It is hard not to bask in a little bit of schadenfreude after seeing how little an impact Ralf Rangnick has actually had on that Manchester United dressing room. In the final weeks of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's doomed time in a burning hot seat, many pundits and experts alike trotted out the now overused line of "look at what Thomas Tuchel has done at Chelsea".
This was used as not only a justification for sacking Solskjaer but also because of the wonderful transformation at Stamford Bridge following the dismissal of another club legend, logic entailed that the same would unfold at Old Trafford.
What the last five months have shown us, is not that Rangnick is a poor coach, but that the United dressing room has become almost unmanageable. All too often in the modern game, we ascribe all of our ire to the feet of a head coach. Due to the success and admiration for the work of Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp, it is easy to see how this mindset took hold.
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And there is no denying how extraordinary those two coaches are, their tactical intelligence, their leadership and skills in managing elite players and the pressure of big occasions. But part of their brilliance has been forging two dressing rooms that seem to lack "superstars" or great egos.
As much as the chatter around both Manchester City and Liverpool focuses on the talent of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne or Phil Foden, those players never seem to overshadow the coaches they play for, despite being so integral to them.
At Manchester United, it has been the inverse of that since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Superstar players have been chased – from Paul Pogba to Alexis Sanchez to Cristiano Ronaldo. That has created an imbalanced squad tactically, one that has felt muddled and in opposition to several coaches' approaches to playing. The fascination of "the brand", extravagant announcement videos with Stormzy and pianos have become mere tools for mockery in the years since from rivals rather than signposts of United's road to recovery.
But apart from mere profiles, the mentality of the dressing room must be criticised and examined. The excuses trotted out for an expensively assembled squad effectively downing tools for months on end have veered from bizarre to hilarious. Lifting any responsibility on elite athletes supposedly at the peak of their performance, either to the dugout or in the boardroom.
Hearing comparisons to a local McDonald's joint selling Big Macs being within their rights to stop being professional because they simply have grown tired of their boss. A point that lacks any logic when you realise that if any of us performed the way some in the United shirt have based on their salaries and expectation, we would likely be sacked.
For Chelsea's imminent takeover, the recent lesson of Romelu Lukaku under Thomas Tuchel provides a great antidote to this culture festering. Following Lukaku's controversial interview with Sky Italia on the eve of a huge game with Liverpool, the Belgian was dropped from the squad. In the months since it has become clear Tuchel has favoured the younger Kai Havertz as his first-choice centre-forward, a player more in-keeping with his style of play.
The alteration has worked and the perception of power in that dispute back in January quickly favoured Tuchel over the £97m player. The whole saga demonstrated that Tuchel's system comes above one superstar. Your ability to elevate the system comes above your previous reputation.
This message didn't just stop with Lukaku, following two straight defeats to Brentford and Real Madrid at the start of this month, Tuchel openly criticised his players' level of performance, a move he has rarely made since taking charge 15 months ago. The German got the reaction he desired, Chelsea since have looked energised and inspired, winning their last three.
In comparison, United's players have walked from one humiliation to another, the 4-0 destruction on Tuesday night at Liverpool best optimising the ever-increasing gap between both clubs. But also, how little the application of the players showed in a high-profile game should reflect poorly on them and their attitude, rather than Rangnick being pointed out as the sole issue.
The culture at United under The Glazers has created this environment to a point of complete disdain from the club's fans to the squad and hierarchy. One would hope those about to buy Chelsea are not taking much inspiration from The Glazers' approach to an elite Premier League club, and rather using them as a nightmare to avoid.
