5 steps Manchester United must take to return to where they belong | Premier League 2019-20

#1 Break free from Sir Alex Ferguson's shadow

Sir Alex Ferguson left huge boots to fill at Old Trafford

With 38 major trophies won as Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson is not only the most successful coach in the club's illustrious history, but also one of the most successful of all time.

It is hard to imagine the club attaining the level of success they did without the input of the great Scotsman and Manchester United's history is not complete without a wholesome chapter or two dedicated to the contributions of one of the greats of the game.

The 78-year-old has achieved almost godlike status at Old Trafford and he is still highly revered to this day. Over 60% of the total trophies won by the club came during his managerial tenure, while some of the best players to have represented United were his proteges.

However, as much as fans of the club would like to romanticize the past and immortalize Sir Alex Ferguson, the sad truth is that they have to let go and move into the future. This is of course easier said than done, as Fergie spent the best part of three decades at the helm of affairs and left behind a shadow so large that getting out of it would be very difficult to achieve.

He was the last of a dying breed of managers who oversaw everything at clubs and had a say in almost every decision down to the minutest detail; but this hands on approach actually left United lagging behind their counterparts.

David Moyes was said to be genuinely shocked at how outdated the club's scouting methods were and how much input they needed from him.

It has been seven years since Ferguson departed Old Trafford but for how frequently he is mentioned, you would think it was just last year.

This is of course not helped by the fact that numerous TV and Radio stations are filled with former Manchester United players-turned-pundits like Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, and Rio Ferdinand who keep going on about the 'United way' and how things were done under Ferguson.

Ole Gunner Solksjaer tows the same line by pretty much referencing Ferguson every week and almost attempting to do things and handle his players the same way his former manager did.

However, Ferguson was in charge of a different era and the dynamics of today's football means that players are less likely to adapt to his management methods like the infamous 'hairdresser' technique.

Sir Alex Ferguson's contributions at Manchester United cannot be erased and he is guaranteed immortality as long as the club exists. Every new manager walking into Carrington knows that the Scot is the standard to be measured against but they do not need everybody second guessing their work and comparing their methods to those applied by the legendary manager.