At Letters From Over Here, Patrick Range McDonald explores Manchester United’s pre-season tour of America with subtle humor and keen insight. Manchester United is arguably the biggest football club in the world, and McDonald’s one-of-a-kind essay explores not only the team’s time in Los Angeles, but also its loyal and passionate fanbase.
For one passage, McDonald writes:
“Over at the training session, the players were darting here and there, passing the ball here and there, and taking shots when they could. Whenever a player was about to take a shot, the fans would take a collective, audible breath and then cheer or moan if the player scored or not.
“One thing I noticed was that the players kicked the ball hard, very hard. The players also banged each other to gain an advantage, and they were always sprinting at or past each other. It wasn’t a safe place to be. If one of the fans was thrown onto the field, he or she probably would’ve ended up with a broken leg. And if the fan had the ball kicked at his or her face, and he or she didn’t duck in time, that person would be knocked out, maybe even end up dead. The same things could happen to one of the players if he wasn’t focused.
“So with the players trying to avoid horrible injuries and sudden deaths, the fans started yelling out the players’ names, hoping they’d get a wave or a nod or any kind of acknowledgment, which was funny. Here were the players trying to make a living, and not get mangled or killed doing it, but the fans still wanted a wave.”
McDonald also writes with an excellent eye for detail:
“We had the penalty kicks, though. We could still get some joy out of that. Normally there wouldn’t be penalty kicks, but it was a kind of treat to give to fans after the game. So we went into penalty kicks. Nearly everyone in the stadium stood up. Both fanbases were desperate for their team to win.
“The main man for Manchester United was Andre Onana. He played some mind games with the Arsenal players, one or two of the Arsenal players didn’t like it, and Onana blocked one kick and forced a miss for another. During all that, the Manchester United players looked focused and determined and seemed to want to win as much as the fans.
“Ethan Wheatley then came up for his penalty kick. He was a tall, good-looking player, but he was still a teenager. Only eighteen years old. Here was his chance to do something good for the team, to do something good for his career at Manchester United. A big moment.
“Wheatley lined it all up, ran at the ball, and kicked it. Wide. Very wide. No goal. Wheatley’s face appeared on the massive video screen above us. He looked upset and disappointed. So upset and disappointed that Christian Eriksen, one of the veterans, walked up to Wheatley to console him. Wheatley appeared to not want consoling, and walked to the end of the line where his teammates stood in the middle of the field. I kept watching. Scott McTominay, another veteran, said something. Probably something to lift Wheatley’s spirits, knowing McTominay. That didn’t seem to take. Then Jonny Evans, the oldest veteran, walked over and seemed to gently console Wheatley. It was good to see. The veterans taking care of the kids.”
Read “Manchester United’s Brilliant Trip to Los Angeles” at Letters From Over Here, the literary magazine. McDonald has previously written about the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and a life-changing trip around the world. His latest piece shows a writer who covers a wide array of subjects with originality and skill.
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