Manchester United banter 5

08 Sep 2026 16:56:27
I supported the club for the 26 years between league titles, then I was there in 93 when the trophy was handed over, what a feeling. I felt the pain for quarter of a century but wonder if present day supporters understand and realise what it will take to win the league again. As I sit looking at 13 years to date, I recall being at OT in 93 and again in 2013 when the trophy was handed out. I thought in 2013 it could be a long time again because Moyes was a joke and said so on here.

I now read some of the stuff, I look at the thought process of fans, also at the club methodology and actually now wonder if it will be 26 years again. Berrada has said next year is the target, yet he can't seriously think that adding a couple of defenders next summer will deliver that. I look at Carrick and firmly believe he is not the answer, especially given how he is dealing with Rashford, his very Ole type friendly to players approach. I recall the mid to late 80's when SAF arrived and how he made the team everything. Tough but it was what Amorim started to do. Wilcox getting rid of Amorim was another shambles, then appointing the yes man.

To be honest right now it feels like a slightly better version of the Sexton years.

I wonder what year we could conceivably win the league again?

My guess we might do it before 20, I.e. 2033 but it's getting to the point where I might not see it, nor may I see another Champions League. It just doesn't seem that fans nor club management have any clue at how to deliver it.

We argue over Rashford, yet I believe SAF would have kicked him so far out of OT that he would never come back except in the Space Shuttle.

Be thankful if you saw a league title, even more a Champuons League, I am grateful I saw both live, but this shambolic mess without direction worries me.

What year can you conceivably see us winning the league?

08 Sep 2026 17:50:59
Right there with you, Red Man. We appear to be of a similar vintage. I honestly, at this moment in time, cannot see us ever being winners again. The current set up does not inspire confidence.

Too much has to change for there to be light at the end of our tunnel. We are in a really bad place, and I only see a rinse and repeat scenario.

08 Sep 2026 21:18:17
Three of us old farts then!

08 Sep 2026 22:56:23
I'm late 60s, born a few years behind some of you. Since I was 5, I've been an avid fan and have gone through ups and downs like every supporter from clubs up and down the country. I don't cry when we lose, and I don't go overboard when we've won. I enjoy supporting no matter who owns the club, and no matter how bad we are or how good we are.

Who owns the club is irrelevant, and I don't expect them to pay millions out of their own pocket to satisfy my emotional whims. Nor should anybody.
I'm not sure that we see many posts about United with the word "i" in it as often as that.
I'd say, if you are an ice cream, you'd lick yourself to death, Red Man.

09 Sep 2026 05:53:17
Good old Ken

Can be relied on to become personal if he isn't in control of the narrative.

You say basically you won't worry about us winning anything. Sounds like United is just a hobby you look at from time to time, so why bother coming on with an opinion at all.

Who owns the club is very relevant. You are always at that. How dare we say anything about the owners. Enjoy your 30 pieces of silver whenever they send it to you.

You therefore won't be bothered like most of us what year we next win the league because you live in Ken world.

09 Sep 2026 10:05:20
I'd like it to be soon. We will just have to wait and see.
Redman, football is a hobby to me.
What is it to you?
Do you earn your living from it? I know you think you know better than most people that play or manage, but you don't.
If you don't earn a living from it, it's your hobby.


You're over emotional about it.
In my life, I prioritise family, business and football in that order. I always have. I feel for anyone who prioritises football any higher than that. Golf overtakes football now, as I don't play football anymore. I still coach though.

09 Sep 2026 10:59:48
Ken,

Family, health, football, work, but United has been incredibly important to me. You never change your team. It's more an obsession to see us win the leagues and cups. It's more than a hobby. Am I over emotional? Not really, but years of ridicule at school have added a level of desire to dominate the league.



I don't think I know better than anyone. None of us have managed a Premier League team. I just put my opinion over, based on playing, watching, and work experience. It's an opinion, and I enjoy the banter of other people's opinions, which is why I come on.

09 Sep 2026 12:56:21
Oh no refman did someone tease you at school because your team were not winning ??? dear me and your still carrying around that with you approaching your 70's.
Watching football is your hobby your emotions make it an obsession as you don't control them when it comes to united.

In what other area of your life to you expect someone to pay 100'smillions out of their own personal pockets to fund your obsession?

09 Sep 2026 16:00:40
It's more than a hobby. I lived where there were lots of Liverpool, and particularly City, fans. Some of my family were supporters at Munich time. I was brought into the fold with stories of Edwards and others. Munich was a strong driver in the Manchester area, especially to those who experienced it, and that was passed on to me.

Dismiss that as you will, but as a Manc with family who were there and experienced the tragedy, it gave me a local and strong support, clearly beyond a hobby.

09 Sep 2026 16:38:42
The parasites you protect don't pay one cent for anything, not one.

09 Sep 2026 19:39:48
I protect?. ???

08 Sep 2026 15:54:33
I'd have Mount back in midfield. His work rate and link up in preseason was excellent. Should be match fit; he was only out a few weeks and had most of preseason and looked very sharp.

