When Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United not only lost the best manager ever, they also lost a sure-fire guarantee of winning trophies. Under Ferguson, United, from 1992 onwards, very rarely went through a season without winning some sort of silverware, and when a rare trophyless season was had, Ferguson would always respond the next season, as shown by the table below. Trophyless seasons under Ferguson and the response the following season (1992 onwards)
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Trophyless Seasons under fergie
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The response the following season
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1994- 1995
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1995- 1996 Premier League & FA cup
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1997- 1998
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1998-1999 Premier League, FA cup & Champions League
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2001 -2002
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2002 -2003 Premier League
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2004 - 2005
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2005 -2006 League Cup
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2011 -2012
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2012 -2013 Premier League
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As the table shows, United always responded with silverware when Ferguson led them to a trophyless season (ignoring the early Ferguson years when he building a club). Ferguson provided a cast-iron guarantee that United would win trophies most seasons. But, while Ferguson provided trophies, he also did much more than that: he built a club, with great team after great being built, dismantled and rebuilt.
This brings me neatly on to my argument regarding Ferguson’s successor. If United had wanted to replace Ferguson’s guarantee of winning trophies with a similar guarantee, they would have appointed Jose Mourinho as the new manager.
The crucial distinction, however, is that while Mourinho has always built great teams wherever he’s been, Ferguson built a great club and built/rebuilt several great teams within that club, each with its own distinct character and identity. In contrast, Mourinho has built excellent teams at various different cubs and then moved on, representing a very short-term approach to management, not to mention one that has sometimes left a legacy of financial instability (Inter Milan) or dressing room unrest (Real Madrid).
This is probably the major reason United went for Moyes. Mourinho has always built teams without really staying at a single club to dismantle and rebuild a team that he himself constructed, meaning that he’s always been able to start again from scratch whenever he’s joined a new club. In contrast, Moyes, like Ferguson, built a club, dismantling and rebuilding various different teams while also focusing on all aspects of the club, from youth development to the first team. Everton right now is the club that Moyes built, a club he transformed from relegation certainties to top-half regulars. Mourinho provides the short-term burst of success, Moyes the long-term plan to grow and develop the club.
So while United have lost the sure-fire guarantee of trophies that Ferguson brought to the club, they seem to have tried to find a successor who has a similar focus on long-term planning, building the club up over an extended period of time with a focus on all aspects of the club, including, crucially, youth development with an eye on the future. Moyes will have a long-term plan that he’ll want to put into place, and in these difficult early stages, he deserves the time and the support to do that.
Source : Prideofalleurope
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