It doesn't matter who they go for, the problems that stop them winning titles and cups on a regular basis come from way above the manager. Nothing will meaningfully change at United until the culture changes first.
Moyes was going to carry on Ferguson's legacy and was hand-picked by the man himself; Van Gaal was going to update the squad with young players and move on from the Fergie days; Mourinho was going to get rid of Van Gaal's slow possession-based style and install a winning mentality; Solskjaer was going to expunge Mourinho's toxicity and get them playing football "the United way" again; Rangnick was going bring cultured football to Old Trafford; Ten Hag was going to bring proper coaching back to United after years of bad tactics. This idea that one guy will simply fix everything (whether that's a manager or a player) and make everything alright again is exactly why they're lagging behind the other elite clubs.
The closest they got to being genuine title contenders again was the summer of 2021. They'd just finished 2nd on 74 points and they'd genuinely outfoxed us in a few derbies with that counter-attacking style Solskjaer was a fan of - plus they'd reached the Europa League final and were unlucky to lose it on penalties. They weren't the best around in terms of personnel and their form was a bit streaky but they had a system that (mostly) worked - a tight, compact defence, a decent midfield with one technical expert, then three fast, hard-working forwards to exploit the empty spaces. It's easy to forget that they went over a year without losing an away game in the league at one point.
Then they went and added Sancho to provide more trickery from out wide (he was a massive upgrade on James at the time) and pulled off a pretty big coup when they got Varane to shore them up in defence. Those two signings alone, on paper anyway, looked like they'd be worth another 5-10 points, which put them in the title race for the 21/22 season. But then they signed Ronaldo and it fucked everything up. That signing alone disrupted Fernandes' form, alienated Sancho as soon as he arrived, pushed Cavani out of the team (and then he got injured anyway), and pushed Rashford back out wide. On top of that it turned United from a team who were happy out of possession and generally kept a good shape into a side who were all about servicing and compensating one man who scored goals but contributed fuck all else.
"The man to fix everything" had gone from being Solskjaer to Ronaldo.
In the end the entire thing unraveled because Ronaldo was stood up front doing nothing while the rest of the team were carrying water just for him. The best thing about United under Solskjaer was that (for the most part) there was no one player who considered himself more important than anyone else. They had Fernandes and Cavani as leaders, if you will, but they kept their heads down and liked Soslkjaer's system. But then Ronaldo showed up, which totally changed Fernandes' attitude, and that effective little system they had of Wan-Bissaka and Shaw supporting Rashford, Fernandes, Greewood, and Cavani was completely derailed. United were put on the back foot as a team instantly because they suddenly became incapable of defending from the front.
Solskjaer was gone within six months of Ronaldo showing up.
This is United all over since Ferguson left. They get close enough to reaching their previous heights and then shoot themselves in the foot - Van Gaal got United back into the Champions League and won them the FA Cup, and everything was set for Pochettino to come in and build on what Van Gaal had put down. He even met for dinner with Ferguson in May 2016. But they caved at the last minute and decided to go with Mourinho because we'd secured Pep Guardiola and United's executives clearly thought they could reignite their famous La Liga rivalry. Mourinho started off well enough but his short-termism and toxic nature infected the club and set them down a path that resulted in Solskjaer, Ten Hag, and whatever the fuck's going on now.
Now, where they are at present is hardly a terrible place. They've spent the last decade finishing 2nd-7th in the Premier League, qualifying for European competitions, and winning the odd cup. There are hundreds of clubs who would dream of that sort of record, and United fans should do well to note that - as City have experienced - it can get a whole lot worse. But they are so pained and so anguished by their current position that all optimism and reason and balance has gone out the window. Their thinking remains impulsive, their culture remains a dismal, desperate one, where if instant success isn't secured then all the toys go out the pram and they have to start again. There's no attempt to say "Well, we have a good platform to build from, it just needs tweaks here and there" because the culture has totally consumed everyone who comes into contact with them, to the point where only new owners and a complete refresh will see them back at the top table by 2030.
