05 Jan 2026 23:11:31


Red Man has written an article entitled, Time to Reflect on Manchester United

1.) 06 Jan 2026
06 Jan 2026 11:24:38
Perhaps the Glazers didn't want to sell the whole business, unless someone was going to come up with their asking price of £6bn, which no one was. Perhaps they wanted to stay in to ensure that their property investments in the surrounding area were not jeopardized by a new United owner going in a direction that did not advantage them.

Whether its true or not, I read that United were extremely close to breaching PSR in ETH's last full season and that the cost of firing him at the end of it would have put them over the limit. Before he came on board ETH was rated extremely highly by a number of contributors to this site. And, despite everything else he did actually manage to win a couple of trophies. Even at the end of his last season there were people who felt he'd done enough to get an extra year, despite the fact that during his period in charge the club made some disastrous purchases, which I think is why SJR tried to set up a new regime that would have a coach rather than a manager at the head of the team, i.e someone who had an advisory role but no ultimate say on incomings and outgoings.

The way the club had been run up until SJR's team took over has been well documented and needs no further elaboration. Clearly Berada and his team did not do as much due diligence as they should have done before hiring Amorim. I think they believed him to be the new Mourinho. Unfortunately after years of wasteful spending United no longer has the financial strength to undertake a full squad restructuring in a. single season - choices had to be made - Cunha and Mbuemo were doable deals and were completed. The amount of time it took is neither here nor there. None of us know why it took as long as it did. Lammens looks like a good signing. Dorgu has improved. Sesko looks like a bit of a clunker. We managed to get rid of all our dead wood at least for a season. It wasn't a perfect summer window but it was an improvement on the last decade.

So, Amorim had been given half of what he needed. We all know he needed a midfield fix. We haven't bought a top class long term DM since Carrick. In the end, however, football is a cooperative venture from owners, down through the manager/coach, the players and staff. What is glaringly apparent now is that Amorim is an extremely arrogant and rather immature man who has little to no ability to compromise, or to hold his tongue. The fact that he was prepared to call out his employers in public even though he must surely have known well in advance that few if any funds would be available this January, and that management was dead set on not buying over priced long term second best players to fill a short term need, which is to say, not repeating the sins of the past decade or more, was appallingly injudicious.

Clearly Berada and his team believe that this squad, without additions, and with a light program should be capable of being in the top 5/6, but to do that the coach needs to be flexible and not demand the team play the same system even when its clearly exposing certain players' weaknesses. Yoro is a good example. He's a CB, but he's not the quickest of players. Leaving him to mark speedy wingers is a mistake and it's cost us points.

Now personally I don't think switching to a back 4 will create too many if any problems. Shaw, Dalot and Mazraoui are natural full backs. Shaw is actually quite good going forward and has a decent cross but playing in a back 3 has removed that potential from his game. Even without any new signings with Cas, Bruno, Mainoo, maybe Mount and Ugarte we should have enough to cope for the rest of this season. And then we have Cunha, Mbuemo and Amad all of whom are capable of creating and scoring goals. and have been doing so. If this is obvious to me then it will have been obvious to the board and it should have been obvious to Amorim too, which brings us back to the two main problems. The board failed to do due diligence and Amorim's inflexibility and arrogance. If a coach is so wedded to his system that he's prepared to risk success and the profits that come with that, making the acquisition of the players he needs as the team evolves less likely due to lack of funds, then his arrogance is a major flaw. and one that the club could no longer afford to humor.

2.) 06 Jan 2026
06 Jan 2026 13:26:35
Couldn't agree more.

3.) 06 Jan 2026
06 Jan 2026 16:13:29
I agree with 99% of that New name. HIS arrogance and naivety have been big problems.

But you say we have enough to cope with the rest of the season. What is coping for you?

I still think when we're in the position we are and with our best players all to return, that it was a bit short-termist to get rid of our manager when we're currently sitting in the European places.

Any manager, not just RA.