United can become contenders again in a year... with a dash of Abramovich-like ruthlessness and a few player upgrades STAN COLLYMORE
ANYONE who tells you it will take five years to turn Manchester United around is talking nonsense.
And if you want proof of that you need look no further than today’s opponents, Chelsea.
Three years ago, everyone was writing them off in much the same way United are being written off now.
‘Roman Abramovich isn’t interested anymore, Antonio Conte has gone and Sarriball’s boring the locals, Eden Hazard’s on his way out, there’s a transfer ban looming, they’re done, they’re finished, yada, yada, yada…’
But look at them now: they are champions of Europe and could well be champions of England again in May the way things are shaping. Frank
Lampard blooded the youngsters and steered the ship through a difficult season, and the signings he made ensured that when Thomas Tuchel replaced him in January he inherited a very good squad.
Rosy
Tuchel added a £90million-plus striker in Belgium star Romelu Lukaku and everything looks rosy again at Stamford Bridge, where they are competing again for the biggest and best trophies.
Whoever replaces Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will inherit just as good a squad as Tuchel. And if they, too, get the right pieces into the right places quickly then they can be challenging again in a year, not five. Or at least in 18 months, anyway, when the full-time replacement comes in to replace interim chief Ralf Rangnick.
The fact United have had to turn to an interim manager shows the lack of planning and forethought from the hierarchy, who dilly-dallied over Solskjaer’s future when they ought to have been as ruthless as Abramovich was with Lampard.
Although let’s have it straight, United and Chelsea are two very different clubs, and there is a romance about United and their traditions that just isn’t there with their London rivals. United, like Liverpool, are a juggernaut, a grand old dame of a club whose every nook and cranny is constantly under the microscope, and I don’t think Abramovich’s hire-and-fire policy, which has worked well for his club, would sit well with the Old Trafford faithful.
That’s not to say United can’t creep towards that methodology a little bit more and, if something’s not working, give it two years rather than three.
But traditions run deep at Old Trafford and, rightly, they need to be respected.
Rangnick could certainly do worse than take heed of Tuchel’s first days at Chelsea.
Tuchel looked at things and said: ‘I haven’t time to fully assess the squad so let’s just start by keeping a clean sheet and we can move things forward from there’. That’s what United need to focus on now and, once they
start doing that, they have the players who can do the business at the other end of the field.
After that, he can start deciding what formation he wants to play and who will best fit that system.
Personnel
In terms of personnel, the new long-term boss might look for an upgrade on David De Gea, a big keeper in the shape of Alisson or Ederson.
And while I’m not jumping on the bandwagon of saying Harry Maguire isn’t very good, because he is, United’s central defenders are only a match for Manchester City’s and Liverpool’s when they are having their very best days. If it is a fast, pressing game the new boss wants to play then Paul Pogba and
Donny van de Beek are susceptible, and even
Cristiano Ronaldo.
He might look at Ronaldo and Edinson Cavani at one end of their careers and Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial at the other and decide he needs two or three players bang in their prime at 27, 28 who are aggressive and mobile and will get the goals rather than the five he has now.
There will be some ruthlessness needed about the spine of the team but, if they get upgrades there then, in terms of the periphery and squad, United are set fair to be able to compete sooner rather than later.