Are we the cunts we accused Man United of being?

[Mamma Mia]

It all started with Suarez. Barcelona came in low, probably tapped him up while he was still banned, and we had no choice but to sell. That’s when the meme was born: “are we the cunts we accuse Barcelona of being?” It stuck. Every time we acted a bit shady in the market, the thread titles wrote themselves.

Then came Real Madrid. Letting a player run down his contract, planting stories in Marca, and suddenly we’re talking about clubs being “the cunts we accuse Madrid of being.”

Chelsea. City. You know the drill.

Most recently, after Wirtz, Ekitike, and all the noise around Isak and Rodrygo, someone asked if we’re now the cunts we accuse Man City of being. That’s what kicked off this line of thought.

I don’t think we are. I think we’re something else entirely.

This feels less like Abu Dhabi and more like Old Trafford in the mid 90s.
United had just won the league, then went out and bought Keane, Cole, Yorke, Stam. Broke records.
Strengthened from a position of dominance. It wasn’t sugar daddy money. It was earned power, smart timing, and calculated ambition. That run didn’t last a season, it lasted a decade.

Sound familiar?

But maybe the better parallel isn’t United either.

Maybe this is just us, going back to being who we were. When we were winning under Shankly, then Paisley, then Fagan and Dalglish, we didn’t rest on it. We doubled down. We broke transfer records for players who took us to the next level. Dalglish from Celtic in ’77 for a British record, right after we’d won the European Cup. Keegan before him. Alan Hansen from Partick. Souness from Middlesbrough.
Then came the Barnes and Beardsley signings in ’87—huge fees at the time, but we’d just won the league and were building for more. Aldridge, Houghton, Nicol. The squad was constantly refreshed at the top end, and it paid off with trophy after trophy. We weren’t cautious. We weren’t reactive. We were proactive, dominant, and unapologetic about it.

Maybe we’re just being the cunts we used to be?

 

[darkstarexodus]

I think 90s United is definitely a better parallel than the other clubs.

We're well run, on top, and looking to stay that way.

 

[Beamrider]

Build from a strong position is absolutely right in terms of approach, and I agree that we're exercising "earned power". We started it last season in a limited way when we took advantage of the chance to get Mama for a decent fee, even though we didn't need him then.
But I think a lot of what we've done this summer is NOT to improve on an already strong position, at least when looking at individuals. With Trent leaving and Robbo declining we needed two full-backs - that was a weak area last year. We needed to replace Darwin who is not good enough, and isn't going to be. Those players will hopefully be upgrades, but they are upgrades that were absolutely needed, not extravagances.
Wirtz, unquestionably, fits the extravagance / power model. He's an exceptional player and will likely cover positions where our existing options were more than good enough.
Isak would fit the bill too, but he's a tallest dwarf option - there's a dearth of quality strikers out there and he may be top 5 in the world, but it's a low bar. And he's a very expensive luxury when we absolutely need to reinforce at CB. I don't want to see Endo or Gravy at CB next season, not just because they're a big step down from Ibou and Virgil, but also because it may mean we end up playing Mac / Jones in a DM role.

 

[Hansern]

I don’t agree that Isak is an expensive luxury. We needed a top nr 9. Paying 70 mill for Gyokeres or 80 mill for Sesko is much more of a risk imho.
It’s easy to forget that we needed more reinforcements due to the tragic loss of Jota.

Anyway, I’ve been saying this to my Manc mates who now label us as the new City/Chelsea in terns of spending.

We’re spending after the success we had and the funds available after internal upgrades and new business deals.

Spending money to get the best players when you are at the top is one of the reasons Utd had that long period of domination.
But we still do it our own way. The players we buy are young with the best years infront om them.

 

[tombrown]

I don't like anything that reflects positively on mancs. For that reason, I am out.

 

[Beamrider]

I don't like anything that reflects positively on mancs. For that reason, I am out.

You're right. @Mamma Mia was going way too soft calling them cunts in the thread title.