All Or Nothing

Well, here we are. As Manchester United fans, has there ever been a lower point? Well, not since the 60s apparently. So for most of us probably not. For those that are aware of what we’ve been through. It is situations like this where those sorts of people and their support count for something. After all, they’re still supporting through the good and bad. That’s something we could all learn from.

We’re in a state of ‘not being able to win’ no matter what we do. We can support the club, we can support each other that are supporting Manchester United. We can get behind the fact that the Premier League is a low bar in every regard and that we shouldn’t just be this Europa team to appease the commercial entity side of the club. We back Manchester United because of performances that the players put in against in the Europa. That was a shining example of the ‘level’ in performance we need to see week in and week out. We can celebrate the result, the manner of it, because it’s glorious, and is a throwback to our past in a way. When grit and determination was instilled in the very fabric of our club.

In the back of my mind. It helps the Glazers because this is exactly the competition they would want us to win. I want Manchester United to win, of course I do, but something in my mind is saying to me, if this the standard we’re going to be setting just so we can achieve our aims and pencil off a few ticks here and there. When ultimately, we shouldn’t ever have been put in this situation in the first place. Sure, you celebrate the wins when you have them, but I cannot celebrate the situation when we’re having to choose between Europa and Premier League performances. It’s just insanity but also the reality and I am fully aware of that.

We’re Manchester United fans first, so I support the club in the way I wish to support them. I do not have to bow down to those who want me to support the club in the moral esteemed compass that they’ve set for me. No matter if the very definition of our support differs. Ultimately, we’re Manchester United fans first and that will always come first.

I do believe though, Amorim is getting a real tune out of two really important players out of the club. Fernandes and Ugarte. Players he knows well. The style of play is there, we see it in motion. It’s just he has one player to try and pull off a whole system right now that he’s brought in. That’s never going to change anything or bring the real change that everyone aspires to. That’s why the investment needs to be there. The only way we get that is through the Europa and winning that competition. If anything, it illustrates to me just how important this summer is for us. However, how many times have we said this and how many are getting sick of it as well?

We want Manchester United to be competing in the way we want them to be. However, football is something that happens in cycles. This football club has been run into the ground by the Glazers. So essentially it was a cycle that should never have been a thing in the first place. Now, we have INEOS picking up the slack. A lot of it, in the hope that a phoenix can somehow rise out of all of this. As fans, we’re hoping it will work because if it doesn’t it could get worse unless the Glazer ownership ends. It’s like we’re in a rock and a hard place right now so any chance we can get where we can take the wins, we will.

However, nobody in football has had a more despised ownership than us. Well, maybe Newcastle did. But look at how they’re now thriving because the club was sold on. It’s all great in hindsight of course, but I just overall dislike what has been happening over the course of the last ten or more years and we’ve been steadily declining, yet, we hold on to ‘hope’. If it goes our way Amorim is immortal. If it all goes wrong, then this could get really messy fast.

It’s a lot of pressure for a young manager that’s come in and not had much of a chance to tinker the team to his liking nor a pre-season. That was forced upon by our higher ups in the first place. In fact, even in the 60s at least we still had some reasonable stability and people knew (theoretically) what the hell they were doing.

I am hoping for the best. I am hoping we can win, I know the implications if we don’t and I know how bad that is for Manchester United as a whole. The Glazers though? Essentially they may get what they want again and that pains me somewhat. It’s an internal battle being a Manchester United fan right now and I am sure you all can relate.

Stick by this manager though, because he’s one of us. It really is all or nothing now and whatever happens I will continue to support this manager because he’s the only one that truly gets where we’re at in this moment.