Ferguson leaving was Manchester United’s Brexit; and feeling sorry for Gyokeres
There are some wonderful mails about the problems at Manchester United, with a long message of regret for spare Arsenal part Viktor Gyokeres.
Smug’s game I can write from a position of (smug) strength because Arsenal did come out the other side and win the league.
I’m not going to police how Man Utd fans should feel about their club (even though they and fans of other clubs had plenty to say about Arsenal fans during “the banter years”) but I don’t think Man Utd are psychologically capable of going down “the Arteta route”. Arsenal had been in decline for years under Wenger. Emery’s tenure added to the slump, so the club and the fans had long since accepted mediocrity which meant it was easier for Arteta to walk in, blow it all up, and say it would take time to rebuild and fans should “trust the process”.
Man Utd were winning right to the very end under Ferguson, so they’re conditioned to think they’re always one superb managerial appointment away from recovering the dominance. The club is weighed down by that history and can’t accept their new status so they’ve raced through a patchwork series of fixes in a bid to find that super manager. Most of them look OK for a short while before the rotten, structural problems resurface.
JJ Gabriel has no memory of the last time Man Utd won the league. I’m not sure if Man Utd will end up going 22 years without winning the league (like Arsenal did) but you can guarantee that if they do, we’ll still be here in 2035 debating Marcus Rashford’s best position and whether he fits in at the club. Matthew
How the mighty have fallen. I watch ManU games for the sheer delight they offer by capitulating in every conceivable way in different games. Hence my two cents thought on their status.
To begin with the the United fans are like the proverbial spouse who is the last to know that their partner is having an affair. Every player or manager worth their salt do not want to either play for them or manage them. However the fans keep thinking the next transfer window will be better and parrot a list of names they would like to see bought. United will be stuck with the Zirkzees and Brunos of the world. Even to get them to sign United are forced to pay exorbitant wages for the mediocrity, knowing their career will be in the grave yard after that. The selling clubs charge higher transfer fees knowing that very few players want to join United at this time and they can extract higher fees knowing United have no choice.
United are broke and have no money as they are saddled with huge debt and interest payments that eat away a large part of the revenue. With lack of games last year and no European football for some time revenues are stretched. United fans constantly harangue about the Man City charges, however the biggest fraud perpetuated in the league is the leverage buyout by the Glazers and not investing a red cent of their money in the club since then.
Constantly living in the past is keeping them from moving forward and accepting the current reality. By accident I landed on a channel where ex-united players were discussing some matches some twenty years back and gloating over the way they won. I was surprised that this kind of rabble can be put on air and there are people willing to watch it. The ex-united players in the press room constantly comparing and berating the current crop with their glory is not doing any good to the current players or the fans.
Hope the United hierarchy accepts the reality and starts accepting that they are no more part of the big six and temper the fans expectations the better it will be for the fans also. Till then I will continue to watch the road show for the amusement it provides. Anon
Blame Paul Smith Just realized why its all gone wrong for Michael Carrick.
He’s started wearing the same Paul Smith gear that Ruben Amorim was wearing before he got fired.
I guess the deal PS has with Man U includes free clobber for the managers! Neil, LFC, USA
Are Manchester United ungovernable Good morning,
Has anyone else noticed the way in which people talk about the so-called decline of the UK is eerily similar to the way we talk about Manchester United? The parallels are loose and forgive me if this has been discussed before. I know this has resurfaced a few times over the years but after United’s defeat against Brighton on Wednesday night it feels more pertinent than ever.
The departure of Sir Alex Ferguson and Brexit have come to be viewed by some, but by no means all, as seismic events that neither the club or the country have ever truly recovered from.
As most of us know, the UK pollical landscape post Brexit has seen seven prime ministers in the last ten years. This is often cited as Exhibit A for the prosecution. The idea being that the recent churn in primeministers prevent long term plans from taking root. Sound familiar? There have been seven primeministers since Britain left the EU and seven permanent managers of Manchester United since Sir Alex left. This is most likely coincidental but helps to illustrate the point.
