TEDDY’S corner

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Dear All

The beauty of this game we all love so much. Try to figure out any mathematical or logical sense in the series of results below:

21 Feb: Liverpool vs Real Madrid 2-5

23 Feb: Man Utd vs Barcelona 2-1

26 Feb: Man Utd vs Newcastle 2-0 (Carabao Cup Final winners)

2 Mar: Real Madrid vs Barcelona 0-1 (Madrid 0 shots on target)

5 Mar: Liverpool vs Man Utd 7-0

5 Mar: Real Betis vs Real Madrid 0-0

9 Mar: Man Utd vs Real Betis 4-1

11 Mar: Bournemouth vs Liverpool 1-0

Football bloody hell!

Now waiting for Real Madrid vs Liverpool, return match. Could this be another freak? (hope not).

The Cherries were beaten by the Scousers 9-0 way back on 27th August. Sweet revenge beating them 1 0 when they finally thought they were well and truly back following that incredible 45 minute debacle at Anfield Road. It’s the third time this season Klopp’s team scored seven or more – they beat Rangers 7-1 at Ibrox in October. But what’s the real benefit from such high score margin results at the end of the season or competition if you end up winning nothing at all? Maybe it’s the fun and banter. That’s all. The rest remains just an inquisition of how what has been defined as ‘the greatest team since the Premier League kicked off’ were on the verge of an unprecedented quadruple last season and ended up hoping for a top four finish this season.

It seems the ABU (Anything But United) fans and media were totally baffled on how this Dutch manager turned things around at Old Trafford in such a short space of time. The numbers speak for themselves. Maybe that was the reason why everyone in the ABU group, but Everyone, celebrated emphatically that

7 0 defeat. What is more mind baffling in that game is that until their first goal just before the stroke of half time we were the better team on the pitch with the best chances to score. Hence why this was a freak! This is not comparable to the 5-0 and 4-0 defeats of last season. At the time we were vulnerable and ready for the taking. The frame of mind going into this game was completely different. Hence the huge disappointment of the Man United fans. But the mentality this manager has instilled in our players is the type of strong mentality required to bounce back from freaks.

5 years waiting for a trophy for a Club of the stature of Manchester United seem to be an eternity. We lost 2 finals on the way, finishing second in the league twice. Hence why the Carabao Cup success was so very important. It broke the duck which Ole did not manage to break in his tenure. It gave Erik his first trophy of what looks to be the first of many more. It gave the fans around the world something to cheer about. And it put Man United back on the perch of the football club in England with the most number of trophies won, 67 against the 66 in the trophy cabinet of the 7UP team.

Hopefully there will be more this season.

At the moment I am following closely the Club ownership situation. It seems that at time of writing the bids from the Qatari investment group led by Sheikh Jassim and from Ineos group led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe have both cleared the first hurdle in the race to buy Man United and have now reached stage two of what is being described as a three-stage process. Elliott Investment Management, the US hedge fund that oversaw the sale of AC Milan in 2018, also launched an 11th-hour proposal prior to the deadline and have now progressed to the second stage of the sale process. However, Elliott’s offer seems to be a little different. Rather than an offer to buy the club, it is a financing proposal, either to facilitate another bid or to allow the Glazers to retain control. From what is being reported the over valuation of the Glazers is way above the bids from Qatari and Ineos but the two groups are still awaiting more detailed financial information regarding a possible deal.

Man Utd could be on the verge of stardom again and the option of Glazers retaining their control in conjunction with the Elliott fund is being deemed as the worst possible nightmare at the end of what was being perceived as the light at the end of tunnel for the 18-year old feud between the American owners and the global Manchester United community. Personally, I am not acquainted enough in the investment world to have an opinion based on the financial sources of Qatari and Ineos. They both have their pluses and minuses I presume. In my eyes I do not fancy these money-making machines from the Arab world (not a racist comment at all and not based on human rights issues) toying with football clubs. We have seen what is happening with PSG and Citeh. People may argue that both Clubs do not generate a fraction of the economy which Man Utd generate and hence the financial irregularities from their respective owners. But I am still not convinced the greatest football club in the world should be owned by people whose link with football is only their obsession to organize the last World Cup. I do not have enough knowledge to make any assessment on the Ineos group. What I really care about is that whatever happens between now and the end of April is that this Club is cleared from all debt and have owners who can somehow reproduce the balance between success, income generation and fans’ welfare which existed in the Ferguson/Gill era. In my opinion, I am just dreaming.

I take the opportunity to wish all our esteemed readers of this fabulous magazine a Happy Easter!

Yours United Teddy

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