Manchester United banter 3

23 Nov 2025 14:21:18
Big clubs spend huge amounts of money for a player to come in and create records and achieve things other's can not.

Case in point being Alexander Isak, £125m for a world class striker, he was going to propel Liverpool to dizzying new heights. Well, in fairness he may well go on to score plenty, but he has already managed to equal a 119 year old record!

Seemingly he is the first person since the inimitable Percy Saul in 1906 to lose their first 4 league games, for Liverpool, where they have been a starter.

You can but congratulate such an achievement and wish him luck in continuing the run!

23 Nov 2025 16:00:50
He has had no pre season then got injured and looks well off the pace.
I think he has to try and play him into match fitness and put up with it until he is back up to 100%.
He looks like a really good player to me but I think issak is the least if their worries.


Ekitike imo has done well and looks better so far than any of goykeres sesko issak delap etc of the big club signings.

24 Nov 2025 12:49:43
Shout out to Woltemade too. Not comparable to an in-form Isak, but right here, right now, Newcastle must be laughing!

24 Nov 2025 13:45:23
Isaak is a quality player, there's no doubt about that, top scorer last season, probably in top 3 players of the season so understandable why Liverpool chased him.

The question mark over him, IMO would be his character which we only got to see during the summer transfer window and the whole handling of it by himself and his team. Now whether he was poorly advised or he threw his toys out the pram, his behaviour was not what you'd want from a top professional, he was contracted until 2028 with Newcastle so should have got his head down and worked hard preparing for a season with Newcastle but hoping for his transfer to Liverpool.

That's my only criticism of him and what would have raised a few concerns for me. What happens if he gets into form and Real Madrid coming knocking? Do you want that character around the club? Guhei was the model pro of how to behave but sadly I feel more players would act like Isaac than Guhei.

The longer Isaac's poor form goes on, the harder and more pressure on him will increase and the only way out of this is him getting his head down and working hard. Sadly for him, this would be a lot easier if Liverpool were playing well. But he is a quality player and I think he will score loads for Liverpool when he gets going, unfortunately.

24 Nov 2025 16:47:27
Guhei is the only player this summer that didn't get what he wanted or deserved. All those who put pressure on their clubs got their movement which is not as it should be.

23 Nov 2025 11:38:26
Both City and Liverpool losing, awesome. The League is weaker this year with a lot of teams beating each other, and we are stronger than last year, that combination opens up possibilities.

Tomorrow will be an interesting test, and a win propels us the table, I wonder if the players realise that, or if it is simply 1 game at a time.

I just want to see urgency and pace, and a sign we are up for it. Amorim has hinted that intensity has been the issue which feels like a relatively easy fix. There have been some encouraging signs, we are scoring a lot more, but conceding too many, I am intrigued to see how we progress.

If we do win we will be 5th or 6th, I didn't see that a couple of months ago. Of course if we lose.

23 Nov 2025 12:26:12
It’s great for us ?

I’m sure the players and manager can sense the opportunity. I hope the board sense it too. Get the cheque book out and sort CM in January. £160M on Wharton and Anderson and we’re in a fantastic position.

It also a provides Amorim a fair platform to assess him against.

23 Nov 2025 13:03:33
Good results so far. Fingers crossed we can keep building

We have been good at home so I'm hoping another 3 points are on the way.

I think we have a decent run of fixtures, after our difficult run so far. I'm very optimistic that we will be in the mix for the top 4 come Christmas.

And as fergie would say, the season starts again on January 1st.

24 Nov 2025 11:56:49
The league is weaker? I don't think so i'd say the overtake standard of the league is stronger than before. This makes it more competitive there is fewer teams that you can count on winning 3 points against easily. Big improvement in the league depth of quality imo.

22 Nov 2025 20:40:13
Liverpool page is pure cinema ???.

23 Nov 2025 07:52:21
???.

23 Nov 2025 10:31:51
I want to meet the guy who found the magic lamp and his first wish was "Make Liverpool and United's fortunes swap", and shake his hand. Bravo sir ?.

