From Glory to Gloom: A Die-Hard Fan’s Product Teardown of Manchester United
Manchester United’s fall from glory is a case study in failed leadership, poor succession planning, and broken structures. Through a design thinking lens, it reimagines how United should rebuild.
This will be a fun one, of equal parts rant, nostalgia, and frustration (bear with me!).
I have to be honest: I’m a die-hard Manchester United fan. I still vividly remember that night in 1999 when we snatched victory from Bayern Munich in stoppage time. That treble-winning side wasn’t just a football team; it was grit, vision, and belief personified.
Fast forward to today: 15th in the Premier League last season. Just knocked out by a fourth-division team. Again. Every August begins with hope, every May ends with heartbreak. Supporting Manchester United has become less about glory and more about endurance.
So, as part of my Digital Transformation and Change Management journey with Boston Consulting Group, I decided to channel my misery into something useful, a thought exercise. If Manchester United were a product, what would a teardown reveal? Where did the design break, what features failed, and how might we prototype our way back?
There’s no right or wrong here, just a desperate fan applying a design-thinking problem-solving lens to make sense of chaos. Or maybe just grasping at straws.
1. A Short History Till Date
Manchester United’s story is a case study in extremes. Once the gold standard of football dominance, today the club resembles a once-iconic product that has lost its way. In tech speak, they are becoming a Nokia in the age of iPhones.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United became synonymous with winning. The 2012/13 season (Ferguson’s last 🥲) ended with the club lifting its 20th league title, finishing 11 points clear of Manchester City. That was not just success; it was dominance.
Since then, the numbers paint a brutal picture:
115 defeats in 450 games post-Ferguson, compared to 114 defeats in 810 games during his 26 years in charge.
2024/25 season: United finished 15th with just 42 points, their worst-ever Premier League campaign.
From kings to crisis, United’s trajectory isn’t just decline. It’s collapsed. The product that once defined an industry now struggles to prove its relevance.
2. What Manchester United Did Right (The Ferguson Blueprint)
To understand the fall, you need to first understand the blueprint. Ferguson didn’t just manage a football team, he ran a product lifecycle better than most tech CEOs.
Visionary Leadership
Ferguson rebuilt squads before the decline became obvious. Over 26 years, he created at least five different league-winning teams, each with its own identity. He thought in product cycles, planning five years ahead while competing in the present.
Design Thinking lens: Leadership is organisational UX. The experience at the top defines everything downstream.
Youth Development
The “Class of ’92”, Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Neville, Butt, wasn’t just about talent. It was culture. They represented values, loyalty, and a relentless work ethic. Ferguson once said, “There’s nothing better than seeing a young player make it.” He saw youth not as a side project, but the foundation of the product.
Growth Lesson: Hire for mentality and values, not just skills.
Tactical Flexibility
From classic 4-4-2s to more fluid systems, Ferguson constantly adapted to the game’s evolution. His United sides were famous for comebacks because they had tactical elasticity built in. If something wasn’t working, he changed it.
Design Thinking Lesson: Iterate fast. Don’t marry the system; marry the outcome.
Uncompromising Standards
Discipline was non-negotiable. Roy Keane, Beckham, and even Ronaldo. No one was bigger than the system. Ferguson applied standards universally. That’s how you keep thirty millionaires pulling in the same direction.
Growth Lesson: Standards and clarity are the operating system of culture.
The Ferguson era wasn’t luck. It was designed. A rare combination of foresight, culture-building, tactical iteration, and ruthless clarity.
3. What Went Wrong (Post-Fergie Meltdown)
When Ferguson retired, the blueprint retired with him. What followed was a decade of drift.
Leadership Vacuum
Six permanent managers in twelve years. Each with a new philosophy, a new style, and a new recruitment wishlist. That’s not a strategy. That’s chaos. Imagine Apple releasing six different operating systems in a decade, none compatible with the last. Customers would churn. That’s what happened to United.