08 Sep 2026 14:37:41
Slightly different topic, but am I the only one who finds it ironic that United signed three midfielders this summer, yet so far it feels like we've failed to replace what Casemiro brought defensively?

Everyone is focusing on the defence, and I agree there are quality issues there. But I don't think we should underestimate the amount of protection Casemiro provided last season. Despite the criticism, he still put up 89 tackles, 30 interceptions and 137 recoveries in the league. That is a huge amount of defensive work being done in front of the back four.

The bigger concern for me is balance. Tielemans and Mainoo seem quite similar in the sense that both want to receive the ball, progress play and dictate possession. They're good footballers, but neither is naturally a destroyer screening the defence. As a result, the midfield can look a bit lightweight without the ball.

Last season we may have got away with some of the defence's shortcomings because Casemiro was doing so much of the ugly side of the game. Take that layer of protection away and suddenly defenders are defending larger spaces, facing more transitions and getting exposed far more often.

I'm hoping Baleba can make a difference. He's much more of a natural ball winning midfielder and on paper, he looks much closer to the type of player needed to balance the midfield than another possession focused midfielder.

I'm not going into transfer window shortcomings. The defence does need replacing, but I also think we've overlooked how much Casemiro was masking those issues.

08 Sep 2026 16:23:32
Kurtis
I spent the summer saying we should buy Alex Scott, who I thought would be the right fit in front of our back four. But what do I know...

08 Sep 2026 17:13:05
Totally agree, it is a major miss and I think Baleba is completely the replacement for Casemiro. Seemingly, he is getting close to fitness and hopefully can provide the cover needed by the defence.

I do think Santos is also a player who can play the position, but needs more experience. I watched all of the pre season games and he was probably the best player of the tour.

He was poor against Hull, but that was pretty much the case for everyone, except Lammens. Seemingly, based on that one game, there are those questioning his signing.

Indeed, it was said that all the midfield signings have not delivered.

Let's not forget there was pretty much universal acceptance that the midfield signings were of a decent standard and should achieve the level of control we have been looking to achieve. Things have not changed significantly in the space of a couple of weeks.

To reach any kind of judgement based upon the games played, levels of fitness at present, and the lack of familiarity with each other, is surely, at best, rather foolish.

A bit more time is needed for all the parts to bed in!

08 Sep 2026 23:39:03
Santos was excellent pre season. Don't get why he hasn't been given a run of games.

{Ed0666's Note - I honestly thought Santos was a real coup for you. Judge him in a few months say.

08 Sep 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - thefutureisoldgold3 has posted a new article entitled, Wolves Ratings v Birmingham City

07 Sep 2026 20:46:27
Sesko has to start for me, with Rashford on the left and Mbeumo on right. Rotate Bruno and Cunha at 10. Unfair to drop Cunha but he has been s**** so far this season so probably needs that fire in his belly.
Mainoo will keep learning, not his best game against Everton, but not going to get on his back.


Defence is going to be a consistent discussion point this season.
I hope they don't kill Lammens confidence as he is going to be busy.
Carrick has to take blame for setup and not inspiring them with a voice and also tactical changes.

08 Sep 2026 06:53:26
Dropping Cunha, especially when he has been played out of position, for Rashford would be a terrible managerial decision. It would flag that Carrick is not a leader and a poor manager. Anyone who has managed a team would tell you that to give preference to someone like Rashford, a malcontent who openly didn't want to play for the club, over someone who was here trying and getting us to 3rd, is a huge mistake.

It will cause resentment and trouble.

08 Sep 2026 08:12:22
RM,

Regardless of what has happened, it is down to the past. Players need to be picked on their current form and how they are in training.

Having Cunha coming off the bench isn't a bad option at all. Likewise with Rashford. From what I have seen over the last 3 games, Rashford has been our best player. I also think Rashford actually complements Sesko more than Cunha.

What I have found disappointing is Lacey being dropped from the bench for Mount.

Lacey had a very good pre-season and plays with fire in his belly, similar to a younger Rooney in some ways. Lacey will hopefully be the future, whereas Mount will likely be injured.

Carrick's in-game management is poor. The defence needs to be left alone unless a player becomes injured. It is in desperate need of stability. I do believe, had the defence not been changed and Mainoo had stayed on, Utd would have beaten Everton.

08 Sep 2026 08:22:20
Well, I took Shappy's advice and digested the performance before posting. I don't get the Rashford and Shaw abuse, they actually played quite well. My concerns again were Martinez, whose touch is awful; the second goal was his miscontrol again, and as I have banged on about for ages, the defence is far too slow.

Cunha or Mbeumo can't play the CF role. Tielemans, for me, is a bang-average midfielder; he looks like he runs in treacle. Santos is another mid-table, at-best midfielder. These two in midfield will never get us where we want to be.
Lammens had a really poor game all round. I said we won't know what Lammens we get this season after a dreadful World Cup for the lad. I hope he gets his mind right soon, because even goals going in that ain't his fault will be on his mind.



