Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has attempted to explain what has gone wrong for his old club since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2013.
The Dutchman, who was a key part of Ferguson’s coaching staff for many years, believes there was quickly a lack of stability and continuity at Old Trafford as Ferguson’s exit was followed by the departures of so many other influential figures.
This was the trend for those first few years, with David Moyes succeeding Ferguson but quickly replaced by a more experienced manager in Louis van Gaal, and then another manager with a totally different style in the form of Jose Mourinho.
“Every successful football club is based on stability and continuity – this comes from having the right people with the right expertise. After Sir Alex Ferguson left, a lot of people left alongside him and new people came in. If you then start on the wrong foot you get media pressure, people get nervous, and you see what happened with David Moyes,” Meulensteen told the Debrief Podcast.
“Then they replaced him with a more experienced manager in Louis van Gaal, which again brought a lot of changes to the style and the personnel.
“Later Jose Mourinho comes in, he’s very result oriented, and doesn’t care how they win. Ferguson, by contrast, if we were 2-0 up he always wanted more – why not go for three, four, or five?
“One of the biggest qualities that Sir Alex had what his adaptability – he started in 1986 when United were in a difficult situation and he had to change a few things. When he won his first Premier League he made a bold statement about knocking Liverpool off their perch, so that always said he was there for the long haul.
“Ferguson was always aware that technology was going to play a role, but he was good at letting the people who were good at it do it.”
Meulensteen added that he always had a good relationship with Ferguson, even if he has the reputation of being a strict and difficult character.
The 59-year-old insists it was only ever healthy debates, with everyone contributing, and he added that had they all stayed together at the club for a bit longer, the team would have continued being successful.
“I never fell out with Ferguson, there was never any reason to,” he added. “He was a fantastic communicator and a very good listener – there were never disagreements, just healthy discussions. Everyone chipped in. It was a unique period with high ambitions and high expectations, and this created high standards, which leads to pressure.
“Still, working under Ferguson I never felt any negative pressure. We knew every game counts, every point counts, but because of Ferguson’s man-management, we never got carried away by the highs, and we never got carried away by the lows.
“It’s different now, so much has changed and so many other clubs have burst onto the scene. But if Sir Alex had stayed I think we would’ve been there or thereabouts for a bit longer, even if it was an ageing team. There is no doubt in my mind, we would’ve carried on – all those senior players like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Michael Carrick could have gone on for a bit longer.”