It’s not my Club

So I start writing this on April 19, 2022 hours after ‘my Club’ had just been annihilated by our biggest rivals Liverpool 4-0, which was a let off for us. I’d like to say it was a one-off but it was actually very predictable, as we’ve been on this road all season, arguably the easiest team to play against or around in the league. The whipping boys for our biggest rivals Liverpool and City having seen them put a combined 15 goals against us this season with only 1 in return and 7 of them coming at Old Trafford. How we’re still in contention for top 4 is remarkable, although of the bunch competing to throw it away (Arsenal, Spurs, West Ham making up the other places) Man Utd are the worst by some stretch.

Today’s game (if you can call it that since it usually requires more than one team to make it a game) highlighted that despite how bad we are we don’t even show up for one-off big games anymore. Something that in recent seasons we’ve managed to do having a decent record against Man City (we beat them home and away in 2019/20 and took 4 points off them last term - little victories I know) and other big teams when against the odds.

Liverpool is the game though where Man Utd should be up for it above any other team, irrespective or form, league positioning, everything. It’s Spurs to Arsenal, Madrid to Barcelona, Rangers to Celtic, River Plate to Boca…you get the jist.

I’m very much aware of the ‘bigger problems’ at Old Trafford, the Ownership, the Managers, Scouting, brand transfers, ‘jobs for the boys’ culture and commercial product prioritising the football, which has generated this ‘reward for failure’ attitude, which in turn has polluted the team. Watching Richarlison play keep ups with his head when we played Everton or Liverpool making us seem like statues as they danced around us demonstrates our players don’t even care that they’re having the p*** ripped out of them. Some of the other opposing fans don’t even care enough to take the piss out of us anymore.

Without sounding like Graeme Souness, the face and epitome of this period is Paul Pogba. The £290k a week ‘so called’ talisman who Sir Alex (SAF) clearly saw only fit enough for a free transfer to Juventus in 2012, doesn’t even seem fit to be given away now with no team currently rushing for his signature. SAF clearly saw his mentality wasn’t where it needed to be after Pogba sulked for not being brought on in game United ultimately lost at home to Blackburn in the 2011/12 season. Pogba, then a youth team player with 1 or 2 sub appearances to his name deemed himself relevant enough to show his frustration leading to SAF getting him out of the door ASAP. ‘Ability will only get you so far, it’s mentality which will take you all the way’, a paraphrased quote from SAF, which Pogba is a perfect example of.

It is his ‘commercial value’ though that is of importance to the United hierarchy. His social media followers, who buy his shirts, follow his haircuts, following where he visits…subscribers is where the money is, not fans. The same can be applied to Ronaldo, as this is the only reason United pay him £400k a week, the difference being Ronaldo still has the professionalism and winning mentality to give his all to gain success…this though is simply a bonus to his commercial value.

Pogba could have gone 3-years ago for a chunky £150m but United needed to retain his commercial stock, not his playing ability. He’ll now walk out of Old Trafford this summer on a free, with Lingard, Cavani and possibly Ronaldo. If Beckham had been around in today’s game, he’d not have been allowed to leave despite his off-field distractions, which led to SAF pushing him out of the club. Add to this Ruud, Kanchelskis or Ince before him. These players had to leave to enable the team to progress, move forward, remove toxicity and also enable the Manager to retain full power and make other players realise no one player is above it. Since then with the shift in player power, Moyes, van Gaal, Jose and Ole have all been seen off by the players and Ragnick is surely not taken seriously given he won’t be in the role next season.

This however, is the reason the players play the way they do, or don’t more accurately. They will get paid anywhere between £100k-400k a week regardless of match performance and have all the power, so why should they care about the manager or the match going fan who spent his months salary going to games and following you the length of the Country and Europe?

As mentioned, there are many issues at the club from top down and this stems from financial jockeys not letting the football side be autonomous and able to prioritise football over commercial gain. Maybe less focus on promoting Hotel stays in a club box Rio Ferdinand (who wants to be taken seriously as an analyst) and more focus on giving autonomy to a backed Manager and his coaching team.

