American Red Devils Welcome Nate as a Guest Contributor

What’s up lads!

I’m Nate, a new contributor, and I can’t wait to get going! I’m a long-time listener of the pod and a much longer-time lover of Manchester United. Before I dig into the nitty-gritty futbol talk, I wanna start with just a little bit about me.

Why I Love United

I’m 23 years old and have loved soccer since day one. My united fandom is as much a coincidence as anything else in my life. I remember playing FIFA 2003 on my family’s communal desktop with my older brother. If any of you are little brothers, I’m sure you know the pain of losing over and over and over again. However, I don’t think all the losing was entirely my fault. My brother would play as Barcelona every time. I’ll save you the mental energy, this Barca side featured the likes of Ronaldinho, Overmars, Iniesta, Xavi, Kluivert… yeah, it didn’t go well for me. That is, until six year old me discovered what would turn into the love of my life, Manchester United Football Club. All of the sudden little brother could hit back.

As I grew older and my passion for the game continued to grow, I always knew Manchester United was the club for me. The history, the Fergie-time drama, the mind-blowing skill and physicality of guys like Giggsy, Rio, Rooney. I couldn’t get enough. It was the squads of Fergie’s final years that I really fell in love with. Chicharito was the biggest influence on my (short-lived) soccer career. Manchester United somehow gave me a sense of nostalgia. As a teenager from upstate New York who had never been within 3,000 miles of Old Trafford, it felt so familiar. I’m sure that’s something to which each of you can relate.

I spent my high school years converting my friends, family and acquaintances alike into fans of European Soccer. Unfortunately, my efforts resulted in my father becoming a City fan, my brother a Tottenham fan, and countless Liverpool scum in between. Yes, my passion for united is truly a gift and a curse. In fact, an old girlfriend of mine once tried to buy me a home kit for Christmas. When I opened it, to my dismay, I saw the light blue of a city shirt. Long story short, I told her to keep it and, as you may guess, we didn’t last so long after that.

Fast forward to now, I’ve watched (nearly) every moment of every United match for about 10 years. I know that I’m newer to the game than most of you. I wish so badly I could rewind time and be a fan through the glory years. Yet, I have an unwavering faith that those days are returning. There is something indescribable about the club, something every fan deeply understands. Unfortunately over the past decade some players have come and gone through the squad that didn’t quite understand “it”. But that “it” will never go away. That “it” is what we all love and its the reason that glorious days lie ahead, regardless of how grim it sometimes feels.

My Plans For the Blog

Something you all should know about me is that I am strongly opinionated. I’m sure that you’ll pick up on that in my future posts. I do think of myself as having a keen eye for the game, but my favorite aspect of being a fan is the debates. The hours of meaningless arguments that have no answer. Half the reason I decided to be a contributor is because I wish I could jump through my phone into the podcast and debate John and Alex myself during the pod! On that note, I will inevitably say things you don’t agree with too so when that happens, let’s talk about it!

Basically, my plan is to get my opinion out there. It may be tactics, transfer rumors, player performance reviews, or maybe I’ll just be mad that Didier Deschamps won’t stop attacking our club. But I promise I will only write what I feel is worth talking about. Hopefully at some point, you all will agree.

Anyway, the match vs West Brom is about to kick-off so I’m gonna wrap this up. I can’t wait to get more involved in this community. I’ve listened to the pod for a couple years but I haven’t spent much time on the blog so I look forward to getting familiar with my fellow contributors!

GGMU,
-Nate