23 Nov 2025 12:27:31
It’s nicely reassuring that we’re not alone in being traumatised by our club.

Shame Citeh have no fans, their page would be a curiosity.

23 Nov 2025 14:15:41
I’m not gloating too much.

They have the makings of a good side, it’s more a case that they’ve parts that don’t fit. Last season nothing was expected and Slot found a way to work with what he had. Basically tinkered with what Klopp left him, and won the league without anyone really pressing them.

This time round he wanted to shape his side, and I don’t see what he’s aiming for. Felt like they bought players without thinking about building upon what worked last season. Wirtz is taking a lot of flack, but the midfield two isn’t a strong enough base for a playmaker like him to shine. Frimpong Is the biggest head scratcher. Trent was a key player because his passing range allowed the front players to get in behind. Frimpong is worse defensively, and looks to get onto the end of passes, rather than delivering them. The two strikers aren’t getting service, and the new lb is struggling to make the step up.

For me, this is a lesson on sticking with what worked, and not ripping everything up just to prove it’s your team now. The fact that they didn’t buy any centre backs is damning. I would be looking to shore up the spine of the team after Christmas. Bringing in a quality cb, and going back to the midfield three of last season. Put Wirtz on the left until you have players that can give him a platform to dictate from the middle.

Can’t see Slot lasting much longer though. Think this is what ed001 has been saying too. Very difficult to get players to buy into your system when it’s clearly inferior to what helped you win last year.

22 Nov 2025 20:09:25
This year top four is wide open, win Monday and we could be 4th, and only 2 points off second c'mon united.

22 Nov 2025 22:10:45
We will win the league this year!

23 Nov 2025 06:38:25
hope we strengthen in jan. even a loan deal.

23 Nov 2025 08:46:15
If we strengthen well as I've suggested, we go all the way Ahmad.

{Ed025's Note - lay off the drugs Jimbo.. :)

23 Nov 2025 11:02:02
Or at least share them!

23 Nov 2025 11:05:09
Still a long way to go yet, but the improvements we've made are massive. I'm so glad the new owners and people running the club have bigger balls and conviction than the last lot. So much media pressure trying to get Amorim the sack just a month ago, it was being painted that we were awful and in free fall, which given the short amount of time since and our current position proves that wasn't the case.

We had the hardest start of any team in terms of fixtures and yet we've actually done pretty well.

Clearly the league is a little topsy turvy this year, no one bar Arsenal have shown genuine league winning form, with many sides in various stages of transition.
Yet that does present us with an opportunity to really push and try and kick on. Maybe even jump a season's progression. I think most would have said a top 7 finish was the realistic aim (and that shouldn't really change), but there is an opportunity to get UCL football this year rather than Europa league. Which would be a massive boost for many reasons. The money, the prestige, and it is actually an easier competition to balance playing league and European football due to the fixtures. You probably need a deeper squad to play EL football rather than UCL due to the Thursday/Sunday schedule rather than the Tuesday/Wednesday/Saturday schedule. That extra day to travel and rest is important, especially if you have a smaller squad (which we will likely have due to our rebuilding) .

We need to be careful not to overestimate ourselves, the league is a marathon not a sprint, and we have a fairly small group of players who are both suitable for our style of play and good enough to play to the level we need. Later in the season when the AFCON takes several vital players from us, and injuries and fatigue start to take hold we might see a drop off in performances and probably results as well. There is a good chance that we end up limping across the line at the end of the season.

Our squad depth might be the thing that makes us come unstuck. Casemiro is vital, our best midfielder in this system by a mile, but he is in his twilight years and is having to play more than he should, which might bite us later in the season. Bruno also looks to be feeling the effects of his insane number of minutes played over the past 5 years, and being asked to play in a more physically demanding position. The depth beyond them is poor, Mainoo doesn't look comfortable in that deeper role in this system, hopefully he can develop the stamina to get to grips with it. While Ugarte doesn't look good enough for the EPL unfortunately.

