Manchester United banter 6

26 Feb 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 27 - Quick Round Up

25 Feb 2026 18:07:44
Just like it soon became common knowledge that De Gea was suspect at crosses in the early days, and opposition teams targeted him as a result, word will soon get round that Lammens is very good in the air.

Hopefully, that helps with situation where players crowd round our keeper in the box at corners.

As an ex-keeper, I really like what I see with him, just as I had my doubts about Obama from day one.

Real cool customer for a young lad.

{Ed025's Note - im not sure the ex-president of the USA was much of a keeper Noucamp.. :)

25 Feb 2026 18:36:53
I shouldn't probably be typing while I'm cooking, Ed. Mind you, I'd fancy Obama between the sticks over the other one. ?

{Ed025's Note - absolutely Noucamp, enjoy your dinner mate..

25 Feb 2026 18:45:33
I'd back Michelle over him too.

{Ed025's Note - but he did get Barack,d a bit Key.. :)

26 Feb 2026 01:49:35
Remember watching Stoke assaulting DDG on crosses, and he got no bloody calls at all. They would just plough into him, and then people would say he was rubbish on crosses. Crazy. I've been impressed with Lammens. What Everton were doing was anti-football.

I can't believe the ref doesn't just blow up for the foul and grab control of the game. Who wants to watch that nonsense. The stupid thing is that they have big players who would probably score if they just attacked a decent old-school corner.

26 Feb 2026 06:13:03
Of their 10 corners, 5 should have been blown for a free out for us. It's the only way to stop it; favour the goalkeeper and defending team. It would stop the silly battles. The Yoro push should have been a yellow for Tarkowski and a free out.

26 Feb 2026 07:35:25
It's all getting a bit silly, as is the time taken to take throw-ins, what with drying the ball. The authorities are useless. The laws are there today, but referees seem not to want to use them.

26 Feb 2026 08:13:45
The corners - it's clear obstruction on the keeper every time. This isn't American football, where you can block players; even in rugby, I don't think they can block players, yet the utterly useless authorities are letting GK be blocked.

They are not leading on this. (Like they are not on VAR.) Are they worried it might upset Arsenal? Simply instruct the referees: blocking the keeper is obstruction; give a free kick to the defending team every time.

26 Feb 2026 12:18:56
We do it too, Redman, and Jane only scored 2 less than Arsenal at set pieces, so we are just as guilty.

26 Feb 2026 13:45:24
Tumble, because it's allowed and has been successful, everyone is doing it. The pushing, shoving and holding is ridiculous. It's really impossible to determine who's at fault, the attackers or the defenders. It's the complete antithesis of the beautiful game.

It will continue until the authorities find a way to stop it. A rule change at the end of the season should be regarded as a priority. No attackers on the goal line, and a limit of, say, 3, in the goal area before a corner or throw in is taken.

26 Feb 2026 15:30:03
Arsenal have been getting away with crowding the goalkeeper and blocking them too. Hopefully, after the Everton game, officials will start to punish those offenders from now on.

26 Feb 2026 16:07:48
It's gone crazy, but I don't agree with that suggestion at all in terms of a limit on people in the goal area. You'd swear some never saw Joe Jordan play. It's been happening since football started, but it's not to a crazy level.

I'm not sure how to stop it, but it starts with refs. Keepers are over protected, imo, it's a bit of a conundrum. You could award 3 pens and 3 free outs for offences at every corner kick.

26 Feb 2026 18:25:48
It's totally crazy how refs are letting it go. It's become a total joke, even if we do it. Refs should just blow the whistle and award a free kick, book the offender with a straight yellow, and on the 2nd time send them off. It needs to be stamped out. It's like tuning into wrestling, and it's been getting worse.

It has got to be stopped! Refs need to be told to deal with it. They are looking straight at it most of the time, but VAR is just as bad; they watch it too. Love to see the excuses for why they're letting this go on.

26 Feb 2026 20:36:57
Scrap corners. Fixed.

26 Feb 2026 21:20:59
Chelsea had a tactic that seemed to work against Arsenal for corners. They had several of their players sprint out of the box as the corner was about to be taken. It forced several Arsenal players to go with them, as they couldn't risk the ball breaking to them, since they would have had 5 vs 3.

The other advantage is that, with fewer defenders in the box, the ref has less to observe and will see the fouling of the keeper much more easily.

27 Feb 2026 00:47:44
What if the attacking team surrounds the keeper in a circle and links arms? Is it a foul? At some point, common sense has to take over and say that these anti-football tactics are bad for the game. No one has been shouting about 1 player standing with the keeper unless they push into them and foul them. Standing and fighting for your own space is fine. Jumping and challenging the keeper without wiping them out is fine (and often keepers are overprotected). I think the issue is when the attacking team builds a wall of players around a keeper in a box, and then they all push under them to affect their jumping, coupled with inswinging corners.

