Football – Minh Quang Duong

Steep decline and loss of identity at Manchester United

May 13, 2019May 14, 2019by MQDuongLeave a Comment

The season is officially over and it can’t be over soon enough for Manchester United and its fans like myself.

Terrible performance domestically and continentally

Since 2013, the last season of Sir Alex Ferguson, the team has been a complete mess. There have been 4 managers in charge: David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and the current manager – Ole Solskjaer. With regards to the Premier League, the team’s end-of-season position was 7th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 2nd and 6th from 2013 to 2018, missing Champions League on 4 occasions. This season, the gap to Manchester City, the eventual champion, is a staggering 32 points. There hasn’t been such a large gap since Premier League was founded. Yes, MU won the Europa League with Jose Mourinho, but as a three-time Champions League winner and a formerly usual competitor in the tournament, winning a second-tier cup is more of a consolation than an achievement. This year’s presence in the Quarter Finals of the Champions League is the best we have had since 2011.

Alarmingly deteriorating player quality and abysmal transfer policy

Let’s talk about the transfer policy since Sir Alex’s departure. Below is the list of all big-ticket players coming to Manchester United in the past 5 years (Source: transfermarkt)

Season	Player	Fees (£ mil)	Selling Fees (£ mil)	Difference	Evaluation (my own opinion)
13/14	Juan Mata	40			Average
13/14	Marouane Fellaini	29	11	-18	Poor
14/15	Di Maria	67.5	58	-9.5	Poor
14/15	Luke Shaw	34			OK
14/15	Ander Herrera	32	0	-32	OK
14/15	Marcos Rojo	18			Poor
14/15	Daley Blind	16	14	-2	Poor
14/15	Falcao	7			Poor
15/16	Martial	54			OK
15/16	Schneiderlin	31.5	21	-10.5	Poor
15/16	Depay	31	14.4	-16.6	Poor
15/16	Darmian	16			Poor
15/16	Schweinsteiger	8			Poor
16/17	Pogba	95			Average
16/17	Mkhitaryan	38	31	-7	Poor
16/17	Baily	34			Poor
16/17	Ibrahimovic	Free yet very high salary			OK
17/18	Lukaku	76			Average
17/18	Matic	40			Poor
17/18	Vindelof	31.5			OK
17/18	Alexis Sanchez	31			Poor
18/19	Fred	53			Poor
18/19	Dalot	20			Average

Most signings haven’t met expectations so far in my book. Only a handful either have or possess so much promise that I give them the benefit of the doubt. More importantly, many players don’t particularly have a lot of resell value. They are at the peak of their market value and given the outrageous inflation of player value following Neymar’s transfer, Manchester United ended up overpaying for the players by a wide margin. Among the transfers, some are particularly terrible. Take Sanchez as an example. He is no longer the player he used to be. Yet, he commands the biggest wage at the club, causing unhealthy envy from his teammates who, admittedly, would deserve his salary more than he does.

Not only did the club fail to acquire quality players, but they were also unable to offload players who don’t meet the standard any more. Take Ashley Young. He is exceedingly disappointing and weak. Yet, he is the captain of the team and features in the starting line-up on a weekly basis. His disastrous performance against Barcelona in Champions League is just one among the many horrible performances over the past two or three years.

Loss of identity

United used to be known and feared for attacking football with flair and never-give-up mentality. United of the past few years has been nowhere near that former self. No creativity. No attacking football. No inspiration. Fewer goals. Only boring defensive football. Teams don’t fear United any more. We are relegated to battling with the likes of Wolves or Everton, which beat United 4-0 a few weeks ago.

United used to promote young players from the academy. Granted, some came through the hierarchy such as Rashford, McTominay, and a bit less from Greenwood or Tahith Chong. But it’s nowhere near enough given that we produced world class players in the past such as Class 1992, or good role players such as Brown, O’Shea, Welbeck, Evans, Rafael.

