I am old enough to remember AC Milan in their prime. The team with the 3 Dutch men was the best team I've ever saw playing in my life. That team was, in my opinion, better then even Pep's Barcelona. AC Milan won far more CLs then we did and nearly as many titles then we did. At the time everyone was wearing AC Milan's shirt with Van Basten, Baresi, Maldini, Baggio at their back. I confess I was jealous of them. While we had Magu erm Bruce, they had Baresi, Choccy was decent but Van Basten had more talent in his right toe then half of our squad. Guess what? Few decades later and all is gone. No one remembers AC Milan anymore. I do know people who supported AC Milan and they still do support them. Some can't be bothered watching games as regularly as they used to though. However their kids support Juventus or even Inter.
United has a bigger fan base then AC Milan ever had. However fans are fickle. Even someone like myself who is sort of 3rd generation United fan (grandfather, mother and me) will find it hard to raise our kids loving United. Why? Because kids love success, they love winning, they love spectacular football and trophies. We've seen that ourselves during Sir Alex's reign. The jump in the amount of support following the treble was substantial. At that time the supporters club was jam packed with people. Nowadays you're lucky to fill 50 seats. I myself struggle to drag myself to go and watch matches at the club these days. I do watch the game but I do it alone. No one loves sharing misery.
Being top 6 might be good for someone like Spurs or Napoli. It's not good enough to sustain a huge brand name like United is. Ultimately our support will contract, we will become less attractive for sponsors because of it and we'll become, well, like AC Milan are. Then the club's price will go down as well. Which is a shame really.
The Glazers were lucky to buy a luxurious super yacht on the cheap which is fair play to them. However its evident they can't maintain it. The stadium roof is leaking, the squad needs serious investment and we're now considering top 4 as a success. They should sell it out and make a neat profit out of it up while they can. It would benefit them and it would benefit us who would, hopefully, end up with owners who can afford them and know what they are doing.