How the Glazer family has crushed Manchester United's fortunes in European football

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I write this on the eve of Manchester United's last game of the 2024/25 Premier League hoping to one day look back at it and say "that was then" as a United fan. I have often read that lean times come to an end. With the team having blown their only chance of making the money in and out tally, by missing out on Champions League football for 2025/26, now seems the time for reflection on what a terrible season this one was.

I am struck by this predicament and would point to the following areas that I think, are failings. 

The Glazers have not supported their managers so far

You don't instill anything but misery by sacking trophy-winning managers. Louis Van Gaal was sacked having just won a trophy. Erik ten Hag was sacked having won two trophies. Jose Mourinho was sacked even though he won a European trophy. All are serial winners.  

The Glazers have liquidated some of their best players

I hope the rumours around Portuguese playmaker Bruno Fernandes are wrong but it now looks possible that he and Alejandro Garnacho will be joining players like Scott McTominay, Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, David de Gea and Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of the club. I genuinely do not see any validity in so doing given these are/were the best players playing for the club. The irony is that the exaggerated value of such players is the thing that counts against them staying in this vacuous backdrop of cost-cutting, but even still I can't see why an underperforming team would surgeon off quality. If anything, there should be even better players coming in on top in order to close the gap. Investment seems to be off-limits however, for the Glazer family. 

The Glazer family have presided over a decline that doesn't seem to affect them

Overall, I feel let down by the Glazer families' ownership of United. Theirs has been a reign of exploitation of the loyalty United fans show globally. All football clubs now monetise their followings to one degree or another however the cynical milking of the cash cow the Glazers have done is not to be mistaken for efficiency in running their business, far from it. 

To that point, the profits are running thin, leading now part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe to state that unless cost-cutting was done (and many examples of that exist), the club would be bust. How can that be so, given where the club was in 2013 - winning the Premier League ahead of big-spending Manchester City?

The Glazer family have agreed to no dialogue with supporters groups 

What we are not hearing is the Glazer family fronting up to the inevitable questions that come from fan groups and interested observers and having any dialogue about the unrecognisable decline in Manchester United. They seem to be invoking a strategy of having spokespeople address these questions. Be it Ed Woodward, Louis Van Gaal, Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim or the aforementioned Ratcliffe, they all seem to give insufficient answers to said questions, for one reason or another. Richard Arnold, a former incumbent of the Glazers' fall-guy position as CEO of Manchester United, had a pioneering take on how to address fans concerns - go to a bar and talk with fans. This quickly became a exercise in futility given the indefensible recruitment, spending and administration of the first team which has not lead anywhere good. But, it was a start - ended with Arnold's departure from the club the following year.

Manchester United is one of the biggest sleeping giants in European football and the one which is most in need of new owners. In the recent past, Qatar's Sheikh Jassim has been a likely suitor and Sir Jim Ratcliffe caused hope but I am utterly adrift considering the existing majority shareholders are silent. 

The Glazer family have affected Manchester United's fortunes in European football for the worse

With the loss of the final match of the one competition the team prioritised over the season, Manchester United's star seems to be at its lowest ever. The truth though is that it should never have got to a situation where an outcome of such magnitude could even arise.
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