From 1986 to 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson oversaw a period of immense success for Manchester United. Fans of the English club could nearly be forgiven for taking their regular triumphs for granted as the legendary manager delivered 38 trophies during his 26 years at Old Trafford. The Red Devils won 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and two UEFA Champions League titles under Sir Alex, among other various honours. Since he departed 10 years ago, however, significant silverware has been much harder to come by.

With that lack of success in mind, it's little wonder the club have hired and fired head coaches with reasonable regularity as they look to finally find someone good enough to bring United back to the top. Including interim managers, the Red Devils have had nine different men in the hot seat at Old Trafford, all with varying degrees of competence. Ruben Amorim was the latest man to fall victim to the job after being sacked on 5 January 2026. With the Portuguese coach's reign officially over and the Michael Carrick era in progress, GIVEMESPORT decided to take a look at who has actually been the best-performing boss in terms of points per game (PPG) since Sir Alex retired.

To put things in perspective, the 81-year-old oversaw 1473 games, averaging an impressive 2.01 points per game. That's a remarkable rate to maintain over such a long stretch of game and, at the other end of the spectrum, the interim managers listed below obviously only took charge of a handful of matches. So just bear that in mind when looking at the rankings.

9 Ruben Amorim - 1.43 PPG

63 matches

When Ruben Amorim arrived from Portugal, there was plenty of hope that the coach who had impressed so much at Sporting Lisbon could get Manchester United heading in the right direction. However, he failed to really convince he was the right man for the job, especially with his stubborn attitude, which left him unwilling to consider a new system beyond his preferred 3-4-3 formation.

He took over in November 2024 and by January 2025 had claimed that his team as "probably the worst team in the history" of the club. Man Utd lost the UEFA Europa League final to Tottenham at the end of the 2024/25 season, and finished 15th place with just 42 points – the team's lowest Premier League finish ever. Things didn't improve much in 2025/26, and he was sacked in January, leaving after 14 months in charge, during which he secured 25 wins in 63 games across all competitions.

8 Ralf Rangnick - 1.45 PPG

29 matches

Ralf Rangnick arrived in December 2021 and was only ever intended to be an interim manager until the end of the 2021/22 season. However, there was a plan for the Austrian to continue in a consultancy role at Old Trafford for a further two years on top of his initial position as a coach.

His time in charge did not go well, though, as he picked up an average of just 1.45 points per game across 29 matches. As a consequence, United finished the season in 6th place with 58 points, which was their worst points-total record in their Premier League history (at the time). In the end, Rangnick didn't even stick around to take on the consultancy role as he left England to become the Austria national team manager. Of all the Man United managers in the post-Ferguson age, he was by far the worst PPG until Amorim came along.

7 David Moyes - 1.73 PPG

51 matches

When David Moyes arrived from Everton, there was hope that the steely-eyed Scot would be the perfect replacement for Sir Alex. In hindsight, however, that position was always likely to be a bit of a poisoned chalice for whoever came in.

Such was the success of his predecessor, Moyes was never going to find it easy, but his poor record meant he only lasted 51 matches in charge of the Red Devils. In that time, he picked up 1.73 points per game, winning just 27 times. His 10-month spell won't be fondly remembered by many. Still, he has since gone on to remind many of his qualities during his time as West Ham United boss.

6 Ryan Giggs - 1.75 PPG

Four matches

With Moyes sacked, club legend Ryan Giggs came in to try and steady the ship for the rest of the season, acting as the club's interim player-manager. He stood in the dugout for the final four games of the 2013/14 campaign and did okay without changing too much.

Indeed, with a record of two wins, a draw and a defeat, Giggs managed 1.75 points per game – which was marginally better than what Moyes achieved. He stuck around at the club for another few years, working as assistant manager under Louis van Gaal, but left in 2016 when he was overlooked for the manager's job, which went to José Mourinho instead.

