Manchester United banter 4

09 Dec 2025 20:09:41
While the result last night was great, it was again a case of starting well, getting the goal and then just sitting back allowing a very bad team back into the game and scoring. It then takes the managers half time rant to get the team going again. Men on the pitch, why can't they react on the pitch, there's huge experience out there Casemero Bruno.

09 Dec 2025 23:09:31
Start Mainoo.

09 Dec 2025 23:44:32
And drop whom? Where does Mainoo fit int this team? He is better than …. Bruno? Casemiro? Mount? Mbeumo?

10 Dec 2025 10:10:21
Think with the exception of de ligh for heaven that was sour best 11 on Monday night.

10 Dec 2025 10:29:57
Doesnt say much about the new striker we just bought if that was our best front 3 last night lol.

10 Dec 2025 10:57:21
Our new striker isn't fit dsg and hasn't really been all season to get good run.

10 Dec 2025 12:33:14
Apologies, because de ligt was referenced who was injured i thought we were including injured players.

10 Dec 2025 20:31:30
Move Bruno to 10's with Mainoo in the 8 position CAS in the 6. Personally drop mount and have Cunha Mbeumo and Bruno as front 3.

11 Dec 2025 18:12:05
People are obsessed with Mainoo playing aren’t they, what has he done in his appearances so far to suggest he will improve us if he starts?

11 Dec 2025 21:32:08
Agree, GDS. I've a lot of time for the lad, but he hasn't exactly pulled up trees when he's got on.

I someone below saying they'd drop Mount and move Bruno to 10 and bring Kobe in to midfield.

Whilst I'd move Bruno to 10, I'd stick Mount in the middle before Mainoo.

09 Dec 2025 12:41:52
Assuming they get clearance to play next Monday then that will be the last game for our entire right side of defence and attack. Mbeumo amad and maz will all be off.

Yoro heaven and martinez will be in line to replace maz you'd think. Amad is more concerning as we will look to dourgu and dalot as the likely replacement.

Mbeumo I figure will either be bruno pushing on and mainoo into midfield or sesko coming back and mount playing from right.

A few tricky fixtures villa Newcastle and city in particular over the period it will be interesting to see who plays and how the do. Mbeumo is a huge miss imo.

09 Dec 2025 13:06:33
Unfortunately Onana wasn't called up by Cameroon. That means Mbeumo will be away for much longer.

09 Dec 2025 13:56:34
cameroon have a pretty poor team and not what used to be. they might be back earlier than you think.

09 Dec 2025 15:20:48
De Ligt coming back, and Lisandro Martinez getting more minutes means we should be ok with Mazraoui out. I really hope we get in the attacking wing back as I think that's the position we'll struggle in.

09 Dec 2025 18:50:03
Yeah Don i think maz is by far the easiest to cover especially with heaven coming in recently and i'm sure that's no coincidence. Yoro looked a bit edgy for a couple of games, so having heaven game fit was a good move imo. The midge will hopefully get the chance then to ease himself back instead of the need to throw him back in full throttle.
Wb is an issue both sides. Amad is by far our best option maz next best with both missing it only leaves dalot and dorgu for both sides.

Maybe Shaw could do 30 min or heaven? Young kid unseen thus far Leon? Will they exercise option on bringing amass back?
Mbeumo is a huge hole to fill. Personally i'd like to see bruno take his place and mainoo to play in cm. The other obvious option is mount to play and sesko up front he is back training.

09 Dec 2025 20:24:36
Agreed Ken. I'm expecting front 3 to be Mount, Cunha and Sesko but Bruno to play more minutes in the 10 towards end of games with Mainoo getting a bit more of a chance off the bench.
For wingbacks I'd love to see Shaw at LWB. Dalot and Dorgu don't fill me with any level of confidence.

09 Dec 2025 21:28:21
Shaw would not last more than 30 min as lwb. His body won't allow it plus he doesn't have the ability.

09 Dec 2025 21:33:40
It sounds like Amorim likes Heaven. Hopefully De Ligt get's back fit and perhaps we see Heaven go into the LCB position and Shaw into LWB. Personally, i'm not sure on Shaw in that role anymore as I think he needs the game in front of him but I guess it's another option to consider. Imagine Dalot will go into RWB for the duration with the possibility of Mount doing a job there. With the lack of Mbuemo's goal threat, I really think we need to get Fernandes closer to the oppositions goal which hopefully opens the door for Mainoo next to Casemiro.

