Dark Savante
30 May 2008, 01:33 PM
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!
So have you ever wondered what we are and where we stand as a club? Whether you’ve pondered this or not I can assist you with this consideration: We are the only club with three European Cups and I found that to be quite the appropriate opener to this post.
What many on the European Continent have never understood is why Manchester United Football Club has the temerity to consider itself as something its European Cup haul says it is not. The Continental rebus paints an indemnifying picture that holds up and stands the test of time and tolerates, nay, negates extremely barren domestic spells. It is not so much a subtle suggestive encryption as a brazen example of the status a European Cup haul affords its suitors no matter whether they were collected ten, twenty or even fifty years ago.
Liverpool, a club who have not laid hands upon their domestic league’s title for a smidgeon under two decades, are a perfect example as a case study of the previous paragraph. On the Continent they are still revered as the de facto English superpower because they have five European Cups. Pointing out that their qualification for such a lofty title in recent history is not backed up by domestic success is met with chiding, scornful riposte. For all intents and purposes it really doesn’t matter whether domestic success is around the corner – the progenitor; indeed the pre-cursive entrée to any debate on the subject is that Liverpool have five European Cups - two more than their nearest rival and five more than any combination of London-based clubs. The factuality of the statement stops most arguments dead. After all, European Cups are the true gauge of a club amongst the élan of European football.
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
With the victorious rain-soaked night of the 21st of May barely a day old, Sir Alex Ferguson made immediate strides to point out to the assembled press-pack that three European Cups are not enough for Manchester United Football Club and inferred without stating it directly that he wants another one before retiring. He cited Bayern Munich and Ajax Amsterdam as clubs he wants Manchester United to stand alongside in the immediate future. Not for current status, no, but for the immemorial resplendence four European Cups engenders – many a newer generation fan could not care less how or when these feats were achieved for the aforementioned clubs, all that matters, in the end, is that they have four European Cups, each – and ultimately what that means for any club who have achieved such a feat. Take Ajax for example. They are a club who are and have struggled for the last five years, at least, but no one but their fans care about that. Ajax are still remembered for their glorious times and their more regal days. Even if their hard times extend to another decade this will be the case.
Ours is a history that has stumbled for one reason or another. Sir Matt Busby’s vision was never really allowed the chance to flourish. His Babes were struck down just as they were getting the hang of the European game and his time between 1958 and 1968, when we won the cup for the first time, was spent rebuilding the club from the ground up. After his retirement we went into a freefall of sorts that took us almost three whole decades to recover from. By the time Ferguson had gotten the club and his team up for the task of winning the European Cup thirty-one years had passed. If you consider that by the time the 20th century had passed this was the trophy haul:
Real Madrid 7
AC Milan 5
Ajax Amsterdam 4
Liverpool 4
Bayern Munich 3
Of the clubs ahead of us, you realise that our history from the Babes, to Sir Matt and the subsequent fall-out we struggled to rise above cost us dearly. During both periods of managerial stability we have managed to win the European Cup. I do not believe this to be a coincidence.
Since the Champions League’s inception in 1992, the European Cup table for those who have won it more than once looks like this:
AC Milan 3
Real Madrid 3
Manchester United 2
As you can see, with our second European Cup, we have moved into an elite band of only three clubs to have won the Champions League twice or more. The impact of this and implications of what it means won’t really hit the fans until the euphoria of victory settles down, but in our general pursuit of true, unquestionable giant-hood we have made an enormous stride forwards.
Three European Cups separates us from an esteemed pack of clubs such as:
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Juventus
Three European Cups marks us as a fair leap away from Arsenal and Chelsea as we now have a notable distance between them and ourselves should they acquire a European Cup any time soon.
Three European Cups in and of itself looks respectable and obviously far more favourable than two.
Three European Cups does not look particularly humbled by five European Cups, indeed, the gap looks assailable now.
Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
The European Cup has never once been retained in its Champions League format. In fact, the last team to even win the European Cup back-to-back was one of the greatest club sides of all time: AC Milan of the late 80’s. Indeed, there is no greater mark of certain indelibility than retaining this trophy. You may fluke it once, but to retain it brands you, deifies you and most certainly heralds you as a club. ‘The Great’ prefix is attached to every single club that has won the European Cup twice or more in a row:
The Great Madrid side refers to Di Stefano, Puskas and Gento.
The Great Benfica side refers to Eusebio, Coluna and Torres.
The Great Inter Milan side refers to Suarez, Fachetti and Herrara as the architect.
The Great Ajax side refers to Cruyff, Neeskens and Kiezer.
The Great Bayern side refers to Beckenbauer, Muller and Breitner.
The Great Liverpool side refers to Dalglish, Souness and Hansen.
The Great Milan side refers to Van Basten, Gullit and Baresi.
After that, there are no more. These are the great sides of the European Cup since inception, those that afforded their clubs infinite glory that will never be forgotten no matter how many more names get inscribed on the cup. There is only one exception to this rule, which is that back-to-back winners, Nottingham Forest, were never given credence for their feat in the way the rest were.
What stood these sides in stead to do what they did was that they remained as a group for the duration of this success. Between cups there were no major sales, no major overhauls and only slight modifications if any at all. They were able to grow together and form an understanding that bordered on the telepathic such was its fluency.
Sir Alex must be aware of our hand in the upcoming tournament hold ‘em and without doubt the intention will be to fight against uniformity and try with all our might to not suffer the cup-holders curse and readily hand over the newly acquired trophy that has catapulted Ferguson into the fairly-argued pantheon of truly great global managers to have blessed the game.
We hold a couple of aces in this poker game:
The overall youth of our squad and the knowledge that in terms of potential across the board, we have not even breached the surface level; Carlitos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves have literal leaps in terms of how much more than can give and improve, whilst Vidic, Ronaldo, Evra and even Ferdinand have more to give before they hit their own peaks.
Our knowledge of the competition amongst the squad has improved three-fold. Where previously we were at a loss against certain types of Continental football, we now have a grasp of how it works and how to, in part, offer countenance should we need it.
We hold at least one king card as well:
There isn’t a single side who look unbeatable in the Champion’s League next season. This goes for us, as our detractors are at pains to tell you, but I believe it to be even moreso the case for some of our potential opponents next term. The traditional power bases of the competition over the last 15 years are: Juventus, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Since 1997 we have been knocked out by these teams in combination five times and have managed to win against them only seven times in twenty-two outings. That is not a favorable position.
The difference now, though, is that we are more learned and a team on the up, it would be difficult to say the same of any of the four listed, in fact, AC Milan won’t even be in the competition next season with both Bayern and Juventus needing some considerable improvement to get to anything like the level they were at five to ten years ago. Real Madrid cantered to a Liga win in perhaps the weakest competition that division has seen in at least the last twenty years. And it leads to wonder as to whether it will again be the English sides whom we most have to concern ourselves with or will Mourinho turn the perennial chokers that are Inter Milan into fearsome opposition? However it turns out with regard to our opposition, it has to be said that the possibility of us going all the way again has to be considered. Whether we can do it is another matter entirely, of course.
In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.
And this is where Sir Alex Ferguson has one of his biggest challenges to date, for he, like this excerpt suggests, never ever sleeps where an advantage can be gained. Perhaps in the past we as a club were intoxicated with the elixir of European Cup victory, reclining a little too far back and falling asleep whilst basking in the radiance of a seasonal sun only to wake up burnt and a little shell-shocked our time and chance to lift the European Cup more than once had slipped through our ashen fingers. Where Roy Keane was demanding more and more players like Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole took their foot off the peddle believing themselves to be the gods they could maybe have gone on to become (two or more repeat season’s from Yorke at the 98/99 level would have assured him of that.) This time around, however, the attitude of the manager and indeed the fans is one of surface-level ebullience and simmering internal expectation. Resting on one’s laurels and entertaining a season long circle-jerk seems to be the furthest thing from the collective mind.
