People see football as a beautiful leveler. Success
unlike in some other professions is not an abstract term here. Success means
victories, trophies etc. Failures means defeats, relegations etc. Simple isn’t
it. Well not really, not when you put the term Football in between Manchester
United & Club.
In the Sir Alex era, a successful season was a
season that ended with the PL title is his grasp. Any addition to the trophy
cabinet meant, we would add adjectives like great, historic to the season.
Simple as football was always meant to be. But the post Sir Alex era Manchester
United Football Club is in a complicated relationship with success.
If for Jose’s happiness we count the Community Shield
as a trophy, then each of Moyes, LVG and the ‘trophy one’ himself have picked
up something with a ribbon around them. Will they be remembered as successful
United managers in the league of Sir Matt and Sir Alex - definitely not.
And then comes Ole, 4 months a super sub, 24
months a starter, zero trophies. He may win a trophy in the next two months or
we will wait for atleast another 8 odd months (yes you carabao). Yet a majority
of fans deem him the best United manager in the post Sir
Alex era. And that is where the meltdown of the naysayers begins.
The thing is that as fans watching Ole’s
version of United, we are like that professional who isn’t getting career
growth but is being kept satisfied with some form of hope. The reason is that
Jose while sometimes saying the truth, made us feel angry about United. Just
like how Moyes made us feel shocked and LVG made us feel sleepy. However, Ole’s
United starts by a manager who reminds us why we became United fans in the
first place. It’s tugging on to an emotional happy memory of the good old days.
The journey with Ole is a proper roll coaster
one. With regards to players, you find some new heroes and villains. You get
excited whenever we counterattack but baffled whenever we have to breakdown a
low block. Overall, you witness some incredible comebacks, but some miserable
defeats as well. You can’t quite understand are we progressing or regressing.
On one hand you like his man-management but are critical of his in-game
management. Similarly, you like the fact the players aren’t being given robotic
instructions w.r.t positions on the pitch, but on the other hand you wonder if
all of them are intelligent enough to be situationally aware. You like the
coaching staff and the new technical director because of their love for United,
but you wonder if they have the skill to bring back the elusive ‘success.’
There is one foreboding thing you feel more
strongly than ever since that fateful day in May 2013 – HOPE. Everytime Bruno
cups his ears, everytime Shaw channels his inner Roberto Carlos, every intercept
from Scott, every run from Marcus, every header from Slab, every tackle from
Aaron, every goal from Mason - it gives you hope. Hope that despite having bad
owners, there is a bunch of players and coaches who will give their all for you.
Hope that the endless potential of our youth teams will translate into
something serious. Hope that the new football structure will finally prioritize
squad building over money spent. Hope that every defeat is a learning and every
victory is a foundation. Hope that something sustainable might finally be being
built.
Some fans will cling on to this hope and feel a
sense of gratification if the current model takes us back to being Premier
League champions. There will be other fans who would want instant
gratification. Both aren’t wrong, both are just navigating the complicated relationship
that Manchester United has with success in the post Sir Alex era.
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