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BBC sports pundit Alan Shearer has claimed that the vast majority of Manchester United’s problems stem from ownership by the Glazer family.
In an article in The Athletic, the Newcastle legend claims that a football club is like any other business and that “what happens at the top of the organization trickles down to the shop floor”.
The Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer stated that “uncertainty has taken hold, on and off the field” and “ultimately, players want to run onto the field with a clear mind and, from the outside, looking in.” , confusion has been entrenched for a long time.” a long time” in the Old Trafford side.
Shearer says the players “hate” uncertainty and, while it remains to be seen what control INEOS will have at the club while the Glazers are still there, it is a step in the right direction. He stated that players “when they sit in the locker room before a game, they want to know exactly what their role is and feel confident in their ability to fulfill it. “You want to look around and know that the players sitting near you feel the same way.”
“The common denominator” in fostering that culture is clearly the owner, according to the former England international.
“When that vibe is persistently bleak or divisive, it seeps into the bones.”
Shearer says that if owners give players the best of everything, it will be much harder for them to “avoid responsibility.” This is something that numerous United teams have been guilty of over the years, as they have criticized successive managers.
The Newcastle legend tells a story about his former manager, the late great Sir Bobby Robson, who once told his team: “If I give you my wrist you will take my arm, if I give you my arm you will take my arm.” my shoulder.” For too long this culture has thrived at Old Trafford.
Shearer draws a comparison with his own spells at Newcastle United and Blackburn. He claims to have had a “brilliant owner” in Jack Walker in Blackburn and that he was “similar” at St James’ Park with Sir John Hall, Douglas Hall and Freddy Shepherd. However, the player also had some experience of the toxicity that he claims exists at United under the Florida family.
Describing his return to Newcastle as caretaker manager in 2009, he said: “It was toxic, a total disaster and relegation was staring us in the face. The negativity was tangible; You could smell it and feel it, the players had been bombarded with different ideas and their heads were spinning and discipline had been worn down. The tone was dictated by Ashley’s appointments and decisions.”
Shearer finally backs up his point on ownership by attacking the transfer policy that saw the club spend so much on a player like Antony and the mishandling of the Mason Greenwood situation demonstrates a “lack of clarity and leadership (that) corrodes the structure of a place.”
United fans will hope that the news of the INEOS investment and the fact that the chemical company is now involved in transfer and management decisions indicates that there is finally a real change of direction.
