The single most important thing that was needed to step into Sir Alex’s shoes was self-belief, and Jose still had that in spades. He would have suited that squad too, who may have been limited, but they were all “Mourinho material” to a tee.
But I’d argue, post Jose, we might have still ended up in a mess…
Then perhaps you think about maybe LVG deserved at least another season, that foundations would’ve been laid for someone young and dynamic to build upon (eg imagine ETH following LVG). But then the brain remembers at the time Giggs was being groomed. Planning like that is just bonkers, and we’ve been suffering from it for over ten years now. We’re actually lucky we’re not in an even bigger mess.
The rot had already set in with the whole “no value in the market” malarkey. But Ferguson’s sheer force of will and ability saw us through