Growing up in the 1990s, I was very lucky to have enjoyed 2 decades of success from 1990 to 2013, due to the genius that is SAF. This was a time before Technical Directors, 30 coaches, Transfer committees, etc and I get football has evolved and developed since and there was no-one better than SAF for adjusting to change. Wenger, Jose, new money City and Chelsea all came and challenged but SAF saw them all off. His genius stock only increases the more football evolves, as one man did the job of maybe 20 in today’s game.

I still recall the magic of going to Old Trafford for the first time, December 27th, 1995, a 2-1 win against QPR (William Prunier played for us that day). My Dad recalls a memory from the following year, a European group game against Rapid Vienna at Old Trafford on a European night. The pitched seem to glow and shivers ran up my spine as the Stretford End roared out “UNITED UNITED UNITED”.

It all started out when my Dad bought me a copy of a Manchester Evening News special in May 1993. ‘CHAMPIONS’ it read across the front page. I was 10-years old and up until this point hadn’t really been into football. A mate of mine actually supported Liverpool so like you did at that age I said I supported Liverpool if anyone ever asked and I did have a few posters on my wall but only recall a player called Torben Piechnik from that time, which perhaps tells you all you need to know about my knowledge of the game at that time. However, once my dad gave my that M.E.N. Special and I started reading about the title win and players such as Robson, Cantona, Hughes and Schmeichel, a natural affinity evolved in me. People say I was glory hunting, but after this I became obsessed. Ask anyone of my mates what I’m like with Man Utd through the 1990s and they’ll tell you it’s all I talked about and still do to a large extent. Watching Cantona’ or Mark Hughes volley against Wimbledon and Oldham in the 1994 FA Cup run respectively, Lee Sharpe’s back-heel against Barcelona in the Champions League later that year or Giggs winner against Arsenal in 1999, they all still send shivers down my spine to this day. Yes they were great during this time in terms of ability but they also had the mentality, that never say die attitude. The Nou Camp in 1999 was the ultimate evidence of that attitude.

I digress a little here but one key factor that was always instilled into United players through this period was to be up for the big games and especially Liverpool who SAF once said he wanted to “knock off their f****** perch!” I see how great a team Liverpool are, great players applied to a system set by Mr Klopp but even Ole had a means of unsettling these types of teams, playing counters on the break, nearly claiming a win at Old Trafford in late 2019 and derailing them the season before with a goalless drawer played out handing advantage to our noisy neighbours across the City.

In the run up to the 2018 title, United played City at the Etihad and despite being in 2nd, City were way ahead in 1st and a win in this game would seal the title with games to spare. City dominated 1st half and cruised into a 2 goal lead by half time. Today echoed this. However, at half time, we later learned Jose had delivered a SAF esque motivated half time speech (think half time at Nou Camp in 1999 “how would you feel if you had to walk past the trophy and not be able to touch it”) “let’s not be not be the clowns of the party”, is what Jose apparently said to the players. It spurred the United players on with Pogba of all people scoring an early 2nd half brace getting us back level with Chris Smalling adding a 3rd with 20-minutes to go. United ran out 3-2 winners and yes City went onto to claim the league title later but not on our f***** watch roared the travelling support after the game. “YOU WON F*** ALL ON DERBY DAY!”

I think Roy Keane’ summary was spot on today. "It’s so sad to see because it is not the club I played for. It is not what Manchester United stood for when I played for them, it is just chalk and cheese. I don’t see a Manchester United team out there fighting or playing with pride."

Growing up watching Keane in his pomp surrounded by other great players who never gave up, scoring late late winners, coming from behind, making other teams crack and rising to the challenge of any team in the world, it’s a huge fall from there to what we saw today. We mock Man City fans for their club only being formed in 2008 (Abu Dhabi takeover) with absolutely no connection to the Man City pre 2008. However, it seems Man United have inverted this having no connection to the Man Utd pre 2013. Once SAF left, the Glazers commercial gravy train kicked into action and today we saw the end product of that.

11 men standing between their greatest rivals and a record equalling 20th league title and despite all the history, honour, rivalry, they couldn’t get up for the match. There was to be no repeat of that win over City in 2018. After all they’ll still be paid 6-figures this week and that just ain’t my club.