How to Learn From Manchester United's Failures š
Plus Elon Musk breaks football Twitter and Sadio Mane's weird gift to Liverpool staff.
Welcome to Athletic Interest.
In this weekās newsletter, we are going to explore how the Mercedes F1 team is using the recent failures of Manchester United to build long-term success. Also, stick around until the end to learn about Sadio Maneās weird gift for the Liverpool staff and how Elon Musk fooled football fans across the world.
But first, letās talk about Manchester United.
Over recent years, the Red Devils have been suffering a rather public downward spiral. They once dominated English football, but havenāt won a Premier League title since the departure of their globally idolised manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.
To learn more about how tragedy and luck were incredibly important in Unitedās rise to dominance, be sure to watch this video:
Ā The club did enjoy a brief return to winning ways under Jose Mourinho, securing the EFL Cup and Europa League, but the coach soon left under acrimonious circumstances and claimed that guiding United to second was one of the highlights of his glittering career.Ā
Mercedes fans may be starting to empathise with the United fanbase.
The Mercedes team won a record eight constructors championships in a row, but this season the silver arrows have been only third best behind Red Bull and Ferrari.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff doesnāt plan on letting this new running order become the reality and wants to help Mercedes regain its position at the top in a sustainable way.
So, what does that even mean?
Well, in a recent interview with the Financial Times, Wolff acknowledged that Mercedes could not dominate F1 forever. In fact, he added that it was good for the sportās popularity to have other teams winning.
What Wolff really wants is to turn Mercedes into Ferrariā¦
No, that doesnāt mean that he is going to start purposely messing up tyre strategies. Wolff wants to emulate Ferrariās ability to consistently challenge across the decades.
Ferrari has won 16 constructorās championships, with multiple triumphs in every decade from the 60s to the early 2000s.Ā Ā
Thatās a nice idea, but how will Mercedes match that same consistency?
Ā āI studied why great teams were not able to repeat great title [runs],ā explained Wolff to the Financial Times while name-checking Manchester United.Ā
āThere are many reasons for that,ā he continued.
āWhat is at the core is the human. The human gets complacent. You are not energised in the same way you were before. You are maybe not as ambitious.ā
In other words, Manchester United (and perhaps even Mercedes at this point) became too familiar with winning and lost their motivation for success.
So, what is stopping Mercedes from joining United in a downward spiral?
Talking on a podcast in 2021, Wolff suggested that complacency could be removed from any team using the following methods:
Bring in fresh junior talent and give them responsibilities.Ā
Accept that people will never perform at 100% all of the time.
Encourage stronger members to carry the weaker members in times of crisis.
Define new objectives that excite your team.Ā
While United have technically been following the first piece of advice - they gave more minutes to teenage players in the 2021/22 season than any other Premier League club aside from Southampton - they have been failing miserably on the rest.
Manchester United has generally supported struggling coaches and players during tough times - remember that Harry Maguire is STILL the United captain - but many would argue that the club needs to do more to protect underperforming stars from fans and the media.Ā
One such critic is Jose Mourinho, who argued that the club needed to employ more executives who could take workload and responsibilities away from the manager and his players.
United did finally start to act on this, hiring multiple new directors in 2021. Perhaps too little too late?
All successful teams have strong leaders that carry their struggling teammates up the table. Liverpool had Gerrard, Chelsea had Terry, and United haveā¦ well thatās the problem.
United tried to bring in Cristiano Ronaldo last season to act as a leader and an inspiration for the teamās younger players. This plan appears to have failed. While his goals certainly helped, his desperate attempts to leave the club over recent weeks have just served to de-motivate an already struggling dressing room.Ā
How can a team be lifted from a spiral when the captainās authority and ability are repeatedly questioned and its star player will do anything to leave?
This smell of failure makes it almost impossible to implement the last piece of advice, to set exciting targets for the team.Ā
Will Mercedes be able to avoid the mistakes of Manchester United? We will have to wait a few years to find outā¦ although we are sure that Netflix will have some fun over-dramatising the journey whatever happens.
Sports Business Bites š
ā”ļø If things werenāt bad enough for United, it looks like they are about to be purchased by a meme lord. Yes, Elon Musk has just announced his intention to purchase Manchester United.
Ā While some United fans did get a little bit excited that the worldās richest person might be buying their club, Musk was quick to clarify that the tweet was simply a joke.
Ā Although, Musk did reveal that United was his favourite team growing upā¦ so, who knows what could happen?
š« From building schools in his home village in Senegal to donating most of his salary to charity, Sadio ManĆ© is world famous for his incredible generosity.Ā
It is therefore understandable that he decided to add a little bit of self-promotion to his latest gift-giving extravaganza. ManĆ© sent 150 boxes of chocolate to his former colleagues at Liverpool and each box came complete with a special card of ManĆ©ās face.
Now no one will forget their favourite ever Liverpool player!Ā
š An old Ferrari F1 car was just spotted driving on a public road!Ā
Well, not exactly. The single-seater is actually an old GP2 car that has been covered in a Ferrari livery.Ā
While the stunt impressed many on Twitter, driving a race car on public roads is illegal and the police are looking for the driver. Itās currently not clear who owns the race car, and police are reportedly struggling to identify the driver thanks to the helmet covering their head.