The blame for this churn is usually split between; Brexit, the 24 hour news cycle and social media, the end of deference, mass migration, atomisation of society and other factors more international in nature; war, global economic headwinds and, more recently, job crushing AI.
Four decades of neoliberalism (don’t ask) and urban primacy have now been added to the charge sheet. Apparently the UK institutions of governance are so London-centric and unwieldly that it’s simply not possible for one person, or team of people, to be across so many aspects all of the time. Some things will inevitably slip through the net. Lack of provisioning for prison places and youth unemployment to name but two.
Is a lack of bandwith an issue for Manchester Utd? As good as they are at selling merchandise, when it comes to other things, like upgrading the training ground and the stadium, they have undoubtedly been slow to act. Their social media operation is second to none, meanwhile Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw have managed to last for 8 and 12 seasons respectively. This is negligent at best.
Success for whoever is in the hot seat at Old Trafford is also limited by international factors out of the control. For stagnant global economy read lack of signings and/or the Glazers.
For me the main similarity is in the way in which the events unfold. Right from the first murmurings of discontent right to the end. We can all sense that critical mass approaching, then it’s only a matter of time until the final denouement. It’s starting now for Carrick. You get the feeling Burnham isn’t going to be far behind.
Distance also make some of the previous incumbents’ tenures look more favourable. Especially when the latest holder of the office is in the endgame. Who hasn’t stopped to wonder if David Moyes, Erik Ten Hag or Jose (as he must be known) were all that bad? I’ve recently come to the conclusion that Rishi Sunak could have been great in another era and Boris (as he must be known) wouldn’t have gone for partygate 20 years ago (no smartphones you see). Maybe Ruben Amorim was ahead of his time?
Finally both simply carry the whiff of decay. That inescapable feeling that their best days are gone. A keen sense of nostalgia and yearning for the glory years is laced with an understanding that a return is unlikely to happen. And even if it did, it won’t be the same because it was almost too great to comprehend.
Yours Alex
Missing the midfield Dear The Mailbox,
After the toothless effort against City and their officials, and getting bullied against Brighton, my reaction in both instances was: Carrick isn’t up to the job.
Having thought about it more calmly after getting over the results (and with the caveat that he may well never be up to the job), I’m thinking we need to see United play a few games with Baleba on the pitch. For all of Casemiro’s poor matches and poor spells during his time at the club, he finished last season like a train. His name doesn’t seem to have been mentioned in regards to the team’s struggles this season, probably because he wasn’t always great. But he hit form under Carrick last season and while Tielemans is an elegant player, he offers no steel against teams like Brighton who play an energetic, aggressive press. I’m not going to claim Baleba can become the next Casemiro, but he’s been brought in as a (very expensive) dedicated destructive midfielder and Carrick hasn’t had the chance to use him yet. So, let’s give him that opportunity at least.
With the international break coming up, I’d also like to offer another opinion that’s had the benefit of a long cooling-down period after the event. After much consideration, I still believe that Tuchel’s ‘performance’ against Argentina was one of the most cowardly, inept, naive and just utterly thick managerial disasters in the history of football. Bizarre and totally unforgivable. Is he meant to be a professional manager? Two months on and I’m still in disbelief. Tuchel out (and please don’t then get appointed at United!).
Ta & ta-ra, Dan in Worthing
Feeling sorry for Gyokeres After all the time spent waiting for a ‘proper no.9’, it appears that Arsenal don’t actually need one now. Not in the traditional sense anyway.
I watched the Ipswich v Arsenal game on Tuesday night and felt a genuine pang of sadness for Gyokores. I suspect that somewhere in there is a decent striker waiting for the right club. The problem is that it certainly isn’t Arsenal.
I know he did very well at Sporting, but he’s in the big leagues now and Arsenal are a terrible fit for him. He’s not the main man and unlike Sporting, Arsenal do not play to his strengths.
Pretty much every team will play a low-block against Arsenal and that means a crowded penalty area. Gyokores is so stationary it beggars belief. It’s like he hides behind the centre back. Not in a ‘he has no idea I’m here’ sort of way, but more of a ‘if I stand here, there is no chance of me getting the ball’ sort of way. He looks totally bereft of confidence. He’s not technically gifted (compared to someone like Havertz) and it seems that play just passes him by. It’s like Arsenal are often playing with 10 men.
