05 Jan 2026 13:31:11
Lot of opinions on whether he should have been given more time and backing, and I don't have a strong pov there. But there needs to be visible change in the decision making committee of Wilcox and co, otherwise we will not be able to attract anybody even half decent.
Currently, the United job has all the responsibility without the authority, and no top manager is going to come into that environment.
Manchester United banter 6
Use our rumours form to send us manchester united transfer rumours.
05 Jan 2026 12:12:47
Assuming we go back to a back 4, what's our best formation/line-up as it stands?
4-3-3 with Bruno at the top of the midfield 3? Does this bring Mainoo back into the fold? What of Mount, Diallo?
Here's what I'd opt for, obvisouly including the AFCON players.
Lammens
Dorgu, Martinez, de Ligt, Mazraoui
Casemiro, Mainoo, Fernandes
Cunha, Sesko, Mbuemo.
05 Jan 2026 12:45:58
that will win us many games and we have the likes of yoro, mount, even maguire and heaven who can step in.
05 Jan 2026 13:01:50
I'm a big fan of Heaven, by the way - just feel he's not quite ready to displace the others in a back 2. While I think it's clear Yoro has dropped off in the past few weeks.
05 Jan 2026 13:05:01
When everyone is fit 4-2-3-1
Lammens
Mazraoui, Di Ligt (or Heaven), Martinez, Shaw
Casemiro, Mainoo, (Ugarte as back up)
Mbuemo (or Amad), Bruno, Cunha
Sesko.
05 Jan 2026 13:06:19
I’d have Shaw over Dorgu, and it’s hard to leave Amad out of the side. Especially because Sesko is not performing. I’d be tempted to have Mbeumo central, with Amad on the right, but allow the front 3 freedom to interchange.
05 Jan 2026 13:24:07
Lammens
Maz DeLigt Martinez Shaw
(Dalot Yoro Heaven Dorgu)
Casemiro Mainoo Bruno
(Ugarte Mount? )
Amad Cunha Mbeumo
(Sesko? )
---
Backups in brackets obviously. Prefer giving minutes to Yoro and Heaven over Maguire. Also tells us how thin a squad we have.
05 Jan 2026 13:35:08
Agree with Danny, mbuemo or cunha up top potentially with Amad on the wing, Sesko an option from the bench.
Obviously mainoo comes back in if we want to pass the ball around and not give the ball to the other team constantly.
05 Jan 2026 15:46:22
Ahmad what have you seen that will make us win many games just from a change in formation?
05 Jan 2026 18:16:33
Lammens
Mazroui De Ligt Heaven Shaw
Martinez Bruno Mainoo
Amad /Mbwuemo. Sesko Cunha
And I would play with Mazroui taking every opportunity to make a midfield four.
05 Jan 2026 11:42:08
With Amorim gone, we’re straight back into the same debate again — but honestly, who actually steps into this job?
Emery wasn’t great at Arsenal, but look at him flying at Villa where the manager isn’t being micromanaged every five minutes. That alone tells you a lot. I can’t see him accepting the United job unless he’s given real control — and we all know how likely that is.
Maresca doesn’t convince me at all. Dire football, overly rigid, and Chelsea actually looked better without him. This squad already struggles with confidence and intensity — the last thing we need is another system-first coach draining what little life is left.
McKenna is interesting.
He knows the club, understands the pressure, and can work under constraints. But the big question is whether he’s willing to be a yes man for Sir Jim. If he is, we risk another cog in the machine. If he isn’t, does he even get the job?
Personally? I’d love to see Keane brought in with Fletcher to see out the season. Not because it’s some tactical masterstroke, but because standards would be non-negotiable. At this point, we need accountability more than philosophy.
And honestly… can it really get any worse?
At the very least, we’d find out who’s strong enough mentally to wear the shirt — and who absolutely isn’t.
United don’t need another “project”.
They need a backbone.
05 Jan 2026 12:11:16
I’d like to see Ole with Keane. Yes it didn’t end well last time but that’s because his game plan went out the window with Ronnie coming back. Ole loves the club and adored by fans. The problem is United is a toxic job so who would actually want to come to us.
I can’t see who? Genuinely. Also if you think Keane is going to be a yes man then no chance. The manager needs to be backed and not just money wise.
05 Jan 2026 13:20:26
As a keane fan boy I know keane is no yes man and as long as SAF heart beats RK won't get a look in.
It would tarnish SAF if RK walked in and turned us from relegation fodder to challenging for the title.
But yeah keane and Ole would be immense and i'd have no doubt many fans wouldn't say no either.
