MANCHESTER UNITED FANS PREPARED TO DEMAND CHANGE ONCE AGAIN
“Everybody has a role to play. If we win, we win together and if we lose, we lose together.” “Everybody cares but I think some care more than others.” (Jose Mourinho. 1 October 2018). Just some of the words used by the Manchester United manager during yesterdays ( Monday 30 September) press conference after Manchester United came off a difficult loss at the hands of West Ham.
Mourinho has given his press conference last weekend after the loss at the hands of West Ham. Although Mourinho himself refused to name the individual players he believes are no longer committed to the cause of turning Manchester United into a trophy winning team once again, some members in the press seem convinced that Mourinho seems to lay the blame on two certain Manchester United french players. Martial, Paul Pogba and a host of other Manchester United player have been, indirectly, singled out as the possible reason for Manchester United's recent inability to succeed in the Premier League and possibly the UEFA Champions League as well. Interesting stuff happening inside Old Trafford and in the meantime, teams like Liverpool Barcelona Juventus and Manchester City are preparing to show their win Trophies in the domestic league and in the UEFA Champions League as well by playing majestic football during the start of the season so far. Less than two months into the start of the premier league season and as the UEFA Champions League, if you are a Manchester United fan, you must be asking: Where exactly is the club headed? Is Manchester United going to be a club that plays exciting football and attack with the sole intent of winning know the defense can be trusted? Or is Jose Mourinho strongly invested in a project where Manchester United is solely committed to being a defensive team that settles for winning games with a solitary goal? The latter seems to be the case and Manchester United fans are finding the situation to be a difficult pill to swallow. Manchester United have never had a fan base that has proven to be too shy or proven to be none vocal when the club is faced with a difficult situation. During the era of the Glazers, when Old Trafford was discovered to be spiraling down as a result of Bankruptcy, the Manchester United fans were the backbone behind the revival of the club after the financial disaster that hit the club in 2009 -2010 era and Manchester United will have to make themselves the clubs changes their recent poor style of football and returns to playing attacking football that evidently wins football matches.
One major aspect of the problem Manchester United is currently facing which the Manchester United manager did point out as a source of the clubs current spiral during his recent interview this past Monday (September 31, 2018), which most Manchester United fans will likely agree with, is the lack of collective effort to succeed in the team. Since the start of the season, Manchester United have appeared ironically as a team who lacks Unity and commitment during Matches. Whether or not the lack of complete commitment to playing quality football by some players is a way to force some sought of change in the club should be seen as completely irrelevant because as a Manchester United player the most important priority is to win matches and win the major competition. To be completely honest, should Manchester United decide to take some actions such as refusing to go to stadiums to watch live games or refusing to buy Manchester United's merchandise until the team starts winning games convincingly, the decision will be completely understandable.
Listening to Manchester United fans give out their opinions on sports shows such as the popular PREMIER LEAGUE FANZONE or some social media outlets: Twitter is starting to show that a number of Manchester United fans are completely irritated with the clubs current situation. Has the situation reached the level at which The Glazer Family faced back in 2010? Not necessarily. Manchester United fans at the moment seem Frustrated at the moment but at the same time, the fan seems a bit content with the level of football being played at Manchester United at the moment. Manchester United are playing below par football but at the same time, the team is getting the right result in most games and that seems to be acceptable. Looking back and settling the mentality of expecting Manchester United to always play high engineered around Manchester United, enginered around Manchester United, it`s quite understandable to see how anyone can flip the switch and agree that, just like most teams in Europe, Manchester United will not win every match the team play even when face with beatable opponents. Fair enough. But the question which should come next is: when did Manchester United become most teams? If the topic of discussion is about the same Manchester United team with at least six or seven-star players in the team, then the expectation to play quality football is rightfully demanded. Manchester United should be sitting at a higher level in football ranks but the reason the club is not seeing a lot of progress might be as a result of some of the players realizing that the club is capable of so much more than what the manager is producing at the moment.
The truth which Mourinho might need to face sooner rather than later is if a number of Manchester United players appear to be discontent with some of the managers strategies, just like most Manchester United fans are at the moment, then the best expectation on the part of the manager will be to hold some sought of meeting and come up with the best way to move forward and succeed together as a team. Takes a big amount of poor football to enrage a large fan base known to be patient and understanding but time for patience from the Manchester United fan base is clearly up for Jose Mourinho. Four wins, four losses and two draw out of ten matches played. Not a bad start for the Red Devil but as already established, Manchester United hold themselves at very high standards and these results coupled with a handful of stagnant, uninspiring football played by Manchester United in most games so far in the current season would justify some of the strong criticism served by a lot of today's football analyst and Manchester United fans all aimed in the direction of the Manchester United team.
“ Jose Out because we need to understand, how many star players will come to Manchester United under Mourinho and underperform? Alexis Sanchez, Henrik Mhikitayan( formerly of Manchester United), Paul Pogba, all-star players underperforming under Mourinho's managerial era.”
September 19, 2018. Manchester vs Young Boys post-match. Manchester United fan comment :
“Overall a good performance from the team! Absolutely amazing performance. Once we ( Manchester United got the first goal, Manchester United settled in nicely and started controlling the game. The young Boys played well. Tough pitch but at the end of the day, good game.”
October 3, 2018. Manchester United vs Valencia post-match. Manchester United fan comment:
"The club is losing its sovereignty. We’ve gone done levels. It’s come to a time now that people are just dictating our (Manchester United) and it needs to change. They should have changed it before, we(Manchester United) knew what we were getting with Mourinho, we knew the type of Manager that he is. I’m not saying that all the fault is Mourinho because they are some big players in the club with some big egos. However, Jose Mourinho needs to man manage properly and Mourinho has failed to that then you have failed as a manager and unfortunately, if the sittuation remains the same, then they(Manchester United) need to get someone new.”
Clearly, the writing on the wall and the message from the Manchester United fans to the Manchester United teams remains that improvement needs to be made to the team quickly to allow Manchester United maintain a steady flow positive results expected from the Red Devils.
History has proven that Jose Mourinho has hardly been a manager that takes hard criticism lying on his back without a response. Mourinho has made a name for himself around the world of football as a manager that serves out a few dose of strong response to most of the critism directed at him throughout his career, so one would have expected the Manchester United to respond with a few choice words but to Mourinho’s credit, the manager has been handling the situation quite proffesionally, especially during his press conferences.
Inconclusion, Manager Jose Mourinho and a number of Manchester United players have taken a number of different interviews to explain the recent poor performances so far this season as a glitch the team is currently working hard to rectify and with patience, the team will return to operating efficiently and winning games the right way. But patience is one attribute Manchester United is not prone to recieving from anyone. Quality football is demanded on Old Trafford and should the current poor form remain intact at the end of december, drastic changes might be demanded by the fans and drastic changes might have to be made by the Manchester United board as early as January 2019. Manchester United have been known to pull the trigger on changes concerning the managers in recent times. The Manchester United hierachy have decided to take a lot more liniency so far with Jose Mourinho. However, should the sittuation remain the same way as is at the moment with no improvement, no one will be too surprised if Manchester United is under the control of a new manager come summer 2019.
