Man Utd legend sees similar problem facing Ruben Amorim to early Ferguson years
Former Ireland defender Denis Irwin was speaking with Roy Keane and Gary Neville on The Overlap.
Denis Irwin reckons new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is facing the same problems that dogged Alex Ferguson in his early trophy-less years at Old Trafford.
The legendary former United and Ireland full-back won seven Premier League titles, a Champions League and European Cup Winnersâ Cup, two FA Cups and a League Cup under the brilliant Scot.
But he might never have achieved such an impressive roll of honours had the Red Devils powerbrokers been trigger happy during Fergieâs first few years.
It took the former Aberdeen and Scotland manager three and a half years to win his first trophy - the 1990 FA Cup - and another three years to land the clubâs first league title in 26 years.
Irwin was asked on The Overlap why he felt it took Ferguson, a three-time Scottish champion at Aberdeen, so long to deliver at United.
He replied: âIt comes down to the players.
âWe really struggled for goals in big games and then bringing Eric (Cantona) in in November â92, it opened up a different ball-game.
âWe had Giggsy and Sharpie, who could run like the wind on the left. Andrei Kanchelskis was another player who could run like the wind, and Sparky (Mark Hughes) up front.
âWe just needed someone to knit it all together.
âIt felt like, I wouldnât say the final piece of the jigsaw, but it felt like he opened up everything for us. We felt that in big games we were just short.
âItâs all down to the players and scoring goals is very important as well. Then we used to score goals for fun. We used to attack for fun.
âEric came in and he suited the English game. Heâs a big lad, six-foot-two, a strong boy, really intelligent, and he knitted it all together for us.
âThe manager was brilliant in bringing players in, but certainly Eric was a big plus. And big Peter Schmeichel as well.â
Denis Irwin celebrates with Roy Keane after scoring against Liverpool in 1999. (Image: Mandatory Credit: Ross Kinnaird /Allsport)Irwin, who arrived at United in 1990 and spent 12 years at the club, reckons Amorim has been saddled with a tough job of turning the club around anytime soon.
He says it will take time, because of a post-Ferguson legacy of poor recruitment.
âItâs been difficult,â he said of life after the 13-time Premier League winning boss. âI think everybody kind of knew it was going to be a difficult period after Sir Alex left.
âTheyâve had a lot of experienced managers, and Ole (Gunner Solskjaer) as well, who looked like theyâd do something, but that light closed and all that.
âTheyâve won cups, as Liverpool did in their quiet period, but theyâve not been anywhere near the league.
âIâm hoping the new manager, in what heâs done and what heâs said already, and itâs going to take time, because itâs down to the players.
âThe manager can organise it and he likes a 3-4-3, but essentially itâs down to the players.
âYou wouldnât say Unitedâs recruitment over the last 10 years has been great. I think thatâs been a big problem.â
Since Fergusonâs 2013 exit, United have won two FA Cups - under Dutchmen Louis Van Gaal and Erik ten Hag - two League Cups and a Europa League.
The team Irwin joined had success in cup competitions before finally winning the Premier League in the 1992/93 season.
âWe were known as a cup team when I joined, because of the Palace game (in the 1990 FA Cup final), and then we beat Barcelona in the Cup Winnersâ Cup in â91,â he said.
âWe beat Forest in the League Cup in â92. It wasnât until we won the first league that it nailed it for us, that we could go the full distance.
âWe just fell short the year before against Leeds. That was hard, really hard.
âThe following season I think the first two games we lost, away to Sheffield United and at home to Everton, 3-0. It was a bit of an eye-opener.
âI think we drew our third game at home (against Ipswich), but we managed to recover.
âWe were very nervous for the last six or seven games, because it was nip and tuck between ourselves and Villa and Norwich, and we just won the last four or five games.
âWe ended up winning by 10 points and you think, what the hell were you worried about?
âBut thatâs the way it is. Once we won that, and Roy (Keane) just came straight after that, it kicked us on.â
Irwin joined Overlap hosts Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Jamie Carragher and Jill Scott for the latest episode of the âStick to Footballâ series.
TURIN, ITALY - APRIL 21: Gary Neville and Denis Irwin of Manchester United celebrate after the UEFA Champions League semi-final match between Juventus v Manchester United on May 21, 1999 at the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin, Italy. Juventus 2 Manchester United 3. (Photo by John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)He recalled his ÂŁ625,000 (âŹ740,000) move to Old Trafford from Oldham, which Ferguson later described as pound-for-pound his greatest signing.
âThere were no Bosmans in those days so I let my contract run out. I wanted to move on. I knew there were a couple of teams,â he said.
âYou can move, but if (the clubs) donât agree on a price it goes to a tribunal. They eventually agreed on a price.
âWhen United come calling, you have to go there. There were one or two others, City were looking at me for a while, Peter Reid was up there. I made the right decision, though, didnât I?
âSheffield Wednesday were looking for me and they were a decent side.
âWhen I joined United, I think City finished above us in the first year. Theyâd just won the FA Cup that year, they beat Palace, but it wasnât a given that they would go on to do what we did in the 90s and all that.
âBut when I was growing up in Ireland, United were huge.â
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