I have been a Manchester United fan for almost two decades now and during these twenty years I have loved and lived Man Utd. This beloved club of mine has been a constant companion in all the ups and downs of my life. I have been mad ecstatic on its success and also been inconsolable during the bad times especially in the last decade. However these last two weeks were quite strange when it comes to my relationship with Manchester United. For the first time in my life I felt so disenchanted that I almost turned a blind eye to the happenings within the club. I patiently waited for the international break to get over and I can’t even begin to describe how happy I am that it’s finally over.
One can only imagine how horrendous these last couple of weeks have been at Man Utd that the gut wrenching defeat at Arsenal almost feels like the least painful of everything that’s happened. Garnacho’s perfectly good goal being ruled offside and the scenes at the Emirates when Rice scored still boils my piss but when compared to everything that followed, it almost seems inconsequential.
The whole Sancho saga was so needless and it really shows everything that’s wrong with modern football and footballers. In the bygone era no player would have dared release such a statement against their own manager, especially when the gaffer has not really said anything out of order. To quote a very famous modern manager “When a player signs a contract they sign to train not necessarily to play, the manager on the basis of their training decides whether they play or not”.
Sancho is a perfect example of how far talent can take you without working hard. Sir Alex used to say “Hard work always beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard enough” and that’s why Sancho finds himself in the situation that he is in. Talented though he is, but his career has been littered with discipline issues and if reports are believed to be true his stint at Man United has proven to be no different. It would be a shame that a player of his promise might never be able to tap into his full potential. The stubbornness is also not helping his case at all and barring a miracle his association with Man Utd is looking extremely likely to end in the January transfer window. He probably doesn’t realise it now but the trajectory will most likely be downhill from hereon and Sancho will only have himself to blame for everything that transpires.
As if the whole Sancho saga wasn’t taxing enough, serious allegations of physical abuse and domestic violence on Antony by his former partner left me absolutely dumbfounded. With the resolution of Mason Greenwood situation I really thought that the dark clouds of character assessment and assassination of Man Utd players were behind us, however not even a week has passed on when as a fan base we are back watching the same story but with a different protagonist. His removal from the Brazil squad and subsequent leave of absence from Man Utd setup raises some very interesting and serious questions. The matter is currently under investigation and I am sure justice will surely prevail in the end.
With the international break finally ending today I am really looking forward to the match against Brighton. I expect no easy win but the thought of simply watching the team step out at Old Trafford to play some football in itself is quite soothing to say the least. The kind of turmoil Manchester United has seen over the course of this international break will surely impact our season, whether it binds the players together and propels them forward or drags the team and manager in the mire remains to be seen. For my own mental well-being and of millions of other fans I really hope it’s the former.
Written by Akash Khare
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