The Victims of Manchester United

0:00 From praising Michael Carrick >> How have things changed so quickly under Michael Carrick? >> Um, he's very good with the words. Uh, I think I think he still remembers what I told him the last time the last time he was our manager for our last game. Um, and I I was sure that Michael could be a great manager. >> To throwing him under the bus. >> On that then, do you feel that tactically it was wrong tonight? You made a decision not to press and that's what hurt you in the end. >> That's on the on the manager and on the stuff to see it is not on me. I just >> From praising Amorim when he was signed >> I like this guy. He's very personable. He has a personality, talks well, is confident in what he's saying. It's common sense. He's got a track record. I think there's a lot of hope here for United fans about what might be coming their way. >> To believing he should have been sacked earlier. >> And this has been a disaster for

0:46 Manchester United but also Ruben Amorim. You don't want to see people lose their jobs but this has to end as quickly as possible. >> Manchester United is a story on its own. Michael Carrick finds himself in a cycle that has been going on since the summer of 2013. New manager arrives, fans get excited, a few good results and everybody starts talking about a new era. Then the first real problem show up, results dip, players start getting questioned, the manager tries to become stricter and suddenly stories are leaking, players are unhappy, the dressing room is divided. Then the fans turn, the media piles on and what do you know a few months later the manager is gone again. Different coaches same ending. And then once the manager gets sacked everyone acts like the reset button has finally been pressed until it happens again. Manchester United have spent more than a decade leaving a trail

1:33 of broken managers, a graveyard filled with them. There's a reason that nobody post-Ferguson can dance with the Red Devil. The first victim was David Moyes. His situation might have been doomed from the start. Sir Alex Ferguson retires in 2013, then personally picks Moyes to replace him. Six-year contract, another Scottish manager, and of course, the Chosen One banner goes up at Old Trafford. Everything is supposed to feel stable. Except Moyes was walking into a dressing room full of players who had just won the Premier League by 11 points, and most of them had spent years answering to arguably the greatest manager ever. Now, suddenly, David Moyes

2:19 is telling Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić how he wants them to defend. You can see why some of the senior players were not exactly sold. Robin van Persie had joined to play under Sir Alex. Now, he had to listen to Moyes. And that was the biggest problem immediately. He inherited champions who thought they were still good enough to dominate. But Moyes looked at the squad and thought, "This needs major changes. These guys are older. They're not the same players they used to be." Well, the players looked at Moyes and thought, "We literally just won the league. Maybe you are the problem." Then the transfer window made everything worse. United chased names like Cesc Fàbregas, Toni Kroos, Gareth Bale, and ended up with Marouane Fellaini. On the pitch, things got ugly quickly. The football was slow, way too predictable, way too dependent on crossing. Look at the Fulham game. United put 81 crosses into the box and drew 2-2 with a team that was sitting at the bottom of the league. The senior players were frustrated. The fans were frustrated. And Moyes never really

3:05 looked like he had control of the situation. Then he starts publicly talking about United needing a rebuild, which was true, but again, try telling a squad that had just won the league that they suddenly need rebuilding. They did not want to hear it. The fans definitely didn't want to hear it. And after losing 2-0 to his former club Everton in April of 2014, Moyes was gone. 10 months into a six-year contract. Seventh in the league, no Champions League. The Chosen One banner became a punchline. Then came Louis van Gaal. And unlike Moyes, nobody could say this guy lacked pedigree. He arrived in 2014 after taking the Netherlands to third at the World Cup. United fans finally thought they had a proper big-name manager, someone with authority, someone who could control the dressing room. At first, it looked promising. United spent heavily. Di María comes in, Falcao

3:52 arrives, Van Gaal gets them back into the Champions League in his first season. But very quickly the football started becoming painful. Over time, United started playing slower and slower. Loads of possession, very little danger. In fact, at one point fans would literally chant "Attack, attack, attack!" because they were bored out of their minds. And the players started getting sick of it, too. Di Maria's the obvious example. He was signed for a British record fee, one of the best players in Europe. I mean, he had just come off a season where he was the man of the match in the Champions League final. But his whole game was built around freedom. He wanted to take risks, run at people. Well, Van Gaal hated losing the ball. So, Di Maria gets moved around constantly and never looks comfortable. A season later, he's gone to PSG. Then there was Victor Valdes. Van Gaal publicly accused him of

