Brendan Rodgers finished 2nd with that team, how about that.
And Klopp finished 4th in his first full season with a net spent of 5m. How about that?
Manchester United DNA is a mytttthhhh, a MYYYTHHHHH, there is no "Manchester United DNA" we just happened to have a very successful manager. We aren't any more special than the next club ffs, stop perpetuating this romantic nostalgic nonsense, the Fergie era is GONE.
Yes and no.
The only "United DNA" there was(emphasis on was), was winning.
Everything else was variable, even during Fergie's time. We played 442, 451, 433. We setup to counter, full on attack, contain, etc We changed our playstyle depending on our strengths and weaknesses.
Let's look at the 2006-2009 team as an example.
The 2006-2007 team was about the all out attack. One of the most exciting United side's I've seen in my life. But after we got knocked out of CL by Milan, the whole dynamic changed.
The 2007-2008 team was similar, but more cautious. We tried containing our stronger opponents. Evidenced by the game at the Bridge and Nou Camp.
The 2008-2009 team was built on an insanely solid defense. The amount of 1-0 wins was out of this world. I think VdS had a record for most minutes without conceding no just in the Prem, but Europe as well.
Now why have I highlighted these team?
To simply show that there was no specific United DNA in the sense that we played "a certain way". This was even the case during SAF's years.
But our team was built on the youth! I hear you say
Yes and no. Bar the class of 92, we never had a world class come out of the academy and stake a place in the first team. We had our Brown's, O'Shea's and Fletchers, but we never head a truly world class talent emerge from the academy.
Most of our key players were bought elsewhere: Cole, Yorke, Keane, Veron, RvN, Rooney, Ronaldo, Rio, Vidic, VdS, Evra, RvP, etc etc
To summarize: There is no United DNA in the way we played or recruited players. The only DNA we had was winning which was instilled by SAF. Everything else was depended on the circumstance: the way we played, the players we brought through and bought, etc.