Manchester United are less a football club than a high-volume content farm these days. Michael Carrick‘s spell in charge has been extended for at least another week, with the 45-year-old set to lead the team out at Chelsea on Saturday — and an entire industry of former players is mining every moment of it.
(Credits: BBC Sport)
Man Utd Struggles Fuel the Ex-Player Pundit Industry
It is now easier to name the United legends who do not have a platform to scrutinise the club’s every move than those that do. Gary Neville provided scathing on-air commentary during Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth, before conducting a post-match podcast from the Old Trafford gantry in which he accused some players of being unprofessional — claiming some “don’t go to bed at the right time” or “eat the right things”.
Neville’s The Overlap, launched in 2021, has become one of the most influential outlets in sports media. He recently acquired the YouTube network of Mark Goldbridge, whose channels amassed more than 3.7 million subscribers on the back of viral expletive-laden watchalongs. Goldbridge now co-hosts the Manchester United-dedicated ‘Stick to United’ show with Wayne Rooney, who said this week that Carrick’s players “need a firework up their a***”.
Carrick Shrugs Off the Noise From Former Team-Mates
The chorus keeps growing. Roy Keane called Carrick and his backroom staff “lucky boys” to still be in jobs, while Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt dissect the club on their podcast ‘The Good, The Bad & The Football’. Asked how he deals with the noise from former team-mates, Carrick said he avoids it as best he can — a tall order when even Amazon’s All or Nothing cameras now have “unprecedented” access to Old Trafford.
Whether the wall-to-wall punditry is damaging the club or simply the price of being the world’s most-watched soap opera is up to the fans. One thing is certain: when United finally win again, the content machine will be right there to narrate every minute of it.
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