05 Jan 2026 13:26:13
A few mainstream media outlets are suggesting Glasner. I assume as he'll be out of contract - surely not because of the Crystal Palace formation. I don't know what formation/s Glasner used previously, but I think I've seen enough of that back 3 malarky to last a life-time. I'd prefer to see us free from that debate and get back to a good old 433.
05 Jan 2026 13:36:17
From what I hear about McKenna at Ipswich it does not strike me as him being a yes man either.
Personally I can see the club going for glasner at the end of the season.
05 Jan 2026 13:36:28
With you Singh. I think that’s an interesting combo.
05 Jan 2026 15:20:19
Ole wasn’t good enough, Keane just shouts at players. There is a reason neither are currently managing.
05 Jan 2026 11:24:23
Just want to say that I can understand perhaps why he was sacked but if it was for wanting more control he was right to ask. The most successful teams have managers
I wish him well and hope he goes on to great success. Always seemed to me to be a decent guy.
05 Jan 2026 12:33:58
once i read the news about what he said i told a fellow united supporter this morning he is getting sacked no two way about it. you can always walk into your employers office and ask for things or discuss things you want changes etc etc but once he went public with it and took a few pot shots along the way he was gone. very immature and silly.
Wilcox is not fit to be deciding on style of play and will clash with the next manager too same with eth and amorim if that is what is happening and you believe the stories. His biggest achievement is running city's academy which by any standard is the best in the country in terms of money spent, facilities, ect etc and he did build that. I doubt he had a voice in how city should play under pep.
We will play better imo with even fletcher or whoever in charge once we have the afcon players back.
05 Jan 2026 12:47:11
meant to say he did not build city's academy.
05 Jan 2026 11:08:09
People are already defending Amorim and blaming the club, but let’s take a look at the last year.
Calling this the worst Manchester United team ever, not even close.
Losing to Grimsby, sat in the dugout with his magnets and tactics board whilst it was happening.
Constantly subbing CBs, the only Manager to do this.
Lowest league finish and point tally since 1974, when we were relegated.
His increasingly odd press conferences.
Losing at home to 10 men.
His treatment of Mainoo, basically playing anyone but him was very very strange.
And finally, his obsession with his formation, his view that he is right and we will not budge from it.
It’s embarrassing that we have sacked another Manager, if there was a mistake it was appointing him in the first place and not completing due diligence. But he has shown in his time here that he is out of his depth.
Yes, we are better than last year but that’s a pretty low bar. We are also just ahead of a bunch of teams so our league position may be overstated.
We all wanted it to work, yes, even me, but it was clear early on that the water was too deep for him.
05 Jan 2026 11:26:01
You've wanted him gone almost from his first day!
05 Jan 2026 11:27:44
Agree with all of that above mate.
I said it very early on, he walked in at the start with a grenade in his hand, pulled the pin and lobbed into the middle of the squad, and lo and behold, they didn't perform for him.
They continually backed him, with money in the windows and they gave him the license to play with his tactics/formation even though it clearly wasn't working.
He has managed 14 Months
63 Games
25 Won
23 Lost
15 Draws
39.7% Win rate
All said and done, this is completely unacceptable.
Hopefully sensible heads will prevail in the boardroom.
Berrada, Wilcox, Vivell, Radcliffe, there's enough knowledge within that room. The experiment failed, now go and get someone who knows what it takes in the premier league.
05 Jan 2026 11:30:15
No doubt this will get challenged — the state of the club, the players, RA being the messiah, etc. — but I think you're spot on, AJH.
The final interview was strange to me. The whole narrative around Ruben Amorim’s appointment was that he was coming in as a Head Coach. The club were very clear that this was the role he would be undertaking. So to then completely undermine that in a press conference is bizarre. It felt like he was committing career suicide. In any workplace, you simply don’t air dirty laundry about your boss in public.
It also adds further embarrassment for SJR, who publicly backed Amorim and said he needed three years. But as I’ve said before, given SJR’s history at Nice, I don’t know why this should come as a surprise.
Amorim wasn’t the only problem, though. I think Wilcox had his part to play, and if it were up to me, they would be leaving together.
I said it in an earlier post: there’s no such thing as bad students, only bad teachers. Amorim didn’t get the best out of the team, and saying that players don’t “suit” the style feels like a deflection. Professional players not adapting to a system, despite training five days a week, isn’t on the players — it’s on the coaching.
Let’s see what the next round of the manager merry‑go‑round brings.
05 Jan 2026 11:34:49
AJH never said that he wanted him gone, ever.
05 Jan 2026 11:36:56
It's been a while since I've posted here but I have to add that I agree, AJH.
