Conflict of opinions amongst former stars sees Man Utd urged to focus on one priority
Man Utd have been urged to ditch a top transfer target and instead focus on one priority for next season.
Ahead of their Champions League defeat against Atletico Madrid, former Red Devils stars Owen Hargreaves, Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes were discussing how the club can rebuild for next season. They conflicted in their opinions on BT Sport (via The Mirror).
Hargreaves argued: “When we played, we knew who was going to be signed and who was already in there. I’m optimistic because United have the chance to go and get anyone, and most people will want to come here.
“Get a coach in. Get a sporting director. Go and get Jude Bellingham! He’s the guy I’d start with, he’s young and hungry.”
However, Ferdinand believes the playing personnel aren’t the issue. Instead, he feels United should focus on their manager search.
“I don’t necessarily think it’s about who you sign though,” he replied. “I was screaming at the start of the season ‘Oh we’ve got [Cristiano] Ronaldo, we’ve got [Raphael] Varane now’. Big players.
“If the culture at the football club isn’t right, it doesn’t matter who you bring in.
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“You need a manager that can guide the ship, and United don’t have that at the moment.
“We’ve seen it enough this season, people walking away from this stadium or anywhere they’ve played saying ‘I didn’t get enough out of X, Y or Z player that game’.”
Man Utd just need elite coach – Scholes
Scholes agreed with Ferdinand, adding: “I think they’re an elite coach away from challenging for trophies again.
“They’ve got a good squad with some top players, but for the last three or four years, they’ve not had an elite coach.
“You need a manager that strikes fear into players, Sir Alex Ferguson had that, have any of the managers since him had that? I don’t think so. It’s a special talent to have as a coach.
“Those Man City players under Pep [Guardiola], those Liverpool players under [Jurgen] Klopp, they’ll get away with nothing.
“These players here for the last two or three years have got away with murder.”
Two managerial options touted
Scholes also offered two options that he would choose from to be the next United manager.
“I would have gone for [Antonio] Conte or [Thomas] Tuchel,” he said. “It looks like one might be available at the end of the season.
“Those are two top class coaches that strike fear into players and win, which is the most important thing. United, with either one of those managers, would be much better off.
“I’m not saying they’ll catch Man City or Liverpool, but I don’t think they’re far away from Chelsea, squad-wise, but once they get that right coach and have two or three years to build, they’ll be challenging again.”
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