kayode OGUNDARE
@kaybaba99
Maybe I should have waited another week to write this, given that Man United finally returned to the top of the Barclays Premier League after a 110-week absence and the fans rightfully deserve some bragging time, but then probably there is no better time than now to do it before some ‘deluded’ fans start dreaming too big.
For starters, I’m a Man United fan of several years standing and I can say unequivocally that I’ve seen the highs and lows with the club, though, thankfully the successes have been much more than the heartaches due to Sir Alex Ferguson’s highly productive reign at Old Trafford for more than a quarter of a century.
Since Fergie’s departure, the club has ended two full seasons empty-handed so, understandably, the fans are pining for a long past era when the issue for debate was not if Man United would win but how many titles they were capable of winning each season.
Not used to staying for long without a trophy, particularly under Sir Alex, United fans have taken to cooking up and believing any sort of news concerning the club without checking the veracity and logic of such information.
I’ve listed four of such wishful thinking which my fellow Reds would do better to forget because the probability of them coming to pass is very negligible. And, for the sake of argument, even if they come to pass by some stroke of luck or wheeler-dealing by the club hierarchy, it still does not guarantee an immediate return of the glory days of yore.
Let’s quickly check the four things that I think United fans would do better than to dream about because, like the Americans would say, ‘it ain’t happening’.
- RETURN OF CRISTIANO RONALDO TO OLD TRAFFORD:
This story has been on for so long that no one can tell where it originated from. Even under the misadventure that was the David Moyes era, there was strong speculations that Cristiano Ronaldo was open to a move back to the club he left in 2009 for a then humongous world record transfer fee. During the past summer, the news resurfaced with Ronaldo’s agent, the influential Jorge Mendes being reported to be keen for the player to leave Real Madrid with United being one likely destination, Paris Saint-Germain being the other.
Even respected Spanish journalist Guillem Balague is quoted on Sky Sports as having claimed that everything is ready for CR7’s return to Old Trafford.
The most telling hint that the thought of returning to Old Trafford has crossed Ronaldo’s mind was in an interview last week where, speaking about his former United teammate Wayne Rooney, he said: “I miss playing with Rooney. The future nobody knows. Maybe we will play together again one day. He understood my point of view (about the 2006 World Cup row), let’s speak about the present, let’s win trophies, let’s play together like we did.”Coming from Ronaldo himself, one could be tempted to believe there’s an element of truth to it and that the promoters of such a fantasy want to reprise CR7’s time at United when he won three league titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, a Champions League and World Club Cup titles in a six-year period.
For me, it’s good thinking and I will be glad to see it happen but I hope those promoting this move remembers that CR7, as talented as he undoubtedly was, did not win all of those titles on his own. He had a supporting cast which included, at various times, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Carlos Tevez, Louis Saha, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Edwin van der Saar etc and, of course, the inimitable Sir Alex.
Will those asking for Ronaldo to come back be able to guarantee the return of these other players who combined to make his time at Old Trafford so prolific and trophy-laden? For as long as football continues to be a team-sport, it would be nigh impossible to just ‘wish’ Ronaldo back to United and be certain that he will win titles like he did in his first spell.
The campaign to bring Ronaldo back is faulty on several levels, if you ask me. One, it would take an unusually high figure to prise him off Real Madrid and, secondly, he’s no longer the dashing player who hurtled down the wings for United.
He now plays in a more centre-forward role and his coming will only disrupt the chemistry gradually being built among Anthony Martial, Memphis Depay, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata who’s currently playing some of the best football of his career.
Besides, look around you and tell me what percentage of those who went back to their former clubs turned out to be very successful in their second coming. That, my friends, is food for thought.
2. GETTING ANOTHER MANAGER LIKE SIR ALEX FERGUSON:
One day, in the nearest future, Manchester United or England may get a manager who’ll better Sir Alex Ferguson’s record but there will NEVER be another Sir Alex in the shape and form with which we know him now.
