The fact is we never went on a splurge to buy a new team/squad with some sugar daddy's money which propelled us from also rans/mid table to title contenders. True we broke the British transfer record on a few occasions but that tended to reflect our increasing success. United's success hasn't been financially doped in the way City and Chelsea's has. That's obvious to anyone although I know it doesn't sit comfortably with you.
I'm quite happy to admit our success has been finance related. Doesn't mean I'll celebrate it any less though. It was, and still is, the only way to break through those at the top.
Actually we've been 'out financed' by other clubs in pretty much every season since the PL began. We've never had the highest wage bill, and 98/99 and 02/03 were the only season in which we had the highest transfer spend. The difference is Utd maintained our success over the years, whereas the other big spenders like City (in the early 90s), Liverpool, Blackburn, Newcastle and Arsenal couldn't build on their short term spending and fell behind. That, and we had the best manager so were able to outdo the clubs that outspent us in most seasons. At least someone's happy to admit it Ultimately clubs have always needed a fair bit of money to win the title, with the main differentiating factors being how much they have to spend and how wisely they spend it. The main difference between Chelsea and City and the rest is that they have had so much more money to spend that spending it wisely hasn't really been an issue, until the threat of FFP started to loom. The other main difference is that the sheer volume of money you've spent has made it next to impossible for anyone else to break through those at the top, no matter how wisely they may spend.
A Chelsea (and Man City) fan admitting their success is finance related is like a politician admitting they're a lying ****!
Me admitting it isn't be critical of it btw, I'm personally fine with clubs getting a cash injection, it makes for a more competitive league. There are negatives of course but entertainment value is brilliant. As for FFP, do you really see it doing an awful lot? Look at Monaco, not stopping them!
Not quite sure I agree it makes for a more competitive league. If anything, massive cash injections have reduced competition as the top four has effectively become cemented in place. Since Abramovich took over at Chelsea it was almost always Chelsea, Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool, with Liverpool now replaced by City. Also Spurs are almost always around 5th spot so they end up getting the Europa spot. Competition wasn't great prior to the Abramovich takeover, but it isn't any better now - at least clubs like Leeds and Newcastle could reach the CL in some seasons, and Ipswich, West Ham, Blackburn and Villa could grab the UEFA spot. It's only more entertaining if you're a fan of a big spending club and know you'll always be bringing in expensive players and competing for Europe. FFP doesn't affect Monaco as they aren't anywhere near Europe right now so there are no sanctions. That's the good thing about FFP imo - it doesn't stop smaller clubs from getting a massive financial boost to shake up domestic leagues, but it means that once they reach the top and start looking towards Europe they have to be more responsible, and can't just close the door on other competitors by spending massive amounts of money. It's already started to affect City and Chelsea, what with City not being able to spend massive amounts to defend their title and Chelsea having to let valuable players like Drogba go in order to get their wage bill in order.
Twitter says Barca will use the funds raised from selling us Fabregas and Thiago to buy Suarez. Happy days
That'll be my point proven then Seriously though, i wouldn't be bothered about that happening so long as we re-invested the £50+ wisely As good as that sounds, I don't think it would work. The latter two would get in each others way.
Aye, I reckon you would improve if you sold Suarez, even if it was only for the £35-40m rumoured. Think it would be like Everton selling Rooney - you'd reduce your reliance on a single player and free up funds to address the more outstanding areas of weakness in your squad. The only question is whether there would be the usual fan backlash against selling a big player.
Suarez, the third best player in the world at present, behind Messi and Ronaldo. This the view of my infamous reporter mate, who is also a manc.
Must be true then. Although no doubt he reserves the right to change his mind... I think anyone who rates Suarez as the third best player in the world knows cock all about football so he's probably in the perfect job!