I quite like limiting the number of attacking players allowed in the 6-yard box before the kick is taken. 1 would be fine. Once taken, the players can run in if needed, but the space is already there and the keeper has room to breathe. We might see a few more towering headers from 10 yards out, which seem a rarity these days.

28 Feb 2026 13:37:39
Dodgy, common sense would be that any attempt to block or impede the keeper without a clear attempt at winning the ball is a foul.

To be completely honest it can still be a foul even when you are attempting to win the ball.

I think the biggest problem this tactic creates and ultimately relies on is that it's always been hard for officials to see every single infringement of the rules in the melee that often happens at corners and freekicks from wide areas. The Ref only has one set of eyes and he can't be watching 14 different players at the same time.

This tactic of swamping the keeper makes it almost impossible for a Ref to see what is happening amongst the flurry of bodies.

In terms of how the FA deal with it, I could see a rule coming into force next season that attempts to deal with it. Whether it's a redrafting of existing rules with greater emphasis placed on protecting keepers, or whether it's an entirely new rule (something like only one opposition player is allowed within 2 yards of the keeper when a corner is taken) who knows. But something will be changed ahead of next season.

Until then managers will have to find ways to deal with it.

Whether that is allowing crosses into the box rather than blocking them and giving away the corner.

Pushing more of your players out of the box when defending corners, forcing the opposition to react and making it easier for officials to see infractions against the keeper.

Using your defenders to act as blockers and clear a path for the keeper.

Instruct your keeper to be theatrical and go down with every touch (knowing that if the keeper goes down 99% of the time the Ref will give the foul).

Or resulting to the dark arts, "accidentally" stepping on Gabriel's achilles tendon with your studs as you follow him in for the corner, a sly elbow, or Vinnie Jones greeting. Sure you might give away a penalty, but if they are going to score from a corner anyway you might as well make sure they don't want to use the same tactic again.

If two or three teams ends up injuring key players for teams using these tactics then it both reduces their ability to use those tactics while the player is out injured, and makes teams less inclined to keep using tactics that are getting their players injured. Also as we get closer to the end of the season and with a World cup just months away players will be less inclined to put themselves at risk of an injury.

I'm certainly not a fan or the dark arts or over exaggerating contact to win the foul. But if that is the only way to overcome this awful tactic (at least until the authorities can adapt the rules) then so be it.

25 Feb 2026 14:59:24
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 27 - Quick Round Up

26 Feb 2026 05:07:49
Thanks Ed001

{Ed001's Note - very welcome mate.}

27 Feb 2026 13:34:05
Thanks as always Ed. On Lammens, do you think he can grow into a top class keeper like Alison or Kurtua? I mean do you think he has so high celliing?

{Ed001's Note - I think he will be a very good, solid, reliable keeper but I don't see him growing into quite Alisson level. But, imo, Alisson is arguably the goat of keepers as he is the best of the new breed, so being a step down from him is still top class. I am not as high on Courtois - he is very good but nothing special imo. He is not good enough with his feet and his shotstopping is overrated. I would expect Lammens to be at least as good as him, probably better in the long term.

I love his attitude, he just gets on with it and doesn't seem phased by anything, which is a massive plus in big games.}

27 Feb 2026 15:59:43
Exactly my thoughts, Ed, I think Alisson is the goat, at least of the new generation. His ability in one-on-one situations was massive for a Klopp team that went all-out in attack. On Lammens, I also like his attitude, he has a student's face, someone would think he goes to high school, and that makes us underestimate him.

Then you see that he is a student in a good way. He is not phased by anything, and he recovers quickly from the few mistakes he has made. I think we bought well here. Thanks again.

{Ed001's Note - I fully agree, you got a good un there. It did take a while before anyone was sure he was genuinely good, rather than just good compared to Onana though!}

27 Feb 2026 16:05:06
Send too soon. I too think that Lammens is a better overall keeper than Donnarumma, or at least he can grow into one. I prefer the Belgian.

27 Feb 2026 16:37:06
Oh, another thought, Ed. My fear was that he is only good compared to Onana and just solid, but he is really good. Then even Bayldir seems good compared to Onana.

{Ed001's Note - I think we all wondered. He didn't need to do a lot to be better than Onana!}

27 Feb 2026 17:39:07
It's spelt, 'Obama', Ed001 ?

25 Feb 2026 12:39:46
I'm not going to come on and pretend to be a financial expert or to defend or criticise anyone but just read Manchester United have announced an operating profit in first 6 months of fiscal 2026 of £32.6 million, compared to £3.9 million operating loss in first 6 months of fiscal 2025.

This looks good for the club. Glazers will certainly be very happy!

25 Feb 2026 14:58:59
Cool, now give me the net. Operating profit only includes day-to-day costs (rent, payroll, utilities). Net profit includes all costs, including interest on debt and taxes. We have a boatload of debt and pay a king's ransom in interest.

