Failures of last season forgotten. New appointments. Signings on the horizon. The summer as a Manchester United fan brings anything but certainty. Speculation is rife. With another disappointing season over this article takes a look at what United fans could expect to see in the future.
Off the field
Since 2013 and the dynasty of Sir Alex of David Gill came to an end; Manchester United has been run terribly. For nearly ten years both Ed Woodward and Matt Judge failed in any attempt to seem competent. We all know their failings, the evidence is right there in front of us. Our fifth permanent manager, only a handful of trophies and never looking close to challenging for the top honours.
However, this isn’t about the failures of the past. Rather, looking ahead to what the future might bring. Several changes have taken place in recent weeks and months that bring some semblance of hope for the Manchester United fan. The first is a change in the scouts. Chief scouts, Jim Lawlor and Marcel Bout have departed the club after a combined 24 years of service. Not to say that they weren’t very good at their job; but Manchester United haven’t exactly been known for unearthing any gems of late. Looking at our most recent summer transfer window tells all. A new scouting department should hopefully bring a fresh perspective to what has been one of the poorest aspects of the running of Manchester United in recent years.
Then the replacements of Judge and Woodward. Richard Arnold has taken over as Chief Executive Officer of Manchester United. Whilst he also does not have a background in football, being an accountant; he is seemingly more than happy to let footballing people make footballing decisions. The appointment of Ralf Rangnick as interim manager with the look to move to a consultancy role initially seemed very appealing. Obviously we all know how his managerial career panned out and the consultancy role has since been terminated with Rangnick taking charge of Austrian national team.
Having John Murtough as the Director of Football and Darren Fletcher as Technical Director makes a lot of sense as well. Obviously there is still a long road ahead and there a lot of things that need to work out before we can call these appointments a success. But initially they seem to be good footballing decisions made for footballing reasons. Something that could not have been said at United for many years.
ON the field
Moving to matters on the pitch, there are equally as many reasons to be hopeful as a Manchester United fan. The arrival of Erik ten Hag is something that fans have been excited about for months now. His achievements with Ajax show that he is a manager capable of success at the highest level. The style of play developed at his time managing in the Eredivisie and the fluidity within discipline is something that should be very successfully translated to Old Trafford.
There have been several players who, to put in nicely, have underperformed last season. The likes of Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho towards the end of the season spring to mind. I have no doubt that ten Hag will be able to get the best out these young talented forwards. The way that he sets his team up should be perfect for the pace and skill of some of the players currently at Manchester United. Combine that with new arrivals and players potentially coming back into the fold from loan; we should be looking at a much more stable and threatening United side.
This summer could be one of the busiest in terms of transfers for Manchester United. We already know that several players have departed the club. Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba have all confirmed that they will no longer be playing in red at Old Trafford. The likes of Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Axel Tuanzebe and Aaron Wan-Bissaka all have speculations of a move this summer. There is no doubt that wholesale change is occuring at Manchester United this summer.
Those outgoings undeniably signal several incomings. The rumours surrounding the Frenkie de Jong situation continue to grow, looking like a move that is set to be completed. Another one set to reunite with his former coach is Donny van de Beek, returning from an underwhelming loan spell with Everton. Hopefully ten Hag can get the best out of the Dutch midfielder and get him playing his best football. With several other signings almost a certainty hopefully this can signal the start of a new beginning for Manchester United.