During that eye-opening interview last week, former Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger touched on a number of interesting topics from his time at Old Trafford.
The rather sad ending, the struggles of Marcus Rashford, and how the Red Devils’ recruitment compares less-than-favourably to that of their arch rivals Liverpool.
“How many miles is Liverpool away from Man United?,” Schweinsteiger asked Gary Neville on The Overlap. “What did (Jurgen) Klopp do? Did he sign a lot of huge money transfers?”
The answer, apart from a few exceptions such as Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker, was no, not really. At least, not during the eras of Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
While Manchester United continued to splurge big fees and big wages on players with big reputations, Liverpool’s success was largely built upon a series of intelligent, bargain buys from Andy Robertson to Sadio Mane, Joel Matip and Gini Wijnaldum.
“You just have to look 45 miles (away) and see how they do it,” Schweinsteiger adds. “And (Liverpool have) dominated since.”
Ten Hag likes what Liverpool have done in transfer market
The early noises coming out of Old Trafford, following Ineos seizing control of footballing operations, is that Man United will no longer go into the market like a 14-year-old embarking upon a shot at FIFA’s Career Mode, but like a serious, forward-thinking club prioritising potential over shirt sales and marketing.
The Ineos policy will be driven by youth, promise and with the long-term in mind. High-profile veterans like Schweinsteiger himself emblematic of the issues of the old regime.
According to ESPN, Erik ten Hag – should he stay on, of course – is keen to use the example of Liverpool too.
The Dutchman feels that Man United need ‘younger and fitter players’ – in the midfield area especially – and has highlighted the way Liverpool replaced Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, James Milner and Jordan Henderson with Dominic Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and the outstanding Alexis Mac Allister.
The trio set the Anfield outfit back a combined £130 million.
Manchester United overhaul expected
Interestingly, both Gravenberch and Mac Allister were heavily linked with Ten Hag’s Man United before joining Liverpool, from Bayern Munich and Brighton respectively. It is no secret that the former Ajax boss wants United to develop a style somewhat similar to Klopp’s – fast, aggressive, high-octane and capable of going from front to back in the blink of an eye – and such an adaptation feels impossible with Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Sofyan Amrabat in the engine room.
All three are expected to depart this summer. Who takes their place remains to be seen, but reports suggesting United could go for, say, Amadou Onana, Joao Neves and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall certainly back up the claims that Ten Hag is keen to pursue a Liverpool-style midfield overhaul.