Explaining the title: I just said "great" because personally, it really pisses me off when people always say "THE GREATEST TEAM/BAND/PLAY/MOVIE/POTATO CHIP EVER." Even if it is true, it's obnoxious and dumb. Except for football, as it actually is the best sport. As I will explain later. Anyway, I think it would be pretty hard to argue that Manchester United (who have won 18 Premierships, 11 FA Cups, 3 UEFA Championships, one Super Cup, and a Fifa World Cup) or really any club in the Barclays Premier League, isn't great. This is the top level of football (followed closely by Spain's La Liga, in my book)
Explaining why they are my favorite: We'll just get this out of the way, as I'm sure most of you aren't interested in my personal stake in this team.
I've only been a fan of this club for about 8 months, but you can't really blame me because I'm from the US. I started being a fan of the club after I bought Fifa 10. A video game. But, in my defense, it's considered to be quite great (Metacritic). I liked using them because I could score with them quite a lot, and I liked all of their players. Easy enough. Looking into my history, I found that a major part of my heritage actually comes from Manchester. So, that makes me legit. I guess. Alright, moving on.
Why they are great:
Reason 1: Wayne Rooney.
Rooney is Manchester United right now, straight up. He's the player everyone associates with them, and they very well should. With 26 goals in 32 appearences in League play in 34 goals across all competitions, Rooney is the top scorer for Man U and probably would have been in the Premier League if not for an injury that kept him out of four games at the end of the season, letting Chelsea's goal eater Didier Drogba (29 goals in League play) pass him.
But Rooney means more than just Man U. Going into South Africa, Rooney is really the only solid forward England has got. With Jermaine Defoe woefully out of form, and an aging Peter Crouch, there's really nobody left up top at England. Gerrard plays like a forward, so that will help, but they still need Rooney up there. Rooney is also simply the most fun English forward to watch right now, for the following reasons.
Defoe: Defoe is simply out of form. He's also basically just a speed forward. He doesn't have too much of a shot, and he's got some solid skill, but nothing terribly special.
Crouch: Crouch is just an ugly player in my opinion. He's pretty good at taking chances, but his goals are never really like, "Wow! That guy is special!" He just sort of has a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and he's maybe good for a goal every two games.
Heskey: Heskey is a pretty solid player, but that's it. He's just good. He's definitely not great. And in the World Cup, you have to be nothing short of miraculous. Or at least good at kicking penalties.
In short, Rooney is the life blood of Man U, and of England in a lot of ways.
Reason 2: A history of greatness.
I already mentioned this up top, but Man U has got a lot of established precedent of being great. They are one of only four teams to ever win the Premiership, and they've won it the most of anyone. This is reason enough for a band wagon, which Man U definitely has, but there's still more.
(Pictured above is George Best, considered by most to be the best player in Man U's history.
Reason 3: They get them first.
Throughout their history, Man U has had a knack for getting the world's best players right in their prime. It's true that they usually end up losing them, but they still get them while they're hot. We have seen a good amount of this in recent years. Before David Beckham was famous for "bending it," before Cristiano Ronaldo was just "Ronaldo," they were Red Devils. You can see it happening even now. Rooney is now a star (I know, he was at Everton first, but he wasn't a star yet), and they've got 18 year old Italian phenom Federico Macheda waiting in the laurels. A note on Macheda: that kid has come into a game twice now for a total of only about 30 minutes and scored two goals. That's exciting talent right there, and it's budding, as it always has, in Man U.
Reason 4: Diversity.
This is true of most clubs in the big five leagues in Europe (Ligue 1, La Liga, Seria A, Bundesliga, Premier League), but it's especially true of the starters at Man U. Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, pictured above), Patrica Evra (France), Nani (Cape Verde), Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria), Edwin Van Der Sar (Holland), Rafael (Brazil), are all not only starters, but some of them (particularly Vidic and Evra) are considered the best in the world at their position. The list goes on as you look at their roster for those that don't start but are still on the active roster: Senegal, Norway, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Poland, South Korea, Yugoslavia. This is a club of the world, and when you realize that it's really incredible when you think about how all of these different people work together so effectively
They also cast a wide net, obviously, as there are players in that list from every continent except Antarctica. And it's only getting wider, as they just signed Javier Hernandez, the club's first ever Mexican player.
