Another week, another embarrassing defeat for Manchester United. There was a time not so long ago, that the thought of a visit to Old Trafford would bring sweat to the forehead of even the most experienced of players. It was a cauldron and many teams, especially smaller teams in stature were beaten before they took to the pitch. Manchester United had this air of invincibility. Sure, you might take the lead, but you could be guaranteed that United would launch a comeback. Many times over the years, we watched these comebacks unfold before our eyes, as the team embodied Alex Ferguson's ruthless nature and took teams apart at will.
Those were the lucky teams, as others, who conceded first may have been subjected to utter humiliation. I'm thinking back to 1995 when Ipswich watched 9 goals go in without reply. Then there was 1999 when Nottingham Forrest were the victims, this time losing 8-1, and I'd say they wished there was a Forrest on the pitch where they could hide when the full time whistle went. Then of course there was my own beloved gunners who were taken to the cleaners seven short years ago, a low point for me as an Arsenal fan, as the old enemy won 8-2 at Old Trafford and the jokes piled in like: "I'd 8-2 be a gunner today...."
Fast forward to today and oh how the tide has turned. Shrewsbury town could come to Old Trafford now and realistically give themselves a chance to get something from the game. The fear factor is gone, it is no longer surprising to see Manchester United get beaten by such teams as Brighton, Bristol City or Burnley. The aura is gone, and no one fears United anymore.
Most recently defeat was tasted on the road at Valencia in the Champions League, which caused collective moans from the travelling United fans. Again they were out classed and don't be fooled, Valencia are no longer the force they once were and sit fifteenth in La Liga a full 13 points shy of Barcelona, so not exactly world beaters.
Anyone but United
There is a famous club in Ireland, made up of all the supporters except Man United fans, and basically outside of there own clubs results, the next most important thing for them is that Man United get beaten. Back in the day this was a rare occurrence, as United were so dominant on all fronts.
This kind of opposition always comes with teams that enjoy huge success. It boils down to jealousy more than anything else, as all teams want that sweet sweet taste of success. When you look at teams like Newcastle United who have to go back as far as 1955 for their most recent domestic success, you can see how they would be jealous of the levels of success enjoyed by United in their golden era.
I guess another dimension to the dislike for United was that the majority of kids supported United because of their success, so there were more Man United fans than all other clubs combined when we were at school, so there was a bit of an us and them mentality.
I feel for them
We are all human, well except for the robots, who are coming for your jobs!! Be afraid be very afraid... That's a story for another day..
So, we are all human, as I say, so in this human capacity, I do feel for the United fans, especially as an Arsenal fan, who has gone through many years of heart ache. Us Arsenal fans have been stuck in a time warp since 2006, as the alarm clock goes every Febuary and we wake up once again in Groundhogs day with our season falling asunder, with the usual litany of injuries and the same old excuses wheeled out by Wenger and the board. Those were tough days, and I am glad they are behind us. Having gone 22 games unbeaten since the 2nd match of the season, that's now a distant memory. Arsene who???
So, in my long winded way, I know what it feels like, as a fan to be extremely frustrated, knowing full well before a ball was kicked that the best we could hope for was a top four finish and a good run in the cups.
This is now the faith of Manchester United, the biggest club in the world, or at the very least top three. They look utterly lost or as the proverb goes, they are up shit-creek without a paddle.
King Moaner himself
The worst thing about being a United fan these days, and the reason for nominating them for Happy Moanday is that they have to put up with the King Moan-tits himself, Jose Mou-feckin-rinho!! I am sick to the neck listening to him wheeling out excuse after excuse after excuse, so I can only imagine what it is like for the loyal Manchester United fans. Did you ever notice that it is never Mourinho's fault when United don't perform. Here are some recent moans from the Moan-father himself:
- "The linesman made this mistake and we were punished with that goal"
- "It's quite strange because against Leicester the match ended with a corner against us and Schmeichel had 15 seconds to arrive from his box to our box. The referee waiting for that Leicester opportunity when it was after the extra time he gave. Today the situation was not even a corner but was similar in the sense we had one last ball and the referee stopped the game when the ball was in the air."
- "The third goal killed our mentality because the referee did not see the foul before."
- "Craig is a very good referee, one of the best not just in England but also in Europe. But tonight he has made a very bad decision that has punished us."
He was even the main reason that Mark Clattenburg retired as a referee, such was the level of moaning. This is par for the course for Mourinho, and anywhere he goes there seems to be collateral damage of one form or another.
Clattenburg said at the time of his retirement:
“I was refereeing the game when Wayne Rooney broke Bobby Charlton’s record and Mourinho came into my dressing room and he was unhappy about a handball penalty that I didn’t give,”
“I’d walked off that pitch at Stoke, which was always the coldest stadium, it was always wet and miserable, and refereeing Man United was never an easy match."
“To come off that match it felt immense that I’d actually had a good performance, and for him to come into my dressing room and criticise my performance for a handball that I’d seen, that had clearly come off his chest, I knew that I was right but he’d put a seed of doubt into my mind."
“I drove home 250 miles thinking I’d made a big error, my wife knew my attitude had changed, and I thought to myself, ‘Do I really want to be a part of this anymore? Do I really want to referee?’
“And I went soul-searching, I wasn’t enjoying it as much as I used to and I had to get out.”
My entry for Happy Moanday
That's it from me for this week's Happy Moanday. A huge thanks as always goes out to @pete for his ongoing encouragement and support across Scorum embodied perfectly in his weekly contest.
Have you had something to Moan about this week in relation to sport? Did one of your team miss a sitter, did they drop the ball at the very last minute and at the worst possible time? Well then this may be the place for you. Head on over to https://scorum.com/en-us/surfing/@pete/happy-moan-day-december-10th-2018 and have you moan. You will be guaranteed upvotes and make a great submission and you might even scoop the top prize of 30SCR!! So, what are you waiting for!!
As per tradition, I will leave you with a parting quote, fitting of my post and this week's one comes courtesy of basketball legend Michael Jordan:
"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
Thanks a million for reading.
Peace Out.
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