To be honest, my thoughts and allegiances are with the Blades. I rarely give a thought to England, and the explanation for that is that they've under-performed, under-achieved, had less than adequate management, and players who are able to perform at a decent level for their club sides seemed like fish out of water on the international stage. Opposing players more often then not seemed better equipped, technically, and with what you might refer to as football intelligence, yet many of our players, for whatever reason, seem adrift of the consistency we should expect from any player selected to wear an England shirt. What I will add is that it's not a player's fault if they're selected when it's clear that they were barely good enough at club level.......so where does this leave the national set-up and the type of infrastructure planning that we seem bereft of?
It's been well documented that the German national set-up has adopted a root and branch approach to improving their national side. Apparently it took an enormous amount of patience to see the first buds of improvement, but gradually improvement began to be seen, and the general standard we've come to expect of their national side were as clear as day. Both their domestic side and their international side speak in harmony, they've manage to bang dissenting heads together and the result is a clear approach to wanting to achieve at international level.
Which you may think is some way from the question of who I support? I just happen to enjoy the daily, if not weekly, progress I've come to associate with United, at least since Wilder and Knill became our management team. What they've achieved for this club is little short of phenomenal, and the fact that on our return to the Prem last season showed just how good we'd become must underline that no matter how good players are, and that's not to discount the need for quality players, the drive from the highest office at this club is what continues to keep the players on their toes as they deliver the style of football we've now come to associate as our footballing 'culture'. I've supported the Blades since about '68/'69, and as with so many of us, the lows probably outweighed the highs, and I recall a time when gates were around the 13-14,000 level. Now of course we have approx. 30,000 at most home games, a fantastic achievement for a club that seemed, for so long, to have no ambition other than to survive.
We're a long, long way from being regarded as one of the country's top teams, but we've certainly given ourselves a 'presence', the look of a club on the 'up', and if that continues, then attracting better quality players will happen more regularly. The key to this is winning something, and in truth there's a limited number of competitions that carry real worth, but that's where we are and what we have to confront. Good, even great, players are the key to any of this, and it will take time to build considering the clubs we're in competition with. What I do know is this, we're where we deserve to be, it brings out the best in players, some who quite possibly never thought they'd play at this level, to rise above the standards they had become use to, and now they compete with world class players week in, week out. Don't know about you, but I still have to pinch myself to see the likes of Bash, Baldock, Egan, Fleck (don't forget, he was once destined for a career in the lower divisions of the professional game) and Sharp amongst others compete at such a good level.......it's fuckin' brilliant if truth be told, and all in four years!
Now, with all of that, and quite probably a few details I've forgotten to include, ask me why I'd give a toss about the national side? You don't build dreams and history unless you have the nuts and bolts of a club like United. You never will, period.
