Manchester United, just running on the legacy of Sir Alex Ferguson

The inevitable has finally occurred. Manchester United, by far the most popular football club in the world has to ponder over a life without a man who was more than just a manager to the team. Sir Alex Ferguson. No manager in the game has been at the helm for as long as 27 years, apart from him! If United is what it is today, most of the credit has to go to this man.

Ferguson formed long lasting relationships with many in the United administration, which helped him nurture young talent and have the only say in the running of the team. He could be called a benevolent dictator, for he was considerate to a player’s needs as much as the team’s needs and made each player play his natural game itself rather than imparting a new set of skills, which takes time to implement.

David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo are household names today across the globe because of him primarily.

His passion to win from any situation and using several tactics is another reason which has won him admirers from opposition teams as well over the years. During his tenure, United’s performances on the field led to them being a strong force off the field as well. Reputed MNCs such as Sharp, Vodafone, AON, DHL, and Nike have struck multimillion dollar deals with them over the years for being their primary or secondary sponsors.

As well as United being the only team to be a part of London’s and New York’s stock exchanges. And lastly, their ability to connect with their fans away from England goes beyond merchandising as they are the pioneers of having their own TV channel and pubs, bars, official fan clubs, soccer training schools ensuring that their support is from people irrespective of their gender or age.

However, for how long would ‘brand’ United sustain? A major dip in on field performances this season could just be the beginning of the end. David Moyes surely does not have Ferguson’s aura and did not succeed enormously at Everton. So he cannot replace him but he can at least try to have more faith in the seniors such as Vidic, Ferdinand, Giggs and Scholes to mentor the youngsters and through them, develop an understanding with them as to how should the team function.

Moyes’ main aim has to be that United at least end up in the top 3, if not defend the League title. But with financial trouble brewing, under par performances in friendly matches in Asia and Wayne Rooney, United’s No.1 striker and his ex-pupil at Everton not willing to work with him, they certainly do not have a smooth road ahead to travel on.