The identity of the club has become very commercialised in the past few years and I find it off-putting. Of course it always was to an extent but it was certainly easier feeling a a connection to players who appeared to love playing for the club (anybody from Ronaldo to the Class of 92). There's been a lot of passion missing in the past few years by comparison. Contrary to many, I still felt we had an identity under Moyes; not because of his dreadful managerial nous but because we still had a lot of the same players under him that we had under Fergie.
Arguably the point my feelings shifted came during the LvG era. We were supposed to be building for the future and what happened? We sold Van Persie, Welbeck, Rafael, Nani, Evra and Hernandez and ended up with mercenaries like Di Maria. Falcao too looked oddly out of place. We ended up buying some great players for the future but few of them seem particularly bothered when the chips were down (Shaw, Zaha, Depay, Martial, Darmian).
Right now, I only really see passion from the likes of Fellaini, Mata, Pogba, Rashford, Herrera and Valencia (the last of Fergie's players in a way). Everybody else is a pure professional. It didn't help that the likes of Januzaj floundered either.
Those feelings extend towards the muppetry of this transfer window. We seem to be going full steam ahead trying to get players who aren't all that fussed about playing for us, and if they are then it's because better alternatives don't exist. We're clearly in the business of throwing loads of money at them and it's a far cry from when players saw United as a pinnacle club and saw Fergie as a manager who knew would get the best out of them.
Mourinho. I'm on the fence. For me he's not a great character and while he's still a formidable manager, it's certainly true that he has less pull than ever before. The sourness of his last spell at Chelsea, and perhaps Madrid, altered his perception greatly IMO. We all know full well he'll leave us in the shit in three years time.
And, yeah, we also play boring football and that doesn't help. I'd rather we played in an exciting way and lost rather than grinding out wins, or even draws. I thought out Europa League run was very fun but that's also because we were playing a lot of teams we wouldn't ordinarily play. Perhaps Champions League football will make things better next season.
Right now, I still obviously like the club but I absolutely hate the commercialisation of it. Although perhaps that extends to football in general right now.
And just for the record, I grew up as a United supporter. Used to go to around 7 home games a year in my teens. I've also browsed this forum for about ten years - finally actually started posting this season - so I definitely think things have changed.
Arguably the point my feelings shifted came during the LvG era. We were supposed to be building for the future and what happened? We sold Van Persie, Welbeck, Rafael, Nani, Evra and Hernandez and ended up with mercenaries like Di Maria. Falcao too looked oddly out of place. We ended up buying some great players for the future but few of them seem particularly bothered when the chips were down (Shaw, Zaha, Depay, Martial, Darmian).
Right now, I only really see passion from the likes of Fellaini, Mata, Pogba, Rashford, Herrera and Valencia (the last of Fergie's players in a way). Everybody else is a pure professional. It didn't help that the likes of Januzaj floundered either.
Those feelings extend towards the muppetry of this transfer window. We seem to be going full steam ahead trying to get players who aren't all that fussed about playing for us, and if they are then it's because better alternatives don't exist. We're clearly in the business of throwing loads of money at them and it's a far cry from when players saw United as a pinnacle club and saw Fergie as a manager who knew would get the best out of them.
Mourinho. I'm on the fence. For me he's not a great character and while he's still a formidable manager, it's certainly true that he has less pull than ever before. The sourness of his last spell at Chelsea, and perhaps Madrid, altered his perception greatly IMO. We all know full well he'll leave us in the shit in three years time.
And, yeah, we also play boring football and that doesn't help. I'd rather we played in an exciting way and lost rather than grinding out wins, or even draws. I thought out Europa League run was very fun but that's also because we were playing a lot of teams we wouldn't ordinarily play. Perhaps Champions League football will make things better next season.
Right now, I still obviously like the club but I absolutely hate the commercialisation of it. Although perhaps that extends to football in general right now.
And just for the record, I grew up as a United supporter. Used to go to around 7 home games a year in my teens. I've also browsed this forum for about ten years - finally actually started posting this season - so I definitely think things have changed.
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