Going to interesting to see how Amorim manages the AFCON time. Would have loved to have seen Lacey get 10 minutes last night. Or even 19 minutes. Not sure where they found the 9 minutes to be honest!

09 Dec 2025 23:11:19
Dalot has been one of our better players the last few games.

09 Dec 2025 23:49:50
Shaw has more ability in that position than any of our current LWB's.

10 Dec 2025 09:40:33
No he doesn't imo and his body won't allow it. No way he can play that role he would be gone for 6 months in no time imo.

10 Dec 2025 10:30:05
We are all forgetting Malacia who can play LWB. I thought he might get a few appearances, or perhaps will still get a few sub appearances, to hopefully put him in the January transfer window.

With those 3 players out i wonder whether RA will promote and play more youth players. If one youngster steps up, it could save the club a lot of money.

For all those Academy watchers, who do you think could be promoted to the first team whilst Maz, Amad and Mbeumo are out?

10 Dec 2025 10:50:41
I'm not forgetting him start all just don't see him a an option.

10 Dec 2025 13:08:53
Shaw has been excellent this year, he was always solid at LB and would be worth a shot.

10 Dec 2025 13:47:27
He hasn't played lb for over 18 months.
Don't you think if he could play there it would have been tried? He can run the distances required he has been decent this year where he is playing.
His body can't do it i feel.
Not fit enough and does not have the stamina or dribbling ability imo.

11 Dec 2025 00:27:38
Dorgu can't dribble. Dalot certainly can't. Shaw has an engine and a burst of pace the others don't. He's also a much better crosser than the other two, and a much better passer in general, imo.
Whether RA will ever play him there, I've no idea, but I certainly wouldn't be worrying if he did.

09 Dec 2025 11:03:31
Level on points and an identical record to ‘title chasing Chelsea’ only 1 point off 4th…. this league is crazy this year! ?.

09 Dec 2025 12:05:48
If only Utd could become consistent at winning. It is certainly entertaining this year.

09 Dec 2025 22:51:47
Yes but both Chelsea and us are poor teams as is the league.

09 Dec 2025 08:58:46
Live chat last night was awesome. Great fun, lots of ribbing, all taken in good spirit, top effort gents.

09 Dec 2025 10:32:31
And this is the only post on the page, nothing from Maze or his 48 other names, we must have won.

09 Dec 2025 11:40:32
GDS2- When we were struggling last season, Maze had a full time engagement, he is only at a 50% utilisation this season and if it finally clicks for us, Maze might be unemployed by next season.

09 Dec 2025 11:43:36
It was AJH! I've only been on it a few times but last night had a lot of ribbing which was great. Even malaga-gooner didn't give it the kiss of death!

09 Dec 2025 07:39:03
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Leeds United v Liverpool - A Quick Liverpool Perspective

08 Dec 2025 19:16:13
Ed, is anyone opening Live Chat?

{Ed033's Note - Open now.

08 Dec 2025 20:56:08
These players ?‍♂️?‍♂️ man they're a joke. talk about shouting yourself in foot. Should be 4 nil. yet again the defending is comical. I mean its absolutely dreadful.

08 Dec 2025 22:02:15
My god anyone that sits near you in the east stand must be wishing you'd not renew your season ticket. ??.

08 Dec 2025 22:38:25
Tonight was anything but dreadful, only the 2nd time in 2025 we’ve won a league game by 3+ goals I think, delighted.

09 Dec 2025 04:04:53
Yes it was nice to see. However I shall temper my excitement until we do it against a few good teams, and consistently.

09 Dec 2025 08:15:02
3 points. Excellent, but that's all it is. 3 points.
Beyond that, I am left singularly unimpressed. We conceded a goal against a pub team and should have scored 10 against them.
At times, we just looked uninterested, with no urgency or commitment. I know I'm going to be slammed for this opinion, but Wolves are a side with only 2 points all season and -25GD.

Sorry, whilst I'll take 3 points all day long, I cannot be excited about this. This United group will get slaughtered in Europe should we get there. We are miles off where we need to be.

09 Dec 2025 08:57:38
Fizz, I'm generally with you, but last night we did well. Dodgy first half, failed to take our chances, conceded, so far so typical.

But for once, RA had an impact at half time, they looked fired up and got stuck in. If we play like that every game, we will win more than we lose.

It's not pretty yet, but small steps. We could regress again or we could pick it up, it feels that unstable, but I thought the second half was pretty food.

