They never dropped to fourth because of lack of results. PSG and City are owned by Arabic oil Sheikhs whereas United aren't and neither are we.
The Arabs and Sheikhs are investing in their teams. The yanks aren't - neither ours nor theirs. Investment in the team brings success on the field. Success on the field attacts financial investment through sponsorship and advertising (i.e. people want to be associated with your brand). United have been in decline for some time because they haven't invested in their team. They're paying the price for it now. If the current trend continues and they finish outside of a European position, they will face a significant hit on their revenue for this year. That will have a knock on effect on their ability to invest in their team which will be a downward spiral resulting in sponsors leaving them.
This is the position we have found ourselves in for years. Lack of Champion's league football has resulted in a lack of top tier sporship and advertising, lack of revenues from the competition, lack of attractiveness to players. Investment in our team in order to put us back in the CL would bring money we could reinvest back in to the team, leading to more success and more profits. More profits mean larger dividends for shareholders. It's simply not good business sense at a corporate level to not invest in your business. Expand or die is a basic tennant of corporate business. FSG run Liverpool more like an SME.
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