Greater ≠ Bigger

[RedxMAK]

I have seen many people on social media that have confused the terms greater and bigger. When we talk about greater as in which club is greater, we talk about the achievements, trophies, culture and impact on the game. When we talk about bigger as in which club is bigger, we talk about the general popularity of the club and not its titles. Many people have said that Man United is a bigger club than Liverpool, in terms of greatness, Man United is overshadowed by Liverpool and this will fully cement once Liverpool win the 20th league title, as for popularity, due to United’s success in the late 20th to early 21st century, they are much more popular than Liverpool but we will see how that can change in 10 years time.

 

[Maradona37]

I have seen many people on social media that have confused the terms greater and bigger. When we talk about greater as in which club is greater, we talk about the achievements, trophies, culture and impact on the game. When we talk about bigger as in which club is bigger, we talk about the general popularity of the club and not its titles. Many people have said that Man United is a bigger club than Liverpool, in terms of greatness, Man United is overshadowed by Liverpool and this will fully cement once Liverpool win the 20th league title, as for popularity, due to United’s success in the late 20th to early 21st century, they are much more popular than Liverpool but we will see how that can change in 10 years time.

Having a lot of plastics around the world who know nothing about the history of the club, and have a passing interest in the club and football in general, is a much less important and substantial factor than what you have won, the quality of players you have had in your history.

Frankly, Man United's trophy cabinet and player quality lags far behind AC Milan, Bayern and especially Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona and Real have had many of the best players of all time play for them, whereas the best players ever for Man United are Duncan Edwards, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bobby Charlton and George Best. Excellent players no doubt, but don't compare to legends from the Clasico sides. Though a large part of this is that Latin footballers (who are more attracted to La Liga) are generally far better than British and Irish players (where United traditionally source from).

United have won three European Cups, which is five times less than Real Madrid and not very good compared to other clubs too. They have won 20 league titles, but 13 of those came in the PL era. Their success has generally been in two spells in their history - under Busby and Ferguson. The only manager ever to win a league title for them outside those two is Ernest Magnall. They also almost went out of business a few times, and if people realised football didn't begin in 1992, they'd know Man City were probably the biggest club in Manchester until the 50s and even let United play at Maine Road when Old Trafford was bombed in the war. United made their name off the back of a tragedy (the Munich air crash) and are still dining out on it til this day/

There's other reasons why United (and Liverpool) are not on the level of Real Madrid and Barcelona (for Liverpool it's because they generally have good but not all-time legends and don't play as entertaining football as Barca).

On all metrics - trophies, legendary player list, stadium (now Barca are building a new one) and various other metrics, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two biggest clubs in the world, in that order. I would say Bayern are next, then Liverpool and United. Juventus, Milan and Ajax would be higher but have fallen in recent times due to being hampered by the decline of the leagues they play in.

 

[RedxMAK]

Having a lot of plastics around the world who know nothing about the history of the club, and have a passing interest in the club and football in general, is a much less important and substantial factor than what you have won, the quality of players you have had in your history.

Frankly, Man United's trophy cabinet and player quality lags far behind AC Milan, Bayern and especially Barcelona and Real Madrid. Barcelona and Real have had many of the best players of all time play for them, whereas the best players ever for Man United are Duncan Edwards, Cristiano Ronaldo, Bobby Charlton and George Best. Excellent players no doubt, but don't compare to legends from the Clasico sides. Though a large part of this is that Latin footballers (who are more attracted to La Liga) are generally far better than British and Irish players (where United traditionally source from).

United have won three European Cups, which is five times less than Real Madrid and not very good compared to other clubs too. They have won 20 league titles, but 13 of those came in the PL era. Their success has generally been in two spells in their history - under Busby and Ferguson. The only manager ever to win a league title for them outside those two is Ernest Magnall. They also almost went out of business a few times, and if people realised football didn't begin in 1992, they'd know Man City were probably the biggest club in Manchester until the 50s and even let United play at Maine Road when Old Trafford was bombed in the war. United made their name off the back of a tragedy (the Munich air crash) and are still dining out on it til this day/

There's other reasons why United (and Liverpool) are not on the level of Real Madrid and Barcelona (for Liverpool it's because they generally have good but not all-time legends and don't play as entertaining football as Barca).

On all metrics - trophies, legendary player list, stadium (now Barca are building a new one) and various other metrics, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two biggest clubs in the world, in that order. I would say Bayern are next, then Liverpool and United. Juventus, Milan and Ajax would be higher but have fallen in recent times due to being hampered by the decline of the leagues they play in.

Agreed with your analysis. It is clear that Barcelona and Real Madrid no matter what are the 2 biggest and greatest football clubs of all time, you could also say 2 biggest and greatest sporting institutions of all time. Imo, Manchester United and its fanbase are no where near the size of Liverpool, Bayern, Milan and the 2 Clasico sides, just cause they witnessed a dominant period where they won 13 Premier Leagues and 2 Champions League does not mean they directly enter in the top 3. Arguably, you could say that Man United isn’t even top 5 in terms of biggest/greatest clubs.

 

[Maradona37]

Agreed with your analysis. It is clear that Barcelona and Real Madrid no matter what are the 2 biggest and greatest football clubs of all time, you could also say 2 biggest and greatest sporting institutions of all time. Imo, Manchester United and its fanbase are no where near the size of Liverpool, Bayern, Milan and the 2 Clasico sides, just cause they witnessed a dominant period where they won 13 Premier Leagues and 2 Champions League does not mean they directly enter in the top 3. Arguably, you could say that Man United isn’t even top 5 in terms of biggest/greatest clubs.

Exactly.

They're the self-proclaimed 'biggest club in the world'. Their arrogance is only exceeded by their delusion. Like Ronaldo claiming he's the GOAT.