Manchester United are entering their most important period in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era. Simply put, David Moyes never worked out, Louis van Gaal was always temporary, Jose Mourinho was not the man they needed, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wasn’t consistent enough during his time at the helm.
Now, with Erik ten Hag stepping in as United’s sixth manager since the legendary figure of Sir Alex departed, he is doing so with the most expectation and promise of any manager to this point. Here, we take a look at how new managers have done up until Christmas as manager of the Red Devils.
David Moyes
David Moyes has gone on to reestablish himself as a top coach on the European continent, but when he became the first man to take over after the irreplaceable Sir Alex, the West Ham United boss would write a season in Premier League folklore for all the wrong reasons.
United were the defending Premier League champions when Moyes took over and they were top of the Premier League table by Christmas in most seasons, having won 13 league titles in the past 21 years.
However, in the Scot’s first year, after the 17 games played only eight wins came their way, with four draws and five losses leaving them surprisingly in seventh. At the same time, the club conceded a terrible record of 23 goals, and scored just 18 of their own.
The soccer world was stunned as to how the biggest and most successful club in England dropped off so rapidly. It remains their worst-ever Premier League season, with the run up to Christmas for Moyes being the worst of any manager post-Sir Alex.
Louis van Gaal
While Moyes got off to the perfect start against Swansea City, ironically, van Gaal got off to the worst possible beginning with a defeat to the Swans just one year later in a 1-0 loss at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman did manage to win the biggest trophy of the three major titles lifted since Sir Alex departed, as he bagged the FA Cup in his second season with the club. What’s more, van Gaal had easily the best run up to Christmas of any debuting United manager after Ferguson, with his United side ending up in third.
Although this was far from the plan for van Gaal, it was still a solid effort, as they sat seven points adrift of top spot with nine wins from 17 games and three defeats. The defensive record was greatly improved too, as United let in just 18 goals and scored 30.
Jose Mourinho
Despite the toxicity during the final few months of his tenure at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho remains the most successful United manager with a Community Shield, Europa League, and a League Cup coming in his first season.
In the league up until Christmas, however, things were very different. United started the reign under Mourinho perfectly with three wins from three games in the Premier League after beating Bournemouth, Southampton and Hull City, before they then met rivals Manchester City, and registered their first loss under the Portuguese bench boss.
Fast forward to Christmas, and United sat down in sixth with eight wins, six draws, and three defeats. They also scored 24 while conceding 17 and had no hopes of a title race by this stage with a 13-point gap on leaders Chelsea already in place.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
A legendary figure as a player, United fans were just happy to see a familiar face when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took the helm. Ironically, their former striker took over just a week before Christmas after the sacking of Mourinho.
He did, however, put on record the greatest ever start to a Premier League career as a manager from any club. In Solskjaer’s first 10 games, his side netted 26 goals and only conceded six en route to eight wins and two draws. No manager in Premier League history has ever begun a career on a better note. Unfortunately for this particular exercise, given the fact that he didn’t take over from the start of the season through to Christmas, he doesn’t qualify for this argument.
Ralf Rangnick
Just like the man he succeeded, Ralf Rangnick took charge a few games into the season having taken the helm a month before Christmas. Nevertheless, it was a great start after 10 games across all competitions, with Rangnick earning 17 points from a possible 24 in the Premier League following five wins from eight games.
He did manage to take United from seventh into fourth before Christmas, with only a month to work with. Although things rapidly went downhill in 2022, however.
While hot starts don’t always equate to long term success, ten Hag will seek to pile up as many wins as he can muster before the Christmas break in his new role.
-Grant McQuillan
Twitter: @Grant_McQuillan