Do you like United as much as you used to?

Levi

Full Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2005
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Despite being far from a regular poster here and coming from Germany, this is a question I wanted to ask for a while now. My favourite club is Borussia Dortmund since my childhood, but I always had something for United since 2000 or so. I admired for the club for the likes of Scholes, Keane, Giggs, the Nevilles, RVN and having its very own way of handling things (despite spending a lot of money). Having (and keeping) so many talented and for me likeable players was simply fascinating for me.

But in the last few years I realized that my affection for United was dwindling and nowadays it's almost gone. I hardly visit this board these days even though I like the atmosphere in here. Maybe it got something today with Dortmund not playing as badly as before, but I think it's more because of the development of the Premier League and United being a victim of it.

Every club is now able to spend lots of money on mediocre players and since United is United, they can spend even more. Since SAFs departure (probably even during his last years) I'm missing the identity of the club. There are hardly any talented homegrown players, every season there are about five or six huge transfers, so it's almost hard for me to keep track of all the new signings and when I hear of them I keep thinking for myself: "Probably shite and gone in two years."

Don't get me wrong: United is probably still the international club that I like most, but I miss the old times, when there were about one or two big signings per season with a manager like SAF who tried to strengthen his squad and not like Moyes or van Gaal rebuilding it every year.
 
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Yes, probably even more. However, it doesn't influence my daily life like it used to when I was younger.

Also, van Gaal is not "rebuilding the team every year" - he is merly trying to fix the mess it was.
 
I'm probably even more passionate about United post Fergie. I think it's because under Sir Alex I just became so accustomed to us winning that it no longer felt special. In fact I stopped watching the majority of games and would just catch up on MOTD, I'd only watch a game if it was CL fixture.

Now when we win, and hopefully eventually win the league again I won't take our success for granted, as I used to do. I tend to watch every game now on a dodgy stream to see how we've progressed from game to game, both in personnel and tactics. If anything a change in leadership has made me invest in United even more as I now desperately want us to get back to being champions and a force to be reckoned with in Europe.
 
Levi said:
Despite being far from a regular poster here and coming from Germany, this is a question I wanted to ask for a while now. My favourite club is Borussia Dortmund since my childhood, but I always had something for United since 2000 or so. I admired for the club for the likes of Scholes, Keane, Giggs, the Nevilles, RVN and having its very own way of handling things (despite spending a lot of money). Having (and keeping) so many talented and for me likeable players was simply fascinating for me.

But in the last few years I realized that my affection for United was dwindling and nowadays it's almost gone. I hardly visit this board today even though I like the atmosphere in here. Maybe it got something today with Dortmund not playing as badly as before, but I think it's more because of the development of the Premier League and United being a victim of it.

Every club is now available to spend lots of money on mediocre players and since United is United, they can spend even more. Since SAFs departure (probably even during his last years) I'm missing the identity of the club. There are hardly any talented homegrown players, every season there are about five or six huge transfers, so it's almost hard for me to keep track of all the new signings and when I hear of them I keep thinking for myself: "Probably shite and gone in two years."

Don't get me wrong: United is probably still the international club that I like most, but I miss the old times, when there were about one or two big signings per season with a manager like SAF who tried to strengthen his squad and not like Moyes or van Gaal rebuilding it every year.
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Ferguson's gone mate. Like Busby he's a once in a lifetime. You can't expect any club to always have a manager like that, or Liverpool would still be top of the pile.

He was and is a legend. Same with Giggs.

We will never see that level of manger and player again before we die. (At our club)
 
I'm less bothered since Sir Alex left. Not really anything to do with trophies; I don't think I'd be as elated if we won the title this season, to be honest. I feel less attached and I don't even defend United as aggressively as I did in the past.

To be honest, I don't watch half as much football as I did a year or two ago. Probably just an age thing, as I also haven't played a minute of the latest FIFA, which was also unthinkable a couple of years ago.
 
Yes I do.

Sir Alex was like a chest code and with him gone, we have become more "normal" for the lack of a better word.

I really like our current squad btw, exciting times ahead.
 
Speak said:
I'm less bothered since Sir Alex left. Not really anything to do with trophies; I don't think I'd be as elated if we won the title this season, to be honest. I feel less attached and I don't even defend United as aggressively as I did in the past.

To be honest, I don't watch half as much football as I did a year or two ago. Probably just an age thing.
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Why? I'm interested to know what changed.
 
Yes, that will never change.

I find myself more intrigued to see where we can go post SAF era, tbh.
 
1. Yes i like it as much as i did before and follow it much more closely in the last 5 years then before because now there are all games on TV, the pre-match and post match studios from english channels are available on internet, i even started to watch much more other games from the PL and the shows like MOTD and Monday night football.

2. I really don't think United is losing indentity. We again have a young squad, many players in the squad came to United very young and we gave much more chances to our youngsters then the likes of Chelsea and City. From the first team that started last game there are Smalling, Shaw, Depay who came to United very young and are here to develop which was always United way of doing, we had Carrick and Ronney who are at the club for a very long time. Even the likes of Darmian, Schneiderlin, Blind looks like United players who love to play for our club and only marquee player that started last game was Mata who one of the most loved players at United.
We will again give many opportunity to youngsters this season, i can see Januzaj, Wilson, Pereira and McNair getting a lot of opportunity this season.

3. And Moyes didn't rebuild anything, Lvg started a rebuilding job and i think he is doing very good job. Our squad is young and arguable much better then the one that SAF left. Our first eleven in last game was 25.36 years old with only Carrick (34), Mata (27), Rooney (29) and Romero (28) older than 25 years old.
 
