Manchester United Fans Can Support the England National Team Too

Every time the Three Lions have a game, a certain element of Manchester United’s fanbase goes into moron-mode, spouting rubbish about how United are greater than England and that they would never cheer on “the rent boys”. I find this repugnant and completely small-time.

Even if they do tune in, they do it on the false premise that “they are just watching the United lads”. Small time and false.

Whilst I can appreciate the fact that some United supporters (indeed supporters of any club) don’t have the mental capacity to follow anything that isn’t red, shiny and successful, I enjoy watching and supporting England and, as such, ignore the playground taunts to the contrary and do just that.

I grew up in an era when, like it or not, playing for England was still the peak of a players career. The fledgling Champions League still contained just the Champions of each nation, meaning that, once the Champions of Estonia were knocked out in qualifying, it was filled with the undiluted elite of European football. To get there, you had to win the Premiership.

Because of this, reaching the Champions League was beyond the reach of most footballers, and winning it was for many years merely a pipe dream. Inbred after the Heysel ban, the shambling, mutated form of the English game could not match the movement and grace of the continental game. The influence of Arrigo Sacchi’s legendary Milan side stretched no further than the White Cliffs of Dover.

And so, with no European club success on offer, the only way an English player or fan to get one over those on the continent was via the England team. Therefore players cared deeply about the success of the England team. They still do. It’s lazy and ill-informed to suggest that they don’t. These players have all the money they could dream of, but what else other than their wallets need massaging? Their egos.

Take Ashley Cole as an example. Rich beyond his wildest dreams, domestic medals adorning his shelves, and with a seemingly limitless supply of beautiful women to text pictures of his thorax to, the only thing left for Cole to achieve is silverware on a continental or international level. Are we to assume that he simply doesn’t care enough? The man is an egomaniac, of course he does!

These players are forever talking about their influence and legacy, but every time they bring the subject up, they must know at the backs of their minds that their big chance was the World Cup in 2010. If you ask anyone to name the best England players before 1990, they will start with Stiles, Charlton, Hurst. You’ll rarely hear Keegan and Hoddle mentioned before the class of '66.

Another common accusation is that the media pick on Manchester United players. I’m not really sure what else we can expect to be honest. In 1998 David Beckham got stupidly sent off against Argentina. In 2004 a poor England side were sent tumbling out when Phil Neville gave away a stupid and needless penalty. In 2006, Rooney got himself sent off for a petulant stamp on someone’s mid-section. Last summer, Rooney was utterly useless.

One of the pitfalls of having so many talented English players in our squad is that they will inevitably form the crux of the national team, and therefore be the first ones in the firing line when things go wrong. Wayne Rooney might not have been brilliant in the World Cup, but I don’t see any young Liverpool strikers in the squad. David Beckham might well have lost his rag with Simeone, but where else was the new generation of England players coming from?

And what of the intricately interwoven histories of Manchester United and the England team? Are we just going to abandon that too? We shouldn’t forget that class of ’66 contained, in Stiles and Charton, two Manchester United players, one of which has their name indellibly written into our history.

Far from being something to be ashamed of, I take pride in the fact that Manchester United players were chosen to form the front line of England’s bid to conquer the world. There was a time when England could have conceivably picked both Nevilles, Brown, Butt, Scholes, Beckham, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole in the same team. What would Chelsea’s England team have looked like from the same era?

Besides, since when did supporting England mean that you had to agree with the media? We successfully ignore all of Henry Winter’s pro-Chelsea bollocks 48 weekends a year. Surely we can manage an extra four?

The England team is there to represent England. By cordoning ourselves off from the rest of the country and running around shouting that United > England, we move dangerously close to Leeds United territory, or even the horrible self-satire which the unknowing Scouse fall victim to.

No matter what happens, I know it will continue. Like every illogical playground craze, it will have its hour and it will seem all-encompassing whilst it’s in vogue. I am happy to continue supporting England in the mean time, and in 10 years time, when the craze has passed or whenever England win a trophy of note, it’s the likes of me that won’t end up looking like stupid hypocrites.