Manchester United have a huge decision to make regarding the future of current manager and club icon Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, as pressure builds on the Norwegian.
Solskjaer 's side have now lost back-to-back games at Old Trafford, as Liverpool handed United a devastating 5-0 defeat a week before Man City embarrassed United 2-0 on Saturday afternoon.
MEN Sport understand that Solskjaer is still on borrowed time as United manager and, although it looks unlikely their fortunes will change, the club are yet to identify an obvious replacement should they decide to make a change.
Current Leicester boss, Brendan Rodgers, is favourite to replace Solskjaer at Old Trafford if United pull the trigger and sack Solskjaer during the international break.
So, if Solskjaer was to be sacked and Rodgers was to be appointed in his place, what would the outcome be?
To have a look, we simulated the remainder of this season and the entirety of the next in Football Manager 2021 with Rodgers in charge of Manchester United.
Brendan Rodgers' first two seasons as Manchester United manager simulated
To set up this simulation, we arranged for Rodgers to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United on FM22 after 11 Premier League games and simulated until the end of the 2022/23 season to see how the Northern Irish manager performed over a two-year spell.
This is Rodgers' in-game profile on Football Manager 2022.
Rodgers' preferred formation is a 4-2-3-1 (wide), which is a similar system to what Solskjaer implemented during his time at United, suggesting the current squad of players will be familiar with that formation.
The 48-year-old's preferred style of play revolves around quick passing and possession-based football, which didn't seem to suit the players at United under Solskjaer, but under Rodgers' they may find a winning formula.
So, where did United finish in both of Rodgers' seasons? Let's take a look.
United's 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons under Rodgers
Rodgers was able to lead United to a top-four finish in the Premier League, as the Reds finished third, 11 points off fierce rivals Manchester City and Liverpool.
Securing Champions League football for his first full season in charge at Old Trafford was a huge success for the Northern Irish manager, as he also took United to an FA Cup semi-final before being knocked out by former side Leicester.
United qualified from their Champions League group but were knocked out by Real Madrid in the Round of 16 after a 3-1 aggregate defeat.
Rodgers only made three signings in January, with central defender Nikola Milenkovic (Fiorentina) being the biggest signing at just under £20 million, whilst Edon Zhegrova (Basel) and Facundo Farias (Colon) joined the Reds for minimal fees.
The lack of activity in the winter transfer window suggests Rodgers is waiting until the summer to bring in players that fit his play style, or the United board were hesitant on giving Rodgers full access to funding straight away.
Rodgers' signings in January suggest he wanted alternative options in midfield and stronger depth at centre-back, with Raphael Varane suffering injury setbacks throughout the season.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Man United XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics.
This is what United’s best XI looked like at the end of the 2021/22 season as predicted by Football Manager 2022.
United's best XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Fernandes, Pogba; Sancho, Lingard, Rashford; Ronaldo.
Rodgers stuck with his favoured 4-2-3-1 (wide) formation, as Bruno Fernandes dropped into a deeper role alongside Paul Pogba, allowing for Jesse Lingard to start behind Cristiano Ronaldo.
With United preparing for a title challenge in 2022/23, Unites signed Renato Sanches (£30.5million) from Lille, Benjamin Pavard (£30million) and Niklas Sule (Free) from Bayern, Federico Bernardeschi (Free) from Juventus and striker Julian Alvarez (£5.25million) from River Plate.
Also, despite initially wanting to leave the club, Rodgers was able to convince Pogba to stay at the club.
Julian Alvarez turned out to be a revelation at Old Trafford, as Rodgers put his stellar coaching ability to work with the Argentine youngster, resulting in Alvarez being one of the most influential players at the club in his debut season.
Bruno Fernandes was the top performer under Rodgers, scoring 17 goals and registering 18 assists in 56 appearances across all competitions in 2022/23. But, Alvarez contributed 16 goals and five assists in just 30 starts for the Reds, showing the talent and ability he has to offer in attack.
Jadon Sancho also had an improved season at Old Trafford under Rodgers, as the 21-year-old was rotated throughout the season with Mason Greenwood on the right-wing. Sancho was able to contribute nine goals and seven assists in 30 starts for the Reds throughout the 2022/23 season, whilst Greenwood chipped in with a further eight goals in his 20 starts under Rodgers.
Marcus Rashford was a key player under Rodgers, nailing down a starting spot on the left wing for United and contributing 14 goals and four assists in his 56 appearances in all competitions.
A now 38-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo in-game was still heavily contributing for United, despite spending more time on the substitutes bench under Brendan Rodgers. The Portuguese superstar scored 13 goals and registered eight assists in 38 starts for United in the 2022/23 season.
This is what United’s best XI looked like at the end of the 2022/23 season as predicted by Football Manager 2022.
United's best XI in 2022/23: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Sule, Shaw; Sanches, Pogba; Sancho, Fernandes, Rashford; Alvarez.
New signings Niklas Sule, Renato Sanches and Julian Alvarez all feature in United's best XI for the 2022/23 season, as Ronaldo, Maguire and Lingard all drop out compared to the 2021/22 season.
In the cup competitions, United were disappointingly knocked out of the Champions League group stage on goal difference, after finishing third behind Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen in Group D.
But United did go on to win the Europa League following their Champions League exit, their first major trophy since winning the same competition during the 2016/17 campaign.
The Reds also reached the FA Cup semi-final for a second consecutive year and were knocked out to Manchester rivals, City, in the Carabao Cup third round.
But what about the Premier League?
In Rodgers' first full season at Old Trafford, United improved their Premier League finish from last season as they ended the 2022/23 season in second place, just five points behind eventual champions Liverpool, with the Reds mounting a significant title challenge.
United won a total of 80 points under Rodgers in 2022/23, the most league points won since Jose Mourinho's last season in charge in 2017/18, and significantly more than United won under Solskjaer in 2018/19 (66), 2019/20 (66) and 2020/21 (74).
Overall, Football Manager 2022 predicts that if United were to appoint Rodgers as their new manager to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the 48-year-old's tactics and play style, paired with some shrewd business in the transfer market, could lead to a big improvement in performances, points and trophies for the Reds this season and next.
In just one and a half seasons, Rodgers led United to back-to-back FA Cup semi-finals, a Europa League title and closed the gap to the top of the table, finishing 3rd and 2nd, showing progression in a short space of time, with high points totals too.
Do you think Brendan Rodgers would be the right appointment at Manchester United? Let us know in the comments!
