Former Manchester United forward Teddy Sheringham believes the club have already made their most important decision of the summer, by appointing Erik ten Hag as the club's next manager. Ten Hag has been handed a three-year contract and he will start to try and turn the club's fortunes around when he takes office in June.
Sheringham had a preference for Mauricio Pochettino ahead of Ten Hag, but insists the appointment of a manager and the task of restoring confidence to the players is the most vital aspect of a defining summer.
A week ago interim boss Ralf Rangnick suggested United might need as many as 10 new players this summer, but Sheringham believes it is the manager who will set the tone for any improvement next season, rather than significant upheaval in the squad.
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"It’s not about players for me, it’s about the manager, getting someone in to be there for the next four or five years, saying 'this is how we play, this is the players I want, you’re either with me or you’re not, but I’m going to make this club better'," Sheringham told the Manchester Evening News.
"Manchester United are sliding, you’ve got people laughing at them, the manager needs to make the right decisions to get back on a good footing.
"It’s not just about the players you sign. Good players can easily go off the boil if they’re not being led, they need to be led on the pitch.
"Very, very rarely it is all about the players that make a difference. If you have the right manager you’re going to perform for him.
"You need to get a squad of 20 fantastic players all rowing in the same direction so that the club they’re performing for has success and they are part of that history. That’s what Sir Alex always taught us, feel the pride of playing for this club, understand what it means to the supporters who would love that chance."
Sheringham, speaking to the MEN in association with 8Xbet, knows it will take more than a new manager to bring success back to the club after years of questionable decision making.
That was epitomised by the move to appoint Ralf Rangnick as an interim manager in November, having initially had Michael Carrick in charge for three games after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had been sacked.
"You had a manager, decided to sack him, put an interim in charge as Carrick, replace him with another interim manager, it just seems to me it’s absolute chaos at one of the biggest clubs in the world," he said.
"When you’re going from one interim manager to another, for the players it does not breed confidence, it does not breed continuity for them. The mentality is if you’re having a bit of a bad time, you’re getting left out, you know the manager is gone in a few months.
" It’s not what you need at Manchester United. You need everyone heading in the same direction. To me, it’s chaos from the top-down and the players are just portraying that on the pitch. I cannot stress enough how ridiculous that situation is. I’m exasperated by it. How they can’t see that at the top, I don’t know."
United's decision to put a stop-gap manager in charge was in contrast to one of Sheringham's other former clubs, Tottenham, who sacked Nuno Espirito Santo and appointed Antonio Conte, at a time when United could also have made a move for the Italian.
Conte has improved Tottenham's results as this season has progressed and they remain in contention for fourth place and a return to the Champions League, unlike United who are four points behind Spurs and six behind Arsenal.
"It’s very unusual that we’re questioning United’s ability to see that situation. They’re one of the top clubs in the world," said Sheringham.
"I did a Q&A at Tottenham recently and backed Daniel Levy for what he’s done. It wasn’t right with Nuno, they made the decision, got Conte in, it's decision-making at the highest level and at Manchester United the decisions are just ridiculous for me at the moment.
"That filters down to the players, football is all about making the right decisions, in the boardroom you have hours to make decisions, on the pitch it’s instant but they’re making wrong decisions in a split second because you’re unsure, 'does this manager like me, am I thinking about what the next manager might like', it’s all over the place and it shows throughout the club."
Having confirmed the appointment of Ten Hag last week United are now working on strengthening the squad this summer. Signing a forward to complement and take the burden off Cristiano Ronaldo is a priority and they've often been linked with Harry Kane.
The Tottenham striker would be following in Sheringham's footsteps if he swapped Spurs for United, but the latter isn't sure that Kane will see a transfer to Old Trafford as his ideal career move this summer.
"I would say it’s a very similar situation to I was in when I was at Tottenham. He’s got to ask himself, in the next three or four years where am I better off to be challenging and playing at the top of my game against the best players in the world? Which club would be best for me?," said Sheringham.
"If Tottenham are going anywhere they need to resign him and get him fully on board, but Harry’s situation is very different. Will he be winning things at Tottenham? Maybe he’ll look at Conte and think that is the case.
"If it’s not he needs to look at the situation but I’m not sure United would be the place he’d go. It always was in my time, but it’s not the one he’d look at now and think he should go there because the club is moving in the right direction. I think he’d be looking at a couple of other places first."
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