Sliding doors moments in United history

[Skills]

We sack Moyes after the 4-1 loss to Man City. The old guard under an interim carry us to Champions League football, which puts us in a decent position the next summer.

Because we've got CL football, we sign Alexis Sanchez instead of Di Maria who helps us regularly get CL football for the next few years and might have just enough star quality to help us sneak a title in the Leicester year.

 

[Rojofiam]

Oh boy will these be unpopular and controversial, but here we go

1. If Moyes was given time and funds to rebuild the squad, I could see us winning our 21st title instead of Leicester in 2016 due to the fact that it was such a low points tally finish (81) and every other top 6 club was struggling that year. That alone would've bought him so much time, though, that he probably would've managed to see out his original six year contract that ran until 2019. Now, I'm not saying that Moyes is a world class manager and he would've been the second coming of Ferguson, but I think we would've been in a much better place by giving him more time than the LVG & Mourinho disasters.

2. If we let Ronaldo join City in 2021 and sign no one / a midfielder instead, we would've finished third last season on around 80-85 pts and Ole would still be our manager. We probably would've signed Haaland and Rice, which would mean us challenging, maybe even winning the league this season.

3. Had we managed to avoid getting robbed in the CL in 2010 & 2013, we would've went to the final in both seasons, but probably would've lost to both José's Inter and Heynckes' Bayern Munich. We would've been CL runners-up in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

4. If Ferguson stayed in 2013, Ronaldo would've left Madrid and rejoined the club that summer and I reckon we would've gone on to win at least 2 more CL titles between 2013 and 2018.

5. We probably could've and should've won the CL in 2002 and 2004 but got upset by smaller teams in both seasons. I was too young at that time, though, so cannot say for sure because I wasn't even following football back then. But I've always got the impression that we missed out on 2 CL titles.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

The Nani red card vs Madrid. If that doesn’t happen I think we edge that game and go through. Perhaps Fergie would have been sitting on one more European title.

Nah we weren't touching Bayern that year. They were a machine (as was Dortmund tbf).

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Oh boy will these be unpopular and controversial, but here we go

1. If Moyes was given time and funds to rebuild the squad, I could see us winning our 21st title instead of Leicester in 2016 due to the fact that it was such a low points tally finish (81) and every other top 6 club was struggling that year. That alone would've bought him so much time, though, that he probably would've managed to see out his original six year contract that ran until 2019. Now, I'm not saying that Moyes is a world class manager and he would've been the second coming of Ferguson, but I think we would've been in a much better place by giving him more time than the LVG & Mourinho disasters.

2. If we let Ronaldo join City in 2021 and sign no one / a midfielder instead, we would've finished third last season on around 80-85 pts and Ole would still be our manager. We probably would've signed Haaland and Rice, which would mean us challenging, maybe even winning the league this season.

3. Had we managed to avoid getting robbed in the CL in 2010 & 2013, we would've went to the final in both seasons, but probably would've lost to both José's Inter and Heynckes' Bayern Munich. We would've been CL runners-up in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

4. If Ferguson stayed in 2013, Ronaldo would've left Madrid and rejoined the club that summer and I reckon we would've gone on to win at least 2 more CL titles between 2013 and 2018.

5. We probably could've and should've won the CL in 2002 and 2004 but got upset by smaller teams in both seasons. I was too young at that time, though, so cannot say for sure because I wasn't even following football back then. But I've always got the impression that we missed out on 2 CL titles.

#2 is pure delusion my goodness.

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Oh boy will these be unpopular and controversial, but here we go

1. If Moyes was given time and funds to rebuild the squad, I could see us winning our 21st title instead of Leicester in 2016 due to the fact that it was such a low points tally finish (81) and every other top 6 club was struggling that year. That alone would've bought him so much time, though, that he probably would've managed to see out his original six year contract that ran until 2019. Now, I'm not saying that Moyes is a world class manager and he would've been the second coming of Ferguson, but I think we would've been in a much better place by giving him more time than the LVG & Mourinho disasters.

2. If we let Ronaldo join City in 2021 and sign no one / a midfielder instead, we would've finished third last season on around 80-85 pts and Ole would still be our manager. We probably would've signed Haaland and Rice, which would mean us challenging, maybe even winning the league this season.

3. Had we managed to avoid getting robbed in the CL in 2010 & 2013, we would've went to the final in both seasons, but probably would've lost to both José's Inter and Heynckes' Bayern Munich. We would've been CL runners-up in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013.

4. If Ferguson stayed in 2013, Ronaldo would've left Madrid and rejoined the club that summer and I reckon we would've gone on to win at least 2 more CL titles between 2013 and 2018.

5. We probably could've and should've won the CL in 2002 and 2004 but got upset by smaller teams in both seasons. I was too young at that time, though, so cannot say for sure because I wasn't even following football back then. But I've always got the impression that we missed out on 2 CL titles.

We would've won in 2004 if we weren't robbed in that Porto tie. Not sure about 2002, it's a final so who knows but that Madrid team would've been difficult to beat.