Reason 5: Important English national players.
In addition to reason 4, Man U has a great amount of players from England that are key players. We've already talked about Rooney, but they've also got Rio Ferdinand. Ferdinand is important not only because he's a really great center defender, but also because people like him. That goes a long way when you're starting next to John Terry, who's faced a whole slew of scandals throughout his career and is known as a pretty dirty player. Ferdinand is also a really loyal Red Devil. He made a point to come out after there was buzz in the air about Man U not winning the Premiership this year to say he wanted to be one of those guys who "got to Man U and stayed there."
By the way, the "those guys" are also an important part of Man U. These are the extremely experienced (aging, slightly) players that are established legends in England. These are the guys who have been to the World Cup, have been on the teams that have won the Premiership. This is where the leadership aspect of the club comes in. You've got guys like Michael Owen, Ryan Giggs, Owen Hargreaves, and Paul Scholes. Scholes, Giggs and Owen hold countless Premier League records, and Hargreaves was supposed to get a tap for the World Cup this year, but then Capello decided to be an ass and pick Garreth Barry, who will be recovering from an injury and useless.
Reason 6: The Red Army.
Whether England likes it or not, hooliganism is a major part of the Premier League image. It's a pretty big draw. Whenever you mention English football, the first reaction is "Whew, those guys are crazy!" It's what everyone wants to talk about when they go to a match, how crazy the fans are. It's what the media projects as the lifestyle of English football. It's a way of life for these guys.
And if you are interested in hooliganism, you need look no further than Man U's Red Army. Despite having probably the most intimidating name of any other hooligan group, the Red Army is one of the largest and have an established precedent as being insane. While the term has been used to describe Man U fans in general, the memory of all of the vandalism and violence still lives on. They are a large part of why fans are segregated at matches now, with two seperate entrances. They have pet players, like the ever-pugnacious Gary Neville and the stoic impassable mountain that is Nemanja Vidic.
Reason 7: Old Trafford.
This should have been higher up on the list, because it's probably one of the best parts of Man U. Built in 1910, the Theater of Dreams is the premier stadium of the Premier League. After Wembley Stadium, it is has the largest capacity of any stadium in England, seating 75,957. It is the 11th largest in all of Europe. It is also the only stadium along with the Wembley to be given a five star rating by UEFA. It's where dreams are made, it's majestic, and I really want to go.
Reason 8: Sir Alex Ferguson.
Whether you like him or not, the man almost won an unprecedented four Premierships in a row. If he didn't have idiotic owners like the American Glazer family pulling the strings, he'd have a lot more money to throw around and may even still have Ronaldo. He's an old guy with a lot of power and he knows how to use it, plain and simple.
I'm out of reasons. Comment if you like this/have other ideas/think I'm an asshole.
What's your opinion about why English soccer folks are so rowdy, but better yet so uncivilized? Are Spanish and German fans different?
ReplyDeleteHooliganism is a problem pretty much wherever there is soccer. British fans are particularly rowdy for a number of reasons. First of all, they are the league most in the limelight. When you hear any news about soccer, it's probably about a Premier League team. Pretty much everyone that likes soccer has to have at least a general knowledge of the Premier League.
ReplyDeleteThe limelight is mostly on them because pretty much every team is great and can compete in international tournaments with the best clubs in the world.
But that isn't to say that there aren't intense rivalries elsewhere. Real Madrid and Barcelona fans actually sling heated quarters across the stadium at one another. Other than these basic rivalries though, English fans have no competition.
I also believe that this is because English national players are so well distributed throughout the premier league. This is not true elsewhere. In Spain, Barcelona basically serves as the national team. They now have seven out of eleven of the natural starters for Spain playing in their own starting line-up. This basically makes any Spaniard that isn't necessarily from Barcelona much more likely to cheer for them. Germany is similar, as Bayern Munich has basically the entire national team sans Michael Ballack.
