When the Manchester United squad were told of Erik ten Hag’s pending appointment, the response was said to be “mixed”, but one specific response stood out. Some players were totally indifferent, because they don’t want to be around to find out.
It sums up the scale of the challenge. For all of the buzz around Old Trafford after Ten Hag’s announcement, there was also some unease about how long it will take reality to check that excitement.
The current reality is that United have just suffered a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool that was as pitiful as it was predictable, That made it a collective 15-1 in four games against the top two, who also happen to be their two biggest rivals.
The occasion displayed such a disparity between the clubs that the only logical response should be to interrogate what Liverpool have done, and seek to update it. That’s curious, though, because that was the exact question put to former executive vice chairman Ed Woodward in a meeting at United’s London base in 2019. Why not just do what Manchester City and Liverpool do, identify a modern ideology, and go from there?
Woodward responded that United deliberately didn’t have a defined style, because they wanted “a certain flexibility” so managers can work within broader parameters. There is admittedly a counterintuitive business logic to that, but the brutal truth is that it was still going against what is widely seen as best football practice.
It is also what Ralf Rangnick is practically screaming at the club now. He said it again before the Liverpool match and afterwards, while also laying out the guiding principles when asked what United could do to catch up.
“The headline on everything should be ‘how do you want to play’!”, he said.
The situation has been immensely frustrating Rangnick, and has only reasserted how far United are off the level. The last few days have been dominated by discussion about how long it will take them to get back, not least from the interim coach.
That is also why it can – repeat, can – be a source of optimism.
For all the issues at United, they can reach for a clear roadmap. That roadmap can also be followed much more quickly if you can pay the salaries the club are capable of. Such money means United are capable of succeeding even under the Glazers, and the ongoing effects of that lamentable 2005 leveraged buy-out. The £1bn-plus expenditure that has been held up as such a waste is also a clear sign of their potential power. They are arguably the only English club who can truly go toe to toe with City in terms of financial muscle. Imagine that money spent correctly.
This is why Rangnick said “it will take two or three windows if you know what you are looking for”. They should know what to look to. Both Rangnick and even Ten Hag have made some steps clear in meetings.
If you had a truly blank slate, which many would argue this season should bring, you can work down from the top of the club. The repeated line from football people to The Independent has been that, actually, “it’s all about simplicity”. “It’s not rocket science,” as Rangnick himself said.
A club first of all needs a good and experienced chief executive, who brings in an empowered sporting director. The point here is not the obviousness of hiring the best people for the senior positions. It is something that has actually been rather unclear at United: that football people are entrusted to make key decisions under their remit. You then get these same figures to identify and articulate a football ideology, from which everything else follows. This is what Rangnick meant by “the headline on everything”. That ideology should inform every decision, from the choice of coach to all signings. It means there is much less possibility for waste.
The recruitment department should then be constructed to the highest possible standard, and primarily guided by old-fashioned scouting insight and modern data analysis, with both of those overwhelmingly prioritised over agent relationships. Such an approach – which isn’t as common as might be expected – would mean the ability to contextualise how well a player will work in your system, which remains the most important factor in signing players. From all that, a sporting director should have final say on all signings within an existing budget. The club should also be ruthless with outgoing players, because of the profound drag effect a disgruntled few can have on the rest of the squad. You couldn’t have a better example of that than at Old Trafford. By contrast, Arsenal, who United play next, have gradually started to realise the benefits of such clear-outs. It has a value way beyond transfer fees.
This is the situation any manager should be walking into. This is something individual managers can also help enforce, if they have requisite charisma and vision. It is what Jurgen Klopp has done at Liverpool, radiating the focus that brought so many different parts of their formative structure together in 2015. Pep Guardiola has probably been on the other side of it, walking into a fully formed club at City, which is what Ten Hag was used to on a lower scale at Ajax.
The big question is whether the Dutch coach can help bring this at United.
Because, as elementary as it all sounds, so much of it has been missing at Old Trafford. And even now, after so many frank meetings with Rangnick, there’s a big difference between knowing the path and following it.
This may be where the Glazer ownership brings a bigger problem than even those huge interest payments. While United still have so much revenue they can overcome the effect of all that cash going out, it’s much more difficult to get around their corporate structure.
Everything has to go through Joel Glazer. “He makes all the big decisions,” is a repeated line, from those who have worked within the club and with it. That process applies to so much, from managerial appointments to business calls.
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