A billion reasons for United’s tumble

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This article was published 18/10/2019 (2500 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Is it possible to quantify Sir Alex Ferguson’s worth to Manchester United — to attach a monetary value to his legacy? Actually, yes: around a billion pounds.

That’s what the Premier League club has spent on recruitment since its legendary manager retired in 2013. And despite the billion — an outlay that would typically yield consistent contention for major prizes — United go into Sunday’s North West Derby trailing rivals Liverpool by 15 points. Without a win in more than a month, they’re just two points above the relegation zone — closer to the drop than the European places.

It’s not surprising, given these circumstances, that current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is widely expected to get the sack should his side lose heavily at Old Trafford, a result that right now looks inevitable. Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward insists Solskjaer’s job is safe, although such a claim would seem to tick the box of the “dreaded vote of confidence” cliché.

That said, the Norwegian’s part in this drama is a secondary one.

He can hardly be blamed for a disaster that required the combined incompetence of several leading characters — including David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, the Glazer ownership and Woodward himself. But Solskjaer would make a convenient fall guy.

For all of those billion pounds, Solskjaer will field a team against Liverpool that can’t even be said to be underachieving. The players, quite simply, just aren’t very good. In a much-maligned preview segment on Sky Sports, pundit Danny Mills didn’t pick a single United player for a combined Manchester United-Liverpool XI. But he wasn’t wrong. Not one Red Devil would make the European champions’ lineup — perhaps a few would make the bench. Maybe.

In fact, only two or three would start for the team directly above them in the standings — the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Based on their playing personnel, United are right where they should be.

The bad news is it could still get worse. The good news… well, there isn’t any.

Although the club continues to turn huge profits, the Glazer family sees it as a debt vehicle first and football outfit second. They’ve never shied away from spending big in the transfer market, but they’ve also loaded it with considerable debt accrued during the past decade’s economic downturn, when many of their other businesses went belly up. By floating limited shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the family has been able to give itself a cash return, and the six siblings also pay themselves multimillion-pound dividends categorized as administrative fees. It’s not a sustainable bubble.

Woodward, rightfully, has been cast as the villain by the club’s frustrated fans. The Glazer family banker who previously worked at JP Morgan, he is essentially the family fixer. And while he’s been able to secure record sponsorships for United, he has also failed to put together anything resembling a capable football department. Where Liverpool has Michael Edwards and Manchester City has Txiki Begiristain, Manchester United has… well, no one knows, really. It’s all rather fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants.

The thing is, those sponsors want to be associated with winning — or at least the chance of winning. United aren’t in the Champions League this season, and won’t be next. There are other big clubs to which brands can attach their names and logos, clubs that capture titles and cups and play into the latter rounds of European competitions, clubs that boast exciting, marketable players. Should the sponsors flee — and it looks more a matter of when, not if — what Ferguson and United managed to build in the Premier League era will come crumbling down, and quickly. This might be only the start.

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A sensible and reasonably quick fix would be the appointment of a director of football, which would mean the withdrawal of Woodward from day-to-day operations. That it hasn’t occurred to either him or the Glazers to go this route only underlines their perception of the club as a personal bank. No doubt, many fans would prefer to see a change in ownership, full stop. But that would require collective action affecting attendance, demonstrating en masse and making the regime’s situation generally untenable.

It’s not reached that point yet, although protesters will march down Sir Matt Busby Way ahead of the Liverpool encounter. The Manchester United Supporters Trust has also been polling its membership, asking whether it should publicize the demonstration. A lopsided defeat would surely amplify the discontent. In any event, Manchester United’s reality is going to get worse before it gets better.

This is what you get with one billion pounds spent badly. In only six years, Manchester United has burned through Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy. Winning is now a memory, not an expectation, at Old Trafford. Ahead of one of their biggest games of the season, and against their biggest rivals, you get the sense that United have already lost. The hope is gone.

jerradpeters@gmail.com

Twitter: @JerradPeters