Organisational Design Failure
The Glazers’ leveraged buyout in 2005 saddled the club with debt. Ed Woodward (a commercial mastermind but football novice) prioritised sponsorship deals over football logic. United became more focused on Instagram followers and noodle sponsors than trophies.
Design Thinking Insight: Leadership sets product DNA. If the top doesn’t prioritise quality, the product won’t either.
Recruitment Disasters
Since 2013, United have spent over £1 billion on transfers. What’s the ROI? Minimal. The club became infamous for:
Overpaying for mediocre players (Maguire, £80m).
Inflated wages that made players unsellable (Alexis Sánchez).
No data-driven scouting while rivals like Liverpool embraced analytics and Brentford perfected Moneyball, United were scouting like it was 1999.
Manager-led transfers, meaning each new coach tore up the squad and started again.
Failed Prototypes
Every manager was a new prototype, but no one iterated on lessons learned. Mourinho brought short-term success but poisoned the culture. Ole brought stability but no tactics. Ten Hag promised structure but left the squad fractured. Each version is reset to zero.
The Amorim Era (2024–25)
The latest chapter is the ugliest. Ruben Amorim, hailed as the next great tactician, has delivered the worst win rate of any United manager in Premier League history. His rigid 3-4-3 doesn’t fit the squad. Fernandes is shackled, the midfield is bypassed, defence is too slow. Even League Two side Grimsby Town had their moment of glory at Old Trafford.
Design Thinking Question: Do you fit players into systems, or systems into players? United chose the former, and it shows.
4. How Might We Turn Things Around? (Ideation Mode)
The product teardown isn’t just about pointing out broken parts. It’s about re-imagining how to rebuild. If Manchester United is a failing product, how might we redesign it for relevance?
Immediate Tactical Flexibility
Rigid systems kill products. Amorim needs to adopt a test-and-learn mindset:
4-2-3-1: Fernandes as #10, midfield stability with Mainoo and Mount.
4-3-3: Midfield dominance, width from wingers.
4-1-4-1: Compact defence, counterattacking pace.
United has the players. They just need a system that suits them.
Academy Revolution
Buying solutions is a sugar high. Building them is sustainable. Ajax and Dortmund have shown how youth pipelines sustain identity and success. United needs:
Mandatory first-team training for top U-18s.
Strategic loans to Championship clubs.
Cultural anchors like Mainoo and Amad are leading the dressing room.
Coaching Structure Overhaul
United’s weaknesses are glaring: set pieces, finishing, mentality. Solve them with specialists.
Hire set-piece experts, and drill the team hard on it.
Bring in finishing coaches, and instil that killer instinct in our attackers.
Embed sports psychologists to restore belief and confidence.
And crucially, ensure continuity between the academy and first team so the philosophy survives managerial changes.
Performance Monitoring & Accountability
You can’t fix what you don’t measure. Set KPIs:
Squad age profile between 24–27.
At least 30% of the squad from the academy within five years.
Break-even under PSR in two seasons.
Consistent top-six finishes.
Review quarterly, with real consequences for failure.
Final Thoughts: The Long Road Back
Manchester United’s fall isn’t just about managers or transfers. It’s about a system that lost its soul: poor leadership, broken structures, and no clear vision. For fans like me, it’s been over a decade of waiting, hoping, and watching the club stumble from one false dawn to another.
But here’s the thing: I still believe. (Even) Liverpool showed us that a giant can be rebuilt, brick by brick, with the right culture and leadership. And maybe, just maybe, this latest collapse, finishing 15th, losing to a fourth-division side, is the rock bottom we needed. Because rock bottom is where true transformation starts.
As a fan, I don’t want rhetoric, I don’t want PR spin. I want my club back. I want belief, structure, and the grit that defined 1999. The blueprint is there. The history is there. The heart is still there in the stands, bleeding red.
The only question now is: will Manchester United find the courage to rise again?
👉 Over to you: what do you think? Is this the start of a rebuild or just another false dawn? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.