7 things Manchester United and its fans should learn from their rivals

Liverpool – History repeats itself

Liverpool fans

Liverpool were the most dominant English football club for two decades in the ’70s and ’80s. They are yet to win a Premier League trophy since 1990 now. But the fans stood by the club thick and thin since then, following their motto ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

As former Liverpool manager Bill Shankly once said, “If you can’t support us when we lose or draw, don’t support us when we win “

United might just go on to repeat the same. The point is even if this happens, the fans must be ready for this and should support the club no matter what.

Arsenal – Patience is a virtue

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

8 years. It’s been more than 8 years since Arsenal won any trophy at all. Arsene Wenger hasn’t won anything since Arsenal moved out of Highbury and Henry moved to Spain. The fans are the most ridiculed on the internet over the years. But they have stood by the manager and the club all this while. They were all patient.

Arsenal cleared up the dead wood last summer, invested heavily by signing Mesut Ozil and today they are on top of the Premier League table with 18 more games to go. And realistically, they have a genuine chance to win it, which they have not after the Invincibles campaign in 2003-04.

Manchester United must replace the under-performing players gradually, and must sign someone with a creative influence in the coming transfer windows. One thing which Arsenal have done right since 2000-01 is to qualify for the Champions League which is a huge boost in terms of revenue and player retention. Ironically, for the Red Devils this season, the fourth place might actually be a ‘trophy’ after all.

Borussia Dortmund – The club is known by its fans

Borussia Dortmund fans

Borussia Dortmund might be considered a club of the ‘football hipster’. In other words, the fans who claimed to be ‘hardcore’ fans of Dortmund after a successful 2010-11 campaign. They carried on to win it again in 2011-12 as well before beating the mighty Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals last year.

But this is not about the ‘plastic’ fans but the real ones. The ones who are vociferous, loyal and passionate to the very sense of the word. Let’s be honest, Dortmund are neither one of the richest clubs who can boast superstars, nor have they won half of what Manchester United have.

That doesn’t stop the fans from being loyal to a club. Today, in the darkest of hours, United fans should stand by the virtues of the club with patience, have faith in the manager like Sir Alex asked them to.