Erik ten Hag has been warned by Jose Mourinho’s former assistant Rui Faria that Manchester United are still missing stability and identity as a club.
Faria was number two to Mourinho during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns at Old Trafford, before the two parted ways with Faria launching his own brief coaching career at Qatari club Al-Duhail SC.
He had served as Mourinho’s assistant for 17 years across multiple clubs including both of his stints at Chelsea alongside his tenures at Porto, Inter and Real Madrid, with United their last job working together.
The assistant left Old Trafford in May 2018 – six months before Mourinho was dismissed from his United post after a prolonged slump in form during the 2018-19 campaign. Mourinho has subsequently went on to work at Tottenham and Roma, without Faria’s assistance.
The duo had combined to win multiple trophies across each club where they worked together, including the League Cup and Europa League titles during their first season together at United. The club finished second in the Premier League and reached the FA Cup final, where they were defeated by Chelsea.
Faria told an interview with The Times : “We arrived at a club that was missing stability and identity and you don’t just click your fingers and rebuild it. It takes time, and you also need to win, because people will not accept if you are not winning, so when Jose says (2017-18) is one of his best seasons he is right, because we achieved the last titles that the club won and its best period since (Sir Alex) Ferguson.
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“What is missing – still – is the stability, and the club needs to define what it wants. At City, it is the sixth season that Pep is there and he has the stability of putting his concepts into the club, the stability to buy players to fit his concepts, the stability to buy on top of (previous) successes.”
Ten Hag is United’s fifth permanent manager since Ferguson’s retirement in 2013; following David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, while Ryan Giggs, Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick have all temporarily held the hot-seat on an interim basis.
United have not won the Premier League title since Ferguson’s retirement nor have they been able to advance beyond the quarter-final stage of the Champions League. Former Ajax boss Ten Hag has been tasked with restoring the club’s reputation on both stages.
