Good luck: Manchester United have little reason for optimism this season despite Erik ten Hag's presence

Manchester United begin the new season with much of their customary hope dashed by repeated failures since the departure of Alex Ferguson. When Ferguson stepped down in 2013 we can see that retrospectively the club made a huge error in replacing him with a manager out of his depth. David Moyes has since shown — twice — at West Ham that he is a capable coach able to punch above his weight a little lower down the table, but he did not have the nous to slot into one of the most demanding jobs in football.

Ad/> Compounding his problems was the arrival of a sole signing that summer, Marouane Fellaini, and another he didn’t ask for, Juan Mata in January. Both may have had lengthy careers at Old Trafford but given Moyes had arrived expecting Cesc Fabregas and Gareth Bale, it was a huge drop-off. The person responsible for that was Ed Woodward, above anyone else.

Premier LeagueRonaldo, Maguire most abused PL footballers on Twitter in first half of last season — study18 HOURS AGO The rest of Woodward's time in charge was a similar blight. Louis van Gaal arrived, secured the top-four finish required, and was told Sergio Ramos was on his way. Jose Mourinho finished second, won the Europa League, and was told Toby Alderweireld was on his way.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not have the requisite experience to demand what was required from the board. Each of these managers had plenty of their own faults, but after a near-decade of failure, the buck should have stopped with Woodward many years ago. Chukwuemeka’s gamble, Henderson’s fury, and the Lionesses break the internet – The Warm-Up Man Utd contact Barcelona over €20m-rated defender – Paper Round ‘Scandal if Benzema doesn’t win the Ballon d’Or’ – Former Man Utd star Saha Now he is