Are Man United too big to fail? The answer might surprise you

Manchester United are excessively large to neglect everlastingly and their Premier League clash with champions Liverpool astatine Anfield connected Sunday volition lone service arsenic a reminder of what could hap if, oregon when, 1 of the world's astir almighty sporting brands yet gets it right.

Fenway Sports Group (FSG), Liverpool's transformative American owners, celebrated 15 years successful complaint astatine Anfield this week, a play that's seen the nine triumph 2 Premier League titles and the UEFA Champions League portion besides gathering a formidable scouting and analytics network. That success, archetypal nether manager Jurgen Klopp and present Arne Slot, has enactment the nine backmost astatine the acme of English football, but it lone came aft a 30-year play of prolonged failure, managerial upheaval and ownership battles, ironically endured during a agelong spell of United dominance nether Sir Alex Ferguson.

The 2 clubs person present traded places and it is United who are suffering, but conscionable similar Liverpool, United volition bounce backmost and reclaim their spot alongside planetary heavyweights Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Their in-built advantages marque it an inevitability and simply a substance of clip -- a lawsuit of sporting gravity erstwhile again moving successful United's favour.

"If shot occurrence could beryllium compared to a crippled of dice, Manchester United lone request to rotation threes and fours to beryllium palmy due to the fact that of their history, commercialized spot and worldwide fanbase," a erstwhile United enforcement told ESPN. "The occupation is that they person been continually rolling ones and twos, portion Liverpool and Manchester City person been connected a tally of fives and sixes.

"That is yet down to judgement, luck, stableness and, successful Liverpool's case, having a genius similar Mike Gordon (FSG president) making cardinal decisions, but eventually, United volition commencement rolling immoderate threes and fours and past fives and sixes.

"They simply request to get the large decisions right. Once that happens, their commercialized mightiness volition propel United backmost to the top."

Despite results, they person the revenue

Challenging Liverpool for the biggest prizes, the Premier League and Champions League, seems a distant speck connected the skyline close present for United, whose rubric drought stretches backmost to 2013, with their past Champions League crown being won successful 2008. But it took Liverpool 3 years nether FSG stewardship to situation for the title, erstwhile Brendan Rodgers' squad finished 2nd to Manchester City successful 2013-14, and 5 years earlier they made they hired Klopp arsenic manager successful Oct 2015 -- a determination that proved the catalyst for the occurrence to follow.

United are inactive successful a authorities of flux erstwhile it comes to managers and ownership. The nine appears stuck successful a doom-loop of failure: successful summation to 5 fired managers since 2014, a succession of costly flops successful the transportation market, and their rivals Liverpool and Manchester City stacking up silverware astatine location and abroad, they've had turmoil disconnected the tract with unpopular co-owners, the Glazer household and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, overseeing heavy cost-cutting measures and occupation cuts. But the work of the club's yearly accounts past period shed airy connected conscionable wherefore they are a sleeping elephantine that will, eventually, aftermath from its slumber.

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United posted a nonaccomplishment of £33 cardinal ($...