Not to say our time has come, but certainly to consider that it is closer than it has ever been during this club’s existence. In terms of trophy pursuits and what they mean, there has never been a better time to follow this club. Any league title we may be fortunate enough to acquire before Liverpool will draw us level with them on the grand scale of total league titles won. Any European Cup we are fortunate enough to win before Bayern or Ajax will draw us level with them and boost us immeasurably into company we have never experienced in outright terms. Factually, these are things that cannot be argued against. No longer would it be a case of our treble subjectively trumps this or that, nor of other jibes thrown between the fans of other clubs at us from a factually loftier height.
For all the claims of grandiose fan-bases and bigness in terms of revenue and earning power, many will not acknowledge anything but the coldest hardest fact – that of the major trophy haul. That which separates the beauty of Brazilian football with the pointless aesthetic charade of other countries who try to play the ‘right way’ and have yet to lift a single world cup. Ultimately, and perhaps sadly, only winners are remembered throughout the passage of time, heroic nearly-men are rarely held in the same light, in fact, after The Magical Magyars and Clockwork Orange, history does not look fondly upon runners-up. At all.
Sir Alex Ferguson knows this better than anybody associated with Manchester United and one has to think that any potential success in future European Cups before he hangs up his hairdryer for good, will be lifted in the name of the club first and foremost and well in advance of his own personal glory – his second European Cup has him safely immortalized, a third may have him revered in more elite circles of fans and pundits, but to the mainstream, it will just be a blur in much the same way his multiple FA Cups are. During his now legendary press conference held on the 23rd of May, Sir Alex went out of his way to make mention of the club and the European Cup, repeatedly. The message to the fans being one of not settling for ‘only’ three European Cups when four or five are there for the taking. He even made mention of Manchester United striving to claim as many trophies as Real Madrid have even if it is not achieved during his lifetime.
Sir Alex knows the full value of the European Cup and what it brings, what it protects you from and how it alters perception of a club in a way nothing else in the European club game can. There is a certain arrogance you can detect from the fans of AC Milan, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. A certain regality that says ‘we’re above it all’ a condescending tone that seems to sometimes slip without them realizing it as they look over what they survey of the club game. Liverpool, a club that has not won their own league title in nineteen years have never once lost their belief that the next season will be ‘theirs.’ To the rest of us such thick-headedness is unbelievable at times, but It has to be acknowledged that no matter how many jibes are aimed at the average Liverpool supporter, their resolve never once waivers. They are the punching bag that never stops giving; the Weeble of the domestic game who never once concede a point and counter most with ’18-5’ a set of supporters who give even less acknowledgement of the nouveau riche protagonists than even the most ignorant of United fans. The Teutonic confidence of the average Bayern fan is no different and so it goes on and is displayed in the greatest resplendence by the more unhinged and unabashed Madridista’s you can stumble upon ( http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14711375&postcount=77) on a day-to-day basis across Big Soccer.
The European Cup, as the only Continental barometer of success and greatness, is at the forefront of such abhorrence, but rest assured this is a human condition rather than a club one, and I would say with certainty that elements of future generations of Manchester United supporters who happen to be the beneficiaries of any such European success would act in the exact same undignified manner.
The idea of a club with more European Cups riding roughshod over Manchester United is a clear concern at the moment. Not that they can, but that we’re even seen as a target of any such enterprise being the stickler. A sustained presence in the finals or even winning the European Cup, it is believed, would prevent this. And it is here that we reach a certain crossroads as a club.
The idea of delving into South American and Iberian markets for talents that were previously impossible for us to attain brings with it a set of problems that only tallying more European Cups can protect us from. The likelihood of us not being the first-choice final destination for players of such backgrounds is considerable. Because of the celebrated status of players from their respective homelands going to Spain or Italy and continuing a longer trend of attaining worldwide renowned there a tradition develops where youngsters from those countries want to emulate their idols before perhaps usurping them and managing to get their own slice of glory in the process. Before long a cycle is set in stone and it is very hard to breach.