We then have Amad as the only consistently good option at wingback, and he could miss 8 weeks due to the AFCON. Mbeumo who has been our best player could also be missing for upto 8 weeks as well. The depth behind them coming into that RWB and right sided 10 are quite a drop off in quality.

At LWB, beyond Dorgu (who as a young player can be inconsistent, and has areas he still needs to develop) the options are shocking.

MdL and Yoro have been amazing at CB, while Shaw and Maguire have been solid. Yet Yoro is young and will have dips in form and there isn't a lot of quality to come in and replace him. While Martinez is still recovering from injury and there is no saying how well he will play after so many lengthy injuries, while historically both Shaw and MdL have suffered with injuries. Both really need to have their game time and rest time carefully managed, which is difficult when there aren't many good options to replace them.

Sesko's injury has highlighted the lack of depth at CF. While we don't really have another forward who has a similar skill set to Mbeumo, meaning we lose that pace to run in behind and stretch play when he isn't there. Both Mount and Cunha are great players in their own right, but neither can do the job the Mbeumo does so well for us. Likewise none of Zirkzee or Bruno, who can also play in the inside forward role, can either.

We might need to dip into the January transfer market if possible to help see us over the line this season and take advantage of our good start and the rest of the leagues general malaise. We desperately need another midfielder, someone like João Gomes would be ideal, EPL proven and exactly the type of midfielder that suits Amorim's system. While having Casemiro and Cunha in the squad that should enable him to settle quickly. The other name we've been linked with is Semenyo, and to be honest he'd be a great signing in many ways. EPL proven (and currently one of the most in form players in the league), is capable of playing right across the front three or at wingback, and he also offers that threat in behind that we lose when Mbeumo doesn't play. The only downside is that being Ghanaian he will also be at the AFCON when we would need him most. So while a great long term signing to raise the quality in the squad, he doesn't really solve the short term issue this season. Yet it still would make sense to sign him if possible as there will be much more competition for him in the summer.

Personally if we make signings in January then they should be EPL proven players, we have seen even with players who ultimately turned out as great signings (Evra and Vidic), that they can struggle when joining in January and they haven't got EPL experience.

Hopefully we can make the most of this season, but it will be challenging and many bumps in the road yet.

23 Nov 2025 18:37:03
No drugs for a long time, just pure belief that we have the makings of a great period. A couple of signings in Jan and we kick on.

Others are faltering, or at least will. Others have started poorly and have even more ground to make up. Others have distractions coming up that will effect their league form.

23 Nov 2025 20:05:06
@Shappy I believe that Ghana didn't qualify for afcon this year.

23 Nov 2025 22:21:42
Cheeky bids for Munoz or Livramento to fix the RWB, Gutierrez for LWB. Amass won't cut it for me, not seen enough of others like Leon, Overy etc.
One Central mid, and maybe even a double raid on palace for Guehi.

Title winning.
Arsenal will slip, they have Arteta at the helm still.

20 Nov 2025 19:51:58
Just seen that a passionate lifelong Red's supporter and member of the Stone Roses, whose music is well known at O. T, 'Mani' Mountfield has passed away at the much to young age of 63.

I was reading that in order to get to Barcelona in 1999 for the Champions League Final, he sold his prized scooter! In an interview with our magazine years later, he stated that 'It was infinitely worth it'
That's what you call a supporter.

R. I. P. Mani, think I'll have a listen to Stone Roses album.

{Ed007's Note - Mani will always be a legend to lads of a certain vintage ??
Have a read at THIS from an interview he done for The Celtic View in July this year.

20 Nov 2025 21:10:37
Breaking into heaven.

21 Nov 2025 05:36:26
Really sad to hear this, couple of years after his wife passed and he leaves behind twin boys. RIP Mani.

