Meulensteen would fancy a return to United

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen is open to a return to Old Trafford and has claimed David Moyes failed at the club because he ignored advice from the Dutchman.

Meulensteen, who had a short spell as Fulham coach earlier this season, claimed that had United appointed a top-name coach last summer, they would still be in contention for the Premier League title, rather than in seventh place and with a chance of failing to make the Europa League places.

“I’m open to it, of course,” said Meulensteen, pictured, of a possible return to Old Trafford, where he had a good relationship with Robin van Persie and has already spoken to new United boss Ryan Giggs. “I didn’t leave Manchester United because I wasn’t satisfied with the club. I left because I got the feeling my position at United would be undermined and hollowed out, right from the first conversation I had with Moyes.

“Moyes ignored all the well-intentioned advice me and other people who were successful at the club for years. We could have made his life as United manager so much easier. But he wanted to do things his own way. These are the consequences. If the next manager thinks I can be of value to the club, then I’d be up for it.”

Meulensteen spent over 10 years as a coach at United, the last six of which were with the senior team. He knows Giggs well and told Dutch magazine Voetbal International he has spent a lot of time on the phone to the Welsh boss.

“This week me and Ryan Giggs spoke about everything,” he continued. “Ryan can grow to become an excellent manager at United. He knows the club, the culture and the style of play that made the club successful, and he has the charisma like no-one else.

“He isn’t extrovert, but everyone listens to him when he says something. I expect Ryan to be a Ferguson-type manager. Not someone whose strength it is to do training and coaching, but someone who can gather a strong team around him.”

Meulensteen does not expect Giggs to get the job full-time – at least not right now. “If you make his position permanent, you can start building something again. But that takes time, you need patience. In my eyes, it’s more likely the Glazers will want to compete again as fast as possible. And then you go CV-hunting, with names like Van Gaal, Conte, Ancelotti and Blanc.”

Meulensteen saved his most stinging criticism for Moyes by comparing him to other big-name coaches, wondering what they would have done with the same squad of Premier League champions Moyes inherited from Ferguson. “This squad became champions with an 11-point lead last year. With a manager like Pep or Mourinho, United would still have competed at the top, I’m sure of that.”