For us, Anderson, Nani, Tevez and Ronaldo are pioneers. They may not be perceived as such right now, but if they manage to break trends of score upon score of elite talent going straight to Spain and Italy for an entire career they will be considered as such. Juan Sebastian Veron was the last immense talent we had from any of the climes mentioned. He, for whatever reason, did not succeed here. It left pessimists in no doubt that this was matrimony Manchester United could do without, and so it took us a time to go back into such markets with any vigor, much to the chagrin of those who believed Anderson would be ‘another Kleberson’ and so on. If these trailblazers stay here for a considerable portion of their careers and enjoy sustained success in the European Cup whilst doing so, it is almost certain to cause a ripple affect where more players from their homelands believe they come to England and Manchester United and do the same. This is one of the major advantages Spanish and Italian clubs have had over us for almost our entire tenure in the European Cup in its Champions League format all the way back to Romario’s devastating performance against us in 1994.
Sir Alex is aware of it all and that is another of the key factors in why sustained progress in the European Cup is essential to us and our ambitions. The manager even said outright that all things considered, how we are in the European Cup at the time Ronaldo is in his mid 20’s could determine whether he stays here or goes off to Spain. I believe this to be the key factor as well.
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
So we come full-circle with the European Cup as the proverbial tiny spark that possibly has us emerge from relative shadow. It is fair to say that we won through to lift the trophy in an uncertain fashion. That is not the point, however, the most important thing for any fledgling side to do is get its foot in the door and actually get that first title or trophy onboard and imbue the collective with a belief that this thing is within their scope in the future.
One can only hope that the likes of Carrick, Rooney, Tevez and even Ronaldo will now believe in themselves enough to comfortably trump their level of performance in future outings in the competition. Whilst we did not do anything of the vintage of ’68 or ’99 en route to claiming our third European Cup, certain factors such as age and inexperience of this squad as a unit have to be part of any consideration well before the foreboding suggestions of fluke are mentioned.
To achieve a semi-final and then a final appearance in consecutive seasons does suggest progress with many believing that the injury problems witnessed in the 06/07 season having a lot to do with our eventual defeat to Milan at the San Siro, it might be fair to suggest we have a Champions League winning defense and an offence which is one striker away from being par with the backline. There is no feasible reason to believe that this side and squad should be anything less than semi-final contenders for the foreseeable future with the current big club climate and the need for a number of sides to transition from an older perfunctory model to a newer product full of zest - which Manchester United already has (having gone through this same change over the last three years) – and ambition.
This squad, as I’m sure Ferguson has made them aware, have a season of such magnitude ahead of them that they can write themselves into our history as the greatest side to have played for us should they do the unthinkable or at least the unfeasible, given the Champions League has never been won twice in a row.
When the fates conspire against Sir Alex he takes it on as a challenge and fighting against an ‘inevitably’ such as not retaining this trophy will surely be his top priority next season even with the league’s importance being paramount. So you, as fans be as ready as your manager to look at, appreciate and then look past this month’s triumph and set your sights where he wants them to be. Think of us as being the limbo club a standalone three European Cups suggests we are and want us to go onto bigger and better things before the auld man calls it a day.
Just as Cantona made us believe that this club was worthy of domestic success, our manager is trying to make us aware that the European Cup should be something we expect to hold aloft every May in the way the fans of other clubs demand before a ball has even been kicked.
Fergie’s words have made me look forward to next season more than ever. I’m buzzing at the idea of retaining the league, but with the manager’s words ringing in the recesses of my mind, I truly hope we strive to match his ambition and avoid the complacency that killed Barcelona so abruptly two seasons ago. We may not retain the European Cup, but we’ve got to go into it believing we can and carrying the attitude champions are supposed to have when opposed. There’s a lot to improve upon from this year’s run and our players are more than capable of taking themselves up another level to do so.
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!