Sesko, that everyone is calling for mainly because our only CF, that's a joke in itself. He still has so much to learn, though.
Carrick seems a bit lost to me too, and poor substitutions cost that game; they were ridiculous.

We have played OK in short spells, but woeful at the back, and I am not so impressed with midfield or attack either. I honestly think this is a weaker team than last season.

The back 4 and our midfield must be, combined, the slowest players in the league, and the football we play is over-exaggerated, slow-paced too. What's with all this 5 yards back and forth to each other crap too!

08 Sep 2026 08:41:41
Mad Hatter

It's management 101 and understanding how a team functions. It's what made SAF the greatest, the team was everything, not the individual. If Carrick doesn't get that, he just shows what he is.

08 Sep 2026 10:45:27
Play your best team, Rashford is currently our best performing player. Let it go. He is our player again. Get behind him.

08 Sep 2026 16:28:25
JBR,
Do you know anything about managing people or teams?

08 Sep 2026 18:23:22
Yes Redman, I do.
Do you?

Further to that, do you KNOW what has been said behind closed doors? Do you KNOW how Rashford has been reintegrated into the squad? Do you KNOW if Marcus has walked back into that dressng room and offered his apologies for his actions?

You haven't got the foggiest, but you sure as hell will profess to know everything about anything.

We get it, you don't like the glazers, you don't like Ineos, you definitely don't like Rashford. We love your hatred every single time we log on.

Have you ever taken a step off your high horse and considered it from there angles, or are you so long in the tooth that such advanced concepts are alien to your prehistoric mindset.

08 Sep 2026 20:11:20
JBR,

Yup, I have 40 years managing people and teams experience. But, hey, you carry on with supporting Rashford over player or players that got us to 3rd whilst he was begging Barca to have him. No problem.

08 Sep 2026 19:35:29
Best post in ages jbr.
Redman only likes what he wants, one of the most narrow minded self obsessed fans I've ever come across.
We have seen his rhetoric and to me he is completely an anti fan
Claims he wants the team to be successful but desperately wants the gazers and ineos and rashford to fail and you can't have success for the team without success for them. They are not mutually exclusive.
The glazers own the club none of us want that but most want the team to win under those circumstances redman does not as he does not want the glzers or ineos or rashford to be successful at old trafford.


I don't like rashford but I'll support him while he plays and I'll recognise when he does well. Redman preaches his managerial business exposure but contradicts himself at every turn when it comes to the glazers and makes little sense a complete emtional supporter that let's his emotions dictate his practical thoughts in fact i don't see any practical thoughts at all.

09 Sep 2026 00:54:28
Agreed Ken.
RM, I feel for anyone you have managed over that 40year period.
May I suggest a refresher course in managerial skills, or perhaps more appropriate would be retirement.
I'm sure your 40yeara worth of subordinates will give you a proper send off

09 Sep 2026 07:12:24
Ho Ho Ho

Ken is off on his personal comments rant again, "narrow minded self obsessed fans I've ever come across." "anti fan". Apparently I want the "gazers" and ineos and rashford to fail. Ooh er. Supporting nearly 60 years desperate for success makes me an anti fan.

Yep, I want the blood sucking Glazers out and they can take the Glazer enablers INEOS with them. Oh I want success all right but I believe that necessitates the Glazers going and having no debt from them. I also don't want Rashford to "fail", don't put words in my mouth that I never said. I don't think he should be selected over other players in the circumstances I have outlined a number of times. I believe it's bad for team morale. It's my opinion. I also believe SAF would never have stood for Rashford and this situation is just another example of our drop in standards.

Anyway, Ken there really is no need to be so personal, it just looks like you rant because for once in your life you can't control something and someone or what they think or believe. You also don't like any pressure on the Glazers, you have made that clear to the point where many will wonder if you are indeed connected or on the payroll of the club.

JBR
Don't be like Ken!

09 Sep 2026 08:47:15
You make personal comments all the time but to people who are not in this forum to defend themselves. There is zero doubt that you make personal slights on lots of people.

09 Sep 2026 11:00:55
Oh no, I call the Glazers out.

09 Sep 2026 12:03:14
Oh no I call you out

09 Sep 2026 13:15:10
Oh no you don't. It's not panto time yet Ken

09 Sep 2026 15:19:13
I do and i will continue to call you out when if my opinion is your being inane and irrational and letting your emotions cloud any pragmatism.
BTW.
'Don't be like ken' = personal dig or insult.
No issue with it until you give out to others for making personal digs or insults. Just another double standard emotional outburst.

09 Sep 2026 16:40:41
Humour Ken, unlike your insults

09 Sep 2026 19:41:01
Not funny. You mean my opinions, not my insults. You can have derogatory opinions about people, but I can't have one about you?

07 Sep 2026 19:16:31
Always remember the strongest part of any team is its spine. We are not great down our spine, our keeper, young with potential, current playing CB's are poor, CM waiting on Baleba to get fit and back to his best, CAM Bruno World class, CF young Sesko, lots of potential.

It was strange that the owners decided to build from the front and not start from the back.

