On August 17, 2012 I woke up to one of the most joyous news I've ever heard as a sports enthusiast. For several minutes, I was gobsmacked, silently asking myself if what I've just read was real. I looked more crazy than happy, with streams of questions begging for immediate answers flowing tirelessly into my mind. Why did he choose us? Who convinced him? Where do we go from here now? How will he impact the dudes we have here already? Is he too expensive? What if he flopped? Are we changing our transfer strategy?
Growing up, I read a lot about how Liverpool used to be the dominant force in the '80s. They were the team to beat, with the best players and lots of winnings to boot. I couldn't help but wonder what went horribly wrong for such a dynasty. Were they usurped by other clubs? Did they sign the wrong players? Were they struck by catastrophic happenings? Or, maybe they made wrong investment decisions and couldn't afford the best players anymore?
Back then, I assured myself that what beset this historical club will never happen to mine. There is no way we will get this worse, not now, not in 50 years time. We have the best manager, the best young players who will only get better, we are making wise investment decisions and the team is growing globally at a very rapid rate. In short, lines are perfectly falling in place. That was 20 years ago.
August 17, 2012 was the day Robin Van Persie swapped North London for Manchester. As at that time, I still woke to the nightmarish scream of the commentator as Aguero lashed in a last-gasp winner to hand City their first title in decades, snatching it from Manchester United in brutal fashion. We lost to our less glamorous cross city rivals on goal difference, and it was very painful.
City, then a growing force, set plans in motion to grab the best player in the country, Robin Van Persie, to boost their ranks. They had Tevez, Aguero, Balotelli, and Dzeko, but they wanted the best player in the league. Manchester United on the other hand had Rooney, Hernandez, Welbeck and Berbatov. They weren't the most talented bunch, but they were more than enough at that time to win league titles.
Once RvP was announced, Manchester United became the bookies' favourite to win the league. We lost the previous season on goal difference. With the league's highest goal scorer joining the team, the outcome was inevitable. And, it went to plan. Man U won the league with games to spare. RvP returned to Arsenal a Premier League winner just 8 months after he divorced them. It was a wonderful ending to a difficult season. And, a brutal ending to 22 years of dominance even though we didn't know it at that time.
I wrote this piece as I painfully remembered that Man U already had bids rejected for the likes of Frenkie De Jong, Antony, and Arnautovic this summer. The fact that these ones are expected to come in and improve the team is even more painful. How low have we fallen! How backwards have we drifted!! What I thought will never happen in 50 years started happening after just 10 years. Ten years on from the beginning of the rot the wound is only getting deeper. How did we get here? What is the way out? No one seems to know or have an answer. Managers have been changed, players moved on, tactics tweaked, yet, we fall deeper.
It took Liverpool 30 years to return to glory days. Though they've been fiercely competitive, they are still not the best team in the land. That title goes to another Manchester club. Man U have fumbled through 10 years of mediocrity. After enduring Moyes, we felt it would never get worse. Alas, we miscalculated. Each era has ushered in its own brand of pain and anguish, each season starting with optimism and ending in regrets. Will we get it right? Will it take 30 years? I have no correct answer to that.
For now, the pain goes on. The only good thing that has come out of this debacle is that those years of pain have made me grow numb. I no longer feel it. I watch them play now with the realization that a loss is more likely than a win. I don't feel the urge to celebrate wins because I know the next few games have more defeats than winnings. I only watch them now out of loyalty to the club I will always love. I only watch them now because I feel it's my duty to do so, not because I'm excited to see them play!
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