Man Utd please don't turn yourself into a 'fraudster'

The Glazer family makes a lot of money from the trust of MU fans.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson left the coaching position in 2013, Man Utd have been on a long journey - not to regain glory, but to maintain the illusion of glory. It is increasingly clear that the trust of fans is being exploited as an asset to be squeezed dry to the point that many feel they are in many ways like the victims of the pig slaughterhouses in Cambodia.

Trust betrayed after promises

Over the past ten years, Man Utd have spent billions of pounds on players, managers and squad rebuilds. Each summer the story begins the same: a new project, a fresh start, a promise that “things will be different”.

And just like the “pig butchering” scenarios that the online world is condemning, the victims here are none other than the fans – lured by brilliant slogans and dreams woven by the media.

Fans spend hundreds, even thousands of pounds on season tickets – which have risen steadily by 5% each year since 2023, after more than a decade of being frozen. They still believe next season will be different. Meanwhile, those in Asia, from Vietnam to Thailand to Indonesia, stay up all night to watch Man Utd play, pay for TV channels, buy shirts and souvenirs. But what they get, season after season, is disappointment.

The nightmare of players when going to the 'pig slaughter center'

Not only fans, but also players have become victims of Man Utd's "failure value chain". Many names that once shone brightly at their old team - such as Romelu Lukaku, Jadon Sancho, or most recently Antony and Rasmus Hojlund - when they arrived at Old Trafford were promised a glorious future where their talents would be honored. But then, they were caught in a vortex of pressure, lost direction in an unstable environment, and gradually became symbols of decline.

Antony was also a victim when he came to Man Utd.

Not because they are out of talent. Lukaku, after leaving Man Utd, shone brightly at Inter Milan. Sancho was once considered a prodigy at Dortmund, but had to return to Germany on loan to find himself again. Hojlund had to struggle with psychology and belief in a team where everyone was more afraid of making mistakes than daring to create. When Hojlund left Man Utd for Napoli, the Danish striker was like a bird released from a cage.

Or more clearly, Antony was bought by Man Utd for 100 million pounds from Ajax to be a clown at Old Trafford. But when Antony moved to Betis, the Brazilian star shone like when he played in the Netherlands.

Perhaps, they all thought with regret: If only they had never come to Old Trafford. The players contributed to the fans spending money to watch Man Utd but in the end they themselves were victims at Old Trafford.

American bosses and the "art of illusion"

While the team has been in decline, the Glazers – the American owners – have been doing well. They don’t need championships to make money. Man Utd is the world’s most valuable football brand, run like a giant financial machine: selling image rights, e-commerce, and especially season tickets.

According to statistics, Man Utd shares on the New York Stock Exchange at one point exceeded their pre-pandemic value. Commercial revenue continued to grow, thanks to the global appeal of the name “Manchester United”. Like the “pig slaughterhouses” of financial fraud, the Glazers kept the illusion alive by injecting it with psychological drugs: a blockbuster contract, a promotional campaign, or a promise of “reconstruction”. When trust was rekindled, the money continued to flow into their pockets.

The Glazers were protested by Man Utd fans.

The paradox is that the more Man Utd fail on the pitch, the more successful they are on the balance sheet. The more angry the fans are, the more the brand is mentioned. The dissatisfaction of the fans, inadvertently, becomes a tool to help maintain the heat of the team in the global media environment.

If the “pig slaughterhouse” in Cambodia is a place where people nurture the trust of their victims and then take their assets, then Man Utd – under the Glazers – is doing the same thing in football: nurturing the trust of their fans, and then profiting from that loyalty.

Man Utd is still a great name. But if the trust of the fans continues to be exploited, if the players continue to be squeezed out in a toxic environment, then the name “Red Devils” will only be a symbol of the past — and now, just a perfectly functioning illusionary surgical machine in the modern world of football.

Source: https://znews.vn/man-utd-hay-dung-bien-minh-thanh-ke-lua-dao-post1594436.html