, second in 2021, reached the Europa League final and had some memorable victories against Manchester City, but he still faced criticism for implementing a transitional, counter-attacking game plan. There were questions, too, about Ten Hag’s football despite winning two domestic cups in two years.
The emphasis on playing attacking football and entertaining fans dates back to Sir Matt Busby’s “Babes” in the 1950s. His legacy was built upon by Ferguson, who instilled it in every version of his many successful teams over the course of his reign.
“The way of playing is very clear,” Meulensteen says. “I got promoted to first-team coach, and I walked into Sir Ferguson’s office and he had a flip chart. On three pages he basically explained the whole philosophy of what United had to be.
“He said ‘if I close my eyes and think about what is the best United, this is what I see.'”
The first page was about how to defend, the second page was about possession, but it was the third page Meulensteen learned was crucial.
“The last sheet was the most important and it embodied the identity of the club,” he remembers. “It said ‘when United attack, they must attack with pace, power, penetration and unpredictability.’ Ferguson said to me, ‘I want you to instil those things in the players every single day.’
“It’s not enough to win; it’s about winning with that entertainment factor. Manchester United has also been the most difficult combination of playing attacking, attractive football, win games and win trophies. There are a lot of challenging aspects.”
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There were times under Van Gaal, Mourinho and Ten Hag when the supporters in the Stretford End made their feelings clear with chants of “attack, attack, attack” to urge the team forward.
“I knew the expectations of the supporters and culture of the community and what they expect from a Man United team,” Chris Armas, who worked on interim coach Ralf Rangnick’s staff, tells ESPN. “You have to play on the front foot, an attacking brand of football. You have to play with tempo, pace and personality.
“If you’re playing at home and you’re a goal down, and you’re in midfield and play a backwards pass to the goalkeeper, that’s a problem. And they let you know that. You’ve got to learn quickly what the fans expect because they let you know.”
Van Gaal inherited a squad in transition in 2014 and Hoek remembers the Dutchman trying to find a formula to fit the players he had available. Still, he says, there was very little compromise on playing style.
“Everyone knew the way Louis wanted to play,” Hoek says. “But you have to deal with the players you have in that moment, and find a way of playing that at least gets you some results. You always need results, but on the other side, you have to make the way of playing and the way you perform at the United level. That means you have to dominate.
“However you want to look at it, you have to dominate.”
It’s a demand Amorim is already aware of. His penultimate game as Sporting CP coach was an impressive 4-1 win over Manchester City, but it was done with 27.3% possession and nine shots compared to City’s 20.
“I already said previously you cannot transport one reality into another,” Amorim said after the game. “At Manchester United you cannot play exactly like this. You cannot play so defensively so we will have to adapt.”
Ryan Giggs, right, was a player under Ferguson and then coached alongside Van Gaal, left, among others. He pointed out the increased quality and depth of the Premier League as a factor that contributes to pressure on United managers. Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images
The weight on the players
As well as the pressure of winning and playing thrilling football, the constant comparisons with the past have made the United shirt a heavy one to wear. Recruitment has been a major issue for the club over the last 11 years, with too many of the wrong players signed for large fees and given high wages. Yet United have also invested big money in transfers that appeared, at the time, to be sure things and they’ve still failed to live up to expectations.
There are ghosts everywhere. In the same way managers are held up against Busby and Ferguson, players handed the No. 7 shirt are judged against George Best, Eric Cantona and Cristiano Ronaldo. Strikers are compared to Denis Law and Wayne Rooney, while centre-backs have to reach the level of Steve Bruce and Nemanja Vidic. For goalkeepers, it’s Peter Schmeichel and Edwin van der Sar.
It can be hard to handle, and no amount of data analysis or background checks can confirm beyond doubt that a player is ready to move to Old Trafford and excel in one of the most high-pressure environments in world football.
“It’s always going to take mentality,” Armas says. “It’s always going to take an understanding of what that shirt means. Not every player can play and thrive at that club. It’s big pressure. It’s not just about individual quality. It’s about technical ability, but it’s also about courage and personality.”
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Amorim: Man United will suffer for a long time
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United thought they were onto a winner in January 2018 when they signed Alexis Sánchez from Arsenal. He had big-club experience at Barcelona and was proven in the Premier League during 3½ years at the Emirates. But he couldn’t replicate his previous form at United, and there were those inside the club who believed he failed because he couldn’t deal with the glare of the Old Trafford spotlight. Managers have walked away believing they were let down by players who couldn’t handle the demands of such a unique club.
“It’s like an albatross around the neck,” one source said. “The weight of the past and the history and how the club benchmark themselves. The reality is if that albatross starts flapping its wings that can create a downward spiral and can create more pressure on players when things are harder.”
It’s not an issue specific to the post-Ferguson era, either. The difference, though, is that it’s easier for a new player to find their feet in a winning team. Often over the past decade, players have arrived while shouldering the added burden of being held up as the signing to finally transform United’s fortunes.
“The problem now is that it’s gone from maybe the odd player every couple of seasons to five or six every season not quite doing it,” Giggs says. “Not doing what they’ve done at their previous club or not quite performing to the level that got them to the club. It’s a problem. Then you’ve not many players who have been there and done it to help others through the tough times, and it becomes a vicious cycle.
“It keeps going on and on and you’re always trying to find a leader or a dressing room that gels. That’s where we’re at now.
“If you’re at United, you’re not a bad player. But then it’s up to the player to make sure you’re professional, you do the right things and that your hunger is there. You’ve got to go out and do what you were brought to the club to do.”
Does all of this combine to make it the impossible job?
Privately, United have been keen to cool the hype around Amorim’s appointment, conscious that lots of the platitudes — highly rated coach arriving on the back of success in a lesser European league — are the same things that were said about Ten Hag. Still, there’s a hope that in Ratcliffe’s new structure, aided by better recruitment processes and with a more defined job spec, the 39-year-old can thrive where others before him have failed.
There’s also an acceptance internally that the Premier League landscape has changed. It means success for Amorim isn’t to match Ferguson’s trophies, but rather to mould a team which can consistently compete for the top honours.
“Can it be the way it was under Ferguson? There’s a question mark,” Hoek says. “I think the fans understand better now that it takes time. It also takes time with the fans to understand that the time with Ferguson was sensational, but actually not realistic.
“The other clubs are getting stronger and stronger. More competitive. Expectations now are at a different level so it’s the ideal moment to step in and try to accomplish more than they expect at the moment.
“Everything is there, but maybe at the moment the belief is a little bit gone. If it takes two years, it takes two years. If it takes four years, it takes four years. You have to be realistic in that sense. That’s very important.”
Chris Armas, right, worked as an assistant alongside interim coach Ralf Rangnick and spoke of how all club staff need ‘courage and personality’ in order to survive in the spotlight, noting not everyone can handle it at a club like Man United. PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Despite a rocky decade, Armas believes consistent success will return.
“It’s an incredible club with super-high standards and demands,” he said. “It’s not ‘if.’ They have to get back to winning consistently. It’s going to happen, I’m sure of it.
“It’s possible when you have the right manager, you have the support from up top and you get the players on the same page. You put that in front of a fan base that, I’d argue, is the one of the best in the world, then it’s possible. Man United will get back to the top.”
Giggs is also convinced that United, eventually, will get there. “I don’t think it’s the impossible job,” he says. “There’s a clamour for instant success but you don’t mind not winning the league for a couple of years as long as you see progression.
“The fans are going to have to be patient. It’s going to be a roller coaster because of where the club is at the moment. Everyone is waiting for the right manager to come in and change it.”
Over to you, Ruben.
