That’s a cop out to me, and simplistic 20/20 hindsight. Any structure could have appointed Ten Hag. The point was the many a thesis that was written about our lack of success being due to us not having hired Michael whoever, who was the specialist data man, or Adam this and that in the position of link between the tea lady and centre forward like all the other top clubs who had recognised this years ago has all quieted. If all everyone meant was we need to overhaul the club from top to bottom to improve our chances of getting an effective manager they should have said that - but there was a fair bit of over analysis in my humble opinion.
When it’s all said and done and a transfer window closes, it is a manager and his players pretty much until the next 12 months passes. The fact that Woodward was held accountable for everything in between, or the lack of Chief x, or Technical lead Y always seemed far fetched to me. I don’t see any reason why the right manager could not have done better over the last decade at any point. Ten Hag has come in and largely been given the players he has asked for, despite me being told on here for ages that this is sacrilege and you need a transfer specialist or whoever to pick targets so that we can have ‘continuity’ or whatever.
If you get a top manager and a group of quality players, especially the ones he wants, there’s no reason to expect him not to do well.