Lessons from clubs and economies

IN late 2023, British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe acquired a 25% stake in Manchester United (MU), one of the best-known names in world football.

As with most football-related developments, the news was greeted with a mix of optimism and scepticism. For the optimists, this is a chance to turn things around and return the club to its former glory.

As seasoned football fans will no doubt recall, MU enjoyed a trophy-laden era during the 1990s-2000s but it has experienced a dramatic decline over the past decade or so.

Sceptics point to the numerous false dawns besetting the club. This season alone, spectacular goals and dramatic comebacks have been accompanied by anything ranging from confused tactics and player indiscipline to amateurish defending.

Go back a few seasons and it will not be difficult to notice a pattern of supposedly “new eras” whenever a new manager or head coach was hired before he too was swiftly shown the door after a series of poor results.

Does the above sound or feel like what Malaysians have experienced over the last few years? Remember, Malaysia was widely regarded by the international community as a tiger economy during the 1980s-1990s but growth has tapered off since.

On the political front, Malaysia has had four new governments since the watershed general election of 2018. The political merry-go-round has stabilised somewhat, although challenges remain.

Prosaically, a lot is happening in Manchester United and Malaysia, but nothing seems to change. For example, compare the English club’s managerial changes with the frequent governmental transition here.

Each transition inevitably generates a “this time is different” vibe, where new (or not so new) people bring in supposedly new ideas.

This is accompanied by the introduction of catchy slogans and phrases – in English, Malay and even half-English and half-Malay – that are strewn across social media. However, theatrical lows, based on the evidence thus far, are often not too far away.

Where are we (MU fans and Malaysians) headed towards then? Is there light at the end of the tunnel for us? The answers are in the affirmative if we were to cast our eyes at other football clubs and nations.

For starters, one must revamp the system wholistically and do so consistently over a considerable period. This, unfortunately, involves getting the basic and boring things right.

In footballing parlance, it means installing the best available people in the right positions, investing in proper infrastructure while pursuing on-field excellence, etc.

Conversely, it is just as important to not overpay for players in the transfer market and hit the panic button whenever refereeing decisions go against the team, just to name two examples.

When it comes to nation-building, there is much to learn from Northeast Asian economies (namely, Korea and Taiwan) that successfully broke the proverbial middle-income trap and transitioned into high-income.

During their rapid growth era, significant attention was devoted to seemingly mundane targets such as raising labour productivity, improving product quality and increasing export revenue.

One oft-cited example is that involving former Korean President Park Chung-hee (1963-1979), who brought bureaucrats, businessmen and labourers together to rebuild the nation after the ravages of the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Leading businessmen were summoned to the Blue House regularly to report on their activities.

Governmental support – contingent on the meeting of performance standards – was also extended to those industries deemed critical to national interest.

Theirs was essentially a whole-of-nation approach, with all the citizenry pulling in the same direction and working towards a common goal.

The point is that real and consequential changes often occur subtly, hidden far away in the background and require a lengthy development process.

By the same token, another dreaded period of transition may be what is needed for us.

Jurgen Klopp’s first year at Liverpool (ending in eighth place) is arguably worse than what MU has endured since Erik ten Hag’s 2022 managerial appointment.

Brands such as Samsung and Hyundai were practically unheard of across much of the world before the 2000s. However, their leadership stuck to what they knew and remained confident that their effort would bear fruit as pressure mounted, and the rest is history.

Making minor tweaks to a strategy is natural in any organisation. Nevertheless, neglecting the fundamentals because of external pressure is unlikely to help, as events of the past several years have shown.

Manchester United and Malaysia must accept this and ensure that we are not having the same conversation in another three years.

The writer is an assistant professor of Development Studies at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Japan. He analyses development issues as a day job and footballing matters for leisure. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com