This is all to say that soccer fans are rowdy and passionate everywhere. What makes English fans different is that their clubs actually matter to the entire world because those are the clubs that the world as a whole is looking at.
i dont know how you can be such a expert on uniteds firm when you aint even been to old trafford,let alone an away game.? im not after your statistics but some of the english teams in lower divisions like stoke,birmingham,can all give it out too..there is probably more violence in those leagues also..what are you talking about 'limelight'? you cant be serious? in all honesty the rest of the world,i would put my last quid on, is the last thing to ever be on two firms battling! and stop calling it soccer!!1
DeleteI'd like to contend that while Manchester United does have a pretty good pedigree in terms of finding good young talent, they're ratio for success to candidates is very, very low. I had a friend who was in the Man U Youth Academy and he was one out of a few THOUSAND. A few thousand wannabes and maybe they unearth one Giggs every 10 years. Not a great statistic by any means.
ReplyDeleteMany clubs do this. They bring in a young player, foreign or "homegrown" and advertise him as the next big thing. Sometimes it works, may times it doesn't. Furthermore, Man U has had a lot more flops than people think. In just the period from 2000 till now, here are a couple of players who Sir Alex touted as the next best thing and fizzled like a firecracker on January 2nd:
Juan-Sebastian Veron, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Diego Forlan, Kleberson.
You want scouting pedigree? Look no further than North London.
Arsene Wenger (who I had initially thought was signed by Arsenal just because of his name) has shown himself to be as shrewd in the player market as Gordon Gekko. Monsieur Wenger should be in the stock market (well, maybe not now). He's unearthed more diamonds in the rough than Aladin. He snapped up a young, failing winger from Juventus and moved him away from the touchline and right in front of goal. Athletic, tall and able to outrun a gazelle, thus was the beginning of the Premier League legacy of Thierry Henry.
Bearing in mind that he has no billionaire to back him up, Wenger has done pretty well for himself. Fabregas, Henry, Vieira, Anelka, he's uncovered some of the best football talents the continent has had to offer.
I think that one of the best scouting teams in the world are working for Arsene Wenger and Ferguson's signings on the whole pale in comparison.
And I don't even like Arsenal.
what is wrong with all your knowledge? you start off talking about uniteds youth policy and mention "giggs" no beckham,scholes,and on and on? you forget the buys like schmeical,and solsjkaar(?)cost pea-nuts mate,yes i totally agree wenger was a great buyer but not one was british you just mentioned..now legacy,i'll say fergusons is a bit more leg-acy-ish than one player! how many titles is what its all about and it is beyond me how naive you all are about 'football' ps.wasnt henry a defender then made into a forward?
DeleteFirst of all Antz, it's pretty awesome that one of your friends was in Man U's youth program, that's just really cool. Second of all, when I said that thing about "like him or not," I was leaning more toward not liking him haha. Fergie is just kind of a vulture. He just sits up in the stands looming. It barely even looks like he's even watching the game when he's there. And I frankly think he just throws money at players and expects results. But, something about it is working.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that a lot of talent has been disappointing, but arguably Forlan has proven his worth in the Europa tournament this year. And I just think Djemba-Djemba shouldn't be insulted, solely because of his name haha. Seriously though, you make some very valid points. And I definitely agree about Wenger too, that guy knows what he's doing.
I would also say that for every Forlan and Djemba-Djemba who do nothing, there's a Tevez or a Pique. So it's really a give and take with Man U's scouting abilities, and really with any franchise across all of sports. What it really comes down to is the players themselves. There can be infinite hype about the player, and then for whatever reason, whether it's nerves or poor work ethic or whatever, they just don't deliver.
And as for only finding one Giggs every ten years or so, I definitely agree, but at the same time it feels like there may really be only one Giggs every ten years. It's really hard to find the "homegrown" talent you are talking about. Especially when you're looking at, as you said, thousands of players. It seems like it would be difficult to really notice somebody like that. Maybe there should be some sort of screening process? Or if there is one, perhaps one that creates a more narrow recruitment class? What do you think?
please,please i have heard it all now..you know as much about football as i do about elemental tables and the price of an ounce of rhodium! you just slagged the manager of manchester united off and you are not compost mentos frey fuckin' bentos mate! who were all the kids we won the lot with??? oh,yeah! uniteds youth team!!! who are the kids at united now regular england players??? oh,forgot them did we willber?
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