What do I want
@BR7?
I think the club needs a re-set on the football side in the way its run.
For a start there should be someone at United who is in charge of sporting affairs. Call it a Director of Football, Sporting Director, Technical Director, whatever.
This individual should be in charge of the footballing side of the club. This person should know when players have two years left on their contract and, in consultation with the first team coaching staff, at that point be making plans about what happens next. We should not be allowing players to get into the final two years of their contracts without a clear pathway for them e.g. either a new deal or sell them. If the player refuses to sign a new deal, sell and replace. If the player is not good enough do not renew their contract and make them a wage sink.
This individual should also be in charge of cultivating the right relationships in the footballing world. Intermediaries and agents should be treated as external stakeholders, not people to be relied on. Evra said United trust the wrong people. That seems to be the case if Honingstein is right that we were at a poker table playing alone. I imagine the people at the club got duff information and believed it. However, there should be someone at the club with independent contacts and networks that can verify the information. Why is there nobody at Man Utd who knows Michael Zorc, on a personal level, who could say to Ed Wooodward 'Ed, I know this guy. He's a good chat over a drink but he's got a massive ego. If he's acting like this now he won't change his mind in a month's time. Lets tell Ole we can't get the player and go for another target'?
This individual should also be in charge of doing deals with other clubs. Matt Judge's remit is taking care of the club's debt. Obviously, first team costs are part of that. However, they are just a part of the overall whole despite being time consuming. Someone else should be dealing with those issues within the envelope that is set by the club. Judge should only be getting involved if first team affairs are putting such upward financial pressure on the club that they start to threaten its financial position.
The turnover of players must massively accelerate. When Jurgen Klopp took over at Liverpool he had players like Mingolet, Clyne, Sahko, Skrtel, Joe Allen, Lucas etc. Pretty much his whole squad has been recycled out. United by contrast have pruned around the edges. If you don't get rid of the players you cannot change the style. Its no surprise that LVG, Mourinho and Ole have all resorted to a low block with a double pivot in midfield at various times. With the players we have you cannot play any other way. Trying to push up and play on the front foot is a recipe for disaster with the slow, immobile players we have in our squad. Instead of constantly renewing contracts the club should be cutting the fat. Even if that means relying on more youth players and supplementing that where possible with buys. You will not be able to play front foot, high line football if you're relying on Lindelof and Maguire etc.
Which brings me to the least important person: The first team coach. Should Ole stay? Yes in my opinion. Why? Because unless there's a massive turnover of playing staff a new manager will not be able to achieve much with this set of players. Accepting the limitations of this squad, pretty much all you can do to avoid being ripped on the counter is sit deep and break. Therefore it doesn't really matter who the manager is. That is why Pep kicked out Kolarov, Clichy, DeMichelis etc at City. Pep is a fantastic systems coach but the players have to have the capacity to play his system. Any manager worth his salt is going to come in, look at our squad and decide to do more or less what LVG, Mou and Ole have done: 4-2-3-1, 2 defensive midfielders to protect our slow defence and no space in behind. You don't need a genius coach for that. Ole can do it while continuing to carry out renovations to the squad so its more equipped to play a more Man Utd style of football. Once he has that type of quick, front foot squad then you judge him. If he fails then you get rid of him. However, if you have a chocolate teapot it doesn't matter who the waiter is. So why change?
