The Rise And Fall of Manchester United: How It Happened

If I asked you who you thought was the most well-known English club in history, what would your response be? Well, the answer to that question, without a doubt, is no other than Manchester United. They're the most popular, iconic, and widely recognized club to ever hail from England. I mean, just ask Google. They've been around for nearly a century and a half, and not so long ago, absolutely ruled supreme as the greatest English club and dynasty in the world. However, in recent years, they continue to reach new lows, not having any real success or any respectable silverware in almost a decade now. Turning from a club that once demanded respect to becoming the joke of the footballing community. How did such a proud, historic, and dominant club end up falling so low? So low that they now have a guy like Harry Maguire leading the squad as their captain? Well, let's find out. This is the downfall of Manchester United and how it happened. Being a Man United fan right now definitely isn't easy. Over the last few years, the club has been in a very rough spot. And I'm not trying to roast any of you Man United faithful. I'm simply talking about the harsh reality of the club at this moment. I mean, there's even a website that literally counts the time since the club last won a trophy. And at the making of this video, it's been nearly five years. And it's not like it was an amazing trophy either. It's the Europa League title. A trophy given to the best team that couldn't make the Champions League. Even family members of United players would agree. And I'm sure many of you could agree with him. Even Paul Pogba has been voicing his concerns over United's poor form over the years and his desire to leave. But how did it get like this? Well, to answer this question, we first need to learn about what it takes to make a good squad, knowing how to manage your players, and knowing how to win. 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And right now is the perfect time to get started with Raid. You'll get unique bonuses worth $30 that include a free epic champion, Tayrell, who looks like a complete boss, as well as 200k silver, 1 energy refill, 1 XP boost and 1 ancient shard to summon awesome champions as soon as you get in game. But this offer is only available for the next 30 days so make sure you click the link in the description or scan my QR code here on screen so you can redeem your rewards. Thanks to Raid for sponsoring this video. Part 1. Proud History. To start things, we have to begin with the most important part of Man Utd's history. And I'm sorry for the black and white footage, I know many of you guys don't like it, but it's an essential part of Man Utd's history and football fans should know about it. So I won't spend too much time on it. Manchester United was founded all the way back in 1878 and was never viewed as a strong club, even for the standards back then. It would take them 30 years to win their first title in 1908. They would win another one in 1910, but it would be over 40 years until they would begin to demand respect in England. It wasn't until former club manager and legend, the late, great Matt Busby would take over the club. For those that don't know, Busby is named as the 11th greatest coach of all time by France football in 2019. The man who, despite all hardships and tragedy, made Manchester United known and respected as a top club. Probably one of the most difficult managing journeys of all time. Busby would end United's 40-year drought and would win the 1951 title. From then on, he would go on to build and develop a young and promising squad that had an average age of 22 years old, who would later become known as Busby's Babes. This squad would win back-to-back titles from 1956 to 1957 and even became the first English club to be in the European Cup or modern-day Champions League. Many believe this young squad would go on to dominate English football for the next decade or so. They even had a 21-year-old named Duncan Edwards who finished 3rd place in Ballon d'Or voting back in 1957. Man United was looking to have an incredibly bright future and became a sensation in England, slowly turning into the pride of the country. Until in February 6, 1958, when the squad plane tragically crashed after departing Germany from a recent European Cup match. This tragic event claimed the lives of 23, including the young Duncan Edwards. Busby himself was hospitalized for 9 weeks and doctors didn't even tell him the full extent of the incident until 3 weeks in. He had even contemplated resigning as the club manager and leaving football altogether, but felt like it was his duty and responsibility to continue on. Despite significant and irreplaceable damage to their squad, they would win the 1964-65 title. An incredible feat for a club and a coach who faced so much tragedy. Then in the 1967-68 season, he would give the perfect honor to those who passed by winning one last league title and becoming the first English club in history to win the European Cup with the help of club legends George Best and Bobby Charlton. This would be the last time they would win a European Cup for nearly 3 decades. Part 2. The Ferguson Era. In 1986, the great Alex Ferguson would arrive in Old Trafford and usher in the greatest era Manchester United and English football have ever seen. He was an ambitious coach who was looking to turn things around and revitalize a club. But when he left, he would leave as the most successful manager in football history with the most trophies ever won. He stayed with the club for 26 years over a quarter of a century and brought them unparalleled success. But we're not going to go through every single season, but rather we're going to look at the most important and integral years that really showed the great heights that Manchester United has reached. Let's start with the 1992-93 season that ended a 26-year trophy-less drought. The first title since the days of Matt Busby, Bobby Charlton, and George Best. This was Ferguson's first great team at Old Trafford with a young Ryan Giggs only in his second season, along with iconic club keeper Peter Schmeichel and another club legend Eric Cantona who arrived towards the middle of the season and really kicked United into another gear, scoring a number of crucial goals along the way that led to the Frenchman later finishing third in the 1993 Ballon d'Or voting behind Roberto Baggio and Dennis Bergkamp. The 1993-94 season was even better and let everyone know that Man Utd were serious contenders. The squad was simply better, scoring 20% more goals in the process, winning more games, and losing fewer than the year before. It was also the first time United had won back-to-back league titles since the 1950s and the Matt Busby era. As excellent as Eric Cantona was in his debut season, he stepped it up even more, scoring a career-best 18 league goals, as well as Ryan Giggs slowly becoming one of the best players in the league and was on fire, while another legend, Roy Keane, had joined the club and immediately proved to be worth every single penny of his then-record transfer fee. Now the 1998-99 season was truly the year that Manchester United rose above from other Premier League clubs, truly solidifying their dominance and Sir Alex Ferguson's genius as a