Manchester United general manager Ed Woodward has learned that his failure to properly replace Sir Alex Ferguson saw him make the same mistake as Arsenal
United are facing heavy criticism following their horrific 6-1 home loss to Tottenham and with little action in the summer window fans are rightly upset Jadon Sancho has been identified as the club’s No1 goal but they failed to meet Borussia Dortmund’s August 10 deadline
Dortmund are now firm with their position and United have been left in trouble A loan offer for Ousmane Dembele has been rejected by Barcelona and it now looks like they are ending up with signed free agent Edinson Cavani
This isn’t the first time United have flopped in the transfer window in recent years and appear to have become a common theme at the club
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Former Tottenham and Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen believes this is due to the club’s failure to bring in a football manager after Ferguson retires
“Sir Alex Ferguson wasn’t a head coach, he was the manager – selling and buying players – and he had Carlos Queiroz and Steve McClaren, who were great coaches, on the pitch
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« He was actually what we would call today the athletic director – the only thing different was that he picked the team on Saturday and sat on the bench
« When he left, and this is sometimes the big problem with clubs, there was a big void because he was involved in everything
« He was doing everything and you bring in another manager who has to take care of everything, so you’ve seen what has happened at Manchester United since then
« They really didn’t find the pitch after he left and you can see it’s kind of the same with Arsenal
« Arsène Wenger’s last years may not have been so successful but he was the same for them, he was in charge of everything
« When you have a sporting director like me, especially now that you don’t see managers or head coaches staying for long periods of time, if you have to fire a manager and you have to recruit new players and people , it costs a lot of money
« The situation is you have a guy like me who is responsible for all the football, I do all the buying and selling, and I work closely with the head coach »
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World News – UK – Man Utd boss Ed Woodward warns he made the same mistake as Arsenal