‘Modern football’ instead of just ‘football.’ It says a lot about the characteristics of the game that we can’t just accept and acknowledge the sport in a sweeping manner. Those traits aren’t there to signal the various points in which the game has changed; we can all accept that sports go through cycles and phases. The term ‘modern,’ however, has negative connotations attached to it. Whenever you’re drawn to one of the disappointments of the game, you precede it with ‘modern football.’
The issue about patience in football is something that’s driven by the way the sport has evolved. Rather than looking for sporting stories, where incidentally some find them mundane, we’re force-fed news items of political breakdowns within the walls of football clubs. Of course fans are going to feed that frenzy. Are we supposed to believe that every manager is placed under unbearable pressure because every set of supporters believes their club have a right to immediate success? The media have made it such that managers aren’t given lengthy and historical tenures, even if they are right for the job.
If David Moyes is to feel any pressure at Manchester United it won’t come from within. Clubs like Manchester United have a way about them that is derivative of Alex Ferguson’s time in charge. There were lessons learnt and an understanding that patience does eventually win through. United are a big-spending club, but you don’t normally lump them in with the new money clubs of ‘modern football’ – if you do then it probably says a lot about the way you look at the game.
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It is ironic that Moyes is the topic considering his time with Everton. Now that both he and Alex Ferguson have left their managerial posts of last season (and Tony Pulis) there isn’t a single manager who comes close to matching the tenure of Arsene Wenger. It’s not because football fans are impatient; how can they be? What makes football fans in England so different from North American sports fans and huge sports markets like New York and Toronto, where the Rangers haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1994 and the Maple Leafs experienced a nine-year absence from the playoffs? Quite simply, the media won’t allow for lengthy tenures in English football because it doesn’t sell newspapers.
Ferguson may have offered his insight into the matter and parted with words of confidence and backing for the new United manager at the end of last season, but underneath it all there were hints that he wasn’t really talking to the supporters, at least not exclusively. Ferguson is made of tough stuff, the kind of manager whose reputation and respect from others always allows him to hold a much, much higher standing. Of course, Moyes will know how to take care of himself and he’s far from unaccustomed to the ways of the English media. But Everton and Manchester United are completely different stories. Everton are not flying the flag for English football. Everton are not battling to match Barcelona or Bayern Munich. It’s a level of expectation that far surpasses anything Moyes has known during his time at Goodison Park. Fundamentally, the media, at least large sections, don’t have that connection that allows them to view Moyes or the club in the same light as the supporters. What difference does it make to them if he leaves after two seasons? As long as people read their account of events.
There’s already a lot to like about this appointment from Manchester United. Naturally there were small groups of fans who opposed the idea of bringing in Moyes, but that was overshadowed by the story of Ferguson’s retirement and where the club would go in the immediate future. Simply, there was enough Hollywood in the other stories to make any opposition to Moyes an afterthought. But even then, even if supporters take a few seasons in the Premier League to get to grips with Moyes, nothing will be made of it until it starts becoming a news item. Instead of reporting on football, we’ll probably end up being fed the surrounding stories that don’t really matter. Okay, so some fans don’t like a manager. What else is new? Hardly worth much attention, especially if there is nothing wrong with what Moyes is doing. But the pressure and the weight of it all comes from outside the club. The sensationalism and hysteria can make even the most experienced managers fumble their lines and force errors – it just feeds the monster.
Modern football isn’t what fans make it, at least not in this country. Supporters would like to think so, they’d like to think they have a say in matters which form such a significant part of their lives. But the media has much more say in what goes. Moyes is in a good environment, and why shouldn’t Manchester United bide their time and wait patiently for their next ‘dynasty’? Unfortunately, after a while the waiting becomes boring. Instead of talking about football, we start to discuss names from abroad coming in and are led to believe it’s interesting. It’s not. But for those who need to sell it makes a better headline.
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