07 Sep 2026 19:57:27
I suppose, it doesn't really matter if you start at the front or back when all you are able to buy is mid table level players.

07 Sep 2026 20:50:25
cm waiting for Baleba, yet we blabbed £35m on Tielemans and £50m on Santos. Bargain basement recruitment.

{Ed0666's Note - I’m gonna go on record and say Baleba will be a dud signing

07 Sep 2026 21:48:50
Baleba had one good season and one fault poor season in comparison. A 50% success rate is not great odds for that type of money.

Who knows, he could be one of those players that ups their game once he gets the shirt on.

Time will tell. But at this rate, by the time he's fit enough to play, he will have to be superhuman to live up to what he needs to be.

08 Sep 2026 01:03:13
I think Baleba will be a great signing, has all of the attributes to be brilliant for us. I remember reading Ed001s write up on him on here around 18 months ago and thinking there and then that I wanted him in our midfield, an average season in his development doesn't change that for me.

08 Sep 2026 07:02:05
Ed666

I am not sure how good Baleba will be but I don't think he will be a dud. He is a runner and will add energy to the midfield. However, as I have said on here a number of times I don't think he has the defensive qualities in a midfielder we needed, he isn't the No6 destroyer, nor does he create, not sure he links attack. I openly said I would have gone for Alex Scott who I think was a better fit. Suspect Chelsea will get him in summer and we will regret it.

I think the recruitment at the club is disjointed. I don't understand the Santos or Tielemans decisions with the only explanation that they were looking for bargains. I have a feeling that we will have to look at a midfield player again next summer, not because of Baleba but because Tielemans or more likely Santos won't be good enough.

{Ed0666's Note - I think Camara would be ideal for you guys. He ticks a lot of boxes and you get a lot of bang for your buck for £50 million

09 Sep 2026 07:42:12
Hi Ed
Am guessing you mean Lamine Camara at Monaco who Chelsea were looking at for circa £47m? Not seen him unfortunately.
Noted you said Santos could actually be good so respect that and looking to see how he develops.

It was that midfield destroyer I was interested in and not sure any of them are that.
I wondered if Sangare would have been a good choice.

{Ed0666's Note - Sangare does look like he’s got his feet under the table straight away and I rate Camara better than him. A slightly different profile but better all round. The Moroccan kid city bought is gonna be a real gem but you probably had no chance of getting him with the transfer fee and wages city offered. It amazes me how many top 6 teams have spent incredible amounts of money and are still lacking in certain positions. What are these sporting directors doing?

07 Sep 2026 16:17:22
Cheer up everyone… If PSG continue their current form then Enrique might be available by Christmas. ??

07 Sep 2026 19:58:05
Would be nice!

I think PSG started pretty slow last year too. But they get better and better.

07 Sep 2026 20:39:15
We can dream.

{Ed0666's Note - Theatre of dreams no?

08 Sep 2026 14:34:54
Due to lack of investment in the stadium from our beloved owners, it's become the theatre of streams.

08 Sep 2026 17:57:32
Wilcox would tell Enrique what tactics to use.

09 Sep 2026 08:13:24
So would you.

07 Sep 2026 10:24:30
I think we should all calm down as a fanbase.

We have always been terrible at first games of the season. Hull actually deserved to win as they did play well. We are not up to our races and our captain missed a penalty. We defended horribly.

Yesterday again, we defended horribly, Carrick did make attacking subs bring Sesko and Dorgu on. But the team just gets back to old routines. Have we not seen this before?

Do you ever notice how Bruno never slows the tempo of the game and always wants that flashy line breaking pass. We get counters after counters. And we have been poor defensively. Shaw gets sucked in and then chases the winger. Maz made a stupid pass when he should have just hoofed the ball.

It was 95 mins.

We score 1-0 and our intent is to just sit back and absorb. Amongst a lot of players, I feel we need to stop starting Maguire and Shaw.
Let Amass play and let Yoro play. We are conceding 2 goals on average anyway. At least we can play a high line.

Rashford has not scored a goal yet but he is actually playing well as a forward.

We have to also understand that a lot of players are not fully fit yet. Bruno was extremely rusty, Sesko has barely had any mins.

We also have to factor in we have lost Casemiro who was papering over the cracks and was a leader and formerly world class.

Give this time. The United shirt is heavy for new signings.

07 Sep 2026 11:09:14
Agreed, I think the first 3 games have confirmed what we already knew deep down.

1.) Not good enough to compete at the top with Arsenal and City.
2.) In a battle for top 5 with Chelsea, Liverpool and others.
3.) I think we should be okay, considering Champions League-aspiring clubs like Newcastle, Villa and Spurs all seem to have issues as well.



The bigger worry for me is the Champions League. After Sabah, every game looks tough on paper, and if we get into a negative momentum cycle, as we did under ETH and Amorim, I think we could struggle to make the 24 team cut.

07 Sep 2026 11:47:09
We should have won yesterday. Carrick cannot keep making these substitution mistakes. There was absolutely no need to bring on Mazraoui, and if he couldn't trust a lot to avoid a red card for 14 minutes, what the hell is he doing wt the club? Ridiculous changing the back four. Amorim and Ten Hag did this almost every game, and it drove me insane. So stupid, no wonder we aren't organised and structured during the final moments of a game.