4:39 refusing to play for the reserve. That relationship completely collapsed. Valdes gets frozen out and ends up training alone. Even Robin van Persie was not safe. This was a player that Van Gaal trusted with the Netherlands. Remember that header against >> Spain? That's a good ball, as well. Oh, the header! Oh, my [screaming] word! Van Persie with an absolute stunner! >> But then at United, he tells him straight, "Your time is up. You have to leave." Van Persie later admitted he felt betrayed. And that tells you how cold Van Gaal could be. He did not care about your reputation. If he thought you no longer fit his system, you were done. The problem was that eventually too many players felt that way. The football was dull and the atmosphere became miserable. Once again, stories started leaking about how unhappy players were and the frustration with the manager's methods. Still, Van Gaal actually left with a trophy. United beat Crystal

5:24 Palace in the 2016 FA Cup final. He lifts the cup and then reports about a sacking start coming out almost immediately. Two days later, he's gone. A pretty Manchester United ending. You finally win something and the club is already replacing you. Then came Jose Mourinho. And this time United were not looking for stability. They wanted a trophy. Pep had just gone to Manchester City, so United hired the guy who had spent years fighting him. And at first it worked. Mourinho wins the Carabao Cup, wins the Europa League. Then in the second season, United finished second with 81 points. Years later, Mourinho would call that one of the best achievements of his career. [music] >> One of the best jobs of my career to finish second with Manchester United in the Premier League. >> Actually, now they might be technically champions because of the whole mess with City. But Mourinho's third seasons have

6:10 a reputation for a reason. Once the results start slipping, he went to war with everyone. The biggest fight was obviously with Paul Pogba, United's record signing, global superstar. Mourinho wanted him to be more disciplined. Pogba wanted more freedom. And eventually that disagreement spilled over publicly. They were arguing in training with the cameras right there. Mourinho reportedly called him a virus in front of the whole squad. Pogba later spoke about how badly that period affected him mentally. By that point, the relationship was completely gone. And Pogba was not the only one. Mourinho constantly criticized Luke Shaw. He questioned Anthony Martial's commitment. Then he started fighting with the board. He wanted another center-back. United did not give him the one he wanted. So, Mourinho started making his frustration very public. That is when the whole atmosphere started falling apart. The football got more defensive, and so did the press conferences. Every bad result became another argument about the players or recruitment. And the squad

6:56 clearly stopped responding. By December of 2018, United were nowhere near where they expected to be. The dressing room was fractured. Mourinho looked exhausted. The players looked exhausted. So, the club did what it always does. They sacked the manager. At the time, a lot of fans thought Mourinho was just making excuses. A few years later, many of those complaints sound far less crazy. Then United went in the complete opposite direction. After Mourinho, the club wanted positivity. So, they brought in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He was a club legend, 1999 Champions League hero, someone who understood what Manchester United was supposed to feel like. Now, the change was immediate. The mood lifted, the players looked happier. United started winning games. Then came that insane comeback against PSG in the Champions League. At that point, everyone was sold. Give Ole the job. >> Well, listen. Ole's got

7:43 Man United might not thank me, but get the contract out, put it on the table, let him sign it, let him write whatever numbers he wants to put on there. Given what he's done now since he's coming in, let him sign the contract and go. Ole's like the wild man, he's doing it, he's doing his thing. Man United are back. >> The board agreed and for a while it actually looked like United had finally found some stability and identity. They finished third, then second the next season, even reached the Europa League final. Rashford and Martial were dangerous on the counter. Bruno became the center of everything. The team had energy again. But eventually United had to take the next step and this is where the problem started. Ole's best football relied heavily on space. You let the opponent come forward, you win the ball, attack quickly on the counter. But once teams started sitting deeper against United, things became much harder. Now United had to control games, break down low blocks and often they looked completely lost. There were not enough

8:29 clear patterns, too much depended on individual moments. You could copy-paste the statement for every single manager in the last few years and it would always apply. Whether it was Bruno creating something or Rashford beating someone one-on-one or someone hitting a long shot. If that did not happen, United could spend ages doing nothing. Then the squad management became a problem, too. Just when it seemed like United were about to take that next step, they gave Ole an aging Ronaldo and Sancho, a winger who did not fit Ole's counter-attacking style at all. So the nice atmosphere he had created started turning into frustration. Then the defense completely fell apart. Liverpool come to Old Trafford and win 5-0. City dominated them. And by that point you could see the confidence disappearing. The final blow was Watford, 4-1 against a team fighting relegation. After the game Ole walks over to the away fans and apologizes. He knew, everyone knew. He was sacked shortly after. Even being a club legend did not protect him from the

