What would have happened if Carlo Ancelotti had succeeded SAF?

[sullydnl]

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Can't remember if I already knew SAF had spoken to him about the job or not.

Regardless, what would have happened if Ancelotti had been the man to replace SAF? He had already been a success in the PL during his brief time at Chelsea and obviously went on to win the CL with Real immediately. But were we in a state where he could have succeeded here? Or would the club's underlying problems have seen him ultimately fail here too? Would you have been happy with his appointment at the time (leaving aside your knowledge of who actually got the job)?

 

[VorZakone]

Most likely he would have done much better than Moyes and work better with the older players like Rio and Vidic.

 

[gormless]

We had an ageing squad. Albeit one that had walked the title the previous year (the table looks a lot closer than it was because we slowed down once the title was won).
Realistically wesign Thiago the first summer, finish 3rd-ish and then remain contenders going forward

 

[TrustInOle]

Would have challenged for the title and CL. Better transfer window to.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Won another title and probably got a good run in CL. We may have ended up with better level players overall.

 

[Schmeichel's Cartwheel]

He’d probably still be here now & we’d have at least 2 more titles to our name. We’re still recovering from the Moyes appointment, nearly 8 years later.

 

[Bubz27]

Eyebrows would've been raised.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Let’s be honest, anyone would have done better than Moyes. Big Sam would have done better.

All he needed was a bit of humility, don’t take a two week break, and don’t sack the clashing staff of a club that’s just won the league by 11 points.

Moyes was a disaster. Anyone would have done better.

the question is simply, how much better, and would that have been good enough? No idea.

the best man for the job was Jose - and he would have won us things in 2-3 seasons, wrote melting down.

Moyes and LVG were a complete waste of time.

the biggest problem we had with SAF retiring was Gill going at the same time (although can’t blame him). Appointing Moyes was the biggest mistake United have made in my lifetime.

So of course Carlo would have done better.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

He’d probably still be here now & we’d have at least 2 more titles to our name. We’re still recovering from the Moyes appointment, nearly 8 years later.

doubtful he would still be in charge. Better than Moyes 100%.

 

[Valar Morghulis]

He managed a pretty "mature" AC Milan side and had tremendous success with them.

In hindsight, in terms of someone that could have milked some more good years out of the key players in our 2013 team, either Ancelotti or Mourinho would have been the best choice to do that job. Think Mourinho just edges it though.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Let’s be honest, anyone would have done better than Moyes. Big Sam would have done better.

All he needed was a bit of humility, don’t take a two week break, and don’t sack the clashing staff of a club that’s just won the league by 11 points.

Moyes was a disaster. Anyone would have done better.

the question is simply, how much better, and would that have been good enough? No idea.

the best man for the job was Jose - and he would have won us things in 2-3 seasons, wrote melting down.

Moyes and LVG were a complete waste of time.

the biggest problem we had with SAF retiring was Gill going at the same time (although can’t blame him). Appointing Moyes was the biggest mistake United have made in my lifetime.

So of course Carlo would have done better.

Ancelotti would have brought his own staff in. All managers do. Moyes’s mistake was not necessarily in bringing in his own people, but the massive reduction in quality of the ones he did bring in.

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

Ancelotti would have brought his own staff in. All managers do. Moyes’s mistake was not necessarily in bringing in his own people, but the massive reduction in quality of the ones he did bring in.

There is usually some continuity - see Duncan Ferguson, and I’m sure some other Everton staff.

 

[TheRedHearted]

Would anyone take him now if Ole doesn’t work out? Clearly many would prefer the younger more progressive managers

 

[Pretzels81]

That we would have won at least one more PL and probably reached a UCL final circa 2014/2016. It would have been a huge improvement over Moyes and Van Gaal. Some of the more veteran/older players would have enjoyed a late-career peak. And of course none of Moyes' mediocre signings. Not a long-term manager, but the hole of 2013-16 could have been avoided.

 

[el3mel]

He would have done better than Moyes, no question, but still this squad was on its last legs and needed a massive rebuild imo. Most of our good players were past their prime and it showed by how many players LVG sold in his first season.

Would anyone take him now if Ole doesn’t work out? Clearly many would prefer the younger more progressive managers

Nope. Good manager but he's past his best.

 

[Red00012]

Fellaini wouldn’t have played for us

 

[MittenCrab]

Question is would he have felt secure enough to move a declining Rooney on, or played it safe and given him a new contract?