Should they get him, Potter will be introduced on a wave of optimism and vague suggestions that he's "like Ten Hag but more of a man manager who knows the English game". He'll last 2 to 3 years maximum, maybe finish 4th and win a trophy in his first season, then the usual bullshit will rear its head again - players not playing for him, expensive signings not producing, massive injury pile-ups, etc. They'll slide down the table to about 6th and hopelessly bow out of Europe prematurely and get rid of him once it becomes clear that the situation can't be saved. And then they'll look elsewhere for the next new thing to get excited about before the cycle starts all over again.
At the top of this post, it's worth pointing out that, without Busby and Ferguson's records, United have only won 15 trophies in their entire history. Without those two men, they're just like everybody else. And I've got a feeling Ten Hag's eventual departure will finally be the one that kills off any hope United have in terms of hoping that one man can simply take the entire club on his shoulders and win titles, just as Fergie and Busby did.
Moyes would simply continue Fergie's legacy; Van Gaal would bring a continental style to update United's footballing identity and rid them of Moyes' ghost; Mourinho would buy a load of galacticos and finally sort out Van Gaal's slow possession-based bullshit with a "proper winner's mentality"; Solskjaer would bring Fergie's spirit back to take United to titles and rid them of Mourinho's toxicity; Ten Hag would finally, finally bring serious modern coaching and proper authority back to United after years of malaise.
They've tried every approach under the sun when it comes to managers. What's next?
The reality is that, at least when it comes to United wanting to compete with the elites, the entire operation needs ripping up and starting again, and it's going to take at least a decade to rid the club of its current culture. This goes beyond the Glazers simply selling to Ratcliffe or Qatar - just look at PSG, underperforming and overpaying without much of a plan beyond prioritising commercial viability over everything else (which, to be fair, United already do).
Everything needs reworking from top to bottom. They laughed at us when Soriano and Begiristain used the word "holistic" in that statement in 2012 - who's laughing now? Their stadium is rotting internally, there are constant leaks from within the club, their handlings of the Greenwood and Anthony affairs were both major administrative failures, somehow everybody they sign gets worse or has their reputation destroyed. Who would want to be there?
For years United were able to sell themselves as an attractive prospect to young players. "Come to the Theatre of Dreams and you'll play football like you've never known before". Now when young lads are thinking of going there, all they'll see is what's happened to Maguire, Sancho, Pogba, and Lukaku. Full internationals, World Cup winners, £80m signings - all of them on the scrapheap and having to take a downward move just to keep playing.
That's without mentioning the likes of Ronaldo, Falcao, Angel Di Maria, Alexis Sanchez, Mkhitaryan, who were all seasoned pros that had to leave United quickly to boost their reputations again. And the likes of Daniel James, Wilfried Zaha, Marcos Rojo, Depay, Van De Beek - what young player would want to join United now when there's a long line of failed prospects and barely any successes? The brand is beginning to crumble now.
Contrast that to how City have been run for the last decade. It took a few years to bear fruit but now look. Every player we sign (except maybe Kalvin Phillips) gets better after being coached by Pep, we're treble winners and threepeat title winners, our stadium is constantly being developed, we train in what is essentially a gated community, our young players either get to the first team or get huge transfer fees when they move on.
So even if you're not as good as Foden or Rico Lewis, you'll still get to play regular top level football - think of the likes of James Trafford, Pedro Porro, Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Eric Garcia, Brahim Diaz, Tosin Adarabioyo, Angelino, Aleix Garcia etc. even Sancho before his move to United. All of them are either bright prospects or established top level players now. Why would you pick United over us these days?
On top of that, a former assistant manager of ours is one of the best young managers in the Premier League, our former club captain has just stormed the Championship as a manager, and another former coach of ours (Maresca) is about to do the same with Leicester (with another academy prospect of ours, Iheanacho). Everything runs like clockwork from top to bottom and the legacy of what's been built since 2012 is visible everywhere.
It took 10 years for us to achieve this and it still took that long despite having owners and a board who were all on the same page. At the moment United don't even have owners that want to sell. When their fans were chanting about their 20 league titles while languishing in 7th under Moyes, I made a little joke with myself that we'd be singing about our 20th league title before they ever sung about their 21st. It might not be a joke soon enough.
Just pulling these two posts over from other threads. Don't need to add to them.
