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Nobody really spoke of "United Way" when Sir Alex Ferguson, the Premier League winner's medal hanging on his neck, said goodbye to the club he had formed for three decades in his image.
The legendary Scotsman reflected well on the fabulous manners of Manchester United in his speech to the Old Trafford faithful, but that had nothing to do with the style of the team on the pitch.
Instead, Ferguson spoke of the need to "support our new director" – words that would not prevent David Moyes from lasting nine months as his predecessor, but reflected how he had time to prove himself as soon as he arrives at Old Trafford. Manchester United is not a dismissal club, they used to say.
The words on the style of football identity have been left out. These came in the years following Ferguson's retirement: not the man himself, but others who seem to want to reinterpret the days of glory. Never before has the so-called "Centraide" been mentioned as much as in the past year, to the point that myth distorts reality.
Other artists
It is certainly true that Manchester United under Ferguson was at his best, an entertaining team to watch. They provided some of the most dramatic moments in the history of English and European football, from their turnaround at Camp Nou in 1999 to Manchester derby winner Michael Owen more than ten years later.
But if United could have focused on football, it was a loose game.
Ferguson has never been a philosopher like Johan Cruyff or Pep Guardiola. In fact, he was sometimes pragmatic, for example when he recognized the need to appeal to Carlos Queiroz to help organize a defensive organization in Europe.
Manchester United, especially back from Ferguson's term, was even boring at times. If they had an identity, if they had a philosophy, as it became a requirement for any modern creative team, she was a winner. This is what has defined the United which has become the predominant force of English football.
All this has been embellished recently. It may be a reflex reaction to the slags served by Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Moyes before him. In recent years, the performances have been so serene that it is natural that the support of Old Trafford has restored its collective spirit at the time.
Put straight
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However, if "United Way" is used to inform the way forward, it is important to correct some misconceptions. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it has been widely circulated and plans to restore old traditions – but do Norwegians really have an idea of what these methods are?
Many seem to think that the deployment of Solskjaer players such as Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford as a counter-attacking unit constitutes a "United Way". .
Some of those moments have certainly been marked: see Cristiano Ronaldo's goal at Emirates Stadium in 2009 or Wayne Rooney's strike on the break in the same stadium a year later.
But United has usually dominated the games with the ball at his feet. They stifled the opponents with possession of the ball, not like the great Guardiola team in Barcelona, but where they took full control of the competitions. Suggestions that Ferguson's teams would base their strategy on quick breaks are another sign of the famous "United Way" contortion.
Some might argue, with some justification, that its origin goes back to the era of Sir Matt Busby, the man who – according to folklore – introduced football into the English game. But do Manchester United fans and experts really rely on what they thought was true about the 'United Way' of the '50s and' 60s?
At best, those who speak of the famous "United Way" are nostalgic merchants who see the club's past successes through pink tinted glbades. At worst, they are revisionists who shape the past according to their present arguments.
Whatever the case may be, Solskjaer and Manchester United as a whole should not let their plans for the future be dictated by a set of exaggerated and distorted principles and values over time.
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