Manchester United - Why all the hate?

It seems everyone loves to loathe Man Utd these days. I just don't understand why: Some hate the fans, some hate their manager, some hate how lucky they apparently are and some hate how much success they have. Well I for one disagree with all the hatred, Man City fans and maybe Liverpool fans have an excuse but anyone else is just looking for something to despise.

Apparently ALL of their fans are from outside of Manchester and those that oppose this team fail to recognise  that even one of their fans is from Manchester. Its pathetic, of course a large number of the club's support will be from elsewhere, that's what happens when you a club as big as Man Utd. The fanbase starts in Lancashire, as they begin to get good and win trophies it expands through England picking up supporters without a club until the fanbase goes abroad, finding countries where football isn't so prominent meaning people just want to be able to support a football team. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Arsenal, Liverpool, AC Milan, Inter Milan - all have huge fanbases, not just in their own city but across the globe. Why do Man Utd get picked up on it? They have over 50, 000 season ticket holders, somehow I doubt that there are over 50, 000 people who drive hundreds of miles to see their team play each week, the only logical answer is they do actually come from the Manchester area. This may shock the general idiot who hates the club, but its true.

So what of the hatred of their manager? Sir Alex Ferguson has now been manager of this club for 25 years, I quite incredible achievement at any level but to spend 25 years right at the top level of the game is just staggering. He clearly cares about the club and it's fans, he hasn't accepted that he's won all there is to win and gone into retirement (which he fully deserves). Instead he has persisted to beat the already momentous record of 18 league titles set by Liverpool and won Man Utd their first two Champions Leagues. When Ferguson won one of his titles with Man Utd, Liverpool fans told their rivals to "come back when you've won 18".  They did and now Liverpool supporters are looking back embarrassed because of what this great manager has won. So he clearly cares about his club and is clearly superb at what he does. What's to hate? People say he can be moody after a loss and say things that are harsh on other clubs, but what other manager doesn't do that? Kenny Dalglish blames everything on anything that isn't Liverpool, Arsene Wenger blames the opposition, Steve Kean blames things that don't exist - all managers are idiots, Fergie is not as much of an idiot as the majority but is hated by many due to the team he manages.

There seems to be a common myth that Man Utd get EVERY referee decision. Am I missing an obvious joke here? Every team gets lucky and unlucky with refereeing decisions, some games you will get one go your way and then the next game you'll get one go against you. Its all about luck, no one gets any special treatment. Take our very own Stoke City for example, at the start of last season we went on a run of six or seven games where important decisions went against us, it costed us around nine points. Later on in the same season I remember we played a match where we won 3-2 against Sunderland, at least two of our goals were offside. Then take the goal that got us to that memorable FA Cup semi-final, in the build up to Danny Higginbotham's free kick Robert Huth pulled one of West Ham's defenders to floor thus providing a nice clear view on goal for our free kick taker, the ball flew through the now open gap and we were going to Wembley. You win some you lose some, its football.

And as for the easy run in every tournament arguement. In last year's FA Cup they played Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City as well as an away game at Southampton and a match against Crawley Town in which they could have easily lost. By contrast Man City played Leicester, Notts County, Aston Villa and Reading before meeting Man Utd in the semi-final - they beat Stoke in the final, in a match you could describe as easy if you're a side that has spent 200 million quid on a team. Once again, it happens to every club, some years you'll get lucky with who you play but other years you'll get unlucky.

Finally the jealousy of the huge amount of success they have had is a reason for the hatred they receive. Having won nineteen league titles, three European Cups/Champions Leagues, eleven FA Cups and four League Cups. They've broken record after record and left their rivals playing catch-up. So yeah, they are the most successful team in English football, why is this a reason to despise them? Unlike when Blackburn won the league and when Chelsea won the league and when Man City win the league, The Red Devils won their trophies through hard work and years of grafting for their success. Cast your mind back to 1958, the horrifying death of the majority of their team, Sir Matt Busby built a team from that point and they won the European Cup ten years later. This incredible story sums this club perfectly, sure they've spent money on players like Berbatov and Rooney (although this money has been created through success, not through rich ownership) but they have earned the success that now have through a superb history and a fantastic youth system that is constantly bringing in new talent.

