Liverpool legend John Barnes has given some sound advice to Manchester United about how to get back to their best after a difficult few years.
The Red Devils have just not been the same since the retirement of legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, with what was always going to be a loss the club would find it hard to recover from.
Since Ferguson bowed out with the 2012/13 Premier League title with Man Utd, the club have finished in the top four just twice in six seasons, with the team confirmed as missing out on Champions League qualification yesterday after a poor performance in a 1-1 draw away to Huddersfield.
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Much has been made of United needing to get back to their roots, particularly with the initial lift in performances and morale when club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came in as manager.
However, Barnes believes it’s vital for MUFC to move on from Ferguson and start a new era, just as Liverpool have managed to do after years of living in the past.
The Reds were similarly dominant back in the 70s and 80s, only to majorly fall away around the time of the start of the Premier League era.
However, Liverpool now stand a real chance of winning their first title in 29 years this season, whilst also making it to last season’s Champions League final and this season’s semis.
Barnes now thinks United need to go down a similar path, as he explained to beIN Sports, as quoted in the tweets below:
John Barnes: "The Sir Alex days have now gone. You can't go back. You need to get away from that. The biggest thing about Liverpool when it started to go wrong was going back to the old days – they had to get away from that and so do United now.” #mufc [beIN]
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) May 6, 2019
John Barnes: “United have the players, but the harmony are not right. If you get them motivated they're not bad. But they haven't got the right attitude or determination and that's the problem." #mufc [beIN]
— United Xtra (@utdxtra) May 6, 2019