This is a terrific and instructive post. My view is that if you cannot learn from those who are better than you, then you are too stupid to improve. With that in mind, I think that there are a number of really valuable learning points for Manchester United, which I have listed below:
1. It is important to buy the right plyers, not the best players - United have to ditch this addiction to trying to buy the 'best players' (ie: those with big names, great talent and high price tags). This obsession with marquee names has seen United bring in a procession of players (Di Maria, Falcao, De Puy, Lukaku and Sanchez that have clearly not been right for the club.
The best player on paper is not necessarily the right player in practice and in recent years United have proved that better than anyone. United does not need players who are ready to come, it needs those who are ready to play.
Decisions on player recruitment should also be completely devoid of revenue generating considerations, such as possible shirt sales and other commercial factors.
2. You must be prepared to wait - in business a medium term strategy is about 3 to 5 years. However, in football if a manager survives five years it is generally regarded as long term. The fact is that Ole is likely to be given more money to spend than he is time. That said, new ideas take time to be understood, a philosophy needs time to be embraced and a culture takes time to be embedded. Of all the resources at Ole's disposal: transfer budget, players, advice etc, the one thing Ole needs above all is time. I think if United are really serious, the club must be prepared to give Ole three years. During that period, the club must be willing if necessary to see the club go backwards a little in order to go forward. A short term approach, at Liverpool, would probably have seen Klopp sacked by now.
3. Never get emotional in business - I for one was actually surprised when Liverpool sacked Kenny Dalglish, but that decision proved to me that whilst emotion should be expressed in abundance on the terraces, on the pitch and in the dressing room, it has absolutely no place in a boardroom. Therefore, if it is not working and seems unlikely that it will, then you have to let the manager go. Clearly, results are all important for any club, but considering the rebuilding job required at United, so should the performances.
4. Don't lower the bar - much as Klopp is often described as some latter day ubermensch, I have heard him say some fairly daft things like "trophies are not the most important thing". Ok I get it, he is only trying to take the pressure of his players and himself, but really? For the avoidance of doubt, for a side competing at the elite level, trophies are all that matters. Ole should absolutely never be seduced into saying otherwise because that is not how Manchester United managers talk. Winning is a mentality, it can be coached into you and it can be coached out of you. Failure must never be a measure of value for any United team.
5. Put your stamp on the place - any manager arriving at a club, will find themselves faced with a defining moment. It could be one that arises from a challenge to their authority, it could be a tussle with the board over a player they want to buy or sell or bit could be a performance on the pitch ala Barcelona. For Klopp, I see Virgil Van Dijk's arrival as the defining moment. Prior to his arrival, Van Dijk had done and proved nothing much. But somehow Klopp was able to convince the Liverpool board to part with a world record transfer fee for a player who was probably better known for his surliness than his skills. Given all that has transpired since, that decision, probably more than any other, has defined Klopp's astuteness. Ole needs a similar defining moment to put his stamp on the United dressing room.