You know why Manchester United is the biggest club in
the world, everytime we get beat the entire world shouts apocalypse. So it’s
natural that following the opening day defeat to Swansea, cries for Glazer Out,
Woodward Out, rumours of LVG resigning as a protest have hit an all time high.
I am in no way saying we have done wonders in the transfer window. The 3
successive windows since SAF departed have seen ManUtd drift away from their
policy of finding value in the transfer window. Fact is, we have definitely
overpaid for each of the 4 signings. Reality is, every new manager and new
chief executive at a football club tend to pay over the odds for a new signing
and tend to invest in a few players that aren’t really needed.
LVG summed it up perfectly, when he said the squad was
imbalanced. Truth, is Kagawa and Mata are top players who just don’t fit into a
traditional United way of playing. I applaud LVG for having the guts to try a
new 3-5-2 to accommodate these talented no. 10s. But what he would have sensed
last Tuesday against Valencia and realized on Saturday against Swansea, is that
the width of Old Trafford demands a 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2 formation. If the Home
team doesn’t utilize the width and pen back the opponent (as was the norm in
the Fergie days), naturally the opposition would try and exploit it. There is a
reason that for well over a century United have been all about width and
overlapping full backs, it isn’t lack of evolution, it is just that Old
Trafford demands it. LVG is a shrewd enough tactician, he can’t sell all
the no 10s he has in one window nor can he get the best wingers in the world in
one window. So, let’s be patient and not demand a brand new 11 in one transfer
window.
I have always liked the Glazers as owners, they have
made funds available when needed, they even broke the transfer record when
David Moyes was managing us through our worst season in recent memory. They have
let football people run the club. Which club in the world can boast of the
likes of SAF, David Gill and Bobby Charlton on their board. Also, let’s
swallow our pride as Manchester United fan and ask ourselves a few difficult
questions -
Do we have the largest stadium in the world?
Do we have the most number of European trophies?
Do we have the current best player in the world in our
ranks?
The answer to all is a massive NO. Yet, for some
reason we are the biggest club in the world. You know why, because over the
last decade the Glazers have maximized the strength of our fan base, our rich
history and converted us into a commercial monster that is the envy of each
club in the world. Today, we are the most valuable sports franchise in the
world, not bad for a club which as compared to Real Madrid doesn’t field a
first team worth half a billion euros. We have grown commercially without
needing to indulge in marque signings every season. Sure, SAF’s stability
played a huge role in that, but, remember when the Glazers took over– we were
going through one of SAF’s worst spell’s incharge – they backed him then didn’t
they? Even David Gill had admitted after he left, that the Glazers had opened
up a whole new paradigm for United financially. So, they have taken money out
of the club, they are not running a charity here, this is their most profitable
business why wouldn’t they?
Look, I am in no way connected to the Glazers or their
business. I am just a Manchester United fan, who finds this whole campaign
needless and disconnected to reality. If we have another farcical deadline day,
be annoyed, express your anger and concern, but don’t for one moment wish to
have the sort of owners that other clubs have. Owners, who want to be heroes –
so spend ridiculous amount of money to appease the fans, who sack managers at
the drop of the hat, and those who ignore the youth setup. A football club is
serious business, and I am glad we have owners who are interested in running it
like that.
It’s not like us fans haven’t benefitted from the
commercial expansion of the football club. Today, there are dedicated ManUtd
stores & cafes all around us. The club is reaching out to its fans through
digital and social platforms unlike anyother sports franchise. And all this has
happened in the tenure of the Glazers.
A recent survey said every 20th person in the world is a Manchester
United fan, so understandably there will be a difference of opinion amongst
fans. But, our duty as fans of this great football club is to act logically.
Majority of us behaved with spectacular grace even when all was going down
under David Moyes. The number one rule of being a Manchester United fan is to
have a siege mentality, it’s always us against the world, back your club no
matter what. Our club is going through a difficult phase, we don’t need a
divided house, we need a united front and that includes players, management,
owners, fans ----everyone.
Glory Always Manchester United.
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