The Red Devils are not a team in transition. This is just what they look like now
This Fulltime Herald writer was recently in a pub for research purposes when he overheard two Manchester United fans having a conversation. One was delighted the club had gone five games in a row unbeaten, when the other quickly derided his mate for settling for low standards.
“When has Manchester United getting a draw against Nottingham Forest suddenly become a great thing?” he asked. “Why is winning three games in a row, which newly promoted Sunderland have done, considered progress?”
Which is a topic worth discussing, ie Manchester United are just not a good team any more. They are not “in a bad place”. This is not a team in transition. This is just what it looks like at the moment: an average Premier League team, now in its 13th season of mediocrity. But fans are still stuck in Sir Alex Ferguson’s shadow and can’t seem to move on.
Granted, United were great, for 21 years in the Premier League, and they still remain one of the richest and biggest clubs in the world, in terms of fanbase. But that fanbase grew largely because of the successes of Ferguson. United are among the top 10 richest clubs in the world, according to Deloitte, but so are Arsenal and Tottenham, and they’ve barely won anything of note for more than 20 years.
In that list of richest clubs in the world, West Ham (West Ham!) are 17th. Yet the Hammers are under threat of relegation this season. So how far down that list can you go before you say a club isn’t rich enough to be winning the Premier League and Champions League, as United fans seem to think they are, sometimes purely because of their position in the Deloitte Money League.
That’s right, money can’t always buy you love – or a good football team.
Footballing fortunes change. Ferguson swung things around when he came to Old Trafford. The great Scot was appointed United boss in 1986. At that time, United had won the English title seven times, one less than Everton (8) and the same number as Aston Villa. By the end of that season, Everton would win yet another title, meaning they had two more (9) than United.
Additionally, United had been relegated just 11 years before, playing one season in the second division before promotion. That was the state of the club when the great man arrived. They weren’t an exceptional side. They were distinctly known – because of the achievements of Sir Matt Busby, who had developed two sets of talented young players from the youth system, afterwards called the Busby Babes, and led them to win the title four times and become the first English team to win the European Cup.
It took Ferguson eight seasons before he could win the title at United, and after that, the greatest manager of all time went ahead to build a footballing legacy that the club still enjoy to this day, the legacy that drew those millions of fans from all over the world, that brought that supporter to the pub where he commented on standards.
United are not that team anymore. In just seven years’ time, if they continue on their current trajectory, they will have been poor for as many years as they were ever great under Ferguson.
It’s time for United supporters to understand this fact: that they need to step out from under Ferguson’s shadow and realise they’re not a great team any more. They can be, but only if they build it in the here and now. They have no more divine claim to the top than do West Ham, 16th in the Money League, or Everton, two league titles better off before Ferguson stepped in.
