It’s only been less than a week since Jose Mourinho was appointed as Manchester United’s manager and already the Portuguese has made plans to restructure the team and the backroom staff.
According to Dailymail, the manager wants to hire retired legend Rio Ferdinand as part of his coaching set-up at the club. Ferdinand spent 12 long years at the Red Devils and formed one of the strongest centre back pairings with Nemanja Vidic.
United’s defence under Van Gaal was generally good as they had the joint best defensive record in the league conceding just 35 goals. But they suffered from occasional lapses of concentration which have raised doubts among supporters.
The matches against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur exposed the cracks in the Red Devils’ armour. Mourinho is known to be a mastermind at tactics, with his teams normally keeping clean sheets on a regular basis.
His two spells at Chelsea highlighted how well he drills his team and there is no doubt that Ferdinand will be a very good addition to his support staff. Jose wants to have people who are well versed with the club’s philosophy and Ferdinand is one of those former players who knows his club inside out.
Giggs future still in doubt
There still remains considerable doubt over the future of assistant coach Ryan Giggs. The Welshman was Louis van Gaal’s right-hand man during his 2-year reign and was widely expected to take over his job once the Dutchman saw out his contract.
But things have turned out very differently with van Gaal being given the sack after lifting United’s first FA Cup trophy after 12 years. The 64-year-old struggled to help the club finish in the top four and eventually had to settle for 5th.
The fans were also very annoyed with the brand of football he employed during his reign. Van Gaal’s philosophy was centred on keeping possession of the ball but some of his attacking play was slightly uninspiring.
United have failed to live up to the standards expected by the footballing community ever since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. They have seen their noisy neighbours take up the baton of Premier League favourites but even they weren’t at their best last campaign.
With the likes of Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte at the helm of the biggest clubs in the league United had no choice but to make a power play of their own and ensure they did what they could to try and become title contenders once again.
