Former England and Manchester United players Owen Hargreaves and Rio Ferdinand told Manchester United to stop chasing Liverpool and focus on rebuilding their side following their UEFA Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.
The loss ended United's chance of lifting a trophy at the end of the season and once again raised questions about about the future of the club as it lurches from one problem to another. Starting the season as Premier League title contenders according to sections of the media, the club find themselves battling for a place in the top four let alone in the title race.
With no long-term manager in place and the team enduring another wasted season, Hargreaves believes that United need to take a page out of Liverpool's book and find the right person to take over from interim boss Ralf Rangnick in the summer. But to stop focusing on challenging for the title and switch their attention to building a team.
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"Look at how Liverpool got [Jurgen] Klopp and how City got Pep [Guardiola]," Hargreaves said on BT Sport. "They had a structure behind the scenes and decided ‘that’s our guy’. United now, we’re all hopeful but is it going to be [Luis] Enrique, [Erik] Ten Hag, or [Mauricio Pochetto] Poch, is it [Zinadine] Zidane? We should already know who our guy is."
"There’s a lot of work to be done there," Hargreaves added. "I think take a step back from chasing Liverpool and Man City, they’re in a completely different category right now, they (United) need to get a lot of stuff sorted out behind the scenes. Get a great coach in, get a sporting director, sort out the recruitment strategy.
"What type of player? What age? Look at Arsenal, they went 24 and under and that’s where we’re going to go. Look, it took them a year to get where they want to be. United need to take a step back and build from the ground up. There’s a lot pieces but it’ll take time."
Hargreaves' former Ferdinand echoed what was said, explaining that while it took the Reds a few years to win the Premier League under Jurgen Klopp, the Anfield-side had a clear plan and were heading down the right path to success. The defender then added that Liverpool have set the bar so high that unless United get their recruitment right, it would all be for nothing.
"Unless you get the right pieces, Klopp took four or five years at Liverpool to win the Premier League, but you could see they were on the right trajectory," Ferdinand said. "Man United have to get to that point. Once you get the right manager and get the right person in place, then it's a minimum two or three years before you start challenging for trophies.
"By the way, Liverpool and City have set a high bar now. The consistency at which they play. It shows that no matter what talent you bring together, you need a manager that can harness that and put it all together."
