Why support a team that loses? ——How do Asian fans view Manchester United

On May 28 local time, Manchester United started their Asian Tour in Kuala Lumpur, their opponent is the ASEAN All-Star team, just one week after they lost to Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Cup final and only three days after their bleak season ended.

Putting the enthusiasm of fans from afar may allow them to temporarily get rid of domestic negative news, but the team that has won the top English league championship 20 times may find that their position in Asia is no longer as good as before.

The last time the Premier League trophy came to Old Trafford was in 2013. The year before, Manchester United commissioned a third party to write a report saying it has 659 million "followers" around the world, about half of which come from the Asia-Pacific region.

Despite doubts about this number and how to define “followers”, the Red Devils are clearly the most popular team in Asia and perhaps the most popular team in the world.

Manchester United's business performance in Asia remains strong, with reports that they will make about £8 million in two matches in three days.

However, Haresh Dore, the founder of Malaysian news agency TwentyTwo13 and Kuala Lumpur reporter, said that repeated losses on the court (such as No. 15 in the Premier League this season) have had an impact on fans.

Dor said: "The fans were talking about this game and were a little excited, but not as excited as the club had visited the area before, when they performed well in the Premier League." The Bukit Galill Stadium has a capacity of 84,000 spectators and is one of the largest stadiums in Asia. According to the organizer, more than 40,000 tickets were sold within a few hours of opening, but tickets at most prices were still left until the start of the game.

This is in stark contrast to Manchester United's visit to the same stadium in 2009, when Sir Alex Ferguson's team defeated Malaysia United 3-2, which excited the crowded audience. Wayne Rooney, Nani and Michael Irving were scoring for Manchester United.

Two days later, Manchester United defeated the Hong Kong team 3-1 at the Hong Kong Stadium, which can accommodate 40,000 spectators, and the tickets for that game were not sold out.

When Manchester United came to Malaysia for a match, many fans would come from Thailand to watch the game, but this time the popularity was not as good as before.

"Some diehard fans with financial ability will go, but I guess they won't be very excited, they just go cheer for the players, that's all," said Naripa Buniavilapan, who has a strong influence among Manchester United fans in Bangkok.

"Liverpool looks cooler"

Fifteen years ago, Manchester United's influence in South Korea was dominant because South Korea's "national hero" Park Ji-sung won one trophy after another with the Red Devils.

"At the time, they were obviously the club with the most fans in South Korea," said South Korean writer Lee Seung-mo. "Their popularity was unmatched by any other European team at the time."

"Now Manchester United still has many enthusiastic fans, but things have changed a lot. Their performance has been lower than people's expectations."

Meanwhile, other English clubs have made progress both on and off the court.

Li Shengmo said: "Especially after Guardiola's arrival, Manchester City has gained a large number of supporters in South Korea and Liverpool has regained glory."

Liverpool has a strong fan base in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, whose fans have watched the Premier League for more than half a century. The recent recovery of the Reds has helped them succeed in markets such as India, China and Japan, which have started watching the Premier League later.

"Led by Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool not only has succeeded again, but their playing style, their stars and the atmosphere at Anfield are all cooler," said Rahul Singh, a Manchester United fan in Mumbai.

"Manchester City has achieved great success under the leadership of Guardiola and Haaland, and Haaland is also very famous. Not only did Manchester United not win the trophy, their game was not great either."

Singh said that this caused young fans to turn their attention elsewhere.

"Why choose to support a team that often fails?" he said.

There are other options for those who are just starting to fall in love with the sport.

"Some fans, such as those between the ages of 25 and 40, who started supporting Manchester United in the late 1990s and early 2000s, are still supporting them," said Bunya Villapan. "However, there are more and more children supporting Manchester City now."

"A friend of mine wants to buy Manchester United jerseys for his son, but they chose Manchester City jerseys."

Dor said that this situation will continue in Malaysia: "The younger generation prefers teams that have always been at the top level."

"We believe that Manchester United will be stronger than before"

Signing an Asian player can quickly attract more Asian fans.

Tottenham Hotspurs are the most popular in South Korea simply because Son Heung-min has been the club's star since 2015.

Li Shengmo said: "Because of Son Heung-min, a large number of Korean fans are more interested in Tottenham Hotspur than Manchester United."

At the same time, after Sansatsuki joined, Brighton has become one of the most well-known European teams in Japan.

There is an Asian boss that will also affect the team's popularity in Asia. Thailand Royal Power Group was once the owner of Leicester City and led the team to the Premier League and FA Cup championships, and of course it also suffered a blow from relegation..

"Some Thai fans regard Leicester City as their second home team," said Bunya Villapan. "There is an event called 'Leicester City Friendship Ball' with the theme of 'You don't have to love us like fans, but just support us like friends'."

However, despite the difficulties, Manchester United is still the most popular one in Asia.

"They are still a special team in South Korea, with more die-hard fans than Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal," said Li Shengmo. "There are a lot of people criticizing their game results every week, but it actually proves that people are still interested in them."

Asian fans still believe that Manchester United will get better.

Bunya Villapan said: "After Ferguson left, Manchester United began to decline, and now Manchester United has collapsed, like a collapsed building."

"But we believe it can become stronger than before, we just need to wait."