Was talking to a colleague and he was going on about how poor Barcelona have been for the last 4 seasons since Luis Enrique left. In the last 4 seasons Barca have won laliga twice with a couple of cups along the way. Thats way more than any club side in this country other than City and Liverpool.Same thing with Real Madrid, 2 league titles and 2 champions league titles in the same period but some people will make you believe that its absolute chaos in madrid and they cant string 2 passes together.
Perception and Reality are 2 different things. The standards at which clubs like Real Madrid and Barca are judged compared to other clubs like Tottenham, Arsenal and Liverpool are clearly different.When someone says Barca is poor it probably means they are not destroying everything in their path but when someone says Arsenal is amazing, it probably means they are SLIGHTLY overachieving.
Its the reason why clubs like Arsenal and Spurs can have medicre resultsfor 10 years and its not a crisis yet a club like United, Barca and Real have a poor run and its a catastrophe.
As far as I am concerned there are only 3 super clubs in world football and in a clear order
1. Real Madrid
2. Barcelona
3. Manchester United
Huge gap then the rest.
The biggest Clubs in World Football
posted on 10/11/20
comment by *Robbing Hoody - Clandestine Boat Pleb (U6374)
posted 14 minutes ago
Utd have always been exceptionally well supported, but that's not the point. Liverpool may not have won the league for 30 years but they were still getting to European finals, challenging for leagues and picking up domestic trophies. Utd won a few FA cups and flirted with relegation so let's not pretend there were not entire decades where Utd were anything but elite.
If being good under Fergue and during the 60's makes them truly elite fair play but I'd suggest that sets the bar an awful lot lower than the OP has it.
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This is just trying to rewrite history.
Pre SAF, in the 80's, United were competitive - barely a year went by in the 80's where they didn't finish top four.
Picked up a few FA Cups along the way.
Post SAF, there's been the small matter of a Europa League of course.
What did Liverpool win in their down time?
Pre Shankly - pretty much naff all post war.
Post Dalglish - a few FA Cups and one European Cup.
It is simply incorrect to try and paint anything outside the Ferguson era as not elite, yet make out Liverpool were elite outside their period of domination.
posted on 10/11/20
Liverpool went the best part of 50 years without a title FYI.
posted on 10/11/20
comment by *Robbing Hoody - Clandestine Boat Pleb (U6374)
posted 51 minutes ago
Utd have always been exceptionally well supported, but that's not the point. Liverpool may not have won the league for 30 years but they were still getting to European finals, challenging for leagues and picking up domestic trophies. Utd won a few FA cups and flirted with relegation so let's not pretend there were not entire decades where Utd were anything but elite.
If being good under Fergue and during the 60's makes them truly elite fair play but I'd suggest that sets the bar an awful lot lower than the OP has it.
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The bar is simple
Huge pressure to win things and consistently be successful.There is a higher expectation for success at Chelsea and City than liverpool due to the money they spend but because they lack other things that make a huge club I cant name them a super power.
posted on 10/11/20
That's in your head. Ole won't get the sack if Utd dont win the league, they'll be happy enough with top four.
posted on 10/11/20
Where as Liverpool sacked every manager the minute they failed to win a title.
posted on 10/11/20
Putting Utd on a par with Barca and Madrid in terms of pressure is laughable.
Finished third, won fvck all, again, and you think either of the Spanish clubs would keep their manager? Let alone Bayern, Juve and PSG.
Utd are a massive club, lots of fans who are very loud and the club has got some cash (even that advantage is narrowing quickly though). It's not twenty years ago, Fergies gone and Real Madrid they are not.
posted on 10/11/20
I suppose if the points you’ve made previously have been roundly rebuffed then all you can do is move the conversation onto something different.
We all know that Barca & Real, and La Liga, have fundamental differences that mean comparisons with league positions and how long managers last are largely flawed.
posted on 10/11/20
am i following this correctly, that the sign of a big club is that they sack managers frequently? elton john must be chuffed.
posted on 10/11/20
No you're not Don. Dont go around pretending Utd are some super elite club that is set apart massively from various other English sides though. You'd all be happy with top four and a decent run in the CL and you know it.
Nothing wrong with that of course but the other stuff is pure delusion these days.
posted on 10/11/20
comment by Don Draper's dandruff (U20155)
posted 34 minutes ago
am i following this correctly, that the sign of a big club is that they sack managers frequently? elton john must be chuffed.
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Hard to keep up really - it’s one flawed point after another.