Manchester United: Embracing the Fire Within

Manchester United. An outside view.

Maybe I should start by saying I am not a Man United supporter, but I am a football lover, so this club has lived with me since day one, more so than ever, because I am now a proud Mancunian.

There are clubs and then there are giants of the game, and have no doubts, Manchester United are absolutely a giant of our game. Even if the next 10 years continue to be the unmitigated disaster the clubs currently finds itself in, there are few sides as important to modern football as United. European football history goes through Manchester every step of the way - after all, this city, is one of only two (Milano being the other one) that has 2 European Champion clubs.

Growing up, I feared two clubs more than any others, the colossus Real Madrid and the fiery Manchester United. Every time my team faced them in European competitions, it was always a game worth taking into consideration. Real Madrid was and is pure class; they just have an aura of superiority (more than justified), while Manchester United would embrace the fighting side of the game, while being a giant club. Playing at Old Trafford was a recipe for disaster for most clubs; you just knew your team was in for a complicated evening when visiting Manchester…

Manchester United is one of the most famous clubs on Earth, due to decades of excellence on the pitch, but also due its long tradition of harbouring some of the biggest characters in the game. From George Best to David Beckham, Eric Cantona to Roy Keane, it was with such talent that gave them a special aura. A club that was so big that it could embrace the madness, the anger, the rebellion of its players and together shine even more. I am a massive fan of attitude, character, and soul in my footballers; I want them to have a strong personality, be crazy, be wild, while shining on the pitch and perhaps no other club fielded so many of these strong personalities than Manchester United.

Living in Manchester has made me even more aware of the soul this city has, it truly wants you to be different, to show off your attitude, be something, just don’t be what everyone else is, that is motto of this place. The land of Hacienda and Stones Roses, Joy Division and Oasis, The Smiths and many more…

We are all fully aware the last decade has been truly difficult for the club, with many terrible decisions, horrific results and poor management all around. Such a downturn in fortunes is not just to the pity of Manchester but of football in general. European football is a lot better when “that” Man United is flying up and down the pitch, showing everyone what passion, fire, soul and love for the game is. 

Let us be honest, Manchester City is a world beater but they are yet to reach the level of passion at United. They don’t fuel the fire we have for football, and there’s nothing wrong with that: there are many big clubs that will keep on winning, and never make us fall in love with them. But for me, Manchester United is the definition of love, of fire, they are the reason why most of us fell in love with English football (although many will now negate that). You couldn’t discuss European football without mentioning Ryan Giggs or van Nistelrooy, Jaap Stam or Scholes, Yorke or Cole, and so many others.

I started by saying I am not a Manchester United supporter and I’m not, well not me as Jonee, but Jonee the football fan is a massive fan of Manchester United, which is a weird feeling to be honest, especially living in this city. We could discuss tactics, signings, and management as reasons to why the club has struggled for years now, but above all, I think they lack that fire, even the supporters. I see one too many times, friends who support the club just accept the situation and that drives me insane. You are MANCHESTER UNITED, you should never accept nothing but excellence. Demand more of your club and players, they need to understand who they are playing for. Those glory days might be gone forever, but that passion and fire we all lived with for decades, can’t be allowed to fade away…no matter the situation!

Do you think Real Madrid and its supporters would ever accept a bad decade? They will (they have) fired managers because they didn’t win the Champions League. Is Manchester United as big as Real? No, but they need to bring back that desire to be, that unassailable confidence you are as big, if not bigger, than any other club in the world. That is how you bring back better days. Hear me out, you have spent the money, you have hired all sorts of managers, and nothing has really worked out, although you did win a European competition while being coached by a fiery manager, so maybe I am onto something here. Forget the finesse players, the artistic, you need characters, you need to embrace the soul of this city, the desire to be your own thing, which is how you built a football dynasty in the first place.

Find your next Eric Cantona, go after those players who will bleed for that shirt. People that, like me, know there is a world of fire waiting to be lit up once more, and just watch Old Trafford light up again. Don’t try to be something you are not, don’t waste time with that. Like the unofficial motto of this city says, do things differently.

You are Manchester United. You are in many ways, Manchester. We may not love you, but we need you in our lives.

This piece was kindly written for @TFHBs by Jonee Joao. You can follow him on Twitter @Jonee13

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