In the not-so-distant past, Manchester United used to be a juggernaut of a football team. Led by the iconic Sir Alex Ferguson, the red side of Manchester were fierce opposition that struck fear in the hearts of their opponents. It didn’t matter how big of a football club you were, or how passionate your fans were – when United pulled up, you knew you were in for it.
Manchester United under Ferguson weren’t just a winning machine; they were a well-oiled one. A team with rhythm in possession, ruthless in pressing, and devastating in attack.
And with an abundance of elite players empowered to play to their strengths, United were not just a dominant side, they were the team to watch. When they played, you sat down and watched with glee. It was football at the highest level – football at its best.
They say all good things must come to an end, and so did the Sir Alex Ferguson era. The legendary manager retired from football in 2013, winning the Premier League title in his final season. Since then, it’s been downhill for Manchester United. Thirteen years on from Sir Alex’s exit, Manchester United have found new and creative ways to reach new lows.
They haven’t won the Premier League since he retired. They’ve stumbled their way to some trophies in that time, but those trophies haven’t been able to hide the grim reality: Manchester United are no longer a good football club. They were pummeled by fierce rivals Liverpool 7-0 in 2023.
They’ve been rag-dolled by local rivals Manchester City so many times in recent years it’s become a norm. They are no longer regulars in the UEFA Champions League. And they’ve lost two UEFA Europa League finals in embarrassing fashion, the most recent being the 2025 loss to Tottenham Hotspur – a team renowned for never winning trophies.
From the outside looking in, Manchester United’s decline has been unbelievable to witness. It’s shocking how bad they’ve become over the years and how the glory days now feel so far away. But for fans like Slow Zeus, a music producer and a sound engineer, those glory days are more than just highlights on YouTube or stats in a record book – they’re lived memories, the foundation of a lifelong bond with the club.
He remembers when supporting United meant excitement, pride, and the belief that even after setbacks, they’d always bounce back. Today, that certainty has evaporated, replaced by frustration, disappointment, and, eventually, numbness.
This is how he tells it.
I’ve been a United fan my entire life. It felt good, to be honest. I always looked forward to the games, watched them religiously (I still do to this day), and they made me fall in love with football. It was a great time. I knew we’d win, but it was still tense when watching games. There were also games we lost that stuck, like losing 3-0 to Milan at San Siro, the two finals lost against Barca in the UCL, and losing the league by goal difference to City. These were setbacks, but we always knew we’d bounce back.
The first time I realized that we may never be the same again was under LVG. The football was boring and uneventful, but then we appointed Mourinho and Ole, which gave me some hope that we might come good at some point. Then Amorim happened – the Tottenham UEL final game. I already felt we weren’t going to be good under him because of his unwillingness to adapt his system to change game states, and the fact that no player has improved under him. That game was just the nail in the coffin. He has lowered standards unbelievably, and the most annoying thing has to be the wasted potential. Players come here and underperform for various reasons, then go elsewhere and do so well.
Banter is part of life lol. I troll my rivals; it’s only fair I get that too now that I’m on the short end of the stick. But still, some moments have been hard to swallow. I was angry, can’t lie, because why are we losing to Spurs on that kind of stage (no offence to Spurs)? But come on. That is just not right. We were toothless and lacked coordination. They gave us the ball and we couldn’t do anything with it. That was very, very embarrassing to top a disappointing season. Now? I don’t feel anything when we lose, because I saw this coming from a mile away. Nothing about the season has been surprising, and there’s no indication it’s going to change either.
For me, the real root of the problem is the ownership. They have consistently made bad decisions, and those decisions have compounded into the mess we have now. They do not act decisively in crucial moments. There’s nothing in the data that backs keeping Amorim, and unlike ETH, there’s no credit in the bank either. They’ve been poor with squad building too (I think they’ve gotten better now), but I don’t think they’ll get anywhere with Amorim. It’s going to be a wasted season if he stays beyond this month. I’d change the ownership.
They need to have a ruthless approach to things: don’t back managers or the players, just set standards that are high. Because right now, they’ve told the world that it’s okay to lose a final to Spurs and finish 15th in the league with no heads rolling. I mean, they sacked Ashworth three months into the season but are keeping Amorim on this long? What’s that about?
Still, I think we will get back to those heights sooner rather than later. Like I said earlier, the ownership have begun to do better with squad building in trying to identify profiles and the rest. They just need to get good at picking the right managers now and being ruthless with them. I mean, it’s ridiculous to have a manager who is almost a year into a job and has still not won back-to-back games, let alone gone on a five-game winning streak.
And when that time comes, I think it will be sweeter for me because of all the turmoil we’ve faced in the last 12 years. I think I’d appreciate it more than those days. After all, it’s Man United lol. There’s no greater club for me. This club shaped me in a whole lot of ways growing up. It’s the club that made me fall in love with the beautiful game. I don’t think I could ever be attached to any other team the way I am with United. Even if we get relegated or thrown out of the division, I’d still follow them. Banter is temporary, football is eternal lol.