Changing the back line is nothing but a disruption. An injury, fair enough, but refreshing them? Get them fit instead, and stop making stupid, obvious, and predictable decisions that only serve to encourage the other team. I was fuming and could see it coming, and what happens? Mazraoui not up to speed, wrong position, and passes it to Maitland-Niles. Bloody clown.

07 Sep 2026 11:50:33
This team actually brings their performances up against the big team.
It is the teams like Hull away and Everton away we become pants.

07 Sep 2026 12:50:10
Shaw has cost us 2 games.
Not strengthening the backline and delaying Baleba transfer has already backfired.

07 Sep 2026 13:47:22
I support the idea of waiting for your preferred target. But I am not convinced that's true. We are painting Baleba as if we waited a year and got a discount. But we did the same with Sancho after he had a worse season.

So it's not that we were waiting because we were chasing Anderson and Fernandez instead at the beginning, not Baleba. I just think that the Glazers were happy to put the whole club in massive debt to serve their dividends, but they're not prepared to go into debt that doesn't deliver dividends to actually get the whole squad urgently into the right shape.



We need these owners out, and a Chelsea or a City-type owner with no debt and a long-term plan, where we get immediate success also. This lot just aren't good enough owners. I think Wilco and Barrada and the recruitment team are good enough, but they're being undermined by tightwad economics that doesn't work against the competition, either here or abroad. We're saddled with debt that's never been reduced. That is PE-type governance, not venture funding or something like foreign funding. The model is never going to outperform them.

07 Sep 2026 13:59:45
I don't know how anyone can point to Bruno as a reason for us not picking up more points. His job is not to control the tempo of games. He's a play maker, and will always be looking to create chances. Tielemans is the one that was brought in to dictate play, and he hasn't done that.

However, the main reason why we're sitting on 4 points after 3 very winnable games is the defence. We have created chances and played decent attacking football in spells. The issue is that the moment any pressure is applied against us, the defence crumbles.

Dropping Shaw and Maguire won't fix this. Amass is nowhere near ready and Yoro has looked lightweight as a central defender.

Playing him with Martinez makes us even more vulnerable to crosses.

The clear solution was to bring in a better left back during the window. As others have highlighted, Shaw has been the weakest link in our defence. He looks to have lost a bit more pace, and doesn't have the positional intelligence to compensate.

I'm not fully on the doom train. I think we should have a good shot at finishing in the top 5. Still, this season was an opportunity to push closer to the top 2, and our lack of ambition in the market has left us fighting to make the Champions League instead.

07 Sep 2026 15:53:46
Rohan,
How many excuses do you want to type in one OP?

Sometimes it is better not to make excuses. Fans used to get on Giggs' back, Beckham's, Rooney's, Fergie's.

Demanding more and voicing that it is not good enough is part of being a supporter.

Work hard and play well, and the fans will love you. Play poorly and give up poor goals against weaker opposition, and the fans will voice their anger. Welcome to Man Utd.

07 Sep 2026 16:39:55
I think the fan reaction will change if we beat Man City, which could very well be possible.

07 Sep 2026 17:51:12
Rohan,
Agreed, we could best City but then we would likely lose to a relegation candidate and back to where we were.

07 Sep 2026 18:23:07
Well I feel better after reading all those posts. ? Blimey, it's real doom and gloom. But when was the last time Utd actually started well? Seems to be every season: poor, not ready, unfit, stupid, sloppy play, etc. Anyway, beat City and we'll all feel better. Be typical Utd, awful 3 games then beat City.

07 Sep 2026 18:56:17
Two chances to beat City. Slim and virtually nil, and Slim has left town. They will boss midfield and our defence couldn't stop Hull or Everton, so what chance against Haaland and Cherki.

07 Sep 2026 19:58:02
Tbf, they said that last season, Utd will just counter attack, which suits them fine... Im more hopeful against City than Everton, tbh.

07 Sep 2026 20:00:36
Coventry only conceded one against City, so there's some hope United won't get a battering.

If City get the first goal early, it could get ugly.

But United have shown they can up their game when needed, which is partly what makes the Hull and Everton games so annoying.

07 Sep 2026 20:44:30
Carrick at the wheel!!

{Ed0666's Note - with the handbreak on

08 Sep 2026 10:46:37
You could swap Carrick for another guy, but that would not make the players smarter.
Bruno will still, at 87 min, try stupid, risky balls that lead to counter attacks, rather than holding and slowing the play and then attacking. Maz would still try to pass the ball, and Martinez would as well. Last game, when we conceded the second, it should just have been out for a throw.



I feel we need a new fullback, maybe 2. Dalot and Maz are backups, Shaw is backup. None of these are starters. Last year all we invested was in forwards and GK was a gamble that worked, but I'd be wary of the second season syndrome and we have a terrible backup if Lammens regresses. Is Lammens ready for 2 games a week? This year was the year of midfield, and next year will be fullbacks.

