Ex-Man United star claims former boss 'deserved more time' to emulate Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford
Man United have seen a revolving door of managers since Sir Alex Ferguson retired but should have given one of them more of a chance.
When INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe swept into Manchester United they knew that things had to change for the club to return to its former glories.
Failure to maintain the success built by a different knight of the realm has seen a conveyor belt of managers come and go with the shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson still looming large over Old Trafford. One former player has questioned a sliding doors decision that he feels has cost his old club dear with Ruben Amorim seemingly unable to drag any consistency out of a squad that is capable of more than it is currently delivering.
Ex-Man United player makes former boss claim
No manager seems to get time in the modern game, but United maybe should have taken a leaf out of Arsenal’s books and stuck by a former player and backed them instead of getting rid when the going got tough.”We finished second and third under him,” Matic told FourFourTwo of his time under Ole Gunnar Solakjaer. “There was an atmosphere in the team that we weren't happy finishing second, but when you see the results now, we did amazingly.
“I think Ole deserved more time - and when I say Ole, I also want to mention his staff, like Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna. They were going the right way to bring United back. Of course, they made the decision to sack Ole based on his final couple of results, but he was an amazing person with the right profile for the club. He and his assistants understood football - training was perfect and had every little detail ready for us.
“I felt sorry because Ole was a great guy and we were on the way to doing something big. I wasn't his first choice in the midfield and never liked a coach when I didn't play - I'd fight with them. But Ole was the first coach I didn't fight with. He brought the players who weren't in the starting XI together. He knew the club and the fans loved him.”
Who did Solskjaer want to sign for Man United
Solskjaer wasn’t quite learning on the job given his experience at Molde and Cardiff City, but United is a completely different proposition as one of the biggest clubs in the world. With hindsight, he had everything that a successful United manager needs in terms of his awareness of what is needed to win as well as the coaching team that he built around him. Both McKenna and Carrick have gone on to be well-respected figures in the dugout. The Baby-faced Assassin also knew what a Man United player looked like given the players who he wanted to sign.
It is a painful list when it is looked at now, but neither does it contain any names that the United hierarchy should have turned their noses up at. Manager’s always want their own players and having seen what a teenage Erling Haaland was capable of first hand and his own experience as a United striker, Solskjaer’s judgement and player suggestions should have been trusted when a £20m fee is all it would have taken to secure his services.
The former Red Devils boss also picked out Harry Kane as a striker who could lead the line for the club and it remains a mystery why a move was never made. Add Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo to the list and it’s fair to say that the current starting XI would look significantly different and could have taken Soldkjaer’s team to the next level.