That subject line is sure to ruffle some Barcelona and Madrid feathers, but that’s kind of the point.
For a decade now, United has been a laughing stock. A shambles of a club that brings a morbidly special form of entertainment to millions of followers who can’t keep their eyes off it. Akin to watching a gruesome car crash each weekend.
The Caf banter thread highlights some of the best (worst?) moments of the last 10 years, yet despite becoming a laughing stock, the club is still a huge draw, whichever way you look at it.
Media obsession continues unabated, which in itself is remarkable given how well competing sides are playing, yet the headlines remain reserved for United. I don’t recall any other proposed takeover getting the attention ours has, and every opposing team ups their game for the visit to Old Trafford; we are still the opponent everyone wants to beat - have they not realised we’re a pushover?
Same applies to the fanbase. Often see or hear plenty of grief for the support given by match-going fans, but honestly, it wouldn’t matter if all die-hard followers gave up their tickets; the clamour of people wanting to go to leaky Old Trafford remains undeterred. At a game not long ago, a young man from China was sat next to me. Hadn’t seen him before but got talking and turned out he’d made the pilgrimage all the way over just to see the match. It was peeing down with rain, we were abysmal, and lost, yet he was so happy just to be there. A lifelong dream come true.
This past week I’ve been abroad and ended up watching the City game in a hotel lobby. They’d had sport on all week but this was the first and only football match they showed, and people started to crowd around the big screen. When City scored the opener, a fair few started cheering. I was gobsmacked at the thought of City supporters abroad so got talking to them; turns out there wasn’t a single City supporter there, they were fans of other clubs who just loved to see United lose. The only other Brit was a Leeds fan and she said she took solace in her club’s relegation in the knowledge Man Utd is the gift that keeps giving. A Barcelona fan was similarly ecstatic about our trials and tribulations.
It’s no small wonder the Glazers are reluctant to sell. United remains a force of nature, for all the wrong reasons, and it’s testament to what Sir Alex and all the other legends have built throughout the course of our incredible history.
When you ignore the shit show on the pitch, it is remarkable how big United still are, and the unique implications that brings. Used to think we’d experience a quick fall from grace if we didn’t get back to winning ways, but the longer it goes, the more it becomes an obsession of when/if United will win another title. The whole footballing world is waiting for it.
Makes you wonder, will we always be perceived as the ultimate club no matter how things pan out, and is it possible in the modern era for such a big sporting entity to shift out of the limelight for good?
For a decade now, United has been a laughing stock. A shambles of a club that brings a morbidly special form of entertainment to millions of followers who can’t keep their eyes off it. Akin to watching a gruesome car crash each weekend.
The Caf banter thread highlights some of the best (worst?) moments of the last 10 years, yet despite becoming a laughing stock, the club is still a huge draw, whichever way you look at it.
Media obsession continues unabated, which in itself is remarkable given how well competing sides are playing, yet the headlines remain reserved for United. I don’t recall any other proposed takeover getting the attention ours has, and every opposing team ups their game for the visit to Old Trafford; we are still the opponent everyone wants to beat - have they not realised we’re a pushover?
Same applies to the fanbase. Often see or hear plenty of grief for the support given by match-going fans, but honestly, it wouldn’t matter if all die-hard followers gave up their tickets; the clamour of people wanting to go to leaky Old Trafford remains undeterred. At a game not long ago, a young man from China was sat next to me. Hadn’t seen him before but got talking and turned out he’d made the pilgrimage all the way over just to see the match. It was peeing down with rain, we were abysmal, and lost, yet he was so happy just to be there. A lifelong dream come true.
This past week I’ve been abroad and ended up watching the City game in a hotel lobby. They’d had sport on all week but this was the first and only football match they showed, and people started to crowd around the big screen. When City scored the opener, a fair few started cheering. I was gobsmacked at the thought of City supporters abroad so got talking to them; turns out there wasn’t a single City supporter there, they were fans of other clubs who just loved to see United lose. The only other Brit was a Leeds fan and she said she took solace in her club’s relegation in the knowledge Man Utd is the gift that keeps giving. A Barcelona fan was similarly ecstatic about our trials and tribulations.
It’s no small wonder the Glazers are reluctant to sell. United remains a force of nature, for all the wrong reasons, and it’s testament to what Sir Alex and all the other legends have built throughout the course of our incredible history.
When you ignore the shit show on the pitch, it is remarkable how big United still are, and the unique implications that brings. Used to think we’d experience a quick fall from grace if we didn’t get back to winning ways, but the longer it goes, the more it becomes an obsession of when/if United will win another title. The whole footballing world is waiting for it.
Makes you wonder, will we always be perceived as the ultimate club no matter how things pan out, and is it possible in the modern era for such a big sporting entity to shift out of the limelight for good?