07 Sep 2026 07:21:15
You have to think Sesko was fully fit, but Carrick likes Rashford despite what he has done. Looks to me like Carrick is sacrificing Sesko, changing our formation to suit Rashford and even playing other players out of position to get him in.

Sesko won the game at Everton last year, outpaced them to get it. He also scored important goals yet is now sitting on the bench so Carrick can get Rashford on the pitch. Carrick also gave him the No9 shirt and, say what you like, that is symbolic.

Carrick dare not bench Cunha for Rashford because there will be a big reaction so he plays Cunha up front and out of position at the expense of Sesko just to get Rashford in.

We clearly lack a striker because of it.

If I was Sesko I would be fuming, bust a gut for the team last season, work hard in preseason to be usurped by a guy who didn’t want to be here, wanted to be elsewhere, insulted the shirt with his behaviour, earns so much and won’t take a cut to play elsewhere. How lucky for Rashford that he has a mate in the manager's office.

Sesko benched so the wayward disgrace that is Marcus Rashford can play is a huge, huge mistake for me by the manager.

07 Sep 2026 08:20:36
Sesko was returning from an injury. He has been building his fitness up. I think the club are just ensuring that he is fully fit, rather than rushing him back.

07 Sep 2026 08:32:59
Mad Hatter

I think it is more than that, it isn't just easing him back. It looks very like yesterday was a preference for Rashford. I think it's a huge mistake. I would have let him go on a free to get rid, quite honestly. Instead he is given preference by his mate.

07 Sep 2026 08:34:01
Rashford aside, surely you put a fully fit Sesko in instead of Cunha up top.
And you could argue Rashford has had more about him, so, other than not liking him (which Carrick obviously does), why bench him?

07 Sep 2026 09:43:22
Not sure why you are trying to create a one or the other narrative with Sesko and Rashford lol.

Rashford is playing on the left because he can actually hold his position and give us some width, plus he connects well with Shaw. We had a pretty clear problem last season with Cunha on the left because he naturally drifts in and congests the middle, not his fault, it's just his game.



Sesko missed the whole of pre season and is being managed into the season sensibly. He will probably start on Thursday, and then return to the bench for City when we will need a different type of forward up top.

Also, watching the start of the season, I don't think the issue with the team is the midfield or attack, tbh. We are conceding 2 goals a game atm.

07 Sep 2026 09:57:27
Redman,

I understand your frustrations. I am equally peeved off. Hopefully on Thursday Sesko starts. Utd need to start off their CL campaign with a win. Ideally, we should look to qualify before the BM and AM games.

Cunha isn't particularly effective up front.

He almost plays in a similar position to Bruno, as a sort of false 9, with Bruno being a 10. Sesko will always look to press and bully CBs.

Credit is due to Rashford, as he has been one of our better players so far. I think Sesko will thrive playing with him.

07 Sep 2026 10:37:32
Mad Hatter

For Sesko to play with Rashford, does that mean drop Cunha?

The summer should have been where the shape of the team was designed and worked on. We have a CF in Sesko, yet Carrick seems to want to play without one. They should have been working on the system with a CF, and bought a second striker to fit in the system when Sesko wasn’t fit. Instead, the manager has reintegrated the bad apple, changed shape, and it’s costing us.

Two goals a game conceded is a big problem, especially given the opposition, and we have to worry given City coming up.
Thing is, even with our defence, that isn’t good. Defend from the front has been around since I was a kid, a very long time, so when you have our defence, you need to keep the ball up front more and attack, but Carrick football is more poundshop Southgate.

07 Sep 2026 11:21:02
Based on current form, albeit only 3 games, I'd bench Cunha and start Sesko up top with Rashford on the left.

People may hate Rashford, but he's here and starting to play well.

07 Sep 2026 11:46:17
I don't hate Rashford, but I'm not sure it's great to have a guy who doesn't want to be there starting every game ahead of players who do want to be there.

07 Sep 2026 12:10:45
I'm not sure I understand the logic behind this. It feels a bit like a tinfoil hat conspiracy.

Sesko has been injured and is only just returning. Cunha played as Brazil's centre-forward in pretty much every game at the World Cup and is playing the same role for us at the start of the season.

Rashford has played well and looked threatening, arguably more threatening than Cunha.

Even if Sesko comes into the side, nothing Cunha has shown so far suggests he should be picked ahead of Rashford on the left.

I expect Cunha and Rashford will be rested against Sabah, with Dorgu and Sesko coming in. It will then be interesting to see who starts against Man City. However, if Sesko scores again, I think the front three will be Rashford, Sesko and Mbeumo.

07 Sep 2026 14:01:49
To me Sesko looks like an impact player.

{Ed025's Note - i was thinking a Championship player myself Sim0..

07 Sep 2026 15:37:04
I'm pretty sure Carrick has started with this formation in every game (front 3 with 2 wingers), so not sure the suggestion that Rashford is dictating a new shape stacks up.
However, I do see a few problems with the personnel.
1. Cunha was purchased as one of two no.10s for Amorim's system. He's perfect for that. Maybe Chelsea will be watching him!
2.