9:16 same ending as the other. Then came Ralf Rangnick. Now this guy might have been the weirdest appointment of the entire post-Ferguson [music] era. United bring in one of the most respected tactical minds in German football. This is a guy who influenced coaches like Klopp and Tuchel. The plan sounded clever. You let Rangnick manage until the end of the season, then move him upstairs and let him rebuild the club. For once, United were actually thinking of the long term. That lasted about shorter than me in bed. Rangnick wanted aggressive pressing, high intensity. The problem was that United squad looked completely unsuited to it. They were not fit enough, the structure was awful. A lot of the players clearly did not buy into what he was asking. And then, as usual with United, the leaks started. Players complaining about training, complaining about the video sessions, questioning Rangnick's experience. The whole thing became toxic

10:02 very quickly. United are just like my ex, always complaining. Eventually, Rangnick stopped them. He started saying exactly what he thought. A common theme you'll see with United managers. When they know their job is done, they start speaking their mind. Anyways, his most famous line was that United needed open heart surgery. >> Still clear. It's not that difficult. You don't even need glasses to analyze and to see where the problems are. So, now it's only about how do we solve them. And for me, it's clear. It's not It's not It's not enough to do some little minor amendments, some little issues here and there, some minor cosmetic things. No. This is in medicine, you would see this is an operation at the open heart. >> That quote has aged pretty well. At the time, though, it completely killed whatever was left of the season. The players knew the manager thought half the squad needed replacing. Rangnick

10:48 knew the players were not responding. So, everyone was just waiting for May. The results were terrible. United finished sixth, 58 points, their lowest Premier League total at the time. Oh, poor United. Every time they thought they hit rock bottom, they dug a little deeper. Rangnick won only around 38% of his matches. And then that consultancy role that everyone had talked about, it was gone. The guy left the club completely. hired a guy because they wanted him to diagnose the problems. He diagnosed the problems. They just did not like the diagnosis. Then came Erik ten Hag, the Dutch Heisenberg. At first, this guy looked like exactly what United had been waiting for. He had just come from Ajax. He had a strong personality, played modern football. Then United got embarrassed by Brentford early on. Ten Hag responded by making the players run almost 9 miles on their day off. He even joined them on the run. That instantly

11:34 won people over. Fans thought finally, someone who's actually going to hold these players accountable. Then came the Ronaldo situation. Ronaldo refused to come on against Tottenham. Then he later goes on television and attacks the club. You guys know that iconic interview with his boyfriend Piers Morgan. >> Going to excuses all the time, which is things that don't make sense. Okay, you don't put me against Manchester City because of respect of your career and you want to put me 3 minutes against Tottenham. Well, that's if they really need me, I will help. But in that way I felt provoked. >> Well, Ten Hag does not back down. Ronaldo ends up being kicked out and at the time most United fans supported the manager. For once they saw that a manager had won the fight with a superstar. Then the results followed. United finished third, won the Carabao Cup, ended a 6-year trophy drought. It looked like Ten Hag had control. Then the second season arrived and everything

12:20 started falling apart. Injuries absolutely destroyed the squad, especially in defense. But the bigger problem was the football. United would press high with the forwards, then the defense would sit much deeper. So there was this enormous gap in the midfield, bigger than Gervinho's forehead. Teams could play straight through them. Every game became chaos end to end. It looked like an NBA game. Loads of shots, no control. The 7-0 loss at Anfield was the worst example. Liverpool completely destroyed them. And once the results got worse, Ten Hag's strict management started causing problems too. The Jadon Sancho situation became a complete mess. Ten Hag questioned his training performances. Sancho publicly called him a liar. Ten Hag demanded an apology. Sancho refused. So he was frozen out. Months later he gets loaned away. Then Rashford form collapsed after scoring the previous season. There were more questions about the mood around the squad. And once again, the manager was

