- Published
The cycle of doom that has ultimately engulfed every Manchester United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson now has the hapless Michael Carrick in its unforgiving grip.
asserted
that → publish → grip
Carrick recreated a familiar scene - the same one acted out by predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a 4-1 loss at Watford in November 2021 cost him his job - by raising his hands in apology to supporters who had just seen United humiliated by the same scoreline at Como in the Champions League.
asserted
United → recreate → League
Carrick is the seventh full-time manager since Ferguson stepped down in 2013 after winning 38 trophies during 26 years in charge.
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Ferguson → step → charge
Carrick will need something miraculous to change that storyline, with results poor and revolt within the dressing room as defender Lisandro Martinez took aim at director of football Jason Wilcox after the Champions League defeat at Atletico Madrid, while captain Bruno Fernandes questioned the tactics in Como.
asserted
Fernandes → need → Como
It hints at something rotten in the state of United.
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It → hint → United
So should it really be crestfallen managers standing in front of those disappointed supporters?
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it → stand → supporters
Should not even more scrutiny now be aimed at those who appointed them, then decided the direction of the club?
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who → aim → club
Have United effectively, through years of decay, decline and appalling decision-making, become the unmanageable club?
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United → become → decay
United's leaders, from former executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to the ruling Glazer family and now part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, have effectively tried every trick in the book to recreate the Ferguson era.
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leaders → rule → era
Moyes, an ill-starred appointment led by Ferguson, found the job too big for him after leaving Everton.
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job → star → Everton
Van Gaal and Mourinho were tried and trusted operators with stellar track records of success at Europe's superpowers.
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Gaal → try → superpowers
Solskjaer was effectively the anti-Mourinho without any sort of managerial track record that suggested he would succeed at United, but appointed after a successful spell in temporary charge.
uncertain
he → suggest → charge
Ten Hag got the job on the back of leading a superb young Ajax side to the Champions League semi-final.
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Hag → get → final
Amorim was regarded as European coaching's hottest young property when he was lured from Sporting in Lisbon.
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he → regard → Lisbon
All ended up sacked.
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All → end → ?
All eventually found the unwieldy beast that is United impossible to tame.
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that → find → ?
Van Gaal won the FA Cup in 2016.
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Gaal → win → 2016
Mourinho won the League Cup and the Europa League in 2017.
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Mourinho → win → 2017
Ten Hag won the FA Cup in 2024 with a landmark win against Manchester City.
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Hag → win → City
Slim pickings compared to previous glories.
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pickings → compare → glories
United, however, have not become a bad or dysfunctional club overnight.
asserted
United → become → ?
They have been heading towards this point ever since the succession plan to Ferguson - not easy, admittedly - was botched so badly.
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plan → head → Ferguson
Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp all felt able to resist the lure of Old Trafford, leading to what should have been red faces all round in December 2019, when they were all managing within 35 miles of each other in the north-west but none were at United.
Ancelotti was at Everton, Guardiola was at Manchester City.
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Guardiola → feel → City
United had Solskjaer, an over-sentimental choice made on the back of a feelgood interim spell.
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United → have → spell
He lasted less than three years.
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He → last → years
With every passing day, Carrick looks like Solskjaer Mark II.
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Carrick → pass → Solskjaer
Carrick is a former fan favourite who did well in temporary charge, but whose previous managerial career was a sacking at Championship club Middlesbrough.
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career → do → Middlesbrough
Solskjaer shared that same unwanted distinction, sacked by Cardiff City in September 2014 after only nine months in charge as they struggled in the Championship.
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they → share → Championship
It has all brought United to the point where the question must be asked.
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question → bring → point
United will always find a manager should they require one, but their current parlous circumstances mean they are no longer the attraction they once were.
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they → find → one
They will not have the pick of the globe's finest.
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They → have → globe
They will need to persuade someone that there is a future at Old Trafford that contains something other than future dismissal, a sobering state of affairs for the self-styled "biggest club in the world".
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that → need → world
Given the current state of United's squad, there is no guarantee a manager with a high-class track record would have a quick fix, or any fix at all, without huge investment.
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manager → give → investment
Carrick is front of house and, on current evidence, will pay the price for United's failings.
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Carrick → pay → failings
He is a repeat of the Solskjaer mistake, an easy choice made after taking them back into the Champions League, a comfort blanket with supporters that has now been torn away by poor results.
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that → make → results
United fans have held regular protests against the Glazers since they took control in 2005, their leveraged purchase loading debt on to the club.
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purchase → hold → club
They have remained majority owners, despite the level of angered aimed towards them from supporters, unmoved by years of ill feeling.
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They → remain → feeling
In turn, Ratcliffe's move into part-ownership alongside the Glazer family has meant fans turned on him for his association and business partnership with the hugely unpopular Americans.
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fans → mean → Americans
Ratcliffe, like other successful billionaires before him, has found running a football club is a different world to the one he inhabited previously.
asserted
he → find → one
He has suggested he leaves big footballing decisions to others, such as Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada, but instability and rank bad decisions have come with Ratcliffe as United's leading figure.
uncertain
instability → suggest → figure
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