 

[galwayfa]

if Dion Dublin didn't break his leg, would we have gone after Cantona,

 

[Drizzle]

David Hirst / Eric Cantona. Hirst was Fergie's preference but it didn't work out. But on a phone call with the Leeds chairman in 1992, Eric was mentioned speculatively...

And thus the catalyst for our second great era was secured.

 

[Moriarty]

1969. The referee awards Denis Law's goal which means it's 2-2 on aggregate against Milan. The King himself said that we would have gone on to beat them if that goal had stood because we were all over them. I can't disagree. We had Milan pegged back for most of the game. We would have played a young Ajax side in the final and most likely would have retained the European Cup.

 

[Moriarty]

Tommy Doc doesn't get fired in 1977. United would have been league champions by 1980.

 

[Red the Bear]

1969. The referee awards Denis Law's goal which means it's 2-2 on aggregate against Milan. The King himself said that we would have gone on to beat them if that goal had stood because we were all over them. I can't disagree. We had Milan pegged back for most of the game. We would have played a young Ajax side in the final and most likely would have retained the European Cup.

This is another infuriating one.

 

[Moriarty]

This is another infuriating one.

I was there that night. Best ran them ragged to the point they had two defenders on him for a lot of the time. Milan pulled every dirty trick in the book as they did in the first leg and the United fans reached such a point of frustration that they bombarded Cudicini's goalmouth with coins, cans, gold balls, and bottles. Every decision went Milan's way that night.

 

[harms]

1989 Fa Cup semi final v Forest. We lost 1-0 but had we beaten them, we would have faced Liverpool in the semi-final. The Hillsborough disaster doesn't happen as the semi final between United and Liverpool is almost certainly moved to another ground.

David Moyes stays on instead of Van Gaal and buys 2014 Toni Kroos to be our midfield lynchpin for the next 7-8 years. Maybe Moyes is eventually sacked but at least we have a world-class player in a key position that was lacking.

It's like that shiba inu meme.

Hillsborough doesn't happen | David Moyes gets sacked a few months later*

*in all likeliness we'd struggle to implement Kroos and he ends up another United's transfer failure.

 

[harms]

The Nani red card vs Madrid. If that doesn’t happen I think we edge that game and go through. Perhaps Fergie would have been sitting on one more European title.

Porto 2004 and Bayern 2010 were clearer paths to another title to be fair (and both were relatively easy to overcome with this hypothetical time machine). In 2013 we wouldn't have been favorites in the final against Bayern, at least.

 

[Adebisi's Hat]

Schmeichal making that penalty save from Bergamp in 99. Had that gone in the momentum would have swung to Arsenal and no treble and probably a dud if a season.

 

[Murder on Zidanes Floor]

I say the Aguero moment. Still think the QPR players and Paddy Kenny effectively threw the game, that aside if they don't get that result and league win, I think they don't end up as successful as they are now.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Moyes not coming surely means any professional manager at least keeps us top 4 and the meltdown doesn't snowball.

Jose comes in 2013

 

[fps]

Shearer and Gazza, we still were the best team in England without them?

Ronaldinho - maybe but look at what Ronaldo and Rooney did without Ronaldinho in the way of development.

Hazard maybe. Haaland sure.

Just the point was Kroos seemed to be signed and done and then Van Gaal went out of his way to block it.

And also that our midfield has struggled for years, Kroos would have made a big difference.

Hazard is a big one. It’s one where the evidence we HAVE is of failure, so we can really think about who could have been the spark to keep the team on top.

 

[RedDevil@84]

How good would Luke Shaw have become had he not received that horrific leg break in 2015?

I am not so sure. He had a good 2013-14 and then an average 2014-15 and then looked good for just 7 games in 2015 before the leg break. After seeing him for a decade, in his good and bad seasons, I don't think leg break was the reason for his bad seasons. Seems just like a convenient excuse.

 

[theralyst]

We beat Barca in 2009. Ronaldo probably doesn't leave back to back European champions. With him we most certainly win the league in 2011. No Aguero moment. No Real Madrid quadruple of CL wins. We are the best in Europe for a decade. Feck Liverpool.

 

[RVN1991]

We beat Barca in 2009. Ronaldo probably doesn't leave back to back European champions. With him we most certainly win the league in 2011. No Aguero moment. No Real Madrid quadruple of CL wins. We are the best in Europe for a decade. Feck Liverpool.

Ronaldo 1000% leaves regardless.

 

[Offside]

We beat Barca in 2009. Ronaldo probably doesn't leave

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

No Cantona ban in 95 and no Keane injury in 97 - likely looking at 9 titles in a row

 

[Skills]

Rooney's ankle injury in 2010. Completely different player after that

 

[Lentwood]

SAF actually follows through with his plan to retire in 2001.

As a result, there's no fallout with Coolmore over Rock of Gibraltar and no Glazer family takeover

 

[Offside]

Rooney's ankle injury in 2010. Completely different player after that

That’s not true. His peak form was in the second half of 2011.

 

[Skills]

That’s not true. His peak form was in the second half of 2011.