13:06 fighting his own players while the football got worse. Still, Ten Hag somehow survives. United finished eighth, their worst Premier League finish. But then they somehow beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final, which ends up saving his job. Ineos spent the summer talking to other managers anyway, but then decided to keep Ten Hag, even extended his contract. Well, that decision lasted a few months because United started the next season badly and by By of 2024, Ten Hag was gone. Then came Ruben Amorim, and this one looked exciting. He had just won titles with Sporting. He was a young manager, very charismatic, modern ideas, clear 3-4-3 system. I mean, there were people to this day that still support Amorim because he spoke so well. United fans thought they were finally getting a real football identity. But then he arrived and looked at the squad and realized this squad looks absolutely nothing like

13:51 a 3-4-3 squad. That was the first problem. United had spent years buying players for completely different Now Amorim wanted wing-backs. He wanted two midfielders who could cover huge spaces. He wanted the whole team pressing together. A lot of the players just did not fit, and Amorim refused to change. That was his thing. He believed in the system. So, even when it looked terrible, he kept playing it. The Europa League run gave people some hope. They somehow made the final. But then they lost 1-0 to Tottenham, a terrible Tottenham team, by the way. Those guys had finished 17th in the league. And against that terrible team, they had no shots on target in the second half of the final. Then their league season was even worse. United finished 15th. Even with all the struggles of the managers I showed you before, no one had finished this poorly. Now, people gave him a pass cuz he joined mid-season. They thought with new signings and a preseason, he'll do well. But a few months later, Amorim looked more and more frustrated with the player. The relationship just never really felt warm. He was distant, very

14:37 tactical. If players did not follow the instructions he gave them, you could see how annoyed he was. Then January of 2026 arrives. United draw 1-1 with Leeds and at that point had one win in five games. And Amorim completely loses patience. He starts publicly going after the club, questions the recruitment, tells people above him to do their jobs. Then makes it very clear that he's not happy with the structure around him. That was the beginning of the end. INEOS were not going to let another manager start a public war with the board. A few days later, he was sacked. 14 months and another reset. And it's funny, too, because out of all the times he could have been sacked, like the loss versus Grimsby or finishing 15th, they sacked him when he had United in sixth place. All because he threw shots at the suits upstairs. He was a completely different profile to Ten Hag, but it still wasn't enough.

15:23 Then United went back to someone familiar, Michael Carrick. He had already been the caretaker in 2021. Now he came back after Amorim was sacked. And instantly the team looked different. No more rigid 3-4-3, no more forcing players into roles that clearly did not suit them. Carrick kept things simple, [music] and suddenly United started winning again. 11 wins from his first 16 games. Big wins over City, over Liverpool. Then somehow United finished third, 71 points, Champions League football. After the disaster of the Amorim season, that felt incredible. So naturally everyone starts saying, "Just give Carrick the job." And United do. A two-year contract, here we go again. Because that's how it always starts. Being the caretaker who comes in and lifts the mood is one thing. Being the permanent Manchester United manager when expectations rise is completely different. And already this season the old signs are coming back. The performances have slowed down, that new

16:09 manager boost is gone. You are seeing results that have become inconsistent. You are seeing United struggle in the league, then getting slapped by Como in the Champions League. Now the players that backed him during his interim run have turned on him as well. We've seen this movie before. The temporary manager comes in, everyone feels free again, the results improve, the atmosphere changes. Then the job becomes permanent, and it's crisis all over again. Ineos were supposed to change all of this. New sporting structure, new recruitment, but the pressure around United has not changed at all. This is still a club where one bad month feels like a disaster. Every defeat becomes a crisis. And the players know how this works now. If the results get bad enough, the manager normally goes first. That creates a terrible environment. Because when a player is struggling, it's easy for the conversation to become about the system. When the team stops

16:54 running, people start asking whether the manager has lost the dressing room. Then the leaks start. Players are unhappy. We have heard some version of this under almost every manager. Look at all the guys they tried. Moyes was supposed to continue Ferguson's work. Van Gaal was the experienced tactical genius. Mourinho was the proven winner. Ole was the club legend. Rangnick was the football expert. Ten Hag was the strict modern coach. Amorim was the one with the clear system. Carrick was supposed to be the familiar face who understood the club. Completely different managers, completely different profiles, and somehow the story keeps ending in the same place. If you enjoyed this video, I'm sure you will love this one, too. Check it out right here.