If you ask a fan of any other team which team they dislike the most, 99 percent of them will cite Manchester United. And the Manchester United fans? They dislike everyone else.

Here’s a little Manchester United history, which may explain why it would occur to someone to be a fan:

Historically, it has been a strong team (despite the odd dry spell). They made a “comeback” in the early ’90s, having been out of contention for a while.

They won the FA Premier League title three years in a row (’99-’01). They won it again, last year (’03). Their former manager, Alex Ferguson, is in fact Sir Alex Ferguson. It always helps to have your manager knighted. Manchester United is the only team that the majority of U.S. citizens have ever heard of, thanks to Posh Spice and Beckham. David Beckham. No wait… he left. Never mind. There’s 33 percent of the fan base gone, with the average age of fans going up from 13 years to 37, and an evening out of the gender proportions. Although the list of reasons could go on, we’ll leave it here.

As with any team that does well, and does so frequently, they are easy to hate. Let’s put this into perspective so that our U.S. friends will understand the level of hatred against Manchester United. Think Dallas Cowboys. Think L.A. Lakers. Think New York Yankees. It is always easy to hate the team that does the best. If something is too powerful, it is branded evil. Unless, of course, you have been brainwashed during your childhood into thinking that it is in fact a good thing to be too powerful. Then you might end up as a lost soul (read: Manchester United fan).

What people need to realize with football, the European type, is that it is all about teamwork. At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to. You need the members of the team to be friends. You need them to head down to the pub together after a good win, or pep each other up after a tough loss. What you don’t need is a team full of stars, each thinking himself better than the next. When you have a team of cocky and arrogant players, there is bound to be bad team spirit. Each player, made to think he is valuable, bought for a large sum of money, will think himself a cut above the rest.

The most important thing in a team sport is team spirit. Manchester United lacks this. Just watch a match and you’ll agree. Nowhere else do you see members of the same team shouting insults at each other when they screw up. Pressure is one thing. A bad attitude is a completely different and far more common characteristic amongs Manchester United players. It is impossible to support a group of people who don’t even support each other.

Certain things decrease the credibility of a football team. When a team is opportunistic: who doesn’t remember the ’98 match against Bayern Munchen? When they play the transfer markets in a sketchy manner: like when Jaap Stam was transferred without anyone, including the player himself, knowing of it. When they are cocky and arrogant, and we don’t just mean the players. All this and more can and has resulted in a weaker team with a fan base who can’t even spell the name of its home field. That’s Old Trafford, for those of you who don’t know.

Despite all this, the primary reason for disliking Manchester United would of course be the simple and blatantly obvious fact that they are not Arsenal. But let’s leave personal opinions out of this (although everyone knows that Arsenal is the best).

At the end of the day, when appearance becomes more important than the purity of a good football game, and when ratings go up simply due to a player with a new haircut (we won’t mention any names…David…), it’s not about the love of the team anymore. It morphs into something superficial. You can like them if you want, because they often win; but if you look deep inside, being a Manchester United fan is like getting an ’80s haircut: you do it because it’s in fashion, even though deep down you know it looks terrible. The ’80s were a mistake that should not be repeated, and Manchester United fans create a mistake that we hope will soon come to an end.

The next example of United’s inferiority will be evident on Feb. 28, when Manchester United will play Fulham. Even if they win, we know it’s not because they’re better… right?