By Mike Parrott
Manchester United were coming off a 20th League title in 2013 and were about to be replaced by 'The Chosen One' in David Moyes. How did it go so downhill so quick?
From 1992 to 2013, Manchester United had been the dominant force in England. Akin to modern-day Juventus, Bayern Munich, and PSG, United had completely dominated the 90s in the Prem.
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Only losing the Premier League twice from '92 to '02 and never dropping lower than third until the 2002 Season, United and Ferguson were too good for the Premier League at times.
Even in the 2000's where United had their 'worst' run of form between 2004 to 2007, United had still won an FA Cup, a League Cup and were on the cusp of something special.
Manchester United weren't supposed to drop off the way they did. However, it came crumbling down all too quick after Ferguson's retirement.
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ESPN's Mark Ogden was one of the most reliable reporters in England at the time in regards to all things United. In a recent story, Ogden has outlined the numerous problems that has happened in the post-SAF era.
The David Moyes era which also coincided with the start of the Ed Woodward era can only be labelled as a disaster.
With Moyes cancelling the already-completed transfer deal of Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona to Manchester United, and being promised players such as Cesc Fabregas, Gareth Bale, and even Cristiano Ronaldo, the Summer of 2013 for United was nothing but a dumpster-fire.
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Moyes' tactics and ideas were completely picked apart as well, with a former United player who played under Moyes said:
"Before games, [David Moyes] would say, 'We need to make 500 passes today.' What is all that about? 500 passes? We never had that kind of thing under Sir Alex [Ferguson]."
"Before we played Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinal at the Allianz Arena, he told us to try to win corners by kicking the ball off Bayern players' shins. It was laughable really."
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The team were also unconvinced with the signings of Marouane Fellaini and Juan Mata, believing that they weren't good enough for United and already had a better player in Shinji Kagawa in comparison to Mata.
The Louis Van Gaal era as well had numerous problems in Ogden's report.
Another future World-Class Midfielder transfer was set in place, however, the new Manager would personally cancel it. This time it was Toni Kroos.
Even though Woodward had finally delivered on getting the Manager the players they wanted, the players weren't up to the level, or, Van Gaal would fall out with them.
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According to Ogden, former Man Utd Coach under LVG, Albert Stuivenberg, had warned Van Gaal of Memphis Depay's attitude before going in for the Dutchman. Van Gaal ignored his Coach and Memphis' attitude problems were seen by the many before leaving for Lyon in 2017.
Van Gaal also had a tendency to have fiery arguments with Angel Di Maria. The former Manchester United #7 would blow up with Van Gaal constantly in Spanish according to a former United player and was the main reason he left United less than 12 Months later.
Jose Mourinho came in two years after Van Gaal had started at United, as a direct retaliation to Manchester City acquiring Pep Guardiola.
Mourinho and United were supposedly warned about Alexis Sanchez before he joined United. Sanchez since then has gone down as one of the worst signings in Manchester United history.
Former United players spoke to their contacts at Arsenal and the same message came back: "Don't touch him, he doesn't have the character to play for United."
"Why didn't somebody at the club get one of the lads to speak to Danny Welbeck about him?" one United player said.
A lot of people inside of United have told Ogden that Woodward is the main reason behind United's downfall.
"The players used to refer to David as 'Mr Gill,'" a former United player said. "But Ed Woodward has never had that level of respect. He's a nice guy, people like him, but David Gill just had a status around the club and United have missed that."
"Ed [Woodward's] problem is that he doesn't know what he doesn't know. He means well and wants United to be Premier League and European champions again, but he thinks he has the solution to everything."
"He doesn't, United don't, and he needs to hire the right people in key positions. He's also too nice. One problem that both he and the Glazers share is that they lack a hard edge. That is not the case at City or Chelsea, or with Levy at Spurs."
Manchester United are currently sixth in the Premier League, only taking 21 points from 15 games. However, people inside United were even calling current Manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 'Anti-Venom' when he first took over due to him calming the situation Mourinho had left the team in.
The 179th Manchester Derby is set to take place on Saturday, December 7 at 5:30pm GMT.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Jose Mourinho, Manchester United, Premier League, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
