Quote:
Originally Posted by NBC
Unfortunately - the 1983 FA Cup Final notwithstanding - it has nothing to do with any sense of rivalry. It has everything to do with:
1. a ridiculously arrogant manager
2. an annoying fan base (though many in the EPL are annoying, Spurs, LFC, etc.) rife with glory-hunters the world over
3. an organizational sense of entitlement towards winning everything all the time
4. a fan base that knows little and cares less about Bill Foulkes, Robert Charlton, Georgie Best and Denis Law, yet everything about Ronaldo and Rooney
5. a 20-year hyper-inflated transfer budget propped up through the franchising of bars in Singapore
6. the massive overpayment for talent over the past two decades (Veron, Forlan, Berbatov, Ferdinand, Carrick, Hargreaves, A. Young, Saha, Barthez, Taibi, Nani, Anderson, etc)
7. the realization that 60% of their fan base is based in the footballing mecca of South east asia.
|
I'll give you 4 out of 7 as bolded above.
I'll say Points 4 and 6 are very debatable. Recent, as well as, younger fans and supporters not knowing a great deal about former stars and players is quite common around the league and sports in general. However, I will concede that caring about these players is more of an issue with United as a lot of their fans are glory hunters from near and abroad. Also, while they may have over-spent on some players, I don't think it is something they do frequently or to the extent of the plastic clubs.
In regards to their commercial revenue, I can't really fault them for making money off of their successes. It's sustainable and much better than having large sums of petrol dollars pumped into the club. They are simply reaping what they have sown.