Jurgen Klopp avoided Sir Alex Ferguson mistake that Man Utd is still paying for with Erik ten Hag

Manchester United is counting the cost of yet another failed managerial appointment after firing Erik ten Hag, in more ways than one.

The Dutchman was dismissed on Monday following United’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham – already the team's fourth loss in just nine league games this season. Sitting 11 points behind Liverpool in 14th, it already looks as though United's season is as good as over.

Of course, as Jamie Carragher has pointed out, Ten Hag should never have started the season in the first place. Instead, United saw fit to award him with a new contract, and according to the Daily Mail, now have to pay him up to $19.5m (£15m/€18m) after his firing.

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The mistakes go back much further than that for United though, and the Manchester club's failure since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement can be traced back to the legendary manager himself. Having announced his decision to step down in 2013, the Scot was given the chance to choose his own heir.

David Moyes was selected, and the result was disastrous. The former Everton manager didn’t even last a full season at Old Trafford, and United has been counting the costs ever since with a string of failed appointments.

As pivotal a figure as he was, Ferguson should not have been involved in the decision-making process, which Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp have proven since. When the German announced his impending departure in January this year, he was adamant that he wouldn’t have a say in his successor.

"No, why should I?" Klopp said. "The last thing they need is advice from the old man walking out who tells them, 'By the way, make sure you bring him in.' I will definitely not do that. You know for most of the things I have an opinion, and you will not believe that for most I still didn't say everything and I have no problem with that."

Klopp added: "In this world you have a few, in football especially, a few faces and most of the time it is the manager of the club and people like [CEO Billy Hogan] or others who do an incredible job you don't see that often. That's how you live this business.

"It looks like I do all the work but I don't, I can't. That means all what we built in the last 8½ years is an incredibly strong structure behind the scenes so everything goes in the right direction. That's the good news. That is one of the reasons why I can leave.

"My responsibility was so big that my idea was always to put everything in place to help with everything, that this club gets stronger and stronger, and we did that not to perfection but as good as we could. So many people work here with only one idea: to find a perfect solution for Liverpool and I am pretty sure that will happen."

It would have been understandable if Klopp wanted to have a say – after all, Liverpool has effectively been molded in his image since he arrived in 2015. He made the right call though, and Michael Edwards and co were given free rein to find the best man to step into the limelight.

They landed on Arne Slot, who is looking like an inspired choice. Of course, he still has a long way to go before we can truly call his appointment a success, but there can be little doubt that where Ferguson got it wrong, Klopp got it right.