So have you ever wondered what we are and where we stand as a club? Whether you’ve pondered this or not I can assist you with this consideration: We are the only club with three European Cups and I found that to be quite the appropriate opener to this post.
What many on the European Continent have never understood is why Manchester United Football Club has the temerity to consider itself as something its European Cup haul says it is not. The Continental rebus paints an indemnifying picture that holds up and stands the test of time and tolerates, nay, negates extremely barren domestic spells. It is not so much a subtle suggestive encryption as a brazen example of the status a European Cup haul affords its suitors no matter whether they were collected ten, twenty or even fifty years ago.
Liverpool, a club who have not laid hands upon their domestic league’s title for a smidgeon under two decades, are a perfect example as a case study of the previous paragraph. On the Continent they are still revered as the de facto English superpower because they have five European Cups. Pointing out that their qualification for such a lofty title in recent history is not backed up by domestic success is met with chiding, scornful riposte. For all intents and purposes it really doesn’t matter whether domestic success is around the corner – the progenitor; indeed the pre-cursive entrée to any debate on the subject is that Liverpool have five European Cups - two more than their nearest rival and five more than any combination of London-based clubs. The factuality of the statement stops most arguments dead. After all, European Cups are the true gauge of a club amongst the élan of European football.
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
With the victorious rain-soaked night of the 21st of May barely a day old, Sir Alex Ferguson made immediate strides to point out to the assembled press-pack that three European Cups are not enough for Manchester United Football Club and inferred without stating it directly that he wants another one before retiring. He cited Bayern Munich and Ajax Amsterdam as clubs he wants Manchester United to stand alongside in the immediate future. Not for current status, no, but for the immemorial resplendence four European Cups engenders – many a newer generation fan could not care less how or when these feats were achieved for the aforementioned clubs, all that matters, in the end, is that they have four European Cups, each – and ultimately what that means for any club who have achieved such a feat. Take Ajax for example. They are a club who are and have struggled for the last five years, at least, but no one but their fans care about that. Ajax are still remembered for their glorious times and their more regal days. Even if their hard times extend to another decade this will be the case.
Ours is a history that has stumbled for one reason or another. Sir Matt Busby’s vision was never really allowed the chance to flourish. His Babes were struck down just as they were getting the hang of the European game and his time between 1958 and 1968, when we won the cup for the first time, was spent rebuilding the club from the ground up. After his retirement we went into a freefall of sorts that took us almost three whole decades to recover from. By the time Ferguson had gotten the club and his team up for the task of winning the European Cup thirty-one years had passed. If you consider that by the time the 20th century had passed this was the trophy haul:
Real Madrid 7
AC Milan 5
Ajax Amsterdam 4
Liverpool 4
Bayern Munich 3
Of the clubs ahead of us, you realise that our history from the Babes, to Sir Matt and the subsequent fall-out we struggled to rise above cost us dearly. During both periods of managerial stability we have managed to win the European Cup. I do not believe this to be a coincidence.
Since the Champions League’s inception in 1992, the European Cup table for those who have won it more than once looks like this:
AC Milan 3
Real Madrid 3
Manchester United 2
As you can see, with our second European Cup, we have moved into an elite band of only three clubs to have won the Champions League twice or more. The impact of this and implications of what it means won’t really hit the fans until the euphoria of victory settles down, but in our general pursuit of true, unquestionable giant-hood we have made an enormous stride forwards.
Three European Cups separates us from an esteemed pack of clubs such as:
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Juventus
Three European Cups marks us as a fair leap away from Arsenal and Chelsea as we now have a notable distance between them and ourselves should they acquire a European Cup any time soon.
Three European Cups in and of itself looks respectable and obviously far more favourable than two.
Three European Cups does not look particularly humbled by five European Cups, indeed, the gap looks assailable now.
Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
The European Cup has never once been retained in its Champions League format. In fact, the last team to even win the European Cup back-to-back was one of the greatest club sides of all time: AC Milan of the late 80’s. Indeed, there is no greater mark of certain indelibility than retaining this trophy. You may fluke it once, but to retain it brands you, deifies you and most certainly heralds you as a club. ‘The Great’ prefix is attached to every single club that has won the European Cup twice or more in a row:
The Great Madrid side refers to Di Stefano, Puskas and Gento.
The Great Benfica side refers to Eusebio, Coluna and Torres.
The Great Inter Milan side refers to Suarez, Fachetti and Herrara as the architect.
The Great Ajax side refers to Cruyff, Neeskens and Kiezer.
The Great Bayern side refers to Beckenbauer, Muller and Breitner.
The Great Liverpool side refers to Dalglish, Souness and Hansen.
The Great Milan side refers to Van Basten, Gullit and Baresi.
After that, there are no more. These are the great sides of the European Cup since inception, those that afforded their clubs infinite glory that will never be forgotten no matter how many more names get inscribed on the cup. There is only one exception to this rule, which is that back-to-back winners, Nottingham Forest, were never given credence for their feat in the way the rest were.
What stood these sides in stead to do what they did was that they remained as a group for the duration of this success. Between cups there were no major sales, no major overhauls and only slight modifications if any at all. They were able to grow together and form an understanding that bordered on the telepathic such was its fluency.
Sir Alex must be aware of our hand in the upcoming tournament hold ‘em and without doubt the intention will be to fight against uniformity and try with all our might to not suffer the cup-holders curse and readily hand over the newly acquired trophy that has catapulted Ferguson into the fairly-argued pantheon of truly great global managers to have blessed the game.
We hold a couple of aces in this poker game:
The overall youth of our squad and the knowledge that in terms of potential across the board, we have not even breached the surface level; Carlitos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Michael Carrick, Anderson, Nani and Owen Hargreaves have literal leaps in terms of how much more than can give and improve, whilst Vidic, Ronaldo, Evra and even Ferdinand have more to give before they hit their own peaks.
Our knowledge of the competition amongst the squad has improved three-fold. Where previously we were at a loss against certain types of Continental football, we now have a grasp of how it works and how to, in part, offer countenance should we need it.
We hold at least one king card as well:
There isn’t a single side who look unbeatable in the Champion’s League next season. This goes for us, as our detractors are at pains to tell you, but I believe it to be even moreso the case for some of our potential opponents next term. The traditional power bases of the competition over the last 15 years are: Juventus, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Since 1997 we have been knocked out by these teams in combination five times and have managed to win against them only seven times in twenty-two outings. That is not a favorable position.
The difference now, though, is that we are more learned and a team on the up, it would be difficult to say the same of any of the four listed, in fact, AC Milan won’t even be in the competition next season with both Bayern and Juventus needing some considerable improvement to get to anything like the level they were at five to ten years ago. Real Madrid cantered to a Liga win in perhaps the weakest competition that division has seen in at least the last twenty years. And it leads to wonder as to whether it will again be the English sides whom we most have to concern ourselves with or will Mourinho turn the perennial chokers that are Inter Milan into fearsome opposition? However it turns out with regard to our opposition, it has to be said that the possibility of us going all the way again has to be considered. Whether we can do it is another matter entirely, of course.
In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.
And this is where Sir Alex Ferguson has one of his biggest challenges to date, for he, like this excerpt suggests, never ever sleeps where an advantage can be gained. Perhaps in the past we as a club were intoxicated with the elixir of European Cup victory, reclining a little too far back and falling asleep whilst basking in the radiance of a seasonal sun only to wake up burnt and a little shell-shocked our time and chance to lift the European Cup more than once had slipped through our ashen fingers. Where Roy Keane was demanding more and more players like Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole took their foot off the peddle believing themselves to be the gods they could maybe have gone on to become (two or more repeat season’s from Yorke at the 98/99 level would have assured him of that.) This time around, however, the attitude of the manager and indeed the fans is one of surface-level ebullience and simmering internal expectation. Resting on one’s laurels and entertaining a season long circle-jerk seems to be the furthest thing from the collective mind.
