Why Manchester United have struggled after Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen, who worked with Sir Alex Ferguson for over a decade, claimed that his old club has lost their identity.

He went further by suggesting that moving away from Ferguson's approach has led to the club's downfall since 2013.

There is no disputing that United have been a shadow of their former selves in the eight years that have followed but how much of that can be placed upon simply changing their philosophy?

In the football industry you have to be willing to evolve and adapt your style in order to suit the changing climate.

Just because Sir Alex found unparalleled success with one school of thought does not mean a poor man's, carbon copy Ferguson would have been able to replicate the past.

If we look back to the side that won the title in the final season of Ferguson's historic reign, it was full of ageing stars who arguably put in one last hurrah to send the gaffer into retirement as a champion.

It was not a team that could go into the next campaign to challenge for the Premier League and so it proved.

The real reasons for United's failings have been their unwillingness to stick to a new style of football and giving it the chance to eventually flourish.

When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been the longest-serving manager since one of the all-time greatest retires, that probably speaks volumes.

Neither David Moyes, Louis van Gaal or Jose Mourinho were fortunate enough to be shown the same faith even though their pedigrees deserved it more than Solskjaer.

United's eagerness to chop and change when things do not go right straightaway has hindered them severely.

With a likely smaller budget, Moyes has managed to gain relative success at West Ham - just think what he could have done at