In a line of incredible centre-forwards over the past 30 years, we now have just one to choose from, Sesko, who is way off the level we need. He's young(ish), but feels like he's been around for much longer. I get no sense there's a great player in there, but hope to be proved wrong and see even a very good one as the season goes on.

07 Sep 2026 15:47:08
I suggested Osimhen but hey the idiots think 1 CF is ok.

Bilko, you get it. Anyone who has managed a team will tell you that putting in a Rashford, a malcontent who doesn't want to be there, ahead of a committed player is madness and bad for team spirit.

If Carrick drops Cunha (after playing him out of position) for Rashford then I will openly say Carrick Out and loudly.

08 Sep 2026 18:28:02
You're a weird one Redman. You actively hate Rashford for his own/off field antics from two seasons ago and in the next breath suggest osimhen.

08 Sep 2026 20:15:40
JBR,

I don't hate anyone.

However, in a team I recognise, you support the team members who got you here, the ones that got Carrick the job, not the one who sat in an Irish nightclub and couldn't make training and openly wanted to be somewhere else. You want Rashford, fine, Carrick, fine. Let's see where it goes.

06 Sep 2026 22:37:26
I was never Carrick in. A man of his experience should not be anywhere near the United job.

I expect us to finish between 10th and 7th.

{Ed0666's Note - or you could just add 10 and 7 together to get the correct answer to where you’ll finish. Do you really think you will finish as low as 10th? Name 9 clubs that will finish above you? I think Carrick will be replaced by Eddie Howe quite soon.

06 Sep 2026 23:52:54
It is way too early for that talk. I, as others here will testify, am firmly of the belief that Wilcox should've backed Amorim and managed that situation terribly. However, that is done now, and plenty felt that there weren't obviously better options than Carrick.

As it is, he deserves and should get a proper backing. He has a completely new midfield and was a minute away from many of the same people calling for his head, saying he's a genius. Nobody should be evaluated on a sample size of 3 games.

07 Sep 2026 01:32:47
3 games in, and apparently we are in danger of getting relegated.
Give your head a wobble, mate. ?

07 Sep 2026 01:35:20
But seriously, we'll be fine once our defenders remember how to defend. ?

07 Sep 2026 06:06:02
Very few teams are playing consistently well just yet.

Lots of teams have had a lot of change over the summer, while it is fairly common for teams to have a slower start after an international tournament.

Players are back late, new players having less time to bed in, players not fully rested, and some still trying to get over disappointment from the World Cup.

For ourselves, you can see that our new midfield is still trying to work out its own identity.

Our attack is a little disjointed and not flowing like it did last season. Both of those issues will solve themselves with a little time. Our defence has looked a little porous, and it is our weakest part of the team. That said, with the midfield and attack not fully settled in front of the defence, that is leaving them too exposed at times.

07 Sep 2026 07:29:05
Don,

I would not be calling Carrick a genius if he won yesterday. I was also a strong believer that we should have stayed with Amorim. I was also very clear that Carrick is the wrong man for us, but the idiots put him in charge, and we are stuck with him until they wake up. No point calling for his head at this time. It's only 3 games in, they won't do anything anyway.

There are also too many sheep saying Carrick is one of our own, understands the club, and gives them a nice warm glow. Ridiculous, he is the manager of what once was the biggest club and now accepts mediocrity as per his post-match comment.
As to where we will finish, probably around 6th if everything stays as is. Would not surprise me to see a surprise like Newcastle or Brighton get 5th.

07 Sep 2026 07:52:19
Red Man, how can you defend Amorim, who showed absolutely nothing while he was here, and did not deserve the job and almost got us relegated, but yet Carrick isn't the man for the job? Is CV the only thing you look at?

07 Sep 2026 08:08:04
Lung Park

They brought Amorim, who had an excellent CV, to change the style, then, in transition, before he could finish, they told him to play the way Wilcox wanted. The club needed change, like Rangnick said. Instead, we went backwards to our comfortable slippers. The Amorim discussion is over now, but like Don, I would have stayed with Amorim.

Carrick is manager, and we have to see where it goes.

I openly said it was a huge mistake, but we just watch it play out now. CV is what is always looked at for every job. Carrick has a very poor one, bar a few games last season. That's a fact.

It will play out how it plays out. I think we need to beat City next week, or the grumbles will grow very much louder.

07 Sep 2026 08:33:39
Completely agree, Amorim was the change the club needed. A chance to push out rotten eggs, reset the dressing room culture, and build a long term, sustainable style.

We all know the first season with Amorim was a tough watch, but many forget that we were 5th when he left, with much needed reinforcements returning from the African Cup of Nations. Those returns conveniently landed on Carrick's plate.



Amad, Mbuemo, Cunha, and a number of others have not shown the form they showed under Amorim.

Mainoo has returned a better player, but can we not also thank Amorim for that with his tough love?

Like it or not, the comfy slippers description couldn't be a better one, and in my opinion, we are well and truly back on the merrigoround, when we had one foot of it with Amorim.