Haaland can get away with this at City because his finishing is superb. Viktor cannot get away with this because his finishing is not (if and when he even gets an opportunity).
Arsenal’s style of play certainly does him no favours either. Both wingers like to cut inside – although Tzolis looks like he might be prepared to go to the goal line – which limits the sort of crosses that Gyokores would benefit from.
Arsenal also like to, have to really, play passes through/round opponents. Again, this does not suit a player like Gyokores. He benefits from earlier passes via a more direct style of play. A slow build up does not suit him. You can see him getting frustrated.
I know he scored 21 goals last season and in isolation, that’s a pretty good return for his first season with the club. I also admire his work ethic. He won a lot of free kicks a long way up the pitch last year, which took the pressure off when Arsenal were defending a lead.
I really do feel for him. There was a lot of pressure on him when he joined. He was supposed to be the final piece of the jigsaw. And I guess he was, sort of. Arsenal won the league and he was their top scorer. But he still never really looked like a proper fit. The fact that Havertz has started every PL game so far this season tells you that Arteta doesn’t really trust Gyokores. He looked lost against Napoli and then watched on as a 16-year old shone against Ipswich in the Carabao Cup.
That was his chance to grab a goal or two, but he didn’t get a sniff. It’s not his fault if he doesn’t get the sort of service he needs, but it does suggest that he’s in the wrong team. It’s not like he even makes an impact if coming on as a sub.
I can’t see him being at Arsenal next season. A mutual parting of the ways seems very likely. I’d love to be proved wrong and see him score 25 goals this season, but I’ll bet he doesn’t.
It’s a shame as he seems like a nice fella.
Max Dowman looks alright though, eh? Stu – (also wearing the no.14 shirt probably doesn’t help Viktor’s cause…) Gooner in France
Spurs, that From the latest Big Weekend I just have to say, this tickled me –
‘domestic victories this season are easily caveated ones that have come over Ipswich (newly promoted) and Spurs (Spurs)’
Bravo Dave. Seamus, Sweden
Give it up, Dave In several articles with Dave Tickner’s name on them over the last few days there comes a point where he takes yet another dig at Villa in one way or another.
Not sure why he feels the need to keep repeating the fiction that Villa blame the big six in general, and Spurs in particular, for their SCR enforced glass ceiling, when there appears to be little to no evidence that any Villa fans, Club reps or anyone else associated with Villa have said as much. I guess he feels if he repeats it often enough, then it might gain credibility. I mean, why would anyone single out Spurs when they didn’t make the rules, and when it was quite obviously City and Chelsea who had the biggest advantage in terms of free spending, whilst still managing to breach the rules? Perhaps Dave could point to the origins of this myth?
Could it be he’s still a bit sore because one or two F365 readers, including me, blew holes in his fanciful theory that Spurs had made their way into the big 6 the long, hard and patient way without any shortcuts, and were an example that Villa and Newcastle could follow to do likewise? If so, get over it Dave, or perhaps provide the counter stats I invited, which would be a more mature and suitable response.
Then his article on worst VAR moments. Now I contend that list should include the absolute shambolic mess when Mings was dispossessed by Rodri coming back from an offside position to set up Silva to score back in 2021. It led to all sorts of mealy mouthed bullshit from PGMOL about “interpretation of the Law” and a supposed re-write, which was totally unnecessary because they had simply messed up something that was already perfectly clear. DT leaves it out, but manages to sneak in the Hawkeye incident which according to him meant Villa stayed up at the expense of Bournemouth. Sure the extra point counted in the end but what about the full context of the whole season, including a notorious incident where Kevin “nobody’s” Friend disallowed a perfectly good Villa equalizer at Palace because he decided a twice fouled Grealish, who kept his balance long enough to lay the ball off for Lansbury to score before stumbling to the ground, had dived.
Perhaps these things really do balance themselves out over a season, but why raise it and let context get in the way of a dig eh? Whatever bug you have up your ass Dave, just give it up and move on man, because you’re starting to sound obsessed. Kevin Villa
