Manchester United mark a big anniversary later this week: It's 40 years since they last made the right decision on a managerial appointment. They have become the club that always gets it wrong. Jürgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel have all spoken to the United hierarchy in recent years. But for one reason or another, they have all taken their coaching talents elsewhere. As current boss Michael Carrick lurches from one bad result to another and with United hovering one place above the Premier League relegation zone having won just once in the league all season, Friday's anniversary of Alex Ferguson's arrival at Old Trafford in November 1986 might just coincide with the club's latest roll of the managerial dice.
Since Ferguson retired in 2013 after winning 28 major trophies in 27½ years at United, the club has hired seven permanent managers and none has come close to winning a Premier League or Champions League title. ESPN has spoken to several people who have worked at United during the post-Ferguson years and been involved in managerial appointments. Each of the seven hires has been, in varying ways, flawed by the decision-making process at Old Trafford. When United hired David Moyes to succeed Ferguson, it was claimed that he was handpicked by the man he was replacing. The reality is that the Everton manager was the seventh choice, and Ferguson's intervention was simply a desperate move to find somebody with Premier League experience who could take over. Sources have told ESPN that United approached Klopp, José Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Diego Simeone and Laurent Blanc before turning to Moyes.
When Moyes was fired 10 months into a six-year contract, United hired Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, despite the former Ajax and Barcelona coach having been out of club management for three years. Prior to appointing Van Gaal, United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward was rebuffed by Atlético Madrid coach Simeone again and famously failed to hire Klopp after the future Liverpool manager was unimpressed by his sales pitch of United being "an adult version of Disneyland." When Van Gaal was sacked in May 2016, United hired Mourinho, who ultimately delivered two major trophies, a Premier League runners-up finish and a 58% win rate. But sources have said that Mourinho was hired despite co-chairmen Joel and Avram Glazer being urged by senior figures to appoint Pochettino.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing