Manchester United have been urged to take a leaf out of Liverpool’s books and start planning with a long-term vision by club legend Rio Ferdinand.
Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE YouTube channel, as relayed by MARCA, Rio Ferdinand has claimed that Manchester United need to imitate Liverpool and put a long-term plan in place if they are to achieve success.
It has been almost a decade since Manchester United won a Premier League title, while they have not won a single major trophy since 2017. During that period, Liverpool have won the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League while they also lifted the Carabao Cup this past weekend, beating Chelsea on penalties in the final.
It was not easy for Jurgen Klopp to get going from the moment he took over the reins at the club, and it took time for the German to build a team in his image before leading them to success. And Rio Ferdinand has urged Manchester United to follow a similar blueprint rather than chopping and changing things every couple of years as they have done in recent times and will do so again at the end of the season.
Indeed, Ralf Rangnick will step down from the managerial hot-seat and move into a consultancy position with Manchester United already beginning the search for a new full-time head coach. Speaking of this situation at Old Trafford, Ferdinand said, “The problem I have is that Ralf Rangnick has come in, but then you’re going to have to change it again for someone else’s style of football.”
“It’s then going to be another upheaval and new style to implement and players understanding that. I think United have got to write off the next year or two in terms of trophies, minimum. They need to say, ‘we’re going to rebuild what we have, get our recruitment right, and there is a certain style of play under this new manager that we are going to go with, and he is going to have time to get it all right’.”
“They have to say ‘we are going to stick with this guy and give him a minimum of two years to work it out’ and see the progress and that development happen. It’s going to take that long. You can’t have that transition and win. It doesn’t happen.”
“Liverpool didn’t do it. How long did it take Klopp to win? You have to take a leaf out of other team’s books. Sometimes you’ve got to humble yourself and take stock and say ‘in reality, that is where we are at’,” he added.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, Manchester United have had five managers, including the current interim boss Rangnick. With the German set to vacate the post in the summer, it remains to be seen who the Red Devils bring in to take over on a full-time basis.