Manchester United is no longer what it used to be. Worse than the lack of performance on the pitch is the loss of culture, accompanied by the decline in reputation. No great players who want to do great things and achieve results want to play for us any more. City, Liverpool, Juve, Bayern, Barca and Real are all the raves these days. We are relegated to the second-tier club in Europe. Long were the days when United were in the semi-final of Champions League for 5 straight seasons or 3 finals in 4 years from 2008 to 2011. Long were the days when the name Manchester United commanded respect and fear. What is left now is just a well-oiled marketing machine living off of its glorious past with no direction back to redemption.

life, Random

Liverpool delivered a sensational comeback. Football is so amazing

May 8, 2019by MQDuongLeave a Comment

I am referring to the sport watched and loved by billions of people on Earth, the one in which Ronaldo and Messi are gods, not Tom Brady.

The second leg of a Champions League semi-final took place today between Liverpool and Barcelona. Barcelona, a Spanish 7-time world champion, beat Liverpool at home in the first-leg 3-0. They came to the game today as an overwhelmingly strong favorite. One goal at Anfield, Liverpool’s stadium, would require the home team to score at least 5 to advance. And if you follow football a bit, you’ll know that stopping Barcelona from scoring is exceedingly challenging, especially when they have arguably the best player in the history of the sport, Lionel Messi.

But Liverpool did it anyway. They delivered a magnificent upset for the ages today by winning 4-0. I am not a Liverpool fan, but it was epic.

Liverpool vs Barcelona (Semi-final 2nd leg)

This season’s Champions League has featured some of the most dramatic games I have seen for a while such as Manchester United vs PSG, in which the deciding penalty was awarded in the dying minutes

Or Tottenham’s unlikely win against Manchester City, in which the fans’ emotions went on a roller coaster in the last seconds.

I heard some in America say that they don’t like the real football because it’s not as unpredictable as American football. The three games above, only three out of so many, proved that it wasn’t the case. Yes, admittedly, there is a sense of boring predictability in some cases such as Bayern’s dominance in Germany, PSG’s reign in France or Juventus winning year after year in Italy for the past 7 years. But do watch Champions League. It will take your emotions to the new heights or sink them down to the new lows that you didn’t know before.

I love football. It’s amazing. I have been watching it for over 20 years and I don’t imagine I’ll stop doing so for the rest of my life.

I’d like to finish the post with an inspiring photo of Mo Salah, a Liverpool player who couldn’t play today because of injury. Indeed, never give up!

Random, Sports

Two good things about professional sports systems in America

January 20, 2019by MQDuongLeave a Comment

As a big NBA fan, I have always been perplexed by the hatred towards the Golden State Warriors. The chief reason for it is that GSW has too many All Stars and that it is unfair to compete against them. I just find it hard to comprehend. If you look at football (I prefer football, but you may know it as soccer), GSW’s dominance is nowhere near the dominance that household names such as Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Real Madrid has enjoyed for DECADES, if not years. Real Madrid and Barcelona together have won 58 out of 87 La Liga titles. Bayern Munich won 27 out of 56 Bundesliga titles. Together, those three clubs have won 22 of 64 Champions League titles, with Real Madrid winning a record of 13 and the last 4 out of 5. The odds of these clubs not winning their domestic leagues are just slim. Betting against them is almost as good as throwing money away.

These clubs have infinite finance and resources. They have money, brand name, legacy, scouts and infrastructure to attract any footballer in the world. It’s every player’s dream to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona. Even players at some of the biggest clubs in the world such as Manchester United or Liverpool want to play for the top two clubs at one point in their career. Unfortunately, there is no cap limit in football. There are some financial restrictions that forbid clubs to be in too much debt, but given these clubs outrageous abilities to generate revenue, these rules mean little to them. At one point, Real Madrid consecutively made record transfers with Figo, Zidane, Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale.