09 Dec 2025 09:02:23
AJH, that happens way too often. Either as you describe or the other way about.

09 Dec 2025 09:34:40
I agree with some of the above points. First half was abysmal and the 2nd half we did what was expected and came out a different side. It’s another 3 points and onto the next. Interested to see if players like Mount can finally step up and we can start being more consistent in the way we dominate, press and see out games.

09 Dec 2025 10:44:30
Fizz out fishing today?

09 Dec 2025 12:31:50
No G. Just an opinion.

09 Dec 2025 20:14:23
I’m with Fizz. We cannot get too excited about that game. Wolves were awful and made us look a lot better than we actually were. Some poor stuff in there that would have been taken advantage of by other teams.

Sure we take the win, only a mad man wouldn’t. But as has been alluded to, the league is very strange this year with its results so who knows! Play bang average football and somehow get into Europe. I’ll take that!

08 Dec 2025 14:05:37
A brace of striker's goals for Hojlund yesterday. He looked sharp.

08 Dec 2025 17:04:17
Done his confidence a world of good moving to Italy first one was a good strikers goal. Noticed he’s getting himself goalside of McFratm. So good to see ex United players killing it over their and good for sales. Looks like Kobbie next.

08 Dec 2025 22:39:02
He hadn’t scored is 8 games before that, notice how it had gone quiet?

09 Dec 2025 09:47:29
I had exactly the same thought GDS, please god we don't get a post every time he scores.

09 Dec 2025 22:25:52
Let's be honest about it, Højlund was never a bad player, but he never quite managed to do it in a United shirt. He had moments and grabbed a few goals early in his careers but he looked more and more lost the longer he was here.

Whether we want to accept it or not he is now playing in a better team with better players around him. He is also playing in a easier league, or at least one that he finds it easier to play in. He is also playing with less pressure and with lower expectations on him and his performances.

Sometimes we just have to accept that it just doesn't work out for a player at some clubs. Angel Di Maria was a phenomenal player at every club he played at bar ours. That doesn't mean we should have kept him for another couple of seasons clinging to the hope that it would work out. Sometimes it just doesn't.

Let's move on from Højlund and focus on the future.

08 Dec 2025 08:39:04
{Ed's Note - Tedster has posted a new article entitled, Everton Player Ratings v Nottingham Forest

07 Dec 2025 19:02:17
A win away at winless wolves elevates us to 6th, (assuming we don't beat them by 10goals) .

After the last few games where this opportunity has presented itself, we really should be turning wolves over if we are to continue to believe this will be a successful season.

I am ever the optimist and believe we are making progress (sometimes very small increments), but for me this is a must win game, and I'd really like a performance. A performance where we play how we have shown we can. A performance where if we go a goal up, we continue the assualt on the team and but the game to bed.
A performance where maybe we can put some players on the field that need minutes or maybe a Lacey gets a run out.
But most of all I want 3 points. I don't like to look back at what could have been, but if you do just look at the last few opportunities even back as far as the forest and Spurs games, we could have been in 2nd spot. I am glad we aren't because that would have papered over the much needed surgery we need to be booked in for January.
If nothing else it does still prove that the cattle we have is not up to the task and is in desperate need of a clearout. I hope those wheels are in motion behind the scenes as my blind faith in this current team is wearing very very thin, and that is quite difficult to achieve!

07 Dec 2025 21:11:00
I admire the optimism. And I’d really love a nice easy victory. The team can do it, but if the same team turns up that played the last few dreadful ones, then it might be a difficult night.

United can’t be the first team to lose to wolves. Would be extremely embarrassing.

At least the wolves player that has terrorised us the last few times is now wearing a United shirt. Let’s hope he can do it to them this time.

Which reminds me, Cunha was good at taking corners for wolves and even scored a direct corner against United. But he never seems to take any corners for United now?

07 Dec 2025 21:25:04
We have broken a few unwanted records these last few years. Why stop now!

07 Dec 2025 21:30:46
Amorim lost twice to wolves last year, 2-0 at molineux on Boxing Day and 1-0 at OT. Please to god they don’t make it 3 in a row. Just hope nobody shows up with a lack of drive and a complacency because if we do then we might end up in trouble. Echo what jimbo wants and just hope we get it.

07 Dec 2025 22:58:03
Before Everton, a win couldve taken us 2nd.
Before West Ham a win couldve taken us 4th
Now a win coukd take us 6th.

In the new year, a win couldve taken take us into the top half?

08 Dec 2025 05:01:51
It’s a should win match, and a few weeks ago I would have thought yep no problem. But once again the inconsistency has creeped back in.

