Not fit for purpose: United called out on transfer dealings
IT is tempting to locate the pivotal moment in Manchester United’s recent history as the evening when Uli Hoeness told Alex Ferguson a white lie about his sausage factory.
The Bayern Munich president was in New York in December 2012 to persuade Pep Guardiola, then on sabbatical and living in the city, to become the next coach of the Bundesliga giants.
So Hoeness was alarmed to bump into Ferguson at a restaurant that night and told the Scot he was on a sausage-related business trip, which was partially true.
That same week Fergie, then the United manager, had also dined with Guardiola in New York, asking him to call if he had offers from any other teams. Within weeks, Bayern were announcing that Guardiola would be their new manager from the summer of 2013 and the moment had gone.
By the time Guardiola might have theoretically been available again, United were again behind the curve. He announced he would be leaving Bayern in December 2015, just as United’s doubts about Louis van Gaal had crystallised.
United wanted to pursue Guardiola but quickly found out he had signed for City, with Der
Spiegel’s Football Leaks revelations last week claiming that he committed to City on October 10, 2015.
However, even if Guardiola had arrived at Old Trafford, would that have reversed United’s fiveyear decline? It might have been an improvement in style but the substance of the club he would have encountered would have been some way short of the infrastructure he found at City in 2016.
Agents who dealt with both clubs this summer report that City’s strategy and presentations on why they wanted to sign a player and how it was envisaged he would fit into the team were far better than United’s.
At Old Trafford there is Jim Lawlor, appointed by Fergie — he is chief scout. Head of Global Scouting is Marcel Bout, appointed by Van Gaal. Head of Development is John Murtough, appointed by David Moyes.
‘The recruitment plan has been all over the place,’ said Gary Neville last month. ‘And it has been driven by each manager at the time. And each manager has got a different philosophy and values, so you’ve got three or four different sets of players from three or four different managers.
‘If you have a central philosophy and value it means you always bring players in who fit this profile. Then the coaches always fit around that, and you’d probably be OK.’
United are looking to change. A sporting director who would be expected to set the stylistic and tactical pattern for the club will be appointed. Paul Mitchell, formerly of Spurs and now at RB Leipzig is the front-runner. The lack of a coherent football strategy seems to have been Mourinho’s gripe when he was denied a centre half this summer, though he hardly helped his cause by signing Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof for a combined £61million only to settle on the thought that Jerome Boateng or Harry Maguire might be the answer.
Mourinho is constantly stressing the reality of where United are now, as opposed to their past. So in the run-up to today’s game, he has dismissed the notion of the club being title contenders at present. ‘At this moment we are trying and fighting very hard to get the points to give us the chance to get in the top four.’
He emphatically argues that this is still a reconstruction job.
‘I got a situation in my first season of players like Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick — phenomenal players, probably some of the most important in the past years at the club — going to the end [of their career]. It was hard work with people like Luke Shaw and Anthony Martial, for example, because, for these talented players to come to the level that they are, is a process.
‘To transform talent in professional players, stability, performance, is a hard work process. So it is rebuilding, yes.
‘If I need a full-back and if I buy four it is easier. So if I need a full-back because I am not happy with Shaw’s level, the easiest thing is to buy four. Some clubs can buy four. We didn’t buy a left-back for three years, we were wishing and working for Shaw to be that left-back, but during that process we played [Matteo] Darmian, Ashley Young, we played Marcus Rojo.
‘To buy four you only need good scouting and money. To make players takes more time. If the job was easy I would not be here,’ said Mourinho this week. ‘I know for me jobs are not easy. Real Madrid was not an easy one, too. We work, man.’