I think the issue we have now is United doing poorly/having controversial moments against them probably makes people a huge amount of money. Just like that journos slip in the interview with ETH a few months ago, people are invested in us doing poorly.
On social media it’s hard to know who are fans, there are definitely people out there who prey on the fan base and it’s frustrations and this kind of narrative (there’s a conspiracy) then just feeds into that.
Then you add in stuff like refs getting paid by the UAE and the same refs giving ridiculous penalties against us when we play the team whose owners pay them (which by the way, where are all the other penalties like that given it set a precedent?).
Is there a conspiracy, probably not, but I’d bet refs are making money somewhere on the side through creating drama and we, being a big fan base, are a big part of that.