My recent trip to Malaysia to watch Manchester United’s pre-season friendly against a Malaysian XI highlighted why this club is so great and why Man City are decades away from usurping Manchester United – and there is only a small, tiny, improbable chance of that happening.
Arriving at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday morning, my mates and I bumped into fellow reds, who promptly redirected us to the Bunga Raya VIP complex. There we met Man Utd fans from all over Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam.
Fans of all ages and backgrounds were there to greet our heroes. Some waited for hours just to get a glimpse of their heroes. Luckily for me, we were late and so only had to wait a short while before seeing Giggsy and co.
How many fans would turn up to greet Man City at an airport in Asia?
Does Man City even have an Asian fan cub outside of Thailand?
The next stop was to book in at our hotel and rest before heading for the training session that afternoon. I was secretly harbouring hopes of getting close to the players to collect autographs and maybe even take photos, but all that was dashed when we arrived at Bukit Jalil stadium. An estimated 40,000 people showed up just to watch the reds train!
How many people would turn up to watch a Man City training session?!
The next day, a whopping 100,000 people showed up to see their heroes in action!
As former British colonies, there are really only two teams that matter in Malaysia and Singapore – Manchester United and Liverpool. The same pretty much applies for most of Asia.
Bitter rival fans simply cannot comprehend how deeply the love for these two clubs runs in the veins of Asian fans.
This kind of passion is built up over decades.
Fans from all over the world have been taking Manchester United to their hearts for decades. They have done so because of the swashbuckling football, because of the heroic players, because of Sir Matt Busby’s ability to the nightmare of Munich into the fairytale of Wembley and because of all the amazing moments in the Theatre of Dreams.
Modern day rivals like Chelsea and now Man City still have to earn that right. That honour of being truly established in the hearts of fans around the world.
United has a rich history of iconic players like Best, Law, Charlton, Whiteside, Robson, Bruce, Keane, Cantona, Giggs, Scholes, Beckham and more recently Rooney as well as Ronaldo.
Who do Chelsea or City have?
Even if Man City have the financial clout to buy a star-studded squad like The Galacticos, it doesn’t guarantee success and it doesn’t guarantee a loyal GLOBAL fan base like United has, because United earned that fan base with its history, legendary players, attacking football and yes, clever marketing. But unlike Chelsea and now Man City, United were not bank-rolled. No, United enjoyed the fruits of their own labour and foresight.
I do not begrudge Man City fans the right to be positive about the future and I do think it’s reasonable to say that they will be challenging for honours soon, but what I take exception to is the exaggerated statements about Man City nearly being a bigger club than Manchester United.
Boys…. You are decades away from even getting close to Manchester United United!
Man City supporters are simply kidding themselves if they think they are going to magically become bigger than United or even a top four club overnight.
When Abaramovich took over at Chelsea, the rest of the big four were not equipped to handle the squad, which he amassed and Mourinho’s ability to manage it.
It is a different situation now and even Everton with their limited resources have a team full of players, who want to play for Everton, which makes a difference when the going gets tough.
Man City will do well to get into the top 6 this coming season and they might well challenge for honours in the near future, but please, please spare me the nonsense that you are a bigger club than Man United.
You are decades away from usurping us – and there is a very slim chance of that happening.
You do not have the players, nor do you play the kind of football that captures people’s imaginations and most of all, you cannot buy class or an identity.
The little shred of identity that Manchester City had went out the window when you decided to bend over and remain silent when Thaksin bought your club and then sold it to the Arabs.
Who are the real glory hunters?
Contrary to popular belief Manchester United built their success on good policies and good management. Man City spent £180million more than United and still were a mid-table club last season.
You can buy mercenaries, but you cannot buy class.
Decades, boys. Decades….
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