After Manchester United’s well-deserved win in the FA Cup, there has been a lot of verbal vomit being spewed out by the Liverpool supporters, which shows just how bitter they have become.
There was no question that Liverpool was the model club back in the 1970s and 80s, which is why Sir Alex Ferguson set out to knock them off that perch, and based on Sunday’s victory they are on the bottom of the cage.
Those blinded-by-faith supporters have not stop short of blaming everyone – especially Howard Webb and Dimitar Berbatov – for how they were apparently gipped out of advancing to the Fourth Round of the knockout stage, but did they really warrant anything from their actions on the field?
The straightforward answer to that simple question would be an overwhelming no.
The Merseyside supporters need to come grips with reality, and realize that their club is not good enough anymore, and they need to start rebuilding – which is exactly what United did 24 years ago.
United has always been linked with a Phoenix since the 1958 Munich Air Disaster, which is much more classier and resilient symbol than the Liver Bird that is embedded into the Liverpool crest.
Let’s face it, before Sir Alex took over the United fans breathed in the ashes, and suffered for years on end watching Liverpool, and other clubs, win league trophy after league trophy.
However, in 1986, after years of searching, that mentality changed when the Board of Directors at Old Trafford finally found a manager that best suited them and really embodied the club’s long-running objectives, which allowed them rise up from those ashes.
Hindsight, it was really a match made in Sir Matt Busby’s heaven, because Ferguson was given the time to be able to grow United back into a club, that was not hindered by the former manager’s shadow.
The mold of Manchester United has always been there, but it required someone with patience and perseverance to overcome the adversity that casted itself over the club since Busby’s retirement.
Ferguson has said it time and time again – most recently with in regard to the Wayne Rooney saga – and that is the most important person in a football club is the manager.
Seems pretty elementary, but why is the manager, and not a Director of Football, Chairman or Scouting Director the most integral position at a football club?
Simple – he is the glue that keeps the club together through good and challenging times.
Sir Alex has definitely done that by overcoming player bust-ups, change in ownership and keep his existing players level headed.
However, a manager is, and will always be, the scapegoat for lack of form at the club he is at, and that has been disparagingly evident in the last couple of seasons with some very brash firings of very capable managers.
Unless a manager, like Sir Alex, has complete control of everything, or being able to put in his own trusted advisors, then he will never be successful – and neither will the club.
Liverpool’s previous owners hired the reigning Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year, Roy Hodgson, but he was never given the chance to become successful, though.
Hodgson was never given the full backing of the supporters or of either ownership group, and he was seen as replaceable, which in layman’s terms means not respected.
The lack of money to bring in his own players to build a foundation was clearly obvious, so he was forced to go for bit-part players who never warranted wearing the shirt of any top club, which Liverpool is slowly losing that tag.
A foundation is key at every club, and in life for that matter, because if you do not have that in place then you will never be able to build a capable club that has a sustainable future.
Rafael Benitez, who is not well liked by any United supporter for his outspoken dig at Ferguson in his “Rafa Rant” two years ago this month, but he really set the club back by wasting massive amounts of money on not bringing in the right players, or selling the backbone of the team.
When Sir Alex does retire, it is imperative that the board of directors at United to do their job expertly by finding a long-term replacement – and not one that will be at the club for five or six years.
Especially with the cost of players today, it would be crippling to a club to go through and have to bring another core group of players, which Liverpool is faced with now following their change in managers.
Guilty
Even one of their former heroes said that Liverpool has no one to blame, but themselves because of how they have completely changed the infrastructure of their club.
Michael Owen, who did the complete no-no by signing with United after playing with the Anfield club, also stated that Liverpool is a two-man team – Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
To be successful in any league, especially the Premier League, a club needs to have more than two influential players on their roster.
There is no question that any supporter would be up in arms if their club had a 50/50 decision went against their team – which United was forced to deal with against Birmingham City.
That is just it, though, Liverpool really had only one decision that went against them on Sunday, but their loyal fans are crying injustice.
If those supporters were really and truly honest with themselves, then they would have pointed the finger of shame at one of their own instead of how they were victimized by the referee.
Steven Gerrard, who is a self-confessed Liverpool supporter, showed complete selfishness and reckless abandonment as he threw himself full force into a challenge that could have ended Michael Carrick’s season.
In actuality, it was Gerrard who forced the referee into making the decision to send him off – not anybody else – even though their fans will certainly whine to whomever will listen that they were subjected to anti-Scouser hate crime.
Until Liverpool is able to honestly sort themselves out – both on and off the field – they do not deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Manchester United.
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