 

[Zoo]

It’s a real shame in hindsight. Carlo is a class act and am sure we’d have been a genuine title contender in 2014 under him.

 

[SalfordRed18]

We'd be in a lot better standing now that's for sure.

 

[Dominos]

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/was-moyes-really-our-first-choice-to-replace-ferguson.404963/

I made a thread a few years ago about how it looks like Moyes was not actually the first choice to succeed Ferguson, funny considering "the chosen one" memes.

We know at this point Ancelotti definitely turned down the job. Pep was already commited to Bayern by the time we were looking but I think he'd have been in the running if not.

I suppose what is more interesting and unknown is what happened with Mourinho. There were reports from Portuguese paper that Mourinho turned us down, and Duncan Castles who is Mourinho's mouthpiece wrote a detailed article about how discussions were ongoing with United but ultimately Mourinho chose to return to Chelsea to be closer to his kids. Ferguson's ghost writer later hinted that Mourinho wanted a move to London over us.

How we went from Ancelotti and Mourinho to Moyes I've no idea.

 

[Dante]

He would have failed almost as hard as Moyes did. Any manager would have failed after Ferguson.

It wasn't so much about the ability the next manager had. It was about the unfillable void left behind the man they were replacing.

 

[wolvored]

He’d probably still be here now & we’d have at least 2 more titles to our name. We’re still recovering from the Moyes appointment, nearly 8 years later.

Yes he probably would still be here. We probably would have had 2-4 titles maybe another Champions league. We would have had a few Italian players in the squad as well.

 

[DickDastardly]

We would have been champions 7 years running. Triple crowns all around....FIFA championship cups, Asian cups, Audi cups two girls one cups...you name it!

 

[ClaytonBlackmoorLeftPeg]

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/was-moyes-really-our-first-choice-to-replace-ferguson.404963/

I made a thread a few years ago about how it looks like Moyes was not actually the first choice to succeed Ferguson, funny considering "the chosen one" memes.

We know at this point Ancelotti definitely turned down the job. Pep was already commited to Bayern by the time we were looking but I think he'd have been in the running if not.

I suppose what is more interesting and unknown is what happened with Mourinho. There were reports from Portuguese paper that Mourinho turned us down, and Duncan Castles who is Mourinho's mouthpiece wrote a detailed article about how discussions were ongoing with United but ultimately Mourinho chose to return to Chelsea to be closer to his kids. Ferguson's ghost writer later hinted that Mourinho wanted a move to London over us.

How we went from Ancelotti and Mourinho to Moyes I've no idea.

add in Klopp, and probably many more. It was very obvious Moyes was very low down the list. The insane part was giving him such a long contract.

should have been given a 3 year contact. Anyone with common sense would have noted that most managers fail, so no need to tie him down. It wasn’t as if Barca would try and poach him!

 

[AaronRedDevil]

My first Pick was Ancelotti. My second was Klopp. Fecking shit!

Figured when united seemed To always win the PL (Crazy times, right?), they needed a manger that could possibly win the CL trophy. Carlo is a damn good CL manager and would have been perfect for the team. I’m surprised no one is thinking about picking him After Ole. But that IF Ole ever goes bad. Which I hope will be never.

 

[norm87cro]

A worse version of Jose.

 

[sullydnl]

One point is that even as Moyes walked in the door with as much optimism as there ever was behind him, there were already question marks over whether he was really up to the job. Ancelotti would never have had that narrative around him given his track record and pedigree. Even if things had gone badly for him in his first season he would still have been a lot easier to keep on than Moyes, as it's hard to imagine people deciding that him being out of his depth was the key issue.

A second point is that where Moyes seemed to quickly alienate a lot of players in the camp, Carlo is one of the best man-managers around. If there was any suggestion that he needed to get the best out of aging players with demanding personalities and high standards then you would think he'd be well suited to doing so.

There also wouldn't have been the same negativity around his style of their football as there would have been with Mourinho, a potential alternative appointment at the time. Basically if Carlo had come in the vibes around the club would generally have been much better all round.

On the other hand, at the time there were questions as to whether he had generally underperformed in the league at his past clubs, particularly Milan. You would also still have had Woodward in charge, presumably as liable to botch things on his end as he was with all SAF's successors. Who knows, maybe our issues above management level would have sunk Carlo too?

 

[sullydnl]

A worse version of Jose.

How so? They're two very different managers and extremely different personalities.

