There will be a lot of fluff and waffle written about Sir Alex Ferguson in the next few days, but there can be no truer tribute to him than this: His departure is unavoidably a massive blow for the club.

Putting a positive spin on it, he said the club was well-positioned for "another decade of success." But, unfortunately for United fans, that's cobblers.

One of the reasons why Ferguson leaving will be such a blow is that it's hard to imagine anyone else doing as well with such a limited team. Manchester City have a comfortably superior squad, and it's mainly because they have such an inferior manager that they have finished second best this year.

Of course, that's also why they made such hard work of winning the title last year, but the fact that United were even in contention last year was one of Ferguson's greatest achievements. Mourinho could not have done that - probably no one could.

In that sense, David Moyes is the ideal replacement, because he's used to getting a team to perform beyond reasonable expectations.

But without Ferguson's genius to inspire them, United barely have the players to stay at the top, let alone improve. Their best defenders - Ferdinand, Vidic and Evra - are over 30. Their best midfielder is Michael Carrick - 'nuff said.

In attack, yes, Van Persie is the business, but he's 29. Hernandez is promising, but he may move on if he doesn't get to play regularly, and Welbeck is no worldbeater.

This has also been Rooney's worst season for United by far, despite his decent goals tally, and there are rumors that he wants to leave.

Compared to other teams that are in contention for the big prizes, there's a surprising dearth of class among United's younger players. There simply isn't anyone coming through that looks really promising.

All of this would be less of a concern if United could still compete with the other big teams in the transfer market. Unfortunately, it all comes back to the big "despite" that hovers over Old Trafford.

Ferguson has done remarkably well, despite the Glazers and their bloodsucking takeover. He has done better than anyone could have imagined.

Will the next guy succeed as well? It would take a miracle.

The author is a copy editor with the Global Times. thomasjohnspearman@globaltimes.com.cn