I had said this on this page two seasons ago when United were losing games and breaking unwanted records under the ill-fated David Moyes and fans became disillusioned, craving the return of the glory years of Sir Alex.
Luckily the decision-makers had the balls to kick Moyes out and brought in a much more accomplished Louis van Gaal who has gradually taken his time in leading the team to be among the contenders. Being top of the table after seven games does not mean you’ll be there next May but it certainly helps to boost morale and offer some bragging rights unlike when the team languished at the bottom half of the table for many weeks before finally finishing seventh under Moyes and then pulled itself by the bootstraps into fourth place last season.
While I agree that United shouldn’t be struggling given the huge capital outlay on players over the past two seasons, I also have to remind my fretting United fans that it took Fergie four years to win his first trophy in 1990 and another three before landing the club’s first league title in 26 years.
That first title in 1990 was instructive in that it opened the floodgates of success for a club that had been starved for so long. 1991 brought the European Cup Winners’ Cup, the League Cup the following year before the league title in 1993.
I think Fergie and incumbent LvG share some traits and are both imbued with a winning mentality but Fergie will always be Fergie and LvG is, well, LvG. Even when results were not going his way, the owners and fans still felt LvG knew what he was doing and was capable of getting the team out of the rut. It’s not yet uhuru but fans can smile again and brag about returning to the top of the league table again after 110 weeks absence. Wow!
Things can only get better but there won’t be another Fergie running down the touchline at Old Trafford. The earlier we accept this fact the better for all concerned.
3. ANOTHER PERIOD OF DOMINANCE:
Sir Alex was the answer to all of Man United’s dreams and the majority of the period between 1993 and 2001 and then briefly between 2005 to 2008 underlined how one club could be so utterly dominant that it put all other teams in the shade.
United, despite winning England’s first Champions Cup (renamed Champions League) never really dominated English football as there were always more than two or three clubs competing for honours but, at the dawn of the Premier League, United became the sole superpower such that it won as many as 13 of 23 league titles.
The advent of moneybags at Chelsea and Man City as well as television rights revenue mean the gap has been bridged and other clubs can now outbid United for the best talents home and abroad.
Already City and Chelsea have out-spent United on the all-time Premier League era transfer spending list. United have spent a ‘miserly’ £870,450,000 between 1992 and 2015. In the same period, Chelsea spent £1.2 billion while City are not far behind with £1.0bn.
Apart from seemingly bottomless pockets, United were also fortunate to have a Sir Alex Ferguson whose 26 years in charge brought stability to the team. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is currently the Premier League’s longest serving manager having been in the saddle since 1996.
It is safe to say that after him, no other manager will ever have the opportunity to stay that long in charge of one team. Not in these days of big money ruling football and requiring instant success. If a manager is successful, a richer club will come along to pluck him away and, conversely, if a manager falters, you can be sure that his employers won’t think twice before showing him the door. Wenger, for sure, is the last of a dying breed of managers to spend over a decade at one club. You can bet your last copper any manager will be lucky to spend five years in one job in the nearest future.
So, my dear United fans hoping to see that wonderful time when our club will return to being the sole superpower in football may have to wait forever for a day that may not come anytime soon. No one club will have that honour again. Not now. Not ever.
4. A 4TH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TITLE:
Okay, this may sound a bit unfair to us particularly given the fact that we are doing reasonably well in the Premier League, favoured to qualify from our Champions League group and possessing a team brimming with young talents.
However, if you ask my honest opinion, I just have the sneaky feeling that pitted against Europe’s best, this current United squad will not be able to measure up. Except we are kidding ourselves, United are not in the same class as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
Like I said earlier, this is an evolving team that would be capable of taking on teams as soon as next season but, realistically, any hope of a fourth Champions League title this season could be a pipe dream.
Having said this, however, the little boy in me sincerely hope Man United would win every competition and become the world’s best team again. Who knows, maybe LvG and his men will make a believer of me.
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