It goes better in English so let’s go like this: “a fucking miracle”. Launched like Verstappen’s Red Bull to explode the hall of fame of the worst panic buys in the history of football, Manchester United is doing well with Casemiro, lung of the legendary Madrid midfielder to the four Champions League. Thank you Véronique for the work – Rabiot demanded an indecent salary to let go of his last year of contract at Juve – and thank you the rest of Europe for the successive winds to the Mancunian leaders, who seek by all means to slap an obscene dough before August 31. Be careful all the same: there are ten days left and plenty of time to make a bullshit based on 60 million on Icardi, no premature triumphalism.
Casemiro, an almost unexpected panic buy
Concerning this good Casemiro, of which one wonders why he went to cram into this wasp, it will be 80 million with the expense reports. Reportedly Manchester desperately wanted him for Monday night’s clash against Liverpool at Old Trafford, which he will watch best from the stands. The initial mad hope? That the Brazilian transmits in two days a science of winning which must be felt from the eau de cologne, at this level of prize list. Badly crossed anyway given the psychological state of a group in the midst of a nervous breakdown : two humiliating defeats to start the season, a season which itself follows a series of broken promises. No title since 2017, and even the qualification in C1 which ends up being the trunk, by dint of mediocrity.
“The club has never been so bad since the retirement of Alex Ferguson, recognizes Wayne Barton, writer specializing in MU and author of a podcast very listened to by fans, “Talking Devils”. There is a widespread feeling that the team needs to be renewed almost 100% due to the age of the players or their lack of quality before they can claim to win the championship. Even their players look like they’re at the bottom of the hole. The tension is very high among the supporters and it can quickly become critical.
Our man is not, however, one of the Bolsheviks of the moment: those who, encouraged by the hashtag #EmptyOldTrafford on social networks, have planned to come and hustle once again the Glazers, hated owners of England’s most successful club since 2005, largely accused of bailing out their personal fortunes on the backs of the club. At the head of the backstage uprising, The 1958, a group of supporters who intend to fight “until our club is given back to us. We have already experienced difficult times for ten years, but here we are touching the bottom. As they say, a fish always rots from the head. The first responsible for the terrible state of Manchester is to be sought on the side of the Glazer family”.
A major protest movement against Liverpool?
Appointment was given in front of the statue of the “holy trinity” bringing together George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton, and come what may. Can movement paralyze the encounter as in spring 2021, when all the Mancunian people had gathered in front of an Old Trafford then closed to supporters, to say their way of thinking about the shameful attempt of the leaders to join the ephemeral Superleague? A bout of fever that had served its purpose. Men, finally some, have changed, sometimes for the better.
The hated Ed Woodward has been replaced by a not unwilling duo, according to Wayne Barton: “It is too early to judge the work of John Murtough and Richard Arnold. They’ve just arrived, and putting the right structure in place can take time. From what I know, Arnold in particular seems attached to what tradition and the identity of the club endurewhich is a first step in restoring its place in English football.
On the bench, Ten Hag, a relevant choice on paper after five years of allowing Ajax to reconnect in part with its past greatness. Will he only have time to believe that he can achieve the same in Manchester? The Dutch coach did not loosen his jaw before the crash test against the Reds, too busy surviving the crocodiles: “I haven’t been here long enough to judge the context. The only thing I can say is that the Glazer family wants to win. We need the fans to be behind the team, we have to fight together”. For now, Ten Hag seems mostly won over by the local epidemic which is turning every new MU manager into a lost child.
“This club has become a cemetery for players”
The former players, converted into consultants-snipers, come to regret the good times of José Mourinho, including a statement from 2019 is not going badly these days: “If I told you, for example, that what I consider to be one of the great achievements of my career is to have finished second in the Premier League with Manchester, you would answer ‘This guy is mad “. But it is”. “This statement has unfortunately aged very well, reacted Rio Ferdinand. I think I would apologize in part for what I may have said about his management at the time. Terrible things are happening behind the scenes that we don’t know about, and obviously, José Mourinho, he knew.
It’s not just the coaches who get lost in the Mancunian mess. The players too ripping off this comment sadistic +++ to Gary Neville: “This club has become a graveyard for players. The club has spent 1.25 billion for ten years, and there are perhaps two players who have lived up to expectations: Bruno Fernandes, even if he has lost track a little, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. I was excited about a lot of buys, even last year with Sancho, Ronaldo, Varane, but Manchester have become a horror show from a recruitment point of view. It’s a bit harsh on CR7, but the Portuguese shows a little too much that he wants to escape by all means of Alcatraz to pass between the drops.
Light at the end of the tunnel with Ratcliffe?
The club is doing well, therefore, and in this deleterious atmosphere, everything is good to take, as the rumor of an upcoming sale Glazers. The leading English press is buzzing with information about the case, and in the Times, he is the boss of Ineos, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who declared himself a candidate for a takeover, even partial. A man a priori more serious than Elon Musk, that some of the most desperate supporters were nevertheless ready to follow on Mars, as long as we sent their captain Maguire there first.
“Everyone is excited by this prospect, confirms Wayne Barton. Many United followers believe he would be a responsible owner who understands the values of this club. I don’t think anyone wants to be faced with the moral dilemmas that City or Newcastle fans had to face when they were bought out, just to have a little more money to spend on transfers.” Especially since it’s less a problem of money, than the way it is wasted. How much for Amine Gouiri on August 31, in this regard? Ratcliffe, Nice, we say it like that.