20 Nov 2025 22:35:13
Thanks' for that Ed007, you're quite right about being a legend to a certain vintage. Not saying it quite so nicely it means old farts! Sadly true though.

There has been a connection between Utd and Celtic for a long time now. Think it really came to the fore many years ago during the time of Sir Matt Busby. While Celtic have always been known as the club of the Roman Catholics, Sir Matt, who was a very religious man, of that faith, sought to bring a closeness between 2 great institutions, based upon those religious beliefs.

I remember that testimonial games for player's of both club's, a much, much bigger thing back then, would often involve both club's. To this day I remember going to watch the testimonial for Sir Bobby Charlton at O. T. against Celtic in 1972. Thousands and thousands of Celtic fans came down for a midweek evening match, I couldn't believe how many were there just for a testimonial. The entirety of the Scoreboard End was crammed and just a complete sea of green and the noise they created was astonishing. I cannot think of any game since with more away fans than were there that night. It truly was a remarkable event.

{Ed007's Note - Charlton's testimonial was a bit before my time but I was down for Bryan Robson's in 1990 (35 years ago yesterday btw), Hughes' in 94 and was a VIP guest at Roy (Peace be upon Him) Keane's in 2006.}

21 Nov 2025 12:18:25
Was at Lou Macari’s and Robbo’s
Biggest away following I’ve seen at Old Trafford.

21 Nov 2025 17:21:04
Would just point out, I was pretty young watching that testimonial game!

22 Nov 2025 00:28:24
Gon IWOTB you were 43 when that was on?.

22 Nov 2025 13:51:27
Had just turned 44 actually Ken, but was allowed to stay up late, even though it was a school night!

22 Nov 2025 20:41:25
Saw him in sam platts once, f#$king mental top lad ❤️.

19 Nov 2025 20:48:27
I'm personally not too worried about Sesko being out for a month. He's not played well the last couple of times he's featured. Maybe Zirkzee will get some decent minutes v Everton but I think Amorim will start out without a true #9.

It's not been without success thus far this season. I'm more concerned about the drop off when Casemiro comes off the field. You can be sure he'll be somewhat tired after the international break and the long trip back from South America.

20 Nov 2025 18:29:24
Zirkzee? You remember when brighton came back to 3-2 and mbuemo got us out the sh! t? that's because of the likes of zirkzee not working hard enough. We cannot afford passengers this season and he is one of them.
It would be like playing with 9 outfield men.

20 Nov 2025 19:35:46
Mount on the left with Cunha upfront is the tried and tested option and personally I think that is the one that will be used. Those three (w/ BM) make the front line very fluid. They're all comfortable covering each other when needed.

19 Nov 2025 20:27:46
Assuming we bring back Vitek next season, GK seems well stocked.

Assuming Kone is integrated, Mainoo stays and we add 1, possibly 2 CMs, it would be dependent on final league position IMO. UCL means 2, anything less, probably 1. Don't discount Casemiro signing a 1 year extension. I wouldn't be against that.

10's I think we are well stocked, nothing needed, maybe a youth integrated to fill void left by likely departure of Zirkzee.

Strikers! Sesko will come good Ian confident, we also have Obi to come through. Again subject to where we finish, I think we might add something here.

Now defence.
IMO, we need to lift the first team across the entire back line.
That's a LWB, RWB, and at least 1 CB. Again, if we get UCL, 2 CB.

That's 5-7 transfers IN. I really think they will make a move in Jan to roll the dice and secure top 4.

The obvious ones are WB and CM and the names being bounded around are Livramento and Anderson as suggested below.

You're probably looking at north of 150m, but we are going in the right direction and those two would accelerate proceedings.

20 Nov 2025 20:07:07
I disagree I think we still need one or two more players in attack.

Sesko, Cunha and Mbeumo are a good front three, but the quality in depth is questionable.

Zirkzee looks like a good player who just isn't suited to the EPL. Bruno at 31 isn't a long term option there. Both of them could be gone next summer. Amad has looked better at RWB. That really just leaves Mount as a back up option.

