Manchester United’s deep-lying issues

Manchester United currently sit in 8th place 5 points off the top 4 after impressive wins against Spurs and Manchester City, but yet a woeful defeat against Watford. Since Solskjær has been appointed as permanent manager, Manchester United have failed to win 3 Premier League games in a row, an alarming issue.

Current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær has only managed a 50% win rate (7% win rate without penalties) during his time as Manchester United manager, yet the fans and the players seem to be behind him. This past week may have sparked some hope and positivity into United’s season as they go into their congested run of fixtures, but the same issues still remain.

No backing from the board

Manchester United has generated £1.3b over the last 10 years, which is almost twice as much as the next highest club, Arsenal, with £754m. This is followed by Spurs with £675m and Liverpool with £341m. Two of the biggest spenders over the past decade, City and Chelsea, have generated just £146m and £76m respectively.

However, when you look at how that money has been spent, a more alarming picture is revealed. 49% of the money Manchester United have generated has been spent on debt and interest, while just 32% has gone on improving the squad. Compare that to the proportional spending on players to United’s rivals like Chelsea (65%), City (64%) and Liverpool (54%).

An even tough reading is seeing what that 49% of money has looked like, with £0.8B of United’s money being spent on loans and interest payments.

From 2008–2017, City’s owners have put £1.3b in to the club over the past decade while the Glazers have taken £0.8b out of United. So clearly, one of of the issues is that lack of action taken from the Glazers. Even though Manchester United spent big money on Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Daniel James in the summer, United missed out on several of their key targets, and failed to adequately replace the voids left unfilled by the departures of Ander Herrera and Romelu Lukaku.

The issue with the Glazers, especially in the post-Fergie era, is that they don’t back a manager for multiple windows. Despite the on-field issues towards the end of Mourinho’s tenure as Manchester United manager, he mentioned multiple times to the media how he hasn’t gotten the players he wanted.

Now, Ole is facing a similar issue. Because of the lack of proper backing from the board and investment, Ole has been forced use some of the academy players during the Europa League.

Manchester United’s squad is arguably the weakest it has been in the post-Fergie era, and while managers come and go, it’s clear that the lack of proper backing from the Glazers hinders the club’s ability to go and recruit their key targets.

Ed Woodward

Ed Woodward is currently the chief executive of Manchester United and is primarily responsible for the recruitment and signing of players. During his tenure as chief executive, United have failed to finish the top 4 consecutively and have spent more seasons playing Europa League football than Champions League.

In 2005, Woodward advised Malcolm Glazer and the Glazer family during its successful takeover of Manchester United. The Glazer family then recruited Woodward to join the club in a “financial planning” role.

In 2007, Woodward was given charge of the commercial and media operations of Manchester United. It was in this role that Woodward is credited for United’s success in tying up lucrative sponsorship deals with companies around the world. In 2005, the club’s commercial revenue was £48.7 million. In 2012, it stood at £117.6 million.

Woodward has done a fantastic job when he was in a “financial planning” role, but has been nothing short of incompetent in his role as chief executive. Woodward has shown a scatter-gun approach in the market, often signing players that aren’t even his first choice targets. During his time as chief executive, Manchester United have notoriously overpaid for players, with these players more often than not being more of a liability rather than an asset to the club.

After the 2018 summer transfer window, it was speculated in the media that Woodward had vetoed the transfer targets given to him by then manager José Mourinho at the end of the 2017–18 season. This created tension in the club, with Mourinho and the United fans alike criticising Woodward for the lack of improvement in the squad.[12] Fans complained that the club was focused more on brand development than footballing success. This was emphasised with the announcement of a brand deal with Chivas Regal whisky on 8 August, a day before the transfer window shut, which was announced with a video clip that the club usually reserved for the announcement of new players

Woodward’s time as chief executive has only shown and reinforced that Manchester United desperately need a set off eyes at the boardroom level that is a “football man”, someone who’s played the sports and understands the game, rather than the profits. Woodward should go back to a role more suited to growing the global brand and maximising revenue, and a director of football should be hired to handle the activity in the transfer market.

Manchester United have been searching for a director of football, and so when they

Failure to clear out deadwood

Manchester United this summer already took some effort to clear out the deadwood, but it’s clear that they’re multiple players are not good enough for the club. While United offloaded the likes of Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian, they still failed to adequately replace the voids left by the departures of Ander Herrera and Romelu Lukaku, two regular starters in United’s team last season.

Apart from that, players who should have a sporadic role in the team have become regulars, especially the likes of Andreas Pereira and Fred. Apart from the manager, the quality of players is one of the main on the field issues that this club has, and it’s so evident when watching a United game. Instead of watching a team that’s filled with top quality players who are extremely competent in playing their positions, more often than not you have players who don’t offer much to this team and could be offloaded.