Even then I don't think he looked that dynamic again. He was scoring goals but not like the 2010 version who looked like the full package of his earlier years all action forward, coupled with a strikers instincts.

What that injury also robbed us of, was the ability to play him up top alone. He could never do it effectively again, and always needed to be coupled with someone to be effective.

 

[Al-T]

Tommy Doc doesn't get fired in 1977. United would have been league champions by 1980.

I've often wondered about this one. The team was on an upward trajectory.

From the previous season, what if Docherty hadn't replaced Stepney with Paddy Roche where we shipped ten goals losing to Liverpool, Arsenal and City. Could we have won the league that season?

 

[2 man midfield]

R9 not being given a work permit when we were trying to sign him from Cruziero. Him and Cantona up front - we’d never drop a point again!

 

[Revaulx]

Tommy Doc doesn't get fired in 1977. United would have been league champions by 1980.

We very nearly were league champions in 1980!

I loved The Doc, but I’m not convinced we’d have got any better under him. It would have been good to have had the chance to find out though.

 

[Chief123]

I know it’s early days, but I feel like the Brentford battering could be one of those events.

If we don’t get battered that day 0-4, I’m not convinced we go all out to sign Antony and Casemiro. Even a narrow defeat probably wouldn’t have led to the panic buying. Those 2 feel like they will play a huge part in our season going forward and could ultimately be part of the foundation that sets ETH up for years to come.

Otherwise we could have ended with a really mediocre season ultimately leading to another manager getting sacked.

 

[Red4Ever]

Still think the dodgy ref costing chelsea v Barca in 09 cost us too. United would have given chelsea a better game than we gave Barca

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

Real madrid playing a suspended Denis Cherysev (he had 5 yellow cards collected playing for villareal)led to them being excluded from the copa del rey, and benitez ended up being sacked...They appointed zidane, and the rest is history.

That's a brilliant one. Forgot about that.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

Starting Park and Rafael in midfield against Blackburn. We lost the match and the league that year. It forced Pogba's move away. Would he have flourished under Sir Alex. Not even sure he would have been able to control that ego.

 

[FujiVice]

If the ref gives that definite penalty against Ronaldo at Old Trafford against Portsmouth, no doubt we'd have won another treble.

West Brom, Cardiff and Barnsley in the semis. Reserve side level run after that game.

 

[Moriarty]

I've often wondered about this one. The team was on an upward trajectory.

From the previous season, what if Docherty hadn't replaced Stepney with Paddy Roche where we shipped ten goals losing to Liverpool, Arsenal and City. Could we have won the league that season?

That was the prevailing theory at the time. Putting Paddy in goal threw the whole team into a tizzy. I know that the Doc was trying to buy Shilton at one time so maybe he was trying to make a point to the board - he never said.

 

[Moriarty]

We very nearly were league champions in 1980!

I loved The Doc, but I’m not convinced we’d have got any better under him. It would have been good to have had the chance to find out though.

I think the Doc was hampered in the transfer market somewhat. Edwards didn't want to spend and Sir Matt still pretty much had veto power over transfers and wages. Matt wouldn't pay Sheffield United £50,000 for Tony Curry and, if memory serves, Colin Todd was vetoed as well. They didn't want to spend after letting Frank O'Farrell splurge on players.

 

[Sandikan]

Without that Aguero moment, Fergie retires and we don't sign Van Persie and enjoy a season of fantastic form cruising the league. Giving Fergie an even better route to leaving as a winner.

Don't foolishly ship Stam out early, and we probably don't sign Rio.

 

[Moriarty]

Fergie doesn't sue Cubic and shakes hands with the the Irish lads who stay on board. Glazer doesn't launch his leveraged takeover.

 

[Ole'sgunnarwin]

Without that Aguero moment, Fergie retires and we don't sign Van Persie and enjoy a season of fantastic form cruising the league. Giving Fergie an even better route to leaving as a winner.

Don't foolishly ship Stam out early, and we probably don't sign Rio.

Ferguson always said that was his biggest regret. I agree with you, I think we got Ferdinand because of it. It was that 2001/2002 season we were playing the likes of Blanc and Neville centre back. It was a disaster, Ferdinand was arguably one of our best ever signings.

 

[Revaulx]

I think the Doc was hampered in the transfer market somewhat. Edwards didn't want to spend and Sir Matt still pretty much had veto power over transfers and wages. Matt wouldn't pay Sheffield United £50,000 for Tony Curry and, if memory serves, Colin Todd was vetoed as well. They didn't want to spend after letting Frank O'Farrell splurge on players.

Ha - I was livid about Tony Currie, who was probably my favourite non-United player at the time.

Of course the O'Farrell splurge came after several years of not spending at all, despite having an aging team. He wasn't allowed to sign anyone the summer he was appointed, despite us desperately needing a defender and at least one midfielder. Buchan was a great signing, Storey-Moore would have been if not for the United injury curse. The less said about MacDougall and Davies the better, but things were desperate by then.

I think Todd was first suggested by Wilf when he was first appointed. He went to Derby and won the league twice; we ended up with Ian Ure...