So a choice of Cunha, Mount, Sesko, Mbeumo, and Amad looks okay, but when one is injury prone and two of them will miss 8 weeks every other season due to the AFCON it becomes apparent that we are a little short in that department.

I'd expect to see us sign another back up striker, and a flexible wide attacker who can play either left or right No.10 or even at wingback. Then add a couple of youth players like Obi and Lacey possibly adding a little depth.

I think we'll look at two new midfielders, we need athletes in midfield.

Then I think we'll look at one maybe two CB's depending on the futures of Maguire, Martinez, and Shaw. I could see us going for one more experienced and one younger youth type signing.

I don't think we will sign a senior type special-ist wingback. Firstly there are very few available, secondly I think Amad has RWB tied down, with Dalot and Mazraoui as cover, while Dorgu is highly thought of and we have two excellent youth players in Leon and Amass who I think will be given a chance at LWB. I think we will look at a flexible attacker who could also play wingback if needed.

I could see something like Semenyo (65m), Anderson (70m), João Gomes (40m), Guehi (free), then maybe a cheap striker and/or a young CB.

21 Nov 2025 06:12:40
Shappy, my summary assumes the likes of Bruno and Mount and even Amad fill the 10 spots. We have option coming through also. Bruno has another 3-4 years at the top level.

Strikers I agree, also on centre mid and defence, one or two for both positions.

Where we definitely disagree is wing backs. Whilst we have some coming through, I think they are back up, at best. Amad is NOT a wingback, he is awful there. The likes of Livramento, Porro, Robinson are the players you want there.

Probably don't disagree with your suggestions.

21 Nov 2025 11:36:20
As much as I'd love either I'm not sure we'll attract Guehi or Semenyo, I imagine both will have a choice of top clubs. But wouldn't be a surprise, I think it's clear to all (hopefully including prospective signings) that we're on the right track and a shrewd winter signing to boost the starting XI could be the difference in a few places up the table.

23 Nov 2025 11:56:26
Jimbo, I disagree on Amad, in this system I think he is best suited to wingback role, under Amorim all of his best performances have come from wingback, while he has often been poorer by comparison when playing in that inside forward role.

I think you feel he'd be better there due to his size and the weaknesses he has when defending, particularly aerial balls at the back post.

Yet most people totally misunderstand the wingback roles in Amorim's system. He wants them to spend 90%+ of the game in the opposition half, even when we are defending. They aren't defenders who get forward, they are wingers who occasionally defend. I think the confusion comes from the idea, particularly in England, that wingbacks are classified as defenders, or at least lumped in with them. For most of Europe wingbacks are considered as midfielders, and for some, like Amorim, they are forwards.

If you look at the players Amorim has used as wingbacks at Sporting:

Nuno Santos - played most of his career as a winger.

Quenda - was a winger at youth level, and since Amorim left has been played as a winger.

Catamo - winger for most of his career.

Marcus Edwards - winger.

In fact the only players who were considered a fullback who he played at wingback are:

Nuno Mendes and Pedro Poro, both who were considered extremely attacking fullbacks, neither were unfortunately at the club that long under Amorim. While Matheus Reis was the only fairly regularly used fullback under Amorim at Sporting. Yet he was also regularly used as a LCB as well.

Amorim typically prefers to convert a winger into his ideal wingback, as simply put there aren't many players out there playing wingback to sign, and even fewer who actually play it how Amorim wants the role to be played. Frimpong was perhaps the only obvious one.

That means if the club are to sign a top level wingback which will likely cost a big fee, then they will either be very limited in their options or have to sign someone who they feel has the right attributes, but hasn't actually played the role. Which is a big gamble.

As Amorim likes/needs to mould his players into the kind of wingback he wants then it is easier to do so with younger, less experienced players. Players who haven't got 300 games under their belt playing a different position in a specific way, meaning that they naturally default to that when playing. It's much harder to teach an old dog new tricks. Amad is adapting quickly to the role, he has the right attributes, and is tactically intelligent which makes the adaptation easier.