That’s why I really love the draft pick and salary cap enforced on American sports teams. The two policies level the playing field much more than what happens in football. Draft picks allow inferior teams a chance at future stars. Salary caps ensure that teams cannot buy their way to success. Even if teams want to stack superstars, they run a risk of a hefty tax bill unless somehow they convince some of their stars to take a pay cut. Then, it becomes a management issue, not the money issue any more. If somehow a team can convince the likes of Durant to take a pay cut to help the team succeed, how can you dislike them? If that were your team, would you think that the criticism was fair?

Around 6 or 7 years ago, GSW was nowhere near a mainstream or dominant team that they are today. They used the draft picks to get the players who form the cornerstone of their success today. Curry, Thompson and Green were drafted at 7th, 11th and 35th positions respectively. Teams passed on the chances to sign them and GSW had the foresight to swoop in and take advantage. Plus, Curry signed a ridiculously cheap deal for a star of his stature. Thompson has consistently signaled that he prioritized staying and winning over money. Durant took pay cuts to play and win championships. Cousins earned only $5 million at GSW, a deal far from what he can earn given his talent. GSW is just better at the management than other teams. So don’t hate them for it. Be glad that there are draft pick and salary cap enforcements in the league.

Random, Sports

Jose Mourinho – A case of cultural mismatch and failed leadership

December 16, 2018by MQDuongLeave a Comment

Jose Mourinho has been the manager at Manchester United for the last 3 years. The team is my childhood team and I have been a fan for more than 20 years. The last domestic Premier League win we had was in 2013 and the last Champions League we had was in 2008. Since then, it has been a rough 5 years to be an MU fan, but it has reached a breaking point for me under Jose Mourinho, a case of cultural mismatch and failed leadership. It goes to show that no matter how much the talent is in question, without a cultural fit and leadership, the hiring won’t just work.

Cultural Mismatch

Manchester United had been known for attacking football and flair. We were never that good on the defensive side. Otherwise, we would have won more championships, even though the collection over the past two decades was truly remarkable. Our style was always to dominate the ball and attack to win. Mourinho’s style is completely opposite. His mantra is to not lose first and foremost. Hence, the games are dull and boring. You can see the fear in players’ eyes and behavior on the pitch. They don’t want to attack. They just want to defend and avoid mistakes. There is no creativity in Manchester United any more. Defenders don’t dare to move forward. Midfielders’ priority is to hold position and not lose the ball, instead of creating innovative passes or plays. Strikers are asked to pull back when not having the ball. As a result, when MU wins back possession, there is no one up front to threaten the opposition.

Additionally, Manchester United was known for promoting young players. Mourinho is not a believer in that, as far as I am concerned. His preference is always established players who are usually around 30 years old and very expensive.

We were always a team of class. However, his media handling has been increasingly ridiculous; which becomes a bit shameful for the team. Even though he was harassed by some fans, as the team manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world, he shouldn’t have some of the irritating and distasteful he has.

The hiring of Mourinho is against every thing that Manchester United stands for. I’d rather have the team stick to our traditions and lose more than win a few games by not being ourselves.

Failed leadership

I am a big believer of the idea that leadership is about taking the bullets for the team. Mourinho isn’t like that. He chastises the players publicly and throws them under the bus. Sure, some players have an attitude issue, but managing them internally and discreetly is his job. Instead, he regularly complains about the players and singles them out in the press. He lost the locker room at Real Madrid and Chelsea badly. It seems that he is losing the one at MU as well. It is, first and foremost, his fault that the team doesn’t perform well. As the team manager, it is hard to deny his accountability.

A manager in sports should be similar to a manager in business. When the team succeeds, you bask in the glory with everyone, but the credit should go to those around you. When the team hits trouble, you are the first in line to take the bullets. That’s what I believe leadership is, no matter what other definitions of the term say. Also, the manager has to fit the culture of the team. In some cases, an outliner may bring unexpected changes, but it’s not what usually works. In that sense, Mourinho is clearly a failure stemming from cultural mismatch and poor display of leadership. He has to go and the sooner that happens, the better it is for everyone, including himself.