Manchester United have been branded the “poster boys of failure” after Toto Wolff’s revelation that he has used the Old Trafford club’s decline as a learning tool.
The boss of the Mercedes F1 team left no unturned he tried to understand the Silver Arrows’ struggles in 2022, which saw them well off the pace of Red Bull and Ferrari for most of the first half of the season. Before this year, Mercedes had won the previous eight constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ championships.
Part of his research included looking into the demise of Man United, who have lurched from one crisis to another in recent seasons. The Old Trafford club, now managed by Eric ten Hag, have made an appalling start to the season, with back-to-back defeats to Brighton and Brentford leaving them at the foot of the Premier League table.
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Referencing how United have coped since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, Wolff told the Financial Times: “I studied why great teams were not able to repeat great title [runs].
“No sports team in any sport has ever won eight consecutive World Championship titles and there are many reasons for that, and what is at the core is the human. The human gets complacent. You are not energised in the same way you were before. You are maybe not as ambitious.
“I often get the question: ‘How hard is that?’ I had so many periods, so many episodes in my life that I would judge as difficult, that this is not on the same scale. I don’t think it’s challenging in a way because I’ve had much harder times in all of my life, not particularly in Formula 1, but this is actually within my comfort zone.”
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Fans of Man United and other sides have taken Wolff’s comments as an opportunity to highlight the failings of the club under the Glazer family.
“Manchester United are now the poster boys of failure,” tweeted an Arsenal supporter while an F1 fan pointed out: “We all learn from the best, Toto learns from the worst.”
Another social media user suggested Wolff should have looked closer to home at another team in red, Ferrari, posting: “I mean there’s a better example in the paddock which has the colour red as well.”
Meanwhile, in response to Wolff’s comments, a Man United fan simply tweeted: “Shambles. We are a joke” while another added: “What a s*** show, even Toto’s coming at us lmao.”
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