Like the club as much as ever and watch every game I can, even though I hate our current style of play and moan about it on here daily. United is part of my routine and will remain so till the end of my time.

It's some of the people that are currently running it that I am uncomfortable with. Not a fan of either the Glazers, Woodward or Van Gaal.
 
Definitely become more jaded with the team over the years. Loved them as a kid with Coppell, Pearson, Albiston, Macari, McGrath, Whiteside, Strachan, Robbo & Hughes but drifted away in my Uni years. The CWC win in 91 really brought back my interest with the arrival of Sharpe, Giggs, Ince and eventually Cantona providing the catalyst to push United back to the top. Would have then said I was a fanatic through the whole of the 90s as the fledglings took the team on to unimaginable success and only really begun to become jaded again around the time Beckham left, Keano started spitting the dummy and the money in the game really took over. The pure talent and excitement Ronaldo brought helped slow the disillusion but I care far less now than I once did and really can't see that thrill ever coming back as the money is now far too dominant in the game.
 
Not even remotely.

I find myself caring less and less. There's something unlikable about the club in general/fans lately. And no, it doesn't have anything to do with "tradition", "the United way" or spending.
 
I like the club even more. As far as the football on the pitch is concerned, yes it can be better.

Every club goes through this phase. The period you are talking about saw continuous success because we had someone there for 25 years who could always think long term. Towards the end he messed up a bit for a last hurrah (which he is allowed IMO).

This will pass and we will again become one of the CL elites who people will be afraid to face i.e. at the level of Bayern.
 
I don't think anyone could care about the current manager or players in the same way we did with Sir Alex and his longstanding servants.

I still watch every game though and I'm heavily invested.

I think that's what it boils down to, I still want us to win as much as ever but I'm more bothered about the trophy than the players/manager achieving the goal. There's exceptions of course and I'm sure we'll become to love some of the new crop.
 
I'd ask the OP if he likes Dortmund as much as he used to? Did he like Dortmund when went from winning the European Cup and having class players like Sammer and Moller to being a bit average, before recovering under Klopp?

I'm not going to like my team less because things have changed. Do I get more frustrated by United than I used to? Obviously, because we aren't matching the same level that we set over the past twenty odd years. I don't like the team any less though. Bit of a crazy question.
 
I care less about football overall since SAF left.

I agree about losing identity or put another way, Im struggling to find reasons to justify my support these days. That may come back, lets see what LVG builds.

Still love our club a a lot and spend 95% of the time I spend on football following them.
 
I still love United but I was a MUCH bigger fan between 97-2009. Once I got a job and a long term GF and had to 'grow up' in life, United has taken a step back. Bad results don't ruin my weekend (apart from when City got THAT goal against QPR). Still love United to bits though!
 
I'm emotionally invested in the team when they play. "Like" or "dislike" doesn't even come into it. I'm happy when they win, I feel down when they lose, whether it's the Champions League or the League Cup.

We've rarely had the kind of squad overhaul like what we're seeing now, so it take some getting used to with the new faces. But once the match starts it's all about supporting THAT red shirt.
 
The past 2/3 seasons, I think my attachment to the club has grown. during the periods of success and domination, it feels like I took it for granted a little bit. I would watch games with just an expectancy that we'd win, because we nearly always did.

The past couple of years, I get more excited than ever about matchdays. There's much more of an uncertainty as to how it will play out, compared to the majority of 1992-2013, where it felt like we were invincible. That has added to the excitement, even if the football can be a bit crap.

All day Tuesday, I was buzzing. I couldn't wait to watch a bloody Champions League qualifier. It was ridiculous. I can't remember being as excited about a United match in a long time.
 
No, i guess I'm getting "too old for this sh*t" as the old saying goes which is strange because i see a lot of old timers here still going strong.

My dwindling love for the club has nothing to do with our rough patch, my love for football in general hasn't really been the same since the 2006-07 season, And in that time i have managed to actively follow other sports, and build/maintain a productive life.

I will always be a United fan, that's never going to change - (the extent however is still relatively unknown to me).
 
Billy Blaggs said:
Why? I'm interested to know what changed.
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I don't know, to be honest. I guess Sir Alex was just a huge part of my reason for supporting United. And I didn't realise until he left the club.

I think the year of Moyes also turned me off the fans, to some extent.
And then... I guess just growing up a bit. I've left university, started working, and football is just a lot less important to me now.

I'd probably feel this way even if Guardiola or Mourinho (both of whom I like) had taken over in 2013 and swept up the trophies. And should we win the title this seaosn, I just know I won't be as ecstatic as before.
 
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I still love the club and obviously being on here I have a real interest in what's going on etc. But I would say my interest has faded over the last few years.

There was a time when I'd go to Old Trafford several times a year. Now OK to a lot of you that may not seem like a lot but it's still over a 2 hour drive and I felt that was showing a lot of commitment. But I don't go anymore.

There was also a time when I would watch every United game without fail. Now I tend to pick and choose. And a lot of that comes down to us playing rather dull football. It's not an LVG thing or even Moyes because it was pretty dull under Fergie.

For some it's all about winning and that's fine but I watch sport to be entertained. I don't want to sit through a game where very little happens anymore. I've seen United win it all and I've been very lucky in that respect. Now I want to be entertained.

When we lose its disappointing but nothing more than a 30 second Ooh that wasn't good. In years gone by it would have messed up my whole day.

I think age and maturity play a part in how you handle defeats. You learn that it's really not that bad but also that there are much more important things in life.

These days I have other interests and to be honest another club that have taken my interest more... The Philadelphia eagles!

American football is my number one sport these days but of course the season is only September to February. But that's my new obsession. Like I used to with football I can watch any game with any teams involved.
 
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