So if you don't like this team, consider revising your opinion because I can almost guarantee it is wrong. Whatever your friends or the media say, this is a real football team. It uses it's academy frequently and isn't constantly trying to buy success by spending ridiculous amounts of money on players. I'm one of not many football fans who don't support Man Utd who actually respects them as a club, this is wrong, all football fans should respect them and hope for the sake of football that they don't let Man City be the new dominant team in the beautiful game.

How can England match their expectation?

England have recently qualified for next year’s European Championship. After an often worrying campaign England ended up relying on their impressive away form to make up for the poor performances at Wembley to finish top of the group to ensure Euro qualification.

However don’t be getting the booze out ready to celebrate just yet. Remember 2002? Remember 2004? Remember 2006? Remember 2010? These are the four most recent international competitions that our national side has competed in, all have ended in failure. Hopefully in 2012’s tournament things will change, I’m not too hopeful. But why?

There are many reasons: The poor midfield and the team’s mentality are just two along with the lack of patriotism and spirit shown from the players.

But we’ll start with the midfield. In the latter stages of qualifying the central midfield consisted of Gareth Barry and Scott Parker. Neither are known for their silky skills or cutting-edge passing, instead we see the same dreary and uninspired performances that leave us bored and wishing we were watching something else. Next year if we want any kind of success we’ll have to beat the big boys: Spain, Germany, France and Italy. How can we as fans expect anything but another premature exit with no flair in midfield?

Jack Wilshere is a hope; he has been injured of late and will be injured until early 2012. Before this injury he was a regular feature in the national side. He is one who has a bit of flair and can pick out that needed killer pass. But he needs a midfield partner. Someone who is more defensive minded than himself. Someone who isn’t Gareth Barry or Scott Parker.

My solution: Phil Jones of Manchester United. Like Wilshere he will be just 20 by time next year’s tournament comes around and two inexperienced players in midfield could be dangerous. However, Jones is a ball playing defender who has played in midfield often for his club and alongside Wilshere they will certainly give England the flair and pace they have lacked in the latter stages of qualification.

With the creativity coming from Wilshere and the defending coming from Jones the strikers will get that much needed service to try and score goals. Barry and Parker can be on the bench or with the reserves to add that extra depth and we have Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Jordan Henderson and James Milner too! England have lots of depth in midfield. It’s just time for manager Fabio Capello to play the right pair and the side will meet its expectation and go further in the tournament.

If (and it’s a big if) Capello does decide to play the right team we still have the dreadful mentality of these players to contend with. Unfortunately they are playing for a country with a huge amount of expectation, they are playing for a country that made the game over 150 years ago and they are playing for a country where many top footballers come from. But this brings means the media and fans are automatically expecting big things from these players, big things that these players that aren’t good under pressure cannot bring.

But enough of excuses for the players. The disappointment has mainly come from the players not seeming to care about the pride of the nation. They haven’t played with passion, they haven’t put in the effort needed and they have been generally rubbish and embarrassing because of it. As soon as the team begins to play with their hearts on their sleeves like the team did in 1966 then England will once again be a force on the international stage.

Fortunately for the English, the future seems bright. Clueless coach Capello’s contract is terminated after the Euro’s next year and a fresh crop of superb players is coming through with the likes of Danny Welbeck, Daniel Sturridge, Theo Walcott, Tom Cleverley, Jack Wilshere, Jack Rodwell and Chris Smalling coming through the ranks among many others. However over the past ten years we’ve had equally exciting players such as David Beckham and Steven Gerrard but they just haven’t managed to win us anything. It’s all good having good players, but the only way they are going to win you trophies is by integrating them as a team and finding the best manager to do so.

Step forward Harry Redknapp. The 64 year old Southerner has had excellent success at the clubs he’s been with, reaching an FA Cup final with debt ridden Portsmouth and knocking Liverpool off their perch to finish fourth in the league with Tottenham thus qualifying for the Champions League. Harry is an excellent man manager as well as an excellent coach in general, he’s exactly the sort of thing England needs to go further in tournaments. He’d pick the young players and nurture them into established internationals, for me Harry Redknapp is the solution to our national side’s poor managerial situation and the exact man we need to begin to match our expectation again.

