People keep asking me if Manchester United can win the title. My Answer? They can, but they won’t!
I have to say though, they deserve massive credit - and obviously I have to choke down hard on these words - for the way in which the club has been transformed this season. I genuinely thought, and said as much last season, the entire foundations of the club needed rebuilding before they could go on and be truly competitive again.
They seem to have skipped that stage entirely, which is remarkable. They are more than competitive and if things fall for them over the next few weeks, then they can definitely be in the title equation. I say they won’t win it purely because I still believe Manchester City will go on one of those runs where they are invincible.
Yet that should take nothing away from United or their manager Erik ten Hag - or Arsenal and Mikel Arteta, for that matter. Both of them have produced some compelling football this season and are where they are on merit.
I admire what they’ve achieved, but in this situation, I think City have more experience and knowledge about what’s required at the sharp end of the season. United and Arsenal have that as clubs, but not with these teams. Yet.
Let’s give credit where it’s due, though. What Ten Hag has done is impressive. He’s created the right environment around the club, and created the right atmosphere. That, for me, is the key to any club’s success.
It takes time to do that. Even Pep Guardiola took more than a season to do it at City, and Jurgen Klopp developed his environment over three or four years at Anfield. Ten Hag seems to have needed a few months.
How’s he done it? Well, I think he’s been helped massively by the fact there’s no egos at the club. Not any more. I liked his handling of Cristiano Ronaldo. I’m in the media now, but I have to say I believe clubs shouldn’t do their dirty washing in public.
He eased Ronaldo out without ever going public and he managed the situation really well, so that it was the player himself who came out with the explosive stuff - but only after the break for the World Cup.
That was impressive management because it allowed United to totally own the high moral ground and take all the public opinion with them. I can guarantee Ten Hag won over the players with his handling of Ronaldo.
He knew it wasn’t working for the team, so dropped Ronaldo - but dropped him in a quiet way. I’m pretty sure the rest of the team agreed totally, and that will have helped them buy into the manager’s environment. But the lack of egos is so important, too. Who’s United’s biggest player? Casemiro, probably, but to me he looks incredibly grounded.
Then there’s Marcus Rashford. You know what, that goal celebration pointing to his head? Well, I’m convinced that came after that time the manager told him to use his head more and dropped him for turning up late. That was another quiet way of imposing the right environment, and it worked, because it’s clear Rashford is a player buying into it and has a lack of ego, too.
I think it’s helped Ten Hag that as a team, this squad had their egos bruised - and probably squeezed out of them - because they haven’t achieved and have had so little success. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind there are fewer egos at Old Trafford now than there have been for many years.
So, Ten Hag is able to recreate the environment he had at Ajax, where everything was team-focussed and not about the individual. They have a quality team ethic now - you can see it.
That makes them serious opponents, especially for Liverpool on Sunday. If they can win at Anfield, then of course they are in the title argument. But I still don’t think they’ll win it!
