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The history and direction of Manchester United has largely been influenced by two great men who have both been knighted for their contributions to the game.
Sir Matt Busby was United’s manager between 1945 and 1969, and his team of young talented footballers were primed to take the world by storm. But tragedy struck in 1958 in the form of the Munich air crash disaster, where 23 were killed, including eight of the ‘Busby Babes’. Sir Matt and this great club wore through this tragedy, and 10 years later, Manchester United became the first English club to win the European Cup. In his 24 years at the helm, his ethos of developing youth players is something that is still prevalent today.
After a lean period from 1969 to 1986, they hired Alex Ferguson in the November of 1986. No one could have imagined the impact this great man would have, with the highest point being the Treble winning season of 1998-99, after which he was knighted. 26 years on, and Sir Alex continues to be at the helm with the same hunger and desire to win. And as age catches up with him, the question begs, what do Manchester United do once he calls it quits?
This is not entirely new territory, as back in 2002, he nearly did, but in the ten years since a lot has changed. The rise of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, the most sought after managers in football at the moment for example. So who should replace Ferguson? Let’s take a look at three managers who are most likely to take over the reins:
Jose Mourinho
Mourinho needs no introduction. He won the Champions League with Porto in 2004 beating United on the way. He then moved to Chelsea, where he had a very successful spell. But it was at Inter Milan where he won the Champions League again. Now at Real Madrid, his success hasn’t been quite as forthcoming, and it’s evident that he has fallen out with management and is looking to move to England.
Mourinho and Ferguson have a good relationship, and the thing with Mourinho is, that success is guaranteed. He will be allowed to manage the club and handle all the transfers, unlike at Chelsea, and to an extent at Madrid, and that will definitely appeal to him. What won’t though is how much money he will be allowed to spend. But surely the challenge of filling in the boots of Sir Alex Ferguson and the very prospect of managing one of the biggest clubs in the world would be too tempting to pass up. However the question is, how long will he stay? Will he leave once he has won all there is to win, like he did at Inter Milan?
Josep Guardiola
Guardiola is the reason for the lack of Mourinho’s instant success with Madrid. Guardiola took over Barcelona from Frank Rijkaard and immediately sold Ronaldinho and Deco, two very important players. Many wondered if he was the right choice, as his only previous managerial exploits were that of the Barcelona B team. But all those doubts were put aside when Barcelona won the Treble that season. The pioneer behind Barcelona’s tika-taka football, his emphasis on youth and home grown talent has reaped rich dividends for the club. Having now agreed to take over at Bayern Munich for the next three years, many question whether he was just lucky to have the likes of Messi, Iniesta and Xavi in their prime.
David Moyes
One could say that David Moyes is the dark horse in this race. He won promotion for Preston North End to Division 1 in the 1999-00 season and the next season took them with a largely unchanged squad to the Division 1 play-offs. He then moved to Everton in 2001, and transformed them from a bottom-mid table team to a team that has consistently finished in the top half of the league in 8 of his 11 years in charge, with them even qualifying for the Champions League in the 04-05 season.
What is really amazing about this though is the way he has managed to achieve this on a limited budget. Moyes has spent a total of GBP 145, 200, 500 at Everton, and in the same time, local rivals Liverpool have spent GBP 441, 930, 000 and Tottenham Hotspur GBP 381, 900, 000. This clearly raises the question, what can Moyes do if he has more money to spend, which he most certainly will at Manchester United.
There is also no doubt that Moyes will stay on at Manchester United for a while given his lengthy spell at Everton, and he has the same Scottish blood that ran through Sir Matt Busby and runs through Sir Alex Ferguson. But whether he can ensure unprecedented success in the form of titles still remains to be seen. We all know how Roy Hodgson worked wonders at Fulham but struggled when he moved to Liverpool.
So who do Manchester United go with? Guardiola in my opinion is a man who will most certainly focus on good football, winning trophies and also on having a good youth system. But if he gets saturated or declines, Moyes would seem the long-term fit. Given that Ferguson is 71 and shows no signs of stopping, let’s just sit back and relax and enjoy the fact that United have such a great man running the club and giving them the much wanted stability that some of their title rivals seem to so desperately need.
