Louis Saha: Former PL winner claims Sir Alex would never have made this error

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·27 de novembro de 2025

Louis Saha: Former PL winner claims Sir Alex would never have made this error

Former Manchester United attacker Louis Saha was asked about the culture in the club’s dressing room.

Problem area

Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, the lack of control in the dressing room has often been the downfall of numerous different managers.

Vídeos OneFootball

A major issue at the club has often been players having too much control and influence over managers’ fate.

Moreover, years of over-spending on wages under the Glazers has been judged as detrimental to the motivation and health of the dressing room.

Saha sees light at the end of the tunnel

A 0-1 home defeat to ten-man Everton has certainly dampened the mood at Old Trafford but there has been an improvement over the horrors of last season.

Former United star Louis Saha was interviewed by Pundit Arena, and he was specifically asked about the improved attitude and atmosphere within the United camp.

He was asked about how the departures of the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford have helped in this regard and he retorted, “totally (the squad is much more harmonious). It’s the best transfer you can make. When you have one player who is not pulling their weight, you can just about manage. You can leave them out of the side and the rest of the squad can cope.”

He explained that it doesn’t matter how talented the player is, but when they are not performing well and doing their duty, they can “drag the team down a level.”

Saha explained, “it’s really hard for the manager to turn that situation around, so I think it’s very important to act decisively in situations like that, so Amorim got rid of them (the disruptive players).”

Positivity of the new boys

The Frenchman feels that the signings this summer represent an improvment not just on the pitch but also off it.

Saha explained, Amorim “replaced them with Sesko, Mbeumo and Cunha, and now United are playing at a higher level than what we had before. These three work hard, they’re willing to defend, they don’t think they’re bigger than the team. With a negative attitude, a team is in big trouble.”

The former Fulham striker believes United are more balanced now and that a squad needs to have more grafters, willing to sacrifice and pointed out the likes of the Neville brothers, John O’Shea and Wes Brown of examples of such players in his day.

Sir Alex Ferguson

The former striker also lamented the errors the club has made over recent years and stated things would have been very different were Ferguson still in charge.

Commenting on the Sancho deal he said, “honestly, I don’t think Alex Ferguson would have wanted to sign him. I think he knew that the best way to deal with players of Sancho’s profile is to never sign them. I think that’s where Man Utd went wrong in the market since he (Sir Alex) left.”

He elaborated, “if Sir Alex had looked at the player, he would not have wanted to sign Sancho from the off. If you picture a scenario where Fergie signs him, the environment at the club would have helped. Roy Keane, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, each of them would have been able to offer words of warning, or encouragement, to bring him along in the manner that players were expected to behave.”

Saha feels United have lacked such a presence in the changing room as of late to help the manager and club in this way.