The Sun recently published an in-depth analysis of the current state of Manchester United Football Club and compared the United under the leadership of the current manager, Jens Ten Hagar, to the United coached by Louis van Gaal ten years ago. The article points out that despite the fact that a decade has passed, Manchester United does not seem to have come out of the shadows of yesteryear in their pursuit of the Premier League title, and that the challenges and dilemmas faced by the two coaches are to some extent strikingly similar.
The article begins with a look back at when Van Gaal took over at Manchester United in 2014. At the time, although there were already voices within United warning of the risk of the team failing to win the Premier League title for years, Van Gaal's feat of leading the team to a 7-0 thrashing of the LA Galaxy in the opening preseason fixture overshadowed those concerns, causing most to overlook the potential crisis. However, the arrogance behind that victory served as a prelude to United's subsequent decade of chaos. Instead of regaining its former glory, the Van Gaal reign was characterized by a long period of slump and turmoil.
The article further states that the roots of United's problems can be traced back to the last season before Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. At that time, despite winning the Premier League title, the team's dominance was showing signs of decline. After Ferguson's departure, United's dressing room lost its iron grip, and the team's management frequently waved its checkbook in the transfer market, trying to make up for tactical and strategic deficiencies with money. However, this kind of hasty approach did not bring the expected results, but rather let the United into a deeper predicament.
At the same time, the article also compared the development trajectory of Manchester United and its neighbor Manchester City. Manchester City, under the leadership of Pep Guardiola, has always maintained a scientific and reasonable team building strategy, not only attracting reinforcements precisely in the transfer market, but also focusing on the construction of the youth training system and the cultivation of young players. This coherent strategic plan has enabled Manchester City to win 15 trophies in eight years, including six Premier League titles and one Champions League title. In contrast, Manchester United has lacked a clear direction and long-term planning, and has constantly languished in failure.
Now, a decade has flown by and Manchester United are once again in Los Angeles for pre-season preparations. Ten Hagar, as the manager, faces similar challenges and expectations as Van Gaal. However, from The Sun's analysis, it seems that United have not learned enough from their past mistakes. The article concludes with a sigh of relief: everything seems to have changed, but in reality, Manchester United is still far from the dream of winning the Premier League.
