Football, inevitably, moves in cycles. Nothing lasts forever, even though in football it seems like it will. Sir Alex seemed like he’d be the United manager forever. But Fergie himself proved countless times during his Old Trafford tenure that that same old adage, nothing lasts forever, rings true.
He would, at great effort and often great expense, build a team and a squad that was capable of winning the highest of honours. Then, when the time came, he would start all over again. Now, this transition is in the hands of Louis van Gaal.
There was once a time when people believed that this kind of transition couldn’t happen. Naysayers would jump on this change and use it as a stick with which to beat United.
“They can’t replace Cantona”
“They can’t recreate this treble winning team”
“They can’t replace the goals of van Nistlerooy”
“They can’t replace Beckham”
“They can’t replace Ronaldo”.
Of course, they did answer each issue above and they did so with silverware. But what made this transition inevitable for United was that they always had the right man in charge to oversee it. The one issue of this type that they have so far left unanswered is “they can’t replace Sir Alex”.
Despite winning the title in 2013, it was obvious that United were about to enter this period of change once again. Big players like Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidić, Patrice Evra and Paul Scholes were slowly moving past their peak and a change to the core of the team was required.
It seemed that this was one run too far for Fergie. He had nothing left to do, nothing left to prove. He probably felt that at this stage of his life and his career he didn’t need the work of overhauling this team once again.
The best you can say about David Moyes is that he kept the seat warm for almost a year while his transfer business remained largely unsuccessful. Now, Louis van Gaal is the man to oversee this change. It seems that, like they always used to, United have the right man in charge to rebuild their team.
The signs are promising. Luke Shaw, one of the most promising full backs in the world, brought in with his best years still ahead of him while Patrice Evra makes way with a move to Juventus. Ander Herrera brought in from Athletic Bilbao. A central midfielder in the mould that United seemed to be crying out for for as long as I can remember.
Arsenal had Fàbregas, then Cazorla and Özil. Liverpool had Gerrard. Chelsea had Lampard and then Hazard. Spurs had Modrić, van der Vaart and Bale, now they have Eriksen.
United had been missing that talismanic creative influence in their midfield. For too long they had a midfield full of decent yet unremarkable players. The likes of Carrick, Fletcher, Valencia, Nani and Cleverley- all capable on their day, but not a bona fide star amongst them.
Herrera and (to be fair to Moyes) the January signing of Juan Mata will change this significantly. United may actually carry a significant threat from midfield next season and it’s been years since you could say that.
The work will not end there for LvG. He may want to do more with his midfield, he may want to add a striker if he decides to do away with Welbeck of Hernández. But it is in the centre of defence that still remains a work in progress.
Much like the United midfield of last season, Jones, Smalling and Evans are solid but unremarkable. Replacing an institution like Ferdinand and Vidić is difficult. Because van Gaal is coming from another job he will instantly be linked in the press with any number of his old players. Hence the reported interest in Dutch defenders Ron Vlaar and Stefan de Vrij. Because we are coming off the back of a World Cup, anyone who performed admirably will be linked with every club under the sun. Hence the reported interest in German defender Mats Hummels.
Whether any of these defenders are actually on United’s radar is impossible to say at this point. Until anything actually happens it’s merely press speculation. Whether these players are the right men for the job is another thing all together. But I’ll stop short of saying that Ferdinand and Vidić are irreplaceable because these mistakes have been made before.
When United go through this phase it seems like a huge undertaking. But that’s because of how stable they have been as a club over the years. Clubs with rotating-door management structures like Chelsea and Spurs are constantly reinventing themselves under whoever is in charge at that point in time.
Restoring United to the force they were may seem an impossible task with only last season’s 7th place finish to build on. But it’s always seemed impossible and they’ve always achieved it none the less. Louis van Gaal is just the man to reinvent United again.