What if Fergie was still managing us now?

[Baby Groot]

Does anyone know What Fergie's original plan of retire was?
Sounded before his wife's sister died that he was ready to go at least 2-3 more years. Considering we are now 5 years on from his retirement.

 

[TakeMeHome]

This. The man is a bigger wizard than Dumbledore, he can work miracles with average players. We simply cannot raise the bar that high for anyone else, so a drop off was inevitable.

We would have won the league during the Leicester title winning season by a huge margin for sure, in particular. Leicester should be thanking their stars he had retired by then.

Exactly. The Leicester season and I also believe we could have retained the title during the season Moyes destroyed.

 

[reddaz71]

If the great man was still our manager then he would be picking the hungry kids like Chong,Gomes and telling them to express themselves instead of us being linked to yesterdays guys like Bale....

 

[Smores]

Would have had at least another 2 PL trophies and 1 Champions League trophy

Very much doubt it. I think we'd have still gone through a transition but it would have been dropping down to 2nd and 3rd at most.

People act as if we never had barren spells under him we did but he came back. I think we'd have had at most one league trophy and a few cups (not CL).

 

[Munkehboi]

DDG
Valencia
Jones
Stones
Shaw
Kante
Nainggolan
Kagawa
Mane
Sanchez
Werner

 

[rm4eva]

Your first team this season would be:

--------------------------------De Gea

Walker/Coleman---Jones/McGuire---Smalling-----Shaw/Baines

------------------------Fabinho/Kante---------Kroos

Lingard/Gaitan/Mahrez-----------------Herrera------------------Delle/Ronaldo

-------------------------------Kane/Vardy

 

[MoskvaRed]

Very much doubt it. I think we'd have still gone through a transition but it would have been dropping down to 2nd and 3rd at most.

People act as if we never had barren spells under him we did but he came back. I think we'd have had at most one league trophy and a few cups (not CL).

The league has been weak the last few years to be honest. City under Guardiola this year is the first outstanding team we’ve seen since 2009. Still, I think he got out at the right time - it was already a freakish, never to be repeated feat to stay on top for 20 years. The idea that he could have pushed on into his mid-70s is perhaps asking a bit too much.

 

[paulscholes18]

DDG
Rafael Smalling Jones Shaw
Thiago Kante Kroos
Zaha Lewandowski Sanchez

 

[Baby Groot]

We would have 4 more premier leagues, 3 more champions leagues, 3 FA cups, 2 league cups, 2 Super cups and 3 world club cups, all thanks to the man fergie actually oversaw going on to become the best player the club has ever had.

Not sure about these being the numbers, but we did win more PL for sure all though I wouldn't put it past him to snap those 2 game losing streaks in FA cup and CL finals. The man deserved better than losing last 2 finals in both FA cup and CL.

 

[el3mel]

If the great man was still our manager then he would be picking the hungry kids like Chong,Gomes and telling them to express themselves instead of us being linked to yesterdays guys like Bale....

Fergie would have got Bale before he became a yesterday man. You reminded me of him so thanks! Will change my lineup now.

De Gea
Valencia - Jones - Smalling - Shaw
Zaha - Cleverely - ( new midfielder, will be forced this time! ) - Bale
Rashford - Kane​

Shaw, Bale and Kane are very Fergie-esque signings. Only question for me is still the midfielder we would have got. Any suggestions ?

BTW, this lineup would have won the league at least 2 times of these 5 years.

 

[Class of 63]

If SAF was still the Manager:

De Gea
Rafael Tuanzebe Garay Fabio
Drinkwater Jones Gaitan
Sneijder
Lewandowski van Persie


Pep would still be at Bayern, and Herr Klopp would be in a secure unit.....​

 

[Deleted member 101472]

If SAF was still the Manager:

De Gea
Rafael Tuanzebe Garay Fabio
Drinkwater Jones Gaitan
Sneijder
Lewandowski van Persie


Pep would still be at Bayern, and Herr Klopp would be in a secure unit.....​

Excellent. Top half finish for sure.

 

[liamp]

I love SAF but I think we'd be in a very similar position. Looking up the table at City and wondering if our quality of football will be sufficient to be able to consistently compete with Pep's squad.

I think he picked the exact right moment for him to go out.

 

[el3mel]

I love SAF but I think we'd be in a very similar position. Looking up the table at City and wondering if our quality of football will be sufficient to be able to consistently compete with Pep's squad.

I think he picked the exact right moment for him to go out.

We wouldn't have won the league this season regardless, but I'm pretty sure we would have won the league before it at least 2 times. Take the Leicester season for example. No way in hell SAF wouldn't have walked that league.

 

[Hephaestus]

Does anyone know What Fergie's original plan of retire was?
Sounded before his wife's sister died that he was ready to go at least 2-3 more years. Considering we are now 5 years on from his retirement.

Don't think it's ever been said what his original plan was. I think he'd mentioned that he didn't want to end up like Jock Stein after seeing him have a fatal heart attack after a Scotland match so I don't think he'd have carried on much longer but not sure other than that.

