How Manchester United Is Suffering Due To The Decisions Of Previous Managers

Peter Schmeichel and Ryan Giggs were watching Manchester United vs Leicester City as pundits yesterday. United won the match against the foxes with a typical, gritty Jose Mourinho performance led by the irrepressible Paul Pogba and capped off by a surprisingly adept finish by Luke Shaw.

However, even as the doom and gloom over Old Trafford were lifted ever so slightly by the customary a United win, it was interesting to listen to the words of ex-United players. Schmeichel lamented the loss of “tradition.” Giggs talked about the importance of developing young players and expressed his surprise at the Mourinho’s mood on the United’s tour to the USA. He contrasted it with Guardiola’s upbeat comments about playing youngsters at City.

Both United legends were providing constructive criticism for the red side of Manchester. But, laying the blame on Jose Mourinho for the loss of traditions and non-development of young players is easy and opportunistic. It is also a black-and-white analysis of a grey situation.

Even Ed Woodward, despite his mixed results in the transfer window, is not fully responsible. The malaise at United dates back to the actions of David Moyes and Louis Van Gaal. Specifically with respect to the alienation of senior players under Moyes, the removal of the club’s character and spirit under Van Gaal and the false perception created by the Dutchman of a thriving United youth setup.

David Moyes came to United with the intention of being his own man. He wanted to bring about drastic changes at a club which had been consistently winning since the Premier League began. Furthermore, a key point forgotten is that, before Moyes, no matter what team United played, no matter what the skill or talent level of the players, the team always gave its all. The old school mentality at United was that irrespective of the quality of performance a player was having, he always gave his full effort. Even if the passes were not sticking, a United player was always trying. Scholes’s comeback from struggles during the 2002 season and Ferdinand’s Indian summer in the 2012-13 season were classic examples of players efforts being consistent despite inconsistent form.

The ‘putting in 100% effort 100% of the time’ mentality at United was a tradition that stemmed from Sir Alex Ferguson. It was part of the culture passed on to every generation of players through senior players. With the arrival of David Moyes, things changed drastically. The United coaching staff was wiped out, replaced by a team from Everton. Club stalwarts such as Ferdinand and Vidic were alienated by being asked to learn from Phil Jagielka. The consequence was the loss of the “100% effort” mentality as players, who were spreading that culture, were disgruntled.

Then in 2014, Moyes was replaced with Van Gaal. With all due respect to the Dutchman’s achievements, there are two couple of myths about his spell at United that need to be dispensed with.

Firstly, he is supposed to have made disastrous signings, which is an oversimplification. Van Gaal signed some brilliant players and some average ones. The problem was with the attitude of the players. Irrespective of their level of skill or talent, either they did not have that affinity to Manchester United football club, or were weighed down by expectations. In both cases, the “100% effort” was missing. For example, Bastian Schweinsteiger may have been on a downward trajectory as a footballer when he played for United, but, to the casual observer, the effort he put in while playing for United was nowhere near his efforts when he played for Bayern Munich or his national team. To compound it all, Van Gaal moved out the players who truly put in the hard yards such as Chicharito and Welbeck. The Dutchman accelerated the loss of “100% effort” mentality at the club.

Secondly, Louis Van Gaal is supposed to have championed the youth. This myth came about when he was giving debuts to many players from the youth team. Van Gaal was not giving opportunities to the likes of Rashford because he desired to. He gave opportunities because he was forced to. Against FC Midtjylland, Rashford was first drafted on the bench because the promising striker in the under-23s, Will Keane had suffered an injury. He then got his chance to play because Anthony Martial got injured in the warm-up. Rashford and many others were drafted into the team because of a raft of injuries that decimated an expensively assembled squad. Even Rene Meulensteen, Ferguson’s assistant opined that Van Gaal had been forced to play the youngsters.

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