Man Utd Legend Says This Was the Beginning of the End
Man United legend Peter Schmeichel is super bummed about how far the club has fallen. He says it all started at one specific time. He doesn’t think it was just when Sir Alex Ferguson left that things went south. Man Utd Legend Reveals Moment of Downfall.
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Ruben Amorim’s team isn’t doing great right now. They’ve only won two of their last eight games in all competitions and are sitting way down in 14th place in the league. This is crazy for Red Devils fans who’ve been around a while. Last season was a mess too. They finished eighth under Erik ten Hag, which was United’s worst league showing in 33 years!
Schmeichel, who was captain when United won the Champions League in 1999 to complete the Treble, picked up 15 trophies in his 648 games for the club. He says it hurts to see the team struggling so much.
The Real Turning Point
On Optus Sport’s Takes from the Terrace, Schmeichel said United’s problems started back in 2013. That’s when Ferguson and CEO David Gill both left within three months of each other. He thinks losing both of them was too much for the club. Ferguson made the club a powerhouse, and Gill ran the business side really well.
It hurts that we’re in this mess, Schmeichel said. We lost Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill at the same time. One was in charge of the team, and the other ran everything else. That was just too much experience to lose all at once, and no one’s been able to fill their shoes.
Ferguson, one of the best managers ever, won 38 trophies during his 26 years, from 1986 to 2013. Gill was also key in turning Man United into a global brand before he joined UEFA’s committee. He left in February 2013, and Ferguson followed in May. The club’s stock even dropped on the New York Stock Exchange because of it.
Schmeichel thinks this was the moment everything changed. Since then, the club hasn’t won the Premier League or even been close. They’ve only won a Europa League title and two FA Cup and League Cup wins in the last 12 years. Man Utd Legend Reveals Moment of Downfall.
Years of Chaos and Angry Fans
Since Ferguson left, United has had 10 different managers (including temporary ones) in just over 10 years. On top of that, the Glazer family, who own the club, are constantly getting heat from the fans. Protests against them are normal. One recent protest even compared the current situation to the aftermath of the Munich air disaster in 1958.
Schmeichel says the biggest problem is that the club isn’t competing at the top anymore. It’s been a gradual decline, he said. Yeah, we’ve won the FA Cup or the Europa League, but that’s not what Man United should be about. We should be fighting for the Premier League title and doing well in the Champions League every year.
We like to think we’re the biggest club in the world, not just because of our fans and how much money we make, but also because of how we play. Sadly, things have just been getting worse over time. Man Utd Legend Reveals Moment of Downfall.
Can INEOS Turn Things Around?
Despite everything, Schmeichel thinks there’s still hope. The INEOS Group, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, recently bought a part of the club and is starting to make some big changes. This includes cutting back on staff, and even Ferguson has been affected by the shake-up.
Schmeichel isn’t going to bash Ratcliffe’s plan just yet. He says we need to be patient. The new owners have come in with a fresh perspective and seen what’s wrong. They’ve made a lot of changes, and I’m not going to criticize them yet. We’ll see how it goes, he said.
He also thinks it’s important to support Ruben Amorim, even though the team is struggling. They need to back Amorim and what he wants to do, but he clearly doesn’t have the right players yet. Signing Patrick Dorgu shows what kind of football he wants to play.
Schmeichel is trying to stay positive. Someone had to make some big changes, and that’s what’s happening now. As a United fan, I’m willing to put up with more tough times if it means we’ll get better, little by little, game by game.