 

[Class of 63]

Excellent. Top half finish for sure.

Maybe, but we'd be good to watch

 

[Adisa]

Tom Cleverly would be starting games for us in 2018.

 

[Bobski]

Very much doubt we would still be playing Van Persie, his drop off was too stark for him to still be a factor at this level.

Thinking about who he would have signed with the massive resources available post his retirement is a exercise in wish fulfillment, if fun. I doubt he would have bothered with guys like Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Di Maria, Mata, Pogba, perhaps even Sanchez, big names, and ego's(maybe not Mata) who need certain accommodations to make them work.

More likely to look like a better version of Spurs, a number of great players surrounded by lesser appreciated types types whose contribution is overlooked in how they allow the others to play.

 

[Still ill]

If the great man was still our manager then he would be picking the hungry kids like Chong,Gomes and telling them to express themselves instead of us being linked to yesterdays guys like Bale....

Bless.

 

[JPRouve]

I don't know how some of you manage to create first elevens. To me the man was a mystery, I never had a clue about his transfer targets or team sheets.

 

[Bobski]

I don't know how some of you manage to create first elevens. To me the man was a mystery, I never had a clue about his transfer targets or team sheets.

Exactly. There were many seasons when our fans would look at other teams line-ups and be envious of some of the individual talent. Not that Utd did not have great players, of course they did, but chemistry, mentality and fit was key to his squad building.

 

[RMD83]

Had he not retired then Im sure he would have had one one of two more league titles. But the comparative quality of most the other top six has improved dramatically since he retired so Im amazed that some are predicting that the likes of Tom Cleverly would still be here. Unless of course its a different Tom Cleverly that I am unaware of, as opposed to the one who was deemed to be below the standards of Everton and now plays for the mighty Watford.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Very much doubt it. I think we'd have still gone through a transition but it would have been dropping down to 2nd and 3rd at most.

People act as if we never had barren spells under him we did but he came back. I think we'd have had at most one league trophy and a few cups (not CL).

We did have the very rare barren spell (of 3 whole years !!), but it was generally in periods of transition. We don't know whether there would have actually been that big a transition had SAF stayed. Moyes plays a big part in us needing to transition so much. Also with Woodward he probably would have loosened the purse strings.

 

[ravi2]

In his latter years, SAF was looking for 'value in the market' that didnt exist and there was a distinct lack of investment after Ronaldo left. I think he would have probably scared the lads into winning another league title tho

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Personally I think we were a quite incohesive and hard on the eyes as a football team. But our matches being entertaining and intention to almost always go for the kill meant we had interesting games.

I do think SAF would have sorted much of that out and we'd have kept winning league titles. I reckon a couple out of the last 3 would have been ours. I'd fancy us big time for the title in 13/14 after we walked the league the year before. And the season Leicester won it i'd back us to win it as well.

I actually think it was a fitting time for the great man to retire. Football was changing and he had achieved everything. The management thereafter has been an utter disappointment though.

 

[JPRouve]

In his latter years, SAF was looking for 'value in the market' that didnt exist and there was a distinct lack of investment after Ronaldo left. I think he would have probably scared the lads into winning another league title tho

It might sound silly but I'm convinced that SAF did it on purpose, he managed on a budget in order to allow his successor to spend big and build his own team.

 

[BusbyMalone]

Certainly don’t think we would see the sort of expenditure that we have seen at this club since he left. Kind of obvious i suppose, as that’s what you get when you hire 3 different managers in a couple of years. Also, you can’t overestimate the stability that he would bring if he was still here. This has often been cited as one of the the biggest reasons for our decline over these last 5 years or so.

Think fosu-mensah would still be here, maybe as our right back or a midfielder. Interesting regarding Kane. I’m certain Fergie would be really interested in him, but I genuinely think he would still be at Spurs. Also don’t think that he’d be that stoked about dealing with Levy again.

He was obviously famous for his ability to rebuild teams and move with the times. He would often change some backroom staff members and update his coaching personal, so it would be fascinating to see him deal with Guardiola and Man City in particular, and how he would adapt to the likes of Poch and Klopp with their high press, high energy game.

 

[ArmchairCritic]

Hard to say of course but towards the latter stages SAF had the team on autopilot really, he had such an innate sense of how to motivate players and put them in an environment to succeed. Some of the football we actually played in his last years was pretty poor but by virtue of having SAF the team had incredible resilience and just knew how to win.

I don't think he could keep up with this City side but I can't see him ever letting Leicester win the league on his watch, so there's at least 1 league title he'd have won us. I also feel like there's no way he lets Kante go to Chelsea for what is in market terms 'peanuts' and that could sway yet another title our way. He'd also be enjoying getting rises out of Klopp and Conte with relative ease. The difficult thing with SAF is projecting what he'd do with regards to recruitment. He did become pretty conservative with regards to spending money and promoting youth players. I mean I doubt Rashford would even be playing for us now under SAF, firstly because that situation (i.e. a Europa League tie) would not have presented itself and secondly because, as exhibited by the the infamous Fabio-Park midfield, SAF would always favour experience in that situation (even down to the bare bones!).

