It has been 11 years since Manchester United won their latest Premier League title. It came during Sir Alex Ferguson's last season at Old Trafford, and when he bowed out, assistant coach René Meulensteen bowed out with him.

In an exclusive interview with Tribalfootball.com, the Dutchman, now serving as assistant coach for the Australian national side, reveals his surprise that The Reds have failed to win the Premier League, even if there were small signs of turmoil ahead.

"I knew it was going to be difficult because of the whole way that transition took place with Sir Alex Ferguson leaving, David Gill leaving, and then David Moyes coming in. Hindsight is a great thing, but I was sort of in the middle of it. At the back end of April, we got the news that Sir Alex Ferguson is leaving.

"It was very clear that David Moyes was coming in and it was like, 'David is coming in and everything stays the same'. Nothing was further from the truth and then I thought, 'this is going to be a difficult time'.

"Obviously, I didn't expect Moyes to be gone after only a few months but then you get that period of uncertainty. Every successful club is built on two main pillars; stability and continuity. Stability has to do with the people that are in there for a longer period of time.

"Ferguson was there for 26 seasons. I was there with him for the last six years. Many of the staff had been working there with him 10-20 plus years and that stability is important for the people and the constant quality you want to provide.

"You've got a vision of how to be successful and maintain it over the short, medium and longer period. If that all changes and that stability goes and other people come in, the vision changes. During Alex Ferguson's era there was a clear culture and clear identity.

"There was a clear playing style. There were clear ambitions and goals that everybody wanted to achieve. Everybody understood the expectations. Everybody understood the standards that needed to be met. Everybody took the responsibilities, both players and staff.

"All that over these past 11 years has basically been broken down and diluted. They try with quick fixes. Moyes comes in, then Van Gaal comes in. That doesn't work. Let Mourinho try. And none of them have worked so far."

Many pundits in the UK complain about the lack of system with Ten Hag. But we know he had a system at Ajax. For all we know, he's a very meticulous coach. What is going on at Man. United?

"I'm not sure. We all watch the same games. What I can't understand is; if you look at Eric ten Hag's history and development as a coach, going from Bayern Munich, learning from Pep, going into Utrecht, before getting to Ajax where he had a little bit of a difficult start. But he stamped his authority.

"He was very clear with his vision, the way that he wanted to play and he had very good players at that time with Ajax. Look where all the players went. And look how he played, won the league, how he did with Ajax in the Champions League. Especially the game away against Real Madrid was outstanding.

"That was all about good organization, good structure. That is the biggest surprise to me because I don't see any of that at Man United. And the thing is this; at Ajax, it was based on dominating possession. Now, nine out of ten times, teams that come to Old Trafford have got more possession.

"I know he's said at times, he doesn't have the players to do it. I'm not too sure about that. I'm not sure whether he has been able to get the message across. I think that's one of the difficulties you see at United and why they have been underperforming. There are certain questionable attitudes from certain players when it comes to the defensive duties. And that's why United is all over the place. When they lose possession, the opposition's got acres of space to run into."

Can a manager lose his focus? Trying to put out fires all over the place instead of sticking to what was his initial plan?

"Well, first of all, you need to avoid those fires starting and some of them have been started by himself. At a big club like Man. United you've always got issues to deal with. But it depends how sort of hands-on you are. The current situation is that he has got a lot of problems.

"When Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager, he managed everything. Me and guys like Mike Phelan took charge of the training. Ferguson had absolutely nothing to do with it. But I know that Ten Hag is very hands-on. I don't know how much he'll let the staff do a lot of the other stuff.

That's because he's a typical Dutch coach. In Holland, we don't really have that manager-coach scenario like we have here in England. I'm not saying that that doesn't work, but it obviously takes up a lot of energy. Me, I only had to focus on making sure I put the best possible training session up.

There's a story now that managers are being put off the Manchester United job due to punters like Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Roy Keane. Can you understand that?

"They have that relationship with Manchester United and they were very successful at it. The only thing they do is comment on what they see and what's happening. If United would have been playing absolutely fantastic football, winning and going into the Champions League final and pushing City to the title, they would be full of praise.

"It's not like they are the cause of managers failing. At the end of the day, the manager controls what's around the squad. If you are strong enough as a manager and you believe strong enough in your own ability and making sure you get it right, well…"

- René Meulensteen was talking to Tribalfootball.com on behalf of William Hill Vegas