5 Michael Carrick - 1.75 PPG

32 matches

The honeymoon period may be over for Michael Carrick, but his position on this list is still respectable. The former midfielder oversaw three games at Old Trafford as caretaker when his old teammate Solskjaer left in 2021 – winning twice and drawing once, finishing his brief stint undefeated. At the time, this left him with an impressive 2.33 points per game and took him top of the list (although that achievement must be taken with a hefty pinch of salt).

Carrick was called upon again following the January 2026 sacking of Ruben Amorim. His impressive turnaround at United, which saw them finish third during the 2025/26 season, took him from caretaker to permanent manager ahead of the 2026/27 campaign. But like many United managers before him, the tide turned quickly without any real explanation.

From the opening 12 matches of the 2026/27 season, Carrick has won just twice and lost half of his fixtures in charge. The club legend has faced heavy criticism over the team's lack of tactical identity as well as having to deal with dressing room frictions caused by brutally outspoken interviews from key players. Whether Carrick survives the slump is another question, but if he doesn't turn things around soon, his ranking on this list will drop very quickly.

4 Louis van Gaal - 1.81 PPG

103 matches

As alluded to above, Van Gaal took over the reins from Giggs after Moyes' poor season in charge and oversaw managerial duties for two seasons between 2014 and 2016. He only finished as high as fourth and then fifth in the league but managed to win the FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace in the 2016 final.

That was the first major honour won by any manager at United since Ferguson retired. With that being the case, the Dutchman deserves some credit for his time in charge and his average of 1.81 points across 103 games isn't the worst by any means either. Even so, he was sacked two days after his triumph at Wembley.

3 Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - 1.84 PPG

168 matches

Of all the managers on this list, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spent the most time in charge of the Red Devils in the post-Sir Alex Era, so he must have done something right. Well, he didn't win any trophies, but he did get them back in the Champions League at least, finishing third and second in his only two full seasons in charge.

He, of course, got the job off the back of a brilliant 19-game spell in charge as interim where he averaged 2.32 points per game. In the remaining 149 games of his time as official manager, that dropped to just 1.79 – meaning he averaged 1.84 points per game across 168 games in total. At least, for a little while, he returned some of the good feelings to Old Trafford, but that only carried him for so long as the results dried up, and he was consequently sacked in 2021.

2 Erik ten Hag - 1.84 PPG

128 matches

Of all the permanent managers on this list, Ten Hag has the joint second-best record. With 1.84 points per game, he performed worse than Sir Alex, who averaged 2.01 points-per-game, but far better than many who have attempted the same job as him. The Scot managed to maintain that across 1473 games, whereas Ten Hag's 128-match reign was considerably shorter.

Ten Hag did at least win a trophy in his first season, the Carabao Cup, and managed to get his team back into the Champions League with a third-placed finish. In his second campaign, he guided Manchester United to their lowest-ever Premier League finish at the time, eighth. Despite this, Ten Hag saved his job by clinching the FA Cup against bitter rivals Manchester City in May 2024. However, continued poor domestic form the following term meant that he not only lost his job months after extending his deal, but also dropped into the clutches of Solskjaer and finished on the same PPG record as the Norwegian.

1 Jose Mourinho - 1.97 PPG

114 matches

In his first season as Man Utd boss, Jose Mourinho won the double. Indeed, he won the League Cup and the Europa League, beating Southampton 3-2 and Ajax 2-0 in the respective finals. He is the only manager to win two major trophies in one season since Sir Alex left. He also won the Community Shield at the start of 2016, which United qualified for after Van Gaal's FA Cup success.

In the Premier League, his best success saw the club finish second in 2017/18. He has since called that finish one of the best in his career because "people don't know what is going on behind the scenes". He left mid-way through the next season having averaged 1.97 per game across 114 matches, leaving him top of the pile in the post-Ferguson era. Mourinho comfortably has the best PPG, as well as being the most successful manager on this list in terms of honours accrued at Old Trafford.