The not so sad demise of Arsenal FC

Its May 2005, and Arsenal have just won the FA Cup against Manchester United after Patrick Viera scored the winning penalty in a shoot-out finishing 5-4. Arsenal fans are jubilant, Arsenal players are jubilant, Arsene Wenger is jubilant. Surely with such a fantastic honour won The Gunners would go onto further success? It seems not, because in May 2005 Arsenal won the last trophy they would in a while. I'm writing this in 2011, still no silverware since that penalty shoot-out win. They've lost two of their best players and Wenger is starting to feel the pressure. Is this famous club falling down the footballing ladder?

Celebrate it whilst you can lads, you won't win another in a while.

The gradual fall of the club didn't start with that FA Cup triumph. In 2006 they reached the UEFA Champions League final where they were narrowly beaten by a little known Spanish side called FC Barcelona, you may have heard of them. However in the league they had gone from finishing 2nd in 2005, to finishing 4th in 2006. They failed to win a trophy in the 2005-06 season, but not to worry, its probably just a blip. Teams like Arsenal don't just stop winning, there's always next season. 

2006-07 season. Arsenal are in the final of the League Cup! Now it their time to win another trophy...oh dear, Drogba's just scored in the 84th minute to put Chelsea 2-1 up. Never mind, maybe they can win the FA Cup? Unfortunately for Arsenal in the fifth round they were out of that at the hands of Blackburn Rovers, another one bites the dust. Their Champions League dream was also over, having exited in the first knockout round against PSV of Holland and another frustrating Premier League season saw the North London club finish 4th, again. By now Gunners fans were starting to get a bit anxious, two years is a long time for a big club to go without silverware especially when you've been used to regularly winning stuff.


Another trophy-less season followed. The 2007-08 campaign saw Arsenal finish 3rd in the league, get knocked out in the quarter finals of the Champions League against Liverpool, get crushed 5-1 against rivals Tottenham in the League Cup semi final and exit in the FA Cup fifth round after a 4-0 away defeat against Man Utd. Yet another unsuccessful season for Arsene Wenger, a manager that has always been stubborn even when the media and fans are shouting "buy a bloody defender" right in his face. Unfortunately for The Gunners, he is a manager who listens to no one, even when they're right.

2008-09 and by now Arsenal Football Club are becoming a bit of a laughing stock, who cares about trophies and success when you play beautiful, perfect football? However that truly magical style of play didn't work as much as Arsene had originally hoped. Slight improvement in the FA Cup saw Arsenal knocked-out at the by eventual champions Chelsea in the semi final, but improvement or not it still wasn't silverware. An embarrassing early exit against Burnley came in the Carling Cup followed by another 3rd place league finish and a promising semi final defeat in the Champions League to eventual runners up Man Utd.


In the 2009-10 season Arsenal's Champions League would come to end in the quarter finals against Barcelona, a match they were hardly expected to win. Again The Gunners finished 3rd in the league, just above Tottenham but a worrying 11 points from champions Man Utd. Not much glory would come in the FA Cup or League Cup either, with a forth round FA Cup defeat to Stoke City and a 3-0 loss in the Carling Cup fifth round at Man City. At the end of this season, people were quite rightly questioning whether Arsene Wenger should still be managing. And who could blame them?


No FA Cup glory in the 2010-11 season either as Man Utd knocked them out in the quarter finals. Nor was it their year in the Premier League, they ended in 4th having been beaten to 3rd by Manchester City. Yet again Barcelona had something to say about Arsenal's progression in the Champions League, a first knock-out round defeat to the Catalans saw Arsenal leave Europe's premier club competition. However was it their year in the League Cup? Could they finally lift some silverware? At Wembley they met Birmingham City in the League Cup final and it was looking as though it was heading to extra time before in the 89th minute Obefemi Martins but the Blues 2-1 up to end Arsenal's first chance of silverware since 2005.

So as the 2011-12 season gets underway we're sure to see a season full of twists, turns and shocks. We don't know who will win the league, we are far from finding out who will be victorious in the Champions League and who will win the FA Cup or League Cup is anyone's guess. However one thing we can all be sure of is that Arsenal will win none of them, and the rest of the country will be laughing at how brilliant they are at under achieving. But don't worry Gunners fans, you're nailed on for next year's Emirates Cup!