Man Utd risk ‘relegation and even bankruptcy’!
Tottenham v Man Utd is almost upon us and the stakes are massive for both clubs but Unitedâs entire future could depend on this.
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No more sleepsâŠ
This morning, as I float through the fizz and fuzz of nerves and what ifs, I found myself wondering why we are like this. Why is it that we take such emotional batterings? What in us all made us tie our hearts to football clubs, what about us makes us fall head over heels into such peripheral yet essential relationships, in which the object of our adoration doesnât really know we exist? We should be above this. We should be able to enjoy life, our days, our weekends, regardless of the actions of a dozen or so people we will never know.
Yet here we are. This is what we do. This is the life that was chosen for us by quirks and oddities so deeply buried in our psyche. This is what we are. Maybe it isnât healthy. Maybe weâd be better off as people who wonât be emotionally and psychologically shredded later this evening. But here we are nevertheless, waiting for that moment. Waiting to be made whole, if only for those glorious hours where nothing seems real any more.
Football canât heal the wounds that make some of us so desperate to feel happy through its lens. But it can hold us close, embrace us and stroke our hair, and tell us âbut for now, for today, for this moment, let this joy into your heartâ. On both sides of tonightâs fence there will be so, so many who need that. I need that.
COYS
thayden
READ: High-wire Spurs have no safety net and the dead weight of history but really could pull this off
The Europa League is irrelevant to Man Utd
Itâs irrelevant if we (Man Utd) win and get in the Champions League. We are not going to be back in the big leagues. Well we will, but what are we going to be doing there? Trying to not get embarrassed? The money is good but a lack of funds is not the issue. In fact I think we should be forced to do it with minimum funds for a couple of years so we learn to stop spanking money all the time all over the place.
I would absolutely love to win and celebrate all day (Iâm off, game is over before 3 pm here), and the embarrassment of losing a final to the Tottenham would not be great, but I think the long term effects will be minimal and may be even negative as it will give us a shot at another shortcut. We need to suffer for a couple more years before we can improve.
Zdravko
READ: Man Utd and Ruben Amorim face a massive sliding doors moment in Bilbao
No, the stakes are very high
As a United fan it seems to me that the stakes have never been higher for the club than they are this evening.
A win may just give Amorim the shot in the arm needed to bring in the players that will begin to turn the club around.
A loss would be catastrophic. The financial implications of another year away from the top table would be dire not to mention that the absence of Champions League football makes Utd a less attractive option for Champions league level players. So lose and Amorimâs ability to attract the players he needs is enormously curtailed.
The worry however is that win or lose the rot has set in far too deep. Having âgoodâ players is not enough. Culture and mentality have a huge bearing on performance. As weâve seen from Rashford, Antony and even Sancho to an extent, players have flourished away from the dumpster fire at Old Trafford. This suggests that the playersâ ability or lack thereof is far from the only problem.
The results in recent weeks as the team have given up on the league speaks to a total lack of professional pride and a comfort with allowing standards to slip below acceptable when it suits them. This mentality is not easily reversed. If Amorim were the man to turn that around I think we may have seen more sign of it by now. Instead things have gone from bad to worse.
Winning is a habit â finding that little bit extra when nothing else will do is the stuff champions are made of. This squad donât have that attitude and itâs far more likely that the poor standards will rub off on new players than that new players will transform the culture.
United may win. If they do the club has a chance of turning the situation around. Iâm not overstating things to say however that given the clubâs enormous debt, rotten culture, and lack of strategic vision, if they lose they may be on an irreversible path not just to relegation but even to bankruptcy.
Your Old Pal Stevo
Clash of clowns
Anybody else super excited about the upcoming Europa League Final? Both managers are certified clowns and their squads are ongoing train crashes (slow motion).
BUT! The winner gets to decide who the sad clown is! Isnât that just exciting.
Anyway, I was on holiday when I read John Nicholsonâs piece on why Arteta should quit if he canât show respect (great headline, what a clickbait). I donât have an issue with the content, everybody knows Arteta can be a bit of a knob and Johnny and some of the other F365 columnists harbour great hatred for the man, but I just canât pin point why the article got on my nerves.
That was until I got back to work. We were finishing up on a meeting today, everybody has left, it was just me and my supervisor when he commented:â You close with Adrian? Never liked that guy mate, he gets on my nerves. His hair is weird, his accent is thick, he over dresses, heâs aloof and he talks like he knows every little thing.â
The colleague he was referring to was a kind friend of Sudanese descent, and yes my supervisor is a bigot and isnât one to shy away from displaying his dislike to people of Asian or African descent. There seems to be some sort of connection there. Anyway, I just smiled and said yea, heâs a pal and I like him, which got a weird look from my supervisor before I hastily left.
I just hope John Nicholson and Will Ford are not closet bigots, though that wouldnât surprise me. Dave Tickner gets a pass for being a confused Spuds fan.
Romulus Shani (LFC, may the clowniest clown win)
Mouse crap flambe
It looks like the Man United staff who had their free meals cancelled might actually have dodged a bacteria riddled bullet, every cloudâŠ
Mark PFC
Somebody at Arsenal is feeling confident
So it sounds as if we are signing Gyokeres for ÂŁ55m. That is pretty sound business to me and allows for an adaptation period to bed in. But I think he is just the start as I have a strong feeling we will try for another striker too. Isak on the left would be sensational and would balance Saka on the right, particularly with Gyokeres down the middle. I donât think Sesko will come, otherwise heâd already be here. And heâs too similar profile to Gyokeres.
I donât think Williams will come so if not Isak, we will pivot to Rodrygo or another left sided option. Having Zubimendi, Rice and Odegaard in midfield, a front three of Isak(please), Gyokeres and Saka and a back four with Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Lewis-Skelly/Calafiori, I think the next season will be won before it starts.
JazGooner (avoiding the ânext year will be our year stuff as best I canâ)
Not sure what this Liverpool fan is angry aboutâŠ
So let me get this straightâŠ
When Liverpool steamroller our way to 97 points, win our last nine games and finish second â weâre bottlers and serial underachievers.
But when we win the league in April with four games to spare and ease into party mode â weâre the Worst Champions in the History of the Premier League.
I suggest Liverpool fans donât really need to indulge the coping mechanisms of other fans, although it is quite enjoyable.
RH, NYC
