Former Tottenham Hotspur director Steve Hitchen believes a lack of consistency has become Manchester United’s biggest recruitment problem.
Ineos are on board at Old Trafford and Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a huge task on his hands in terms of sorting out the problems inside United.
Recruitment has to be a key focus; United just haven’t been getting it right in the transfer market.
Overpaying for targets and giving the manager too much power have been problems for years and United don’t seem to have a clear identity in terms of recruitment and strategy.
Adding proper recruitment staff with real football experience has to be a priority with Ineos surely focusing on establishing a coherent approach moving forward.
Steve Hitchen comments on Manchester United struggles
Former Tottenham Hotspur technical director Steve Hitchen has now offered his view having spoken to BBC Sport.
Salford-born Hitchen is a boyhood United fan who is now the director of football for the Unique Sports Agency, managing the likes of Reece James, Anthony Gordon and Marc Guehi.
Hitchen noted that he has been a United fan since childhood and believes the issues inside Old Trafford have been down to a lack of constituency throughout the club.
Hitchen highlights that Manchester City have had so many success stories of late because there is a clear vision on and off the pitch, enabling a consistent message.
The former Macclesfield Town ace feel that United really have’t had that, moving between managers with different philosophies and wanting different types of players.
Hitchen feels that such an approach ‘breeds inconsistency’ and that there is ‘no clear identity’ when you go down that route, pinpointing United’s problems over the recent years.
“If you have a common way of working, you know your market and the standard of football you are going to play, you are halfway there,” said Hitchen. “Man City’s success rate after Pep Guardiola came in went up dramatically. Why? Because they had a group of people in Txiki Begiristain, Ferran Soriano, Pep and others who all had a clear idea of what type of player they were looking for. So consistency, success and money all combined for them.”
“If you look at Manchester United, which is my club from my childhood, they have lost that consistency. You don’t know who the coach is going to be from one season to the next. If you have no clear identity through different types of managers, how can you have a clear philosophy when you are trying to recruit players? Most new coaches want three or four of their own players. All of a sudden you have four different types of players that probably don’t marry with the next coach and what he is looking for. That breeds inconsistency,” he added.
United must revamp transfer strategy
One key point is that Erik ten Hag has been given almost too much power in the transfer market.
So many of the signings in the Ten Hag era have been his picks; players who have worked under Ten Hag in the past.
Andre Onana, Lisandro Martinez, Sofyan Amrabat and Antony all fit into that mould and whilst we can understand backing the manager, there may have been too much of a commitment to Ten Hag signings.
Most of the top clubs have teams of people who identify signings and give the manager the final say, but United have really allowed Ten Hag to pick the signings.
That just can’t continue, as you send up with a jumbled squad of players signed by different managers – as Hitchen highlights.
United need a coherent plan which can work under different managers and Ineos will surely be looking to bring a more long-term approach to the club’s strategy.
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