The Cult of Sir Alex vs Wenger's restraint: Fletcher highlights Man Utd's biggest problem

Analysis

Manchester United interim manager Darren Fletcher was only in the Old Trafford hotseat for a matter of minutes before highlighting the Old Trafford club's problem since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Fergie retired from his role as Man Utd boss with a Premier League title under his arm nearly 13 years ago, but the club has never quite moved on.

“I don’t like to make major decisions without speaking to Sir Alex,” Fletcher said in a press conference. “And that’s something I’ve done since I’ve been at the club and with everything I do. I’ve got a really good relationship with Sir Alex, so he’s probably the first person I phoned, actually.”

The cult of Sir Alex at Man Utd cannot be overstated. Despite not managing the club for more than a decade, he still casts a long shadow at arguably the world’s most famous club to such an extent that he is still OKing decisions in the dugout to this day.

The Red Devils currently sit sixth in the Premier League, which is far from their worst performance in the post-Ferguson era, but it's miles from the club's peak.

“I wanted to speak to him first, and to ultimately get his blessing, to be perfectly honest with you,” Fletcher said. “I think he deserves that.”

An alternative approach in North London

Compare that with United's longtime rivals and current Premier League leaders, Arsenal.

Since departing as manager in 2018 after a 22-year tenure, Wenger has attended fewer than five Gunners matches. Fergie is visible at virtually every United home game, usually next to the club's part-owner, Jim Ratcliffe.

Wenger’s first time attending an Arsenal match came four and a half years after leaving his post, when he saw the Gunners beat West Ham 3-1 on Boxing Day in 2022.

Arsenal’s current manager, Mikel Arteta, seems to have a much healthier relationship with Wenger, under whom he played for five years between 2011 and 2016.

“Sometimes I don’t have to pick up the phone.” Arteta said about his coaching mentors to Sky Sports in November 2025. “Because the best thing is the example they have set for me with the standards and certain behaviours that I learned from them.”

When Arsenal finished eighth in consecutive seasons - 2019/20 and 2020/21 - Wenger did not intervene. Even when then-Arsenal head of football Raul Sanllehi was signing players like Willian, David Luiz, and Cedric Soares almost solely due to his connection with agent Kia Joorabchian, still Wenger did not stir.

Instead, he let the people in charge correct the course, because that was their job, not Wenger’s.

A difference in fortunes

The results speak for themselves.

After those two eighth-place finishes, Arsenal climbed up to fifth and then finished second in three consecutive seasons. Arteta now has them firmly on course for the title.

While Manchester United have had four top-three finishes since Fergie left, they have yet to win the league since their legendary manager’s final season. And there is little sign of those glory days being recaptured. Last season, they struck their post-Ferguson nadir by finishing 15th.

Sure, the Gunners haven’t won the league since Wenger left, but they also didn’t win it in Wenger’s final 14 years at the helm.

Some may argue that Wenger has been too busy in his role as FIFA’s Global Head of Football to watch Arsenal, but that’s exactly the point. He is staying busy instead of meddling with his former team.

When Ferguson moved on as manager, Manchester United should have put that glorious era behind them. Darren Fletcher has only served to prove that they haven't.