There's just so much that could have played out differently. Evra/Vidic/RVP would have stayed longer. Rooney would have been gone sooner. Kagawa/Rafael/Zaha/Evans/Welbeck/Cleverley/Hernandez may not have left. Could he have tempted Ronaldo back (this was before he'd won the Champions League at Real)? Would we have signed Thiago and Kroos? Would SAF get frustrated at falling short in Europe and decide he had no choice but to spend big? Would we have ever signed Di Maria/Darmian/Blind/Schneiderlin/Matic/Mkhitaryan/Fellaini? What about Mike Phelan?

 

[haram]

Most of these line ups are terrible

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

What would our squad look like?

Here's @GazTheLegend to kick things off.

He'd have bought Garay, Turan, Matic, Fellaini, Thiago, Ozil. Would have sold Rooney. Kagawa would have established himself alongside Nani. Zaha would have turned out great and Januzaj and Pereira would have established themselves. Also, Fabio and Rafael would have gone on to be first choice.

 

[Gary_Walsh_Nou_Camp_Hell]

Welbeck, Rafael, Evans, RVP all likely to still be at the club.

Would not have signed mata, pogba, darmian, rojo

Bale would of joined United that summer.
Ronaldo might have returned that summer.

United would never have finished 6the or 7th etc.

United would not be 15 points behind city.

United would be better to watch

 

[Bobski]

He'd have bought Garay, Turan, Matic, Fellaini, Thiago, Ozil. Would have sold Rooney. Kagawa would have established himself alongside Nani. Zaha would have turned out great and Januzaj and Pereira would have established themselves. Also, Fabio and Rafael would have gone on to be first choice.

Fabio always gave the impression that he was softer than his brother. Rafael for all his flaws had a tremendous streak of aggressive tenacity to him, Fabio was always considered the more talented but Rafael was tougher.

Can't see Fellaini as a Fergie purchase, no role for him. He was playing Giggs and Anderson alongside a sitter in a midfield 2 for their ability to speed up the tempo of the play and find an aggressive pass(God, how bizarre is it that the Wastrel's Wastrel Anderson was more willing to play in a midfield 2 than Pogba?)

Think Shaw would still have been signed. Evra had this quote about Fergie asking him what he bought him for, the answer; "To attack Boss"

 

[Nuts]

Surely a big difference would be the continued route into the first team from the reserves/youth side. Are there any youth players people think Fergie would have developed better and have in the side?

 

[AltiUn]

Think he'd have happily let De Gea go the fax machine summer. Like a few others have said, think we'd have a backline along the likes of:

Rafael - Evans - Jones - Shaw

I get the impression he would've liked Shaw, right up SAF's street. Midfield would have Thiago in it, Carrick and maybe Herrera. Herrera strikes me as a SAF midfielder.

Herrera - Carrick - Herrera

Front 3 could have still possibly included Valencia and Young but I'm going to go with Lingard, Kane and Zaha. Rashford would be getting plenty of minutes.

Lingard - Kane/Hernandez - Zaha

Something like that, have no clue about keepers though, maybe see someone like Butland or Pickford here.

 

[MrSingh2002]

I don't think Fergie would've assembled this squad but if he inherited it... he'd win the league for sure. Even with this current City side.

He'd play...

De Gea
Young Bailly Rojo Shaw
McTominay Matic Pogba
Sanchez Lukaku Martial

Or

De Gea
Young Bailly Rojo Shaw
Pogba Matic
Lingard Sanchez Martial
Lukaku​

 

[Thiagoal]

I can't believe how many people think Rooney would still be here!? Have they forgotten how SAF realised his declination and wanted him gone? Shame that the clown that is Moyes handed him a bumper contract!

 

[ravi2]

It might sound silly but I'm convinced that SAF did it on purpose, he managed on a budget in order to allow his successor to spend big and build his own team.

I beg to differ, I think SAF was a extremely principled man who was set in his ways and he truly wasn't seeing value in the market anymore.

 

[Tincanalley]

Honestly, I would fear for Fergie right now.

I think he got out just at the right time, his timing couldn't have been more spot on. Football has really changed since he retired and he was moving more in the direction of a pragmatic style of play in his final years compared to his 'gung ho' football of the 90s.

But if anyone could adapt to the new challenges of today, it would be Fergie, might take him 2 or 3 years but he could get there. So it is difficult to second guess who he might have signed. He did have a preference though, particularly later, of signing domestic based players.

Jose sadly, I don't have the same faith in, he has shown absolutely zero signs of wanting to adapt, too dogmatic, too obsessed with signing these big oafs who are average in possession.

Excellent post I think. I disagree or at least I suspend judgement on Jose.

As for adapting- well we were looking to improve on SAF in Europe, remember? It was over. You are right about that.

 

[Valar Morghulis]

Strootman would be at the club if he was still managing and maybe Thiago. Chong would also have featured by .now.

Definitely. Great point buddy!

 

[madzo2007]

He probably wouldn't be since he's 76 now and likely would've retired not long after he originally did