Dorgu was signed as a young player with the right attributes but limited exposure to playing the role, he is adapting but it is taking a little longer than it took Amad. He is also younger and that comes with more inconsistency.

We've seen both Dalot and Mazraoui struggle with adapting to the role despite both on paper having many of the ideal qualities. Yet both have spent so much of their career as defenders it's hard for them to let go of the defend first attack second mentality.

We have players like Amass and Leon who will likely be moulded into the role at LWB, also keep an eye out for Mantato who could be slowly introduced as a wingback likely on the right-hand side over the next 18 months. Apparently Amorim has taken a real liking to him. He might even get a chance when Amad is at the AFCON.

As I see it there are very few top end options I can see the club moving for, maybe Nuno Mendes is the only one if he became available for a reasonable price. Due to his experience in the system in the past and his previous experience playing the role under Amorim. With Frimpong now at Liverpool I don't see any obvious other targets in that role. The only other way I see is spending big in this position is if we sign a player like Semenyo, someone who can play both wingback or wide 10 in this system.

Which for me means that we will either promote youth, sign a young mouldable option similar to Dorgu, or sign a cheaper more experienced winger to try and adapt into the role.

If I was to put them in order of most likely:

1. Promote youth (cheapest and easiest option, and allows funds to be focused elsewhere) .

2. Sign someone like Semenyo or Minteh who can offer quality in a few different positions including wingback (more expensive, but solves multiple issues) .

3. Sign a young mouldable player similar to Dorgu (more expensive than promoting youth, but still not hugely expensive ideally less than 15m, but maybe as much as 30m perhaps) .

4. Sign Nuno Mendes if he is available for a reasonable price (35 - 45m at most) .

5. Sign a cheaper older winger and hope he can adapt (this seems more like a hail Mary approach, and I'd expect them to prefer trying to develop youth) .

While wingback is a vital role in Amorim's system, there are so few proven options that we could sign who are nearly guaranteed to work. Making it more of a gamble to spend big in this position. Also it's such a special-ist role if we did spend big and then changed managers we'd have an expensive player who likely doesn't have a role under the new manager.

Given we have Amad (our best current option), Dalot, Mazraoui and possibly Mantato for RWB, and we have Dorgu, Leon, and Amass at LWB. That is a lot of young talented players who can develop and grow into the role. Which as discussed any new signing would also need a period of time to grow and adapt into the role. Meaning their impact on improving the team will be limited in the short to medium term.

I think the money we have available is needed far more in midfield, centre of defence and adding depth in attack.

It just makes much more sense to spend it in those positions, given that any wingback signing will take time to adapt and we already have a lot of young quality options that will also take time to adapt/grow into the role.

Think about it logically, if it will potentially take a new signing a year to adapt to the role, then why not spend that time developing Dorgu or one of the other young players and save the money for a midfielder who'll actually have an impact during that year?

19 Nov 2025 07:39:03
{Ed's Note - TheRedKop has posted a new article entitled, Why Wirtz Is Struggling to Shine at Liverpool FC?

18 Nov 2025 21:02:50
That McTominay lad is one hell of a player.

Sekou Kone bagged a brace too. Looks like he could have a future.

18 Nov 2025 23:23:55
Yes Kone I expect to be in and around the first team next season.

19 Nov 2025 18:14:31
Shout out too to Tahith Chong who has helped Curacao qualify for the finals.

18 Nov 2025 20:42:57
Take a bow Scott McT take a bow. that has to be 1 if the best goals this year by far

Well done SMCT from the Irish

CMON.

19 Nov 2025 20:20:52
Of all the players that have left us, none give me as much pleasure as seeing how great everything has gone for him as Scotty.

He keeps producing these moments and is just crushing life right now. Great to see.

21 Nov 2025 05:39:04
Weird to say, but maybe his destiny was to leave United so that he could achieve his full potential.