MANCHESTER UNITED PLC: The Glazer Family’s Shell Company.
If you were to objectively look at how Manchester United is being run, you’ll be forgiven for thinking it is a front for a Drug Cartel. I mean it’s not unheard of for shell companies to inflate the prices of office supplies and assign value to worthless assets, but even a front knows not to purchase an £80 million fridge. Granted it can also double as a makeshift central cooling system if you leave the fridge door open, but sometimes you just want it to make a few ice cubes, not wobble, nor have a turning circle of a Diesel Engine Tractor.
But we aren’t objective fans of the club, we are Manchester United Fans and that comes with the baggage of hope and viewing the club through rose-tinted glasses. This brings me to the hopium surrounding the appointment of Erik Ten Hag. His appointment, coupled with the departure of Ed Woodward and the structural changes going on under Richard Arnold and John Murtough has given us fans a glimmer of hope.
The cynic in me still views the club as I did under Mr Woodward because it always seemed to me that the club tried to act like a well-run football club instead of just being one. Consistent briefs on how great they are doing while trying to implement what other decent clubs already have in place do my head in. Briefs from “sought the services of TOP TOP recruiting firms to employ BEST in class staff” to “putting in place “Data Analysis Team” to sift through an exhaustive player database” while they re-sign players who barely play for the club on long terms contracts to “preserve their value”.
If Erik Ten Hag is to be a success at Manchester United, he has to be his own man, which means aggressively demanding what he needs from the board. He owes it to himself to do that because history dictates that the club is willing to do the bare minimum if they can get away with it. One of the few things working in his favour is the glazers seem to deep their hands in the club’s pocket when we are out of the Champions League.
In his first year, I feel the style of play should be prioritised. Managers like Mourinho, and Conte can get away with solidifying the defence first before putting more emphasis on creating more chances and scoring more goals, but I think Ten Hag should focus on implementing his attacking philosophy at the expense of defence in the meantime. It’s easier to get fans on board with bold attacking and entertaining games than scraping 1–0 wins. This comes with the risk of huge ass whoppings by some of the top teams, or the occasional embarrassing loss to a bottom-of-the-table counterattacking team. The flip side is it can result in a shocking spanking in the other direction. Whether Top Four will be granted with this approach is another question entirely. Past managers have seen themselves lose their jobs because they didn’t finish in the top four. This is where the so-called long-term view the club is taking with Erik Ten Hag will be tested.
After his First Two seasons, fans should be able to recognise a Ten Hag Style of play. I mentioned earlier that the style of play should be prioritized more than the defence. This doesn’t mean it should be ignored entirely. The manager should coach the defence as much as he can, while also supplementing it with a few signings, but attacking and midfield signings should be prioritized. After getting the attacking and defensive balance right and solidifying the top four, only then can challenging for the title be targeted and top players can be attracted.
While all this is ongoing, the structural changes should continue to be implemented to enable the club and manager to operate more effectively. The recent Richard Arnold appointments and video leak seems to indicate that the club finally has the appetite to do so even if the video highlights what a shamble of a club we are!
