The Man U/Leeds comparison wasn't meant to be anywhere near as complex as that. It was simply that Leeds offer an ugly, cheating brand of football and have done for years, attract these distant supporters who have perfectly good local teams to support and who probably need it, and provide these silly debates about being a big club, which they eventually concede is an irrelevant thing about history alone. United have consistently represented England well in Europe and beyond, they play a good passing game and rely on width and pace rather than knocking everyone over. I have no affinity for them or anything, just it pisses me off to see fans of a really nasty club going on about another team being 'scum'.
I've always considered Leeds to be 'firm but fair' rather than scum. We tend to disown players who are cowards or dickheads (e.g. Diouf and Bowyer). Man U, the contrary. Glad you think we "have consistently represented England well in Europe and beyond, they play a good passing game and rely on width and pace rather than knocking everyone over"