Not to say our time has come, but certainly to consider that it is closer than it has ever been during this club’s existence. In terms of trophy pursuits and what they mean, there has never been a better time to follow this club. Any league title we may be fortunate enough to acquire before Liverpool will draw us level with them on the grand scale of total league titles won. Any European Cup we are fortunate enough to win before Bayern or Ajax will draw us level with them and boost us immeasurably into company we have never experienced in outright terms. Factually, these are things that cannot be argued against. No longer would it be a case of our treble subjectively trumps this or that, nor of other jibes thrown between the fans of other clubs at us from a factually loftier height.
For all the claims of grandiose fan-bases and bigness in terms of revenue and earning power, many will not acknowledge anything but the coldest hardest fact – that of the major trophy haul. That which separates the beauty of Brazilian football with the pointless aesthetic charade of other countries who try to play the ‘right way’ and have yet to lift a single world cup. Ultimately, and perhaps sadly, only winners are remembered throughout the passage of time, heroic nearly-men are rarely held in the same light, in fact, after The Magical Magyars and Clockwork Orange, history does not look fondly upon runners-up. At all.
Sir Alex Ferguson knows this better than anybody associated with Manchester United and one has to think that any potential success in future European Cups before he hangs up his hairdryer for good, will be lifted in the name of the club first and foremost and well in advance of his own personal glory – his second European Cup has him safely immortalized, a third may have him revered in more elite circles of fans and pundits, but to the mainstream, it will just be a blur in much the same way his multiple FA Cups are. During his now legendary press conference held on the 23rd of May, Sir Alex went out of his way to make mention of the club and the European Cup, repeatedly. The message to the fans being one of not settling for ‘only’ three European Cups when four or five are there for the taking. He even made mention of Manchester United striving to claim as many trophies as Real Madrid have even if it is not achieved during his lifetime.
Sir Alex knows the full value of the European Cup and what it brings, what it protects you from and how it alters perception of a club in a way nothing else in the European club game can. There is a certain arrogance you can detect from the fans of AC Milan, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. A certain regality that says ‘we’re above it all’ a condescending tone that seems to sometimes slip without them realizing it as they look over what they survey of the club game. Liverpool, a club that has not won their own league title in nineteen years have never once lost their belief that the next season will be ‘theirs.’ To the rest of us such thick-headedness is unbelievable at times, but It has to be acknowledged that no matter how many jibes are aimed at the average Liverpool supporter, their resolve never once waivers. They are the punching bag that never stops giving; the Weeble of the domestic game who never once concede a point and counter most with ’18-5’ a set of supporters who give even less acknowledgement of the nouveau riche protagonists than even the most ignorant of United fans. The Teutonic confidence of the average Bayern fan is no different and so it goes on and is displayed in the greatest resplendence by the more unhinged and unabashed Madridista’s you can stumble upon ( http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14711375&postcount=77) on a day-to-day basis across Big Soccer.
The European Cup, as the only Continental barometer of success and greatness, is at the forefront of such abhorrence, but rest assured this is a human condition rather than a club one, and I would say with certainty that elements of future generations of Manchester United supporters who happen to be the beneficiaries of any such European success would act in the exact same undignified manner.
The idea of a club with more European Cups riding roughshod over Manchester United is a clear concern at the moment. Not that they can, but that we’re even seen as a target of any such enterprise being the stickler. A sustained presence in the finals or even winning the European Cup, it is believed, would prevent this. And it is here that we reach a certain crossroads as a club.
The idea of delving into South American and Iberian markets for talents that were previously impossible for us to attain brings with it a set of problems that only tallying more European Cups can protect us from. The likelihood of us not being the first-choice final destination for players of such backgrounds is considerable. Because of the celebrated status of players from their respective homelands going to Spain or Italy and continuing a longer trend of attaining worldwide renowned there a tradition develops where youngsters from those countries want to emulate their idols before perhaps usurping them and managing to get their own slice of glory in the process. Before long a cycle is set in stone and it is very hard to breach.
