Manchester United great Paul Scholes believes that the club can begin challenging for trophies again if they hire an 'elite' coach.
It's been a turbulent decade for United which has seen them lose their grip of dominance on English football. The Premier League hasn't been won since 2013 in Sir Alex Ferguson's last season and it's now been five years since any trophy was won at all.
A big step in ending the drought will be the hiring of the new manager, which United are hopeful of doing before the end of the season with the process now underway. However, that's made difficult by the fact that leading contenders Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag are both in high profile jobs at Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax, respectively.
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Hiring Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's permanent successor is a massive decision for United and will define the club's success in the coming years. Scholes believes that if they get it right then it might not be long before the club is contending for the big prizes again.
"I think they’re an elite coach away from challenging for trophies again," he said on BT Sport. "They’ve got a good squad with some top players, but for the last three or four years, they’ve not had an elite coach.
"You need a manager that strikes fear into players, Sir Alex Ferguson had that, have any of the managers since him had that? I don’t think so. It’s a special talent to have as a coach.
"Those Man City players under Pep, those Liverpool players under Klopp, they’ll get away with nothing. These players here (United) for the last two or three years have got away with murder. I’m not saying they’ll catch Man City or Liverpool, but I don’t think they’re far away from Chelsea, squad-wise, but once they get that right coach and have two or three years to build, they’ll be challenging again."
Scholes went on to add that he wouldn't look to hire Pochettino or Ten Hag. He said: "I would have gone for [Antonio] Conte or [Thomas] Tuchel.
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"It looks like one might be available at the end of the season. Those are two top class coaches that strike fear into players and win, which is the most important thing. United, with either one of those managers, would be much better off."
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