 

[tenpoless]

It was a 'senior' squad. Players like Rio, Vidic, RvP would have respected Carlo much more than Moyes and that in itself would have been a huge improvement because all Moyes did here was burning bridges and turning United into Everton. He would have done a much better job short-medium term.

 

[MrMarcello]

Have wondered why SAF didn't begin grooming a successor knowing he was winding down. Not sure who that could have been though.

 

[atkar83]

He would have had a roster of players that while aging, knew how to win. I think we would have challenged at least. We probably would have added different talent rather than just Fellaini to help defend the title, but maybe not enough to make up for the drop in forms of Vidic, RVP, Evra, etc., but some help.

Moyes unfortunately just sucked all the energy out of the organization.

 

[Tarrou]

he's a great manager, I've not much doubt he'd have done quite well

but I don't think any manager would've kept that team functioning as well as Fergie had it

a lot of our key players from that era were coming to the end, so it was always going to be a tough job

 

[Mr Smith]

He would have kept us competitive. And most importantly he would have prevented the 7th paced finish that lead to the most disjointed and panicked recruitment in the club's history in the summer of 2014. That period did more damage to the club than any other period in our post-SAF history.

 

[tentan]

Would've won a Premier league and bring home a third Champions league title for us.

 

[gerdm07]

I don't know.

 

[Champagne Football]

He most certainly would not have been the answer but he'd have been a lot better than Moyes. But he's been very average in the PL.

I think it was always going to be our destiny that we would go through a dark period after so much success for so long. That happens to every club more or less.

Ancelotti had a ridiculous squad at AC Milan when he won the CL in 2007 - Gattuso, Pirlo, Maldini, Nesta, Kaka, Ronaldo, Seedorf, Cafu, Inzaghi.
Ancelotti did great things at Milan but he has underwhelmed everywhere else since then, despite wining trophies at clubs that would have won trophies anyway no matter who was in charge such was their superiority.

 

[cyril C]

Let’s be honest, anyone would have done better than Moyes. Big Sam would have done better.

All he needed was a bit of humility, don’t take a two week break, and don’t sack the clashing staff of a club that’s just won the league by 11 points.

Moyes was a disaster. Anyone would have done better.

the question is simply, how much better, and would that have been good enough? No idea.

the best man for the job was Jose - and he would have won us things in 2-3 seasons, wrote melting down.

Moyes and LVG were a complete waste of time.

the biggest problem we had with SAF retiring was Gill going at the same time (although can’t blame him). Appointing Moyes was the biggest mistake United have made in my lifetime.

So of course Carlo would have done better.

Completely agree. We would have stayed Top 4 in the 1st season and not falling off the cliff. Biggest question is who would be recruited in the following 1st and 2nd season that will determine our longevity in coming seasons. If we did not recruit Rojo and Blind, no disrespect to these players but they are just not suitable to EPL, we would not have suffered at the back against aerial threat, and if we had not recruited the 2x Sch, we would have 2 otherwise useful MF, great or not so great, but useful. We would be probably somewhere between City and Chelsea, depending on new recruit.

 

[Gazza]

Eyebrows would've been raised.

I feel Moyes' biggest issue was he didn't know how to wear a big club blazer, essentially. Van Gaal and Mourinho had their faults but they weren't over-awed by the size of the club. I think the squad we had in 2013 would have responded much better to having someone like Ancelotti at the helm. Not sure what else can be confidently predicted beyond that, though.

 

[peridigm]

My biggest take from this is Moyes was not first choice. Who else did we ask. Was Moyes 3rd choice, 4th?

 

[Amerifan]

Let’s be honest, anyone would have done better than Moyes. Big Sam would have done better.

All he needed was a bit of humility, don’t take a two week break, and don’t sack the clashing staff of a club that’s just won the league by 11 points.

Moyes was a disaster. Anyone would have done better.

the question is simply, how much better, and would that have been good enough? No idea.

the best man for the job was Jose - and he would have won us things in 2-3 seasons, wrote melting down.

Moyes and LVG were a complete waste of time.

the biggest problem we had with SAF retiring was Gill going at the same time (although can’t blame him). Appointing Moyes was the biggest mistake United have made in my lifetime.

So of course Carlo would have done better.

Spot on. Jose or Carlo after SAF would have won silverware. Back then the squad was aging but cohesive.

Why Moyes replaced the staff instead of adding his folks to it to transition over time is baffling.