Sterling Archer
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- Jun 30, 2016
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Amidst the new leaks and briefings about mediocrity, player discord and the likely imminent manager change, I find myself thinking back to all the critical decisions that have led Manchester United to this precipice again. Like many here, that interview from Louis van Gaal, was so telling upon second read in these circumstances. The statements from Jose Mourinho about the significance of his second place finish, while then seeming like an egomaniac raving after realizing he was no longer his youthful genius, now seem more like red flags. Another poster dubbed it the canary in the coal mine. That has stuck with me. In fact, I hear it. Not chirping in my head. Rather, one specific word. A whisper at first. Disneyland. A little louder now, as if someone next to me has said it. Disneyland. And now like a wailing siren. Disneyland.
Way back when David Moyes was at the end of his spell with us, our Chief Executive Ed Woodward was out searching for his replacement. He approached Jurgen Klopp, then with Borussia Dortmund, and sounded out his interest in the role. But it was an odd pitch, a red flag that gave Klopp serious pause about taking what was the hottest managerial job in football. Woodward's vision for us was, shockingly, Disneyland.
From Klopp's biography 'Bring The Noise', written by Raphael Honigstein:
But actions do speak louder than words. Woodward's decisions, however, are quite aligned with his choice words. Ill-advised and out of character for what I've been accustomed to from my beloved Manchester United.
There's a sick irony in all this. The manager turned off by the Disneyland pitch goes on to transform our arch rivals, Liverpool. They were at the time, fallen - or sleeping, depending on your preference - giant of English football. Year after year awaiting an elusive next league title, the club was becoming more synonymous with missed opportunity and poor management than it's days of glory.
I fear that for Manchester United. We are nearing seven years of not just mediocre football, but also disastrous decision making in player recruitment, academy development, and managerial appointments. All the while, the more successful clubs are leveraging the open minds of the next generation. I'm in my early thirties now, and it's eery feeling that United's best days were in my youth. For the young ones turning to football now and tomorrow, United's greatness is a history lesson. The remarkable career achievements of Sir Alex Ferguson, for which he was knighted, grow more distant. Our YouTube and Twitter highlights are grainy and fuzzy on the 4K ultra high definition cell phone screens of the next generation of fans. That's if they are watching us at all.
In a way, we are a bit like Disneyland. An enthralling cornucopia of football when I was a kid; an enduring headache of noise and worry as an adult. All the while, our rivals have moved on to virtual and augmented reality that will knock your socks off from even the comfort of your couch.
From Henry Rider Haggard:
Way back when David Moyes was at the end of his spell with us, our Chief Executive Ed Woodward was out searching for his replacement. He approached Jurgen Klopp, then with Borussia Dortmund, and sounded out his interest in the role. But it was an odd pitch, a red flag that gave Klopp serious pause about taking what was the hottest managerial job in football. Woodward's vision for us was, shockingly, Disneyland.
From Klopp's biography 'Bring The Noise', written by Raphael Honigstein:
We don't have to linger on whether those specific words are what convinced Klopp to decide against managing Manchester United. The most important takeaway here is the way in which Woodward, who remains our Chief Executive, viewed the club. Not as a place of football heritage but rather an amusement park. In the years since then, we've continued to hear more bizarre and questionable public statements from Ed: "Watch this space". "When people see Schweinsteiger on the team sheet, that's gonna send some shivers down the spine."Not long before, Manchester United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward had flown out to see Klopp in Germany. David Moyes's short tenure at Old Trafford was coming to an end, and Klopp was United's favourite to replace him, to bring back a sense of adventure to the Red Devils' game.
Woodward told Klopp that the Theatre of Dreams was 'like an adult version of Disneyland', a mythical place where, as the nickname suggested, the entertainment was world class and dreams came true.
Klopp wasn't entirely convinced by that sales pitch — he found it a bit 'unsexy', he told a friend — but he didn't dismiss the proposition out of hand either.
But actions do speak louder than words. Woodward's decisions, however, are quite aligned with his choice words. Ill-advised and out of character for what I've been accustomed to from my beloved Manchester United.
There's a sick irony in all this. The manager turned off by the Disneyland pitch goes on to transform our arch rivals, Liverpool. They were at the time, fallen - or sleeping, depending on your preference - giant of English football. Year after year awaiting an elusive next league title, the club was becoming more synonymous with missed opportunity and poor management than it's days of glory.
I fear that for Manchester United. We are nearing seven years of not just mediocre football, but also disastrous decision making in player recruitment, academy development, and managerial appointments. All the while, the more successful clubs are leveraging the open minds of the next generation. I'm in my early thirties now, and it's eery feeling that United's best days were in my youth. For the young ones turning to football now and tomorrow, United's greatness is a history lesson. The remarkable career achievements of Sir Alex Ferguson, for which he was knighted, grow more distant. Our YouTube and Twitter highlights are grainy and fuzzy on the 4K ultra high definition cell phone screens of the next generation of fans. That's if they are watching us at all.
In a way, we are a bit like Disneyland. An enthralling cornucopia of football when I was a kid; an enduring headache of noise and worry as an adult. All the while, our rivals have moved on to virtual and augmented reality that will knock your socks off from even the comfort of your couch.
From Henry Rider Haggard:
Time after time have nations, ay, and rich and strong nations, learned in the arts, been, and passed away to be forgotten, so that no memory of them remains. This is but one of several; for Time eats up the works of man.