07 Sep 2026 08:37:28
On the same page as you on that, Red Man, but I'm more optimistic about where I think we'll finish.

07 Sep 2026 08:52:49
Don

5th or 6th for me, but that could improve if there is a managerial change.

07 Sep 2026 06:43:05
Ed0666,

I was saying to my mate who's a Newcastle fan, that Howe will end up replacing Carrick before the end of the season.

{Ed0666's Note - agreed mate. Not sure if Howe is the answer for you either

07 Sep 2026 09:42:08
The Amorim situation was an interesting one. When he was sacked we were 6th on equal points with 5th. There were so many things coming out in the press about player power and dressing room issues. Amorim came in and did a lot of the 'bad guy' work, getting players out of the dressing room to reset the culture. We, as a club, did something very dangerous when going through change. We panicked and reverted back to what we know. Three of yesterday's back four have seen off Ole, Erik ten Hag and Amorim. The club actively tried to remove Rashford, but completely fumbled getting him out. Carrick now has to deal with the situation.

Amorim demanded players, and fell on his sword for it. We brought a manager in who plays a specific type of football and didn't give him the tools to play it.

We got him to do the dirty work to start rebuilding the dressing room culture, and pulled the plug at the start of the project because the board were weak.

It's not Carrick's fault that he's got the defence he has, or that Rashford is still in the squad. It's on Wilcox. As a club, we are essentially hoping that the midfield signings are all a success (which is statistically improbable), and the defence can do a half decent job, when we have multiple years of evidence this probably isn't going to happen.

I'm hoping it all goes well for Carrick and we have a great season. I just think he's been let down and is going to take the flack for not sorting the glaring issues in the squad.

07 Sep 2026 10:45:42
Rewz

You said it's not Carrick's fault that Rashford is still there. Well, actually it is. If he had put his foot down in summer and done what Amorim did, banished him to the train alone, they would have found a deal to get rid.

Instead, we have a yes man puppet manager who has undone the work and allowed someone who disrespected the shirt and openly wanted to be somewhere else, back in.

It's poor, weak management on the back of the tough decisions Amorim made. It reflects very badly on Wilcox, who frankly needs sacking. Berrada may hold on a little longer, but that thread is weak for me.

We have to live with the ups and downs of Carrick until they wake up, and realise he won't win big prizes, but the only issue now is the pain that Amorim started will have to be done again.

07 Sep 2026 12:41:57
Red Man, that's a fair point.

07 Sep 2026 14:02:07
Too dramatic for me. Not the manager's fault, the glaring issues were advertised all summer and not addressed.

Is it any wonder teams are exploiting Shaw when his own employers allowed it to be known he was a weak link and then did sod all about it.

We are the only club at the top who only reinforced a single position in the squad. That's ownership negligence, not managers or players.

The players wanted a striker to help Sesko and the squad. Instead, we play players out of position.



Sheer incompetence for me. I said I would judge at the end of the window, and now I want the owners out, all of them. By all means, wait if you must for your preferred lb, but I think it's a smoke screen, and I also think that we could have signed any one of three top lb on loan.

They pulled the Champions League stunt yet again. Lost my trust permanently. All of them. I want them all gone and a new operating model with no debt.

07 Sep 2026 15:49:41
Captain,

I think more have now seen what I have said all summer and before about the owners.

Thing is, that whilst a LB was needed and a CF, we absolutely had enough to beat Hull and Everton if properly coached and managed.

07 Sep 2026 09:59:26
Ed0666,

Neither am I. However i did like how he got Newcastle playing.

{Ed0666's Note - if you had a choice would you have Amorim back or want Howe to be your coach for the next United game?

07 Sep 2026 20:18:02
Ed0666,

Amorim was stubborn, but the injury to MdL was a game changer last season. Amorims lack of adaptability means I'd go with Howe.

One thing I will add, RA never got the players he needed to implement his style of football.

{Ed0666's Note - My mate who’s an AC Milan fan loves him. But then again the football Milan played last year anyone would improve it.

07 Sep 2026 23:03:14
If people are unhappy with Carrick's defensive qualities as a manager, I don't think Eddie Howe is the answer. lol.

08 Sep 2026 00:33:14
It just gets worse.
Seriously.
6 months ago most of you were calling for Amorim to go, calling him clueless, etc.
Now, all of a sudden he was the messiah and should have been given time.
Some of the United fans are actually laughable. ?

08 Sep 2026 07:15:15
Mrlee

Many could not see that, to get the change needed, we had to go through pain. Amorim knew what was needed, but Wilcox overruled him. It became a decision for the club between Wilcox and Amorim, and they made the wrong decision. We have slipped backwards by not continuing to deal with the issues.

Our Director of Football, Wilcox, wielding what seems to be all the power, is the ex-Man City Academy Director who left them to go to Southampton.

For me, time is up for Wilcox. He is an issue because I am not seeing innovation, and, after allegedly instructing Amorim to change the way he played, after this summer's mess, I think he has to go.