manager. This historic season saw them winning the Premier League title, FA Cup, and Champions League treble that remains unmatched by any other English club till this day. But even looking at just the Premier League itself, it's still a season that's up there with the best in United's history. That team was only beaten three times all season. Players like Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Dwight York, Andy Cole, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer played phenomenal this season and made up the core of the squad. The 1999-2000 season further proved the legitimacy and dominance of this Man United side. Never had United been more dominant in a league season than this one. They would win the Premier League with an insane 18-point margin, being the first Premier League club to ever reach 90 points while also having a new record for total goals scored with 120 in a single season. Man United absolutely owned the Premier League for most of the 1990s. The 2006-07 season was when it all came back together for United, winning the Premier League title after having lost their overwhelming dominance for the last several years while Ferguson built his third-grade Old Trafford squad. This was the real birth of the Ronaldo-Rooney goal-scoring duo, who was also the debut of Nemanja Vidić and Patrice Evra in their first full season. With eight Man United players being named in the PFA Team of the Year. Van der Sar, Neville, Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Scholes, Giggs, and Ronaldo. I mean look, it's just insane how good this squad was. And in the 2007-08 season was when Cristiano Ronaldo simply exploded. Scoring 42 goals in 46 appearances, finishing the 2008 calendar year with the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year award. This was definitely Man United's strongest attack with Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Carlos Tevez up front. They were also boosted by young signings from Portugal like Anderson and Nani who were still good at the time. They would also help out veterans like Giggs, Scholes, Neville, and Van der Sar. This iconic side would win the club's very last Champions League title till this day after a decade-long drought since the legendary treble season. The 2010-11 season's Premier League title win was the club's record-breaking 19th league title. Moving ahead of Liverpool as England's most successful team and completing what Sir Alex Ferguson had set out to do many years earlier when United was a shell of its former self. Finally pushing the squad over the edge as the greatest English club in history. And finally, in the 2012-13 season, after losing last year's title to Man City from Aguero's iconic goal, Ferguson was even more driven to win it one last time. Even though it wasn't an amazing squad, with an aging core of long-time veterans and signing of Robin Van Persie, this season spoke more about Ferguson's ability as a manager from what he did with the quality of players in an average team. The legendary manager would retire with the perfect departing gift, a Premier League trophy. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Man United became the most dominant and iconic English club in the world. With 13 Premier League titles, 5 FA Cups, 10 Community Shields, and reaching 4 Champions League Finals while winning 2 of them. I mean basically, in his 26 years with the club, you had a 50% chance of winning the Premier League at any given time. And if you made the Champions League Final, you had a 50% chance of winning with him as well. Not bad odds at all. Ultimately retiring as the most successful manager in history with 48 titles. And ever since the legend left Man United, they haven't won the league title since. Part 3. Down Bad For nearly a decade now, Manchester United has reverted to being a mediocre club. Especially after their legendary coach and core of veterans were gone, the club has failed to find any real identity. I mean, look at them. Immediately after Sir Alex Ferguson left, they finished 7th in the 2013-14 season, 4th in the 2014-15 season, 5th in the 2015-16 season, 6th place in the 2016-17 season with the Europa League win, their last quote-unquote major title, 2nd place with no titles in the 2017-18 season, 6th place again in the 2018-19 season, 3rd place with no title in the 2019-2020 season, and once again 2nd place with no titles in the 2020-21 season. United has not tried resetting to build and develop a young core since Sir Alex Ferguson did it in the 1992-93 season. They've also gone through 7 managers in the past 8 years. How are you going to establish any real style of football if the culture and system is always changing? Man United really needs to step back and give a chance to the right managers. Slowly but surely, Man United has become the joke of the Premier League. Heck, they even have the 2019, 2020, and 2021 World's Greatest Defender awardee Harry Maguire as their captain. I know he's played well before, especially for England, but have you seen the way he's defending for United? There's no way you can expect to win games with your back line looking like that. Even right now, Manchester United fails to have any decent goal scorers other than Cristiano Ronaldo. In most matches, all clubs have to really do is mark Cristiano Ronaldo as hard as they can to make it impossible for him to score, since nobody else is doing it. In fact, no other Man United player has even gotten double digit scoring in all competitions other than Cristiano Ronaldo. I know a lot of people say goals aren't important, but that's literally the only way to win games. It doesn't help when Harry Maguire is also working as the 12th man for the opposing side. Like whose idea was it to genuinely make him the captain? I'm so curious. In fact, Harry Maguire has the same amount of yellow cards as United's 2nd top goal scorer Bruno Fernandes, has goals for the club this season with 9. Throughout the years, every time Man United has had a strong offense, their midfield has been weak. Even Juan Mata, probably the best passer and playmaker on the squad, has only played twice this season. And every time they have a strong midfield, their defense has been weak. And right now, they have an incoherent squad that can't score goals outside of Ronaldo nor even prevent the opposing squad from scoring. It's truly sad to see how the club and management have been handling things for nearly the past decade. They need to go back to the drawing board and build a squad and culture from the ground up once more. Getting players who actually play together and at the very least, defend and maintain possession. But of all the videos in my downfall of great clubs series, I genuinely believe Man United has fallen off the most and will probably take the most time to recover. So what do you guys think? How would you rebuild the squad and what are the first steps? Let me know your thoughts on how badly Manchester United has fallen over the years or leave any other video recommendations below. I'm sorry if you're a United fan and didn't enjoy this last part, but the club definitely needs more reform. But leave a like if you enjoyed and subscribe to see more videos like this. It really is the best way to support the channel. Thank you to all of those who continue to show love and I'll see you in the next one.