Manchester United: A conflict between past and present

Legends are created by winning trophies; not once, not twice but year after year without losing focus, without getting bored of winning, to always have that urge to get one more.

Such legends are hard to come by in today's dynamic football environment where lack of instant success is frowned upon and alternatives are prepared at the slightest turbulence.

Speaking of legends, there's one name that sits among the elite- Sir Alex Ferguson. The Scottish gaffer won accolades with Manchester United year after year, without tiring, without getting bored, without losing the drive.

Sir Alex was appointed as the United Manager in November 1986 but it wasn't until three and a half years later that he delivered his first silverware in the form of FA Cup.

The next season, United won the European Cup Winners' Cup. Yet, he had to wait two more seasons to win his first league title in the 1992-93 season. It took him six years to get the team to where he wanted it to be.

What followed was sheer dominance by United in English football, winning trophies after trophies year after year. When the time came for him to step down after 26 years at the helm, he had raked in 38 trophies including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles confirming him as the most decorated manager in English football.

Looking forward, it's rather unlikely that we will get to witness something as close to what Sir Alex did at United.

He didn't just deliver success instantly. It took him years to lay the foundation, years before he had something to show for the progress that the club was making under him.

Yet the club stuck by him and showed its support. After his retirement, the club was obviously at crossroads as they needed someone to replace the legend. Every appointment since has failed under the weight of the expectations, of the legacy that needs to be preserved, of the manner in which football is played.

No one could/can just come in and emulate Sir Alex or his legacy. Every manager after him had one common thing to say- the history.

When you have something that big to replicate, it's going to be close to impossible. The club needs to move past history and start creating something in the present. What happened in the past will stay there. For the players to have their own share of history, they need to do something in the present. As Ibrahimovic pointed out -

"Everything that happens is judged by the era of Ferguson. They are saying if Ferguson was here, this would not happen, Ferguson would not do it like that. Ferguson would do it like this. Everything was Ferguson.

"If it was me, I would say I don't have Ferguson any more. And I come here and I want to make my own history, I want to make my own story. So I do not want to hear what happened before. I want to do it in the present. You come in with a new mentality.

"Ferguson has his place in history at this club but now the club continues. It has to find its own identity and it is difficult."

For the club to prosper now, it needs to come out of its shadow and move beyond the past.

When all you can think of is yesterday, there will be no tomorrow.