As much as patience is needed and ideally managers are given time to implement their ideas, there is no defence for how badly Amorim has performed with this squad. We may be 6th but it's not because we've been particularly good, regardless of what the stats say. It's been down to others being just as inconsistent as us.
Sometimes it just comes down to whether we actually look like a half decent team. Far more often than not under Amorim we have looked like a below average team and if you look like that most weeks, then you're probably a below average team. There may be holes in the squad but he hasn't helped cover them in the slightest with his rigidity in sticking to something he knows doesn't suit. If they did, he wouldn't need another few hundred million to fix it. Then there's the in game decisions which have been baffling at times.
I'm not happy that we've sacked another manager, I'm not happy this hasn't worked out, I have next to no faith that Ineos have a clue what they are doing most of the time but I am happy to see the back of Amorim.
05 Jan 2026 11:45:53
Out of his depth. How many players has he improved? still go out on the pitch looking low on energy, clueless and without any sense of a plan. Always relying on a bit of individual skill.
Best manager in PL is at Villa, R. A not even close to that level of mangement or having the same levelof respect. in the game . worse still looked no where close to improving to be considered a decent manager.
Players accountable too of course, we can't keep seeing the squad not grasp the chance to go top 4.as if they don't seem to understand what that means or compete in the Europa league final- that's a mental weakness running through the club . very nice fella but not sorry to see him go.
05 Jan 2026 11:54:42
So the club have sacked a manager instead of supplying him with a couple of proper midfielders? I guess that was a cheaper option. Way to go board!
05 Jan 2026 11:58:17
I never said I wanted him gone, my consistent position has been that he appears out of his depth and is too rigid with his system.
05 Jan 2026 12:09:45
Proven right too AJH.
05 Jan 2026 12:11:51
AJH you didn't have to say it.
05 Jan 2026 12:44:04
I did not think he will last the season but really wanted him to succeed. I think he lost a lot of players and many are performing very poorly under him and not the issue of buying him more players.
We will buy again and spend quite a bit come summer but his inability to beat teams that we should beat is what's cost him his job and his outburst yesterday lost any goodwill he had with the leadership.
05 Jan 2026 12:46:09
The board have given him two no 10's and a striker this summer. They also got him a GK. He has been backed and his system was backed but performances and results have not been good enough. But he leaves us with better players than Ten hag did and hopefully Fletch will be able to get us playing in way that resembles Man Utd.
05 Jan 2026 12:48:33
????.
05 Jan 2026 13:44:16
Banjoe - What is that style might i ask? And when did we last see it? And which team plays that style now?
05 Jan 2026 17:22:36
UA, A team that has attacking wingers, a team that when they score one goal they are looking for the second, a team with passion and are not scared to make a mistake. A team that can win a game of football.
05 Jan 2026 10:38:20
So, the Amorim era is over. Another one bites the dust. Fortunately our PSR problems will be over at the end of this year so the cost of his departure should not impact us. My son will be delighted. Hates the back 3. Besides the holes in midfield it often left Yoro marking a speedy winger which he is clearly not cut out for.
Pity, really. Despite everything we were seeing improvement from last season and I personally would have been okay with waiting to see how we fared after another summer transfer window before judging him. But, as has been pointed out, you can't publicly criticize your superiors and expect to retain your position. Not dissimilar to Ronaldo in a way. It's particularly unforgivable after the club had backed him and defended him against all the criticism and calls for his dismissal. Airing ones dirty laundry in public is far too prevalent in this era of self-importance. It's the Megan Markle syndrome.
05 Jan 2026 14:28:59
Everyone would agree he was gone after that presser. Shame, I quite liked the guy but didn't like his formation and don't think it got the best out of the squad he has, poor as it is. Seemed to be making progress on standards/culture.
When people talk about playing progress, we are definitely better than last year but I think we're only 2 good buys better (Mbeumo and Cunha) oh and keeper upgrade.
No clue what happens now but definitely not just the manager (coach? ) at fault here.
05 Jan 2026 10:36:57
So RA has gone. Now what? Maresca.? His replacement did better than him against City. Speak to Chelsea fans and they are glad to see the back of him.
The Villa manager is my choice but probably not attainable. Who else is available. possibly Glastner and he might be a good choice especially if Wharton comes too. Ireola is having it tough at Bournemouth although admittedly they have lost their best centre backs
Wild card at least short term could be Carrick?
05 Jan 2026 10:34:16
Well there you go: Manchester United have sacked manager Ruben Amorim, with Darren Fletcher set to take charge for Wednesday's Premier League game against Burnley.
Manchester United Banter Archives