Manchester United are a confused club right now. A club which has now changed completely and there’s hardly anyone in this world who knows the direction in which this once great club is now heading. Whenever it takes to the pitch, the possibilities are seemingly endless and even off the pitch, the amount of jeopardy that surrounds it is next to unimaginable. You barely know what they will end up doing the very next moment, such is the amount of uncertainty that shrouds the club, engulfing it into pessimism.

The Old Trafford faithful has seen the demise of the club to a rather unenviable extent already. After Sir Alex departed in 2013, the club plunged into what was unknown marshes and although did recover substantially, but that remedy was nonetheless temporary. As things stand, Manchester United have become the laughing stock of the Premier League and rival fans are more than just happy to have a go at the once great footballing powerhouse. And rightly so, the club is in utter tatters.

Louis van Gaal, who did manage to get United back into the Champions League has now done the opposite too. The fan base, or the vast majority of it, has turned against the Dutchman and it’s obvious that the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager is feeling a considerable amount of heat now. The mid-week defeat to Danish minnows Midtjylland reflects upon the extent to which the club has keeled over to and the game was arguably the worst Unites fans have seen in the past 15 or 20 years. For some, the game was worse than the David Moyes’ era and reminded them of the fact that Louis van Gaal’s time is coming to a close. The situation is now so strange that a van Gaal win isn’t a win, it’s a critical aversion from the inevitable.

Much has been made of how United used to be and how they fail to live up to their ancient standards, but hardly anyone looked at the future, barring Jose Mourinho’s links with the club. Everyone expects United to replicate its old days and win every single trophy that is left to be won. The burden of expectations on managers and on players is although massive, but even otherwise, this ‘feat’ is impossible to accomplish.

The footballing world and the environment has become more competitive than ever. If United wanted, they could’ve hired Pep Guardiola already, or much before that, United could’ve kept Angel Di Maria and could’ve been in a more desirable state right now. But it wasn’t meant to be. Manchester City sealed the deal for Guardiola, despite of having a settled manager and Angel Di Maria flew off to Paris Saint Germain, despite of spending just a single season at the club, which is rare. If this was the United of say 2004 or 2008, it’d have asserted its influence over both cases and could’ve emerged as winners in it too. But football is changing, for the better of its own and for the worse for United.

Sides like Bournemouth and Norwich are snapping up players from the most popular Italian and German clubs, despite of being mere newly promoted Premier League clubs- Juan Iturbe and Timm Klose. China are signing players the likes of Liverpool, United and Tottenham were after and that too for as much as 50 million pounds, making sure he rolls in money. Both Norwich and Bournemouth beat and Leicester City top the table, leaving Chelsea at 12th.

All of this is a signal of one sole thing: shift in power and ooze in competition. Not a single one of this was evident when United won title after title, knocking Liverpool of their perch.

Tottenham are now proving their true mettle, as evident from a stellar season they’re currently undergoing. The likes of Crystal Palace, West Ham and Southampton are making waves too, giving every single big club a run for their money. They’ve now got the financial abilities to snap up players from bigger European clubs, take the examples of Angelo Ogbonna and Jordy Clasie. Ogbonna plied his trade with Juventus, while Clasie was on the radar of clubs such as Manchester United and Arsenal before he went to St.Mary’s this past summer.

With the money that’s now coming in the English Premier League, not just new and quality foreign players are coming in, but managers with unique philosophies are coming in too. England will soon become a hub for world-renowned managers and managers such as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochetinno, Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, Claudio Ranieri and Ronald Koeman will ply their trade in England and the tussle for being at the very top will be immense. And carving out a name for oneself in a highly competitive surrounding will be next to impossible.

Coming back to Manchester United again, the club lack an ambition, or a proper direction. Although, the intent is very much there, but intent without direction is like a having a shot at goal without knowing where the goal lies. It’s all being done in a haphazard manner right now. The club board and management know that they have to make United great again, but they don’t know how to do it.

Louis van Gaal was brought in as a long-term replacement and the perilous state of the club suggests United won’t accept receding deeper into the bowels. It’s Manchester United we are talking about and being worse than how they are would only leave them as a laughing stock of football, much to the contrary of how feared they once were. Seeking

A short term fix to all that’s happening will be something temporary and it’s all down to the management as to what they want- stability at the cost of eroding their identity or keeping their identity at the cost of stability.

Stability, or at least a certain direction, is guaranteed by someone like Jose Mourinho, but in the modern day, one can’t imagine winning every game of the week or spell-binding success. As mentioned above, the tussle will be unimaginable and never-before-seen and although, the entertainment will be favourable to the fans in the Premier League, no single club will be able to stand its ground.

And Manchester United are a club who need some reformation. Not just in terms of the managerial position, but also in terms of ownership. They’re owned by people who hardly know anything about football. Ed Woodward wants to keep Louis van Gaal till the end of the season, with a reason being that another manager will be the third he will appoint during his tenure. Sir Bobby doesn’t rely on Mourinho to run the club and then there’s Ryan Giggs, who wants the job or otherwise is willing to switch clubs. And rightly so, it’s all in a mess.

And with when Sir Alex retired, a part of Manchester United retired too.