CRUMBLING United’s stunning slump has left them behind City and Liverpool
‘BULLETPROOF’ WOODWARD HAS BACKING OF
David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all been unable to build on the legacy bequeathed by Old Trafford’s greatest manager.
Solskjaer goes into today’s FA Cup fourth-round clash at Tranmere under intense scrutiny after his attempt to portray last Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Liverpool as some kind of moral victory was undermined by a 2-0 midweek home defeat by Burnley.
On Wednesday night, the Norwegian takes his team to the Etihad in the Carabao Cup semi-final, having been humbled 3-1 by Manchester City in the first leg at Old Trafford.
And, despite a vote of confidence insisting that Solskjaer is not about to be sacked, the reality is that it won’t be executive vicechairman Ed Woodward getting the the axe although he has presided over seven seasons of relative failure since he replaced David Gill in the same summer Ferguson left.
One football agent, who worked with the club, claimed: “United are absolutely miles behind Liverpool and Man City – and not just in terms of the Premier League table.
“It’s estimated that for every year a club continues to fail, it is going to take between 18 months and two years to make up that lost ground.
“United have been sinking fast since Fergie retired – so work it out.
“They’re at least 10 years behind their biggest rivals in terms of having the right structure to put a team capable of winning the title and the Champions League on the pitch. And that’s being kind.”
Woodward has been described as
“bullet-proof ” by senior club sources. He has consistently delivered record revenues for the Glazer family – the latest figure was £627million, despite a “turbulent season”, which saw Mourinho sacked as United finished sixth.
United have spent a staggering £840m in the transfer market during Woodward’s tenure – and have made no progress.
Attempts at recruiting a director of football have been shelved because Woodward (below) has been unwilling to relinquish some of his power to hire and fire.
Matt Judge, the club’s head of corporate development, continues to deal with negotiations.
And while Solskjaer does have an input on signings, it is Woodward who makes the final decision. Moyes was dismayed to find a scouting department in such disarray when he took over that the club did not even have a database to collect information on potential signings. United’s answer was to employ an army of scouts – but Mourinho complained, when their number exceeded 50, that they generated too much background noise for the right voices to be heard.
At one point last season, an administrative error meant United sent two scouts to assess a player at the same game.
One urged the club to look into taking the target to Old Trafford – while the other concluded he was not the required standard.
In the summer, United were angry when Sporting Lisbon claimed they were interested in midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
The Portugal star was not deemed good enough – yet, six months on, United have been trying to convince Sporting to accept £55m for their star player.
A move for Paris Saint-germain’s Edinson Cavani was dismissed when it was discovered the Uruguayan earns £360,000 a week in France. And reports that United are now looking into possible loans for Islam Slimani, Odion Ighalo and even Carlos Tevez are embarrassing for a club of their stature.
United legend Gary Neville is not one for hyperbole – but he has sided with the growing number of supporters who want Woodward to be removed.
United are in the kind of mess not seen since they were relegated in 1974.
When United convinced Dave Harrison and Lyndon Harrison to leave Man City in 2017 to oversee the recruitment of youth players, it was regarded as a major coup.
But one source told Sunday Mirror Sport: “The one thing United have always been excellent at is producing their own players.
“If United signed you, then you had to be a bit special because there was only one squad for every age group. Now the academy is rammed with shadow squads. They have got the numbers, but not the quality.”
When Solskjaer passed his audition as temporary boss to succeed Mourinho in March, his brief was to re-establish the club identity he recognised from his time as a player. That meant discarding disruptive dressingroom influences such as Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku.
But, while spending £150m on British players, such as Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-bissaka and Dan James, and promoting youngsters Mason Greenwood, Brandon Williams, Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong and James Garner looks good in theory, the reality is the United boss has a squad that lacks depth, experience and proven quality.
It’s a policy that smacks of naivety.
The Class of ’92 had Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Steve Bruce and Peter Schmeichel to guide them at a club that had been crowned champions in two of the previous three seasons.
It is unthinkable for Solskjaer that United become FA Cup victims at Prenton Park today.