Image credit – Getty Images/ Manchester United
Hiding in the perils of disillusion
Here we go again, another manager sacked by the hierarchy of Manchester United, and now it seems that Manchester United will never return to their best again. This familiar cycle has become so routine that it barely shocks the football world anymore. Once the most feared club in England and Europe, Manchester United now lurches from one crisis to another, desperately searching for stability while sinking further into confusion. As the years pass, the legacy begins to fade, and other teams are no longer intimidated by the sleeping giant that has been dormant for a long time and may never wake up. Old Trafford, once a fortress, is now just another stadium teams visit with confidence rather than fear, knowing that getting a result here is easier than getting results playing a League Two team.
The Glazers’ family buying the club in the 2000s was the start of a disaster, and this disaster has spiralled out of control. Their leveraged takeover burdened the club with debt and shifted priorities away from footballing matters towards financial extraction of individual wealth. What was once a carefully run sporting institution spearheaded by David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson, which became a commercial asset, is now milked for revenue, and the success on the pitch has been treated as a secondary matter. Fans have protested for years, but their voices have consistently fallen on deaf ears.
Many hoped that INEOS’ purchase of the club three years ago would mark a turning point, a fresh start that would finally drag Manchester United into a more modern, football-focused era. Instead, it has made no difference. There is still mismanagement of funds for the players’ budget, and the transfer market has been a shambles. Money is spent, but without strategy or coherence. Players are bought without a clear system in mind, wages are inflated, and resale value is ignored. The result is a bloated squad lacking balance, identity, and hunger.
Sacking Amorim shows that there is no direction for the club. Once again, a manager becomes the scapegoat for structural failures above him. No matter who sits in the dugout, the same problems persist: unclear recruitment, internal politics, and a lack of long-term planning. Players feel that they will never leave the club because the club cannot sell players in the market. High wages and poor performances trap footballers at Old Trafford, creating a stagnant dressing room where competition and ambition slowly erode.
The appointment of Carrick is just a paint over the cracks. While his connection to the club may inspire short-term goodwill, it does nothing to address the deeper issues. The club will let him go at the end of the season and bring another coach in, which means that the club is always changing direction. Each new appointment arrives with promises of a rebuild, only to be undermined by the same executive indecision and lack of patience. Continuity is impossible when vision changes every year.
Manchester United fans will need to accept that their club will never get better, and history will not save the club. The memories of Sir Alex Ferguson, treble-winning seasons, and European dominance now feel like distant myths rather than foundations to build upon. Football has moved on, and United have failed to evolve with it. Nostalgia has become both a comfort and a curse, and fans are hanging onto an idea that this club will bring back the glory days.
Eventually, the club will be relegated and will lose its billion-pound status if it is not bought by a billionaire who is a United fan. While this may sound extreme, the steady decline makes it less unthinkable with each passing season. Poor decisions, cultural decay, and executive arrogance will eventually have consequences which can be catastrophic. Without radical change at the ownership and structural level, Manchester United’s fall will not be sudden; it will be slow, painful, and entirely self-inflicted.