For us, Anderson, Nani, Tevez and Ronaldo are pioneers. They may not be perceived as such right now, but if they manage to break trends of score upon score of elite talent going straight to Spain and Italy for an entire career they will be considered as such. Juan Sebastian Veron was the last immense talent we had from any of the climes mentioned. He, for whatever reason, did not succeed here. It left pessimists in no doubt that this was matrimony Manchester United could do without, and so it took us a time to go back into such markets with any vigor, much to the chagrin of those who believed Anderson would be ‘another Kleberson’ and so on. If these trailblazers stay here for a considerable portion of their careers and enjoy sustained success in the European Cup whilst doing so, it is almost certain to cause a ripple affect where more players from their homelands believe they come to England and Manchester United and do the same. This is one of the major advantages Spanish and Italian clubs have had over us for almost our entire tenure in the European Cup in its Champions League format all the way back to Romario’s devastating performance against us in 1994.
Sir Alex is aware of it all and that is another of the key factors in why sustained progress in the European Cup is essential to us and our ambitions. The manager even said outright that all things considered, how we are in the European Cup at the time Ronaldo is in his mid 20’s could determine whether he stays here or goes off to Spain. I believe this to be the key factor as well.
As your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the traveller in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
So we come full-circle with the European Cup as the proverbial tiny spark that possibly has us emerge from relative shadow. It is fair to say that we won through to lift the trophy in an uncertain fashion. That is not the point, however, the most important thing for any fledgling side to do is get its foot in the door and actually get that first title or trophy onboard and imbue the collective with a belief that this thing is within their scope in the future.
One can only hope that the likes of Carrick, Rooney, Tevez and even Ronaldo will now believe in themselves enough to comfortably trump their level of performance in future outings in the competition. Whilst we did not do anything of the vintage of ’68 or ’99 en route to claiming our third European Cup, certain factors such as age and inexperience of this squad as a unit have to be part of any consideration well before the foreboding suggestions of fluke are mentioned.
To achieve a semi-final and then a final appearance in consecutive seasons does suggest progress with many believing that the injury problems witnessed in the 06/07 season having a lot to do with our eventual defeat to Milan at the San Siro, it might be fair to suggest we have a Champions League winning defense and an offence which is one striker away from being par with the backline. There is no feasible reason to believe that this side and squad should be anything less than semi-final contenders for the foreseeable future with the current big club climate and the need for a number of sides to transition from an older perfunctory model to a newer product full of zest - which Manchester United already has (having gone through this same change over the last three years) – and ambition.
This squad, as I’m sure Ferguson has made them aware, have a season of such magnitude ahead of them that they can write themselves into our history as the greatest side to have played for us should they do the unthinkable or at least the unfeasible, given the Champions League has never been won twice in a row.
When the fates conspire against Sir Alex he takes it on as a challenge and fighting against an ‘inevitably’ such as not retaining this trophy will surely be his top priority next season even with the league’s importance being paramount. So you, as fans be as ready as your manager to look at, appreciate and then look past this month’s triumph and set your sights where he wants them to be. Think of us as being the limbo club a standalone three European Cups suggests we are and want us to go onto bigger and better things before the auld man calls it a day.
Just as Cantona made us believe that this club was worthy of domestic success, our manager is trying to make us aware that the European Cup should be something we expect to hold aloft every May in the way the fans of other clubs demand before a ball has even been kicked.
Fergie’s words have made me look forward to next season more than ever. I’m buzzing at the idea of retaining the league, but with the manager’s words ringing in the recesses of my mind, I truly hope we strive to match his ambition and avoid the complacency that killed Barcelona so abruptly two seasons ago. We may not retain the European Cup, but we’ve got to go into it believing we can and carrying the attitude champions are supposed to have when opposed. There’s a lot to improve upon from this year’s run and our players are more than capable of taking themselves up another level to do so.