This Saturday afternoon saw Ryan Giggs make his managerial debut, as interim gaffer for the club he’s become a legend at as a player. He was appointed to the player-manager position after the Man United board’s patience ran out with previous boss David Moyes. United played a Norwich City side in terrible form, who are trying desperately to avoid relegation. The second half was probably one of the best stretches of football United have played all season, as they scored 3 goals, which – added to the first-half penalty goal from Wayne Rooney – propelled them to a 4-0 win at Old Trafford. As the game progressed, United appeared to become more and more confident, as the tempo picked up after halftime.
The Manchester United team on the pitch in the second half really did look quite different from what we’d seen the rest of the season. The players had great energy, and appeared to be genuinely enjoying themselves – something that can’t be said for most of the previous matches. Of course, it’s unlikely that Giggs’s tactics immediately caused United to tear apart Norwich’s back line. Everyone looked to be playing with an effort level that we’ve hardly seen this season.
Since he was appointed caretaker manager on Tuesday, Giggs has begun an obvious culture change at Manchester United. He’s had former United stars returning to the training ground at Carrington, reuniting part of the old “class of ’92” – Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville have all been helping out with the first team this (surely quite chaotic) week. To me, this was the perfect thing to do. The club had a lot of pessimism around it, mired in this dreadful season – sure to be United’s worst-ever in the Premier League era. Now, Giggs has brought back the club’s winning culture.
This team is full of champions, and now has been surrounded by legends who are used to winning trophies. Obviously there won’t be any trophies this year, but this change will surely be helpful as United try to end the season on a high note. Giggs, a decorated player, has the same demeanor as a coach; carrying over his winning attitude. The team seem to be trying to get back to playing like Manchester United. Giggs has played his whole career at United, so “the United way” is really the only philosophy he knows. As Juan Mata said after the Norwich match, “He’s a proper Man United boy”. With three games left now, surely they’ll want to win all of them.
Right now, it’s common knowledge that, in all likelihood, Giggs will not be appointed United’s full-time manager. There have been a lot of rumours that the club is close to an agreement with Louis van Gaal, the current manager of the Dutch national team, and former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss. It’s believed that the club is unlikely to consider Giggs for the permanent job, however I believe he deserves a look. Sir Alex Ferguson has already said that he’s in favour of Giggs managing. After Saturday’s game, Wayne Rooney told the press that “He’s got a lot of credentials to be the next boss”.
It gave most United fans goosebumps to see Ryan Giggs coming out of the tunnel at Old Trafford as a manager. It was quite an emotional moment (for me, at least), to see him commanding the sidelines for the club he’s been at since he was 14. He’s already an absolute legend in Manchester, and it would be surreal for him to progress so gracefully from academy player to first team gaffer.
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