Last night's result between Liverpool and Barcelona was unthinkable. It was inconceivable to everyone that Liverpool would progress... but they did. Now, they are through to their second Champions League final in successive seasons. The one club that this would have hurt the most, after Barcelona, would be Manchester United. Never since the Premier League's inception has the gap between the two rivals been this big in Liverpool's favour.
Manchester United are at the start of where Liverpool were thirty years ago. Going all the way back to 1990, Liverpool had won their 18th title, Manchester United had seven. If you were to say back then that Liverpool would go at least 29 years without winning another title, you'd have been sectioned. The story is that that actually happened.
Liverpool have gone at least 29 years without winning another league title. Manchester United, meanwhile, since 1990, have won 13 league titles, surpassing Liverpool as the most decorated club of league titles. Fast forward 30 years and Liverpool are going into the final day of the season 1 point of leader Manchester City, are into another Champions League final but where are Manchester United? Languishing 28 points behind the Reds in 6th place, condemned to Europa League football for next season.
Manchester United are going through the exact same situation Liverpool did three decades ago. Liverpool were comfortably the best English team of the 1980s, building a supposedly unstoppable empire. United, under Sir Alex Ferguson, did the exact same from the 1990s up until his last year in 2013. No one thought Liverpool would fall as far as they did when their dynasty was ended, but they did, and the same has happened to United.
Chris Pajak, of Redmen TV, spoke upon this subject brilliantly in a video a while back. The video was posted in March 2018, as Mourinho was guiding United to 2nd place in the league. This was five years on from Sir Alex resigning, and Pajak notices the similarities between Liverpool and Manchester United's demises.
Pajak says,
The demise of Manchester United lies somewhat as the farcical managerial appointments. David Moyes, touted by Ferguson for the job, was not cut out to manage a club the size of Manchester United. Louis van Gaal played "boring" football that was not the Manchester United "way" and Mourinho as a manager was on the decline when United took a brave step in appointing him, but it did not work out.
So they turned to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Schooled under Ferguson, a club legend and someone who knows exactly what the Manchester United way is. Solskjear came in and United went on a terrific run of form but of late, United have turned back into their old Mourinho-selves. Drawing 1-1 to already relegated Huddersfield was a new low.
Liverpool's return to competing for league titles has taken 30 years; United are only 6 years into their decline. If you look at the players at Old Trafford, the recruitment has been dreadful. Alexis Sanchez is arguably the worst ever signing by United and Paul Pogba, costing £89 million, has under performed massively. Solskjaer now has to work with what he's got, and even after a pre-season, the problems will not be sorted. It will take decades.
Solskjaer blamed fatigue as the main reason for United's poor performances. Although true, the quality of the squad is awful. Ashley Young playing right back at 34 years old is an indictment of United's decline. They have not recruited players adequately and the managers have simply not been good enough. You can blame managers to a certain extent, but at Manchester United, the blame points towards the Glazers.
One thing that Manchester could always do, even after Ferguson, was attract big players, due to being Manchester United. That, though, is not the case any more. United have been linked with a £60 million move for Ajax sensation Matthijs de Ligt. He rejected the move because Manchester United are not the club they used to be. If United were the club they were 10 years ago, de Ligt would easily have thought about a move to Old Trafford. Their decline over the years had been rapid.
Things will get better for Manchester United, but it will take years upon years for them to reach the heights they did under Sir Alex. Liverpool are now so much better than United, thanks to Jurgen Klopp, who has turned the club from a Europa League side to challenging for the Premier League and Champions League glory.
United will have to cope with Liverpool being the better team for years, just as the opposing fans had to. United's time will come again, but for the forseeable future, United will be just be trying to qualify for the Champions League, not trying to win it. That is where Manchester United are at.
Manchester United are at the start of where Liverpool were thirty years ago. Going all the way back to 1990, Liverpool had won their 18th title, Manchester United had seven. If you were to say back then that Liverpool would go at least 29 years without winning another title, you'd have been sectioned. The story is that that actually happened.
Liverpool have gone at least 29 years without winning another league title. Manchester United, meanwhile, since 1990, have won 13 league titles, surpassing Liverpool as the most decorated club of league titles. Fast forward 30 years and Liverpool are going into the final day of the season 1 point of leader Manchester City, are into another Champions League final but where are Manchester United? Languishing 28 points behind the Reds in 6th place, condemned to Europa League football for next season.
Manchester United are going through the exact same situation Liverpool did three decades ago. Liverpool were comfortably the best English team of the 1980s, building a supposedly unstoppable empire. United, under Sir Alex Ferguson, did the exact same from the 1990s up until his last year in 2013. No one thought Liverpool would fall as far as they did when their dynasty was ended, but they did, and the same has happened to United.
Chris Pajak, of Redmen TV, spoke upon this subject brilliantly in a video a while back. The video was posted in March 2018, as Mourinho was guiding United to 2nd place in the league. This was five years on from Sir Alex resigning, and Pajak notices the similarities between Liverpool and Manchester United's demises.
Pajak says,
"We won the FA Cup in 1992 against Sunderland and we thought winning a couple of trophies here [and] there through the 90s was going to be enough to seeing us get back to league titles. That's what Manchester United aren't going to do under Mourinho and yous don't see it coming and that's almost why I feel sorry for Man United fans right now."Pajak is absolutely right. Just like in the 1990s, Liverpool fans thought it was going to be simple for Liverpool to get back to the top of the pile, just like Manchester United fans did. After Fergie left, United won the FA Cup in 2016 and the League Cup and Europa League in 2017. They were winning silverware, but were never challenging for the Premier League.
The demise of Manchester United lies somewhat as the farcical managerial appointments. David Moyes, touted by Ferguson for the job, was not cut out to manage a club the size of Manchester United. Louis van Gaal played "boring" football that was not the Manchester United "way" and Mourinho as a manager was on the decline when United took a brave step in appointing him, but it did not work out.
So they turned to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Schooled under Ferguson, a club legend and someone who knows exactly what the Manchester United way is. Solskjear came in and United went on a terrific run of form but of late, United have turned back into their old Mourinho-selves. Drawing 1-1 to already relegated Huddersfield was a new low.
Liverpool's return to competing for league titles has taken 30 years; United are only 6 years into their decline. If you look at the players at Old Trafford, the recruitment has been dreadful. Alexis Sanchez is arguably the worst ever signing by United and Paul Pogba, costing £89 million, has under performed massively. Solskjaer now has to work with what he's got, and even after a pre-season, the problems will not be sorted. It will take decades.
Solskjaer blamed fatigue as the main reason for United's poor performances. Although true, the quality of the squad is awful. Ashley Young playing right back at 34 years old is an indictment of United's decline. They have not recruited players adequately and the managers have simply not been good enough. You can blame managers to a certain extent, but at Manchester United, the blame points towards the Glazers.
One thing that Manchester could always do, even after Ferguson, was attract big players, due to being Manchester United. That, though, is not the case any more. United have been linked with a £60 million move for Ajax sensation Matthijs de Ligt. He rejected the move because Manchester United are not the club they used to be. If United were the club they were 10 years ago, de Ligt would easily have thought about a move to Old Trafford. Their decline over the years had been rapid.
Things will get better for Manchester United, but it will take years upon years for them to reach the heights they did under Sir Alex. Liverpool are now so much better than United, thanks to Jurgen Klopp, who has turned the club from a Europa League side to challenging for the Premier League and Champions League glory.
United will have to cope with Liverpool being the better team for years, just as the opposing fans had to. United's time will come again, but for the forseeable future, United will be just be trying to qualify for the Champions League, not trying to win it. That is where Manchester United are at.
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