Manchester United’s legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson warned that it could be 10 or 11 years before the Red Devils win another Premier League title.
The clock counting down United’s wait for top-flight glory already stretches past a decade. Ferguson himself was the last manager to claim that honour for the club, squeezing every last drop out of an ageing squad to overhaul the first iteration of a newly free-spending Manchester City in the 2012–13 campaign.
Over the subsequent 12 years, there have been six permanent coaching appointments and not a single serious title challenge between them. Ruben Amorim, the current incumbent, was appointed midway through a 15th-place finish last term, the club’s lowest league position since they were relegated in 1974. At that point, Ferguson was still playing for Ayr United.
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The legendary Scot is rightly remembered for his unrivalled stack of 13 Premier League titles, yet he too experienced a rocky start. Midway through the 1989–90 campaign, which would see United slump to 13th, fan discontent was so fierce that one supporter produced a banner which read: “Three years of excuses and it’s still crap… ta ra Fergie.”
At that time, Liverpool were the dominant force in English football. Yet, as Ferguson was all too keen to point out, the Merseyside giants would endure a three-decade long drought of their own before it was ended by Jürgen Klopp in 2020.
“I remember looking back on my own time there [at Man Utd], starting off when Liverpool were the bee’s knees,” Ferguson recalled in an interview with Press Box PR this week. “They were a fantastic club winning the European Cup four times and all that, but then it took them 31 years to win the league again.
“We are now in the same situation. It could be 10 years, could be 11 years, because of that cycle. It has to be thought out carefully and we have to make sure the recruitment is going to be better than what it was.”
Ferguson has been impressed with the business United carried out in the most recent transfer window. He doubled down on his praise of goalkeeper Senne Lammens while lauding fellow summer recruits Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha.
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“I think the appointment of the goalkeeper has made a difference,” the 83-year-old noted. “He’s young at 23, he’s quick, a big lad, good feet and hands, and I think that helps. I think they have needed that player. United have always had inspirational players over the years. I think that has helped.
“The other two, [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Matheus] Cunha, they look as if they will contribute to the recovery of our form.”
With all the respect he could muster, Amorim was forced to disagree with Ferguson. “He understands football more than me, especially English football,” the Portuguese told assembled media on Friday.
“I think we will not take that long to win a league and I don’t know which manager is going to be here, but I truly believe that we can fight for the title in the next years. I think it’s not going to take so many years, but you never know.”
United’s public target for Premier League glory has been set for just three years’ time, in 2028. This is the centrepiece of ‘Project 150’ spearheaded by the club’s chief executive Omar Berrada which revolves around the 150th anniversary of Manchester United.