The good thing is that it is fairly close between the mid table teams this year, so if you go on a good then we should be looking good for next year, patchy results and the season could fritter away quite quickly.

08 Dec 2025 08:33:48
Worrying times, and my trust in this group of players is dropping like a stone.

08 Dec 2025 10:49:56
If we lose Amorim needs to be sacked.

08 Dec 2025 11:51:55
Jimbob has already said Amorim will get 3 years, so I think we'd have to plummet to relegation candidates in order for him to go anywhere before then. A shame, as avoiding relegation should only be the aspirations of each season's three promoted clubs.

Bizarrely Sunderland look like they have more of an idea than we do!
A 'should win' game, like so many of our games - definitely. 'Must win'? I don't think that exists right now, I'll take anything lol.

08 Dec 2025 12:42:20
'Inconsistency has crept back in'. I think the opposite is true, we won 3 games in a row which was consistency creeping in. Apart from that, we have been inconsistent all season.

08 Dec 2025 13:25:07
AJH, we have been so inconsistent and poor since he has taken over. I think he has lost more games than he was won, correct me if I'm wrong.

08 Dec 2025 13:47:34
Hopefully we can get a good result against Wolves to get some feel good factor back in, the incosistency is what we expected but the swing seems dramatic.

Regardless the hierachy still seem convinced by Amorim long term with apparently Wilcox continuing to say to journalists to believe in the process. If this is the case then we must be expecting some more turnover of players as part of that.

08 Dec 2025 14:01:52
Wilcox won't through RA under the bus during a press conference. It would be completely unprofessional.

08 Dec 2025 16:01:57
RA has had a year and there’s been no improvement. Still can’t score goals and despite having a 5 defenders on the pitch, still can’t keep clean sheets - a horrible combination.

I have no idea what Wilcox and Jim are seeing to make them trust the process.

A loss to Wolves should see him sacked. But it won’t. They will continue to trust the process.

It would be nice, just for once, to have a game that is won comfortably. Can’t remember many games under RA where it’s been a straight forward and comfortable win. Even when the team is 3-0 up, like against Brighton, the team does its best to throw it away.

08 Dec 2025 17:08:49
Amorim is not moving us forward. The back office work has been good.

Amorim could get better results with the current set of players in other systems.

Losing games like tonight will be his Watford.

08 Dec 2025 17:31:35
Got to be on it from the off.

Brian
Cunha Amad
Bruno Ugarte Cas Maz
Shaw DeLigt Yoro
Sonny

Shaw can push into base of midfield, when Bruno inevitably goes walkabout, been decent at stopping teams breaking out.

08 Dec 2025 18:05:10
If Ugarte starts I'll be shocked.

08 Dec 2025 18:20:12
That team would get beaten by Wolves and half the championship teams. It is more all over the place than some of Amorim's selections.

08 Dec 2025 20:01:23
Wow Jimbo I read that in an incredibly broad Lancashire accent (I’ve got one:-) . The art of the comments section is truly dead. That’s what you get for trying to think outside the box. You’re probably right though most of our formations would prob get the same results.

With a little imagination though it’s just 3-3-3 because Bruno does what he wants, but much more stable and with a stronger midfield than 5-1-3 with Bruno wandering around.

07 Dec 2025 10:29:36
Yet again for third gae in a row, result s have given us a chance to get up to top 4 level with Chelsea. i'd love to see RA just play Mainoo with Cas and Bruno, having Cunha and Mbeumo up top.

Cas sits deep, Bruno and Mainoo ahead, wing backs either side and lads up top freedom to move, interchange etc. Gives us more legs in midfield but still an attacking side.

07 Dec 2025 11:10:54
Amorim has made it clear that bruno and mainoo are competing for 1 position.

Considering bruno is captain and never misses a game, that means Mainoo will not play and needs to get a move in January.

Hopefully its a loan so Mainoo can come back if RA gets the chop.

07 Dec 2025 11:42:12
Your post RedCon encapsulates why I think all this talk of formation is far too blinkered. The implication of that change is that Amad is dropped. And whatever anyone thinks of Mainoo, Amad has done much more to prove he belongs in the starting team.

07 Dec 2025 12:41:23
Sent that prematurely. I assume you're not asking for Amad to be dropped but I think it'd be inevitable if we've two CMs that aren't good at tracking. It may work but it also could exacerbate our issues by exposing Casemiro further.

It moves the no.10s further up and create a gap. However the merit is that it may ensure Cunha stays wider left and improve our biggest problem area atm.