Topic of the Week - For the Love of the Game

I have been an avid sports fan for the majority of my life. I played sports ranging from baseball all the way to rowing, but my true love was soccer. I lived and breathed the sport by both playing from a young age and rooting for my favorite team, Manchester United. I come from Portugal decent and the first person you probably know from Portugal is Cristiano Ronaldo who is one of the greatest players in the world and maybe in all of history. I fell in love with Manchester United because he played for the club and truly became a star there before going to Real Madrid. They won the champions league and multiple league titles, but as soon as Alex Ferguson, Manchester United's all-time greatest manager, left the trophies began to dry up. Nowadays being a Manchester United fan is tough because the club is stuck in turmoil and seem to not know how to help itself.

The main problem for Manchester United is the balance between commercial success vs. success on the soccer pitch. This is where I want to focus on in this article as well as on the likes of the Glazers, the owners, and Ed Woodward, the chairman of the club. Of course those of you who are reading this probably are not as avid soccer fans like myself, but I insist that you stick around. This article isn't solely about soccer, it's about how big corporations take the fun and passion out of something beautiful like soccer all for money. Manchester United started on humble beginnings, but is now taken over by people who care little of the soccer side and more on milking the club for all it's worth. Soccer as a whole is like this all over the world where greedy business owners buy clubs not for the fans sake, but to line there own pockets further.

Soccer is one of if not the most popular sport in the world. Of course that is both a positive and negative. The positive is of course that it unites people of different backgrounds and cultures with the love and passion for the game. The negative side that it is a very greedy and shady business behind the scenes. There is no end in sight for greedy people like the Glazers buying clubs just to take the money of fans, but that doesn't mean you have to support them. Support the clubs or players that hold the values of soccer to the highest degree and who wear their badge with pride. Be a fan of a team who still stays true to the mantra of soccer, for the love of the game. This has been the topic of the week, thanks for reading. Ricardo signing off.