25 Feb 2026 15:01:52
Ok, quick check. United announced an operating profit of £32.6m for the first six months of the 2025-26 season, but that included £48.2m profit from player sales. The underlying result, exclusive of those, a total which is more commonly used in the football industry as a club's operating result, was a £15.7m loss.

25 Feb 2026 16:14:11
And now the debt has increased to 1.3bn. What brilliant owners we have!

25 Feb 2026 16:34:57
Like I said, I'm not a financial expert, but I guess, from a very simplistic point of view on this subject, the lack of Champions League football and the well-reported struggles to get sponsorship deals compared to other teams have hit us hard. Is it fair to suggest the club has had to borrow again to cover costs, but that this current "profit" in the report should be viewed as positive despite all of the above? Next year, if the club is in the Champions League, we'll attract better sponsorship, profits will (hopefully) rise again, and debt should fall more quickly (in theory).

I know the comment "don't worry about the finances" will come up, and I'm not trying to ignore it, but it does affect the club and what we are doing, and it would be interesting to hear from people better placed to offer a balanced view on this, because there has to be a positive to this profit?

25 Feb 2026 17:06:34
Champions League football is needed to make an impact on the debt. Quite frankly, it's amazing they're doing as well as they are considering we don't have it this year, and got knocked out of both domestic cups in the first round. And, moreover, they managed to acquire 5 excellent players over the summer, and no duds.

There are no instant fixes. The results are an improvement. It's going to take at least another year to see any major change in direction from a financial point of view. No point in worrying about it.

25 Feb 2026 19:53:11
I suspect the next one will be a loss. No profits from player sales, players loaned out, and inflated wages for dross players. No cup runs (fewest games in a season for a long, long time), and a crazy amount of debt causing high interest payments. Oh, and payouts to sacked employees, I would imagine.

25 Feb 2026 11:51:29
According to a report in The Guardian Onana wants back, is ready to fight for his first team place, and that the club is willing to entertain that notion. Credibility rating? The only way it happens is if no one is prepared to pay any price to take him off our hands. I'd rather take Vitek back from the Robins.

Hopefully we can get rid or at least defray some of the £15m a year for the next 2 years he'll cost to keep him on our books. And, who knows, maybe it'll be more than that if he's entitled to a bonus if we make it into the Champions League.

25 Feb 2026 13:38:53
Put Lammens on the gate to Carrington, he'll never get past him.

25 Feb 2026 14:31:06
Onana's skills as a GK are what's challenging him. I'd keep him as 3rd unless we can offload him to someone.

25 Feb 2026 23:01:37
I would guess that the two stories that get the most clicks at the moment are Onana wants to return to United Barcelona don't want to sign Rashford I've seen both stories multiple times over the last few weeks; they must get interaction. The fact you've asked about it shows that they do. Both are a load of nonsense to create conversation.

24 Feb 2026 18:38:09
Let me add Dorgu to the excellent signings the new management team completed. Amorim was a mistake made in haste after ETH quite rightly was fired, but the squad has definitely been improved.

Under ETH we bought Antony, Højlund, Casemiro, Mount, Yoro, Onana, Martínez, de Ligt, Mazraoui and Ugarte, 5 of whom have been desperate failures. Yoro, de Ligt and Mazraoui remain to be seen. Martinez had a great season. Casemiro had a great first half of his first season and has done well in his final year.

I'm not going to say anything nice about Ratcliffe, but his team has done quite well - certainly in comparison to the previous dozen years or more. They were quite right to start rebuilding the squad with the sort of players who will survive/transcend any manager or system.

24 Feb 2026 19:09:12
Imagine what signings we can get if we are in the CL. They are vital.

24 Feb 2026 19:29:19
MDL hasn't played since November. He needs to go too.

24 Feb 2026 20:22:20
Feel for Mdl. Class player. But, he seems to carry his fitness issues to every club.

24 Feb 2026 22:14:25
Same Eric, but we have to get better, firstly, at not signing injury prone players (Mdl, Mount to name two prime examples), and also, in the event that we fail at the first hurdle, we need to realise our mistake, get them back to fitness, sell them and move on.Shaw is in a similar bracket.

This is a peak year to offload him, what with the WC etc.

24 Feb 2026 12:33:25
I thought Mbuemo was very disappointing last night. His real strength seems to be in counter attacking football. It was perhaps not surprising that we scored when Everton were pressing. Had they been content to sit back I doubt we would have broken them down. Brilliant pass by Cunha.

This whole corner kick melee thing is a really ridiculous spectacle. We need a one yard box into which no attacking player can go until after the corner is taken.

24 Feb 2026 13:31:46
I'm more than happy if our 'very disappointing' players get the assist for the only goal of the game. I'll be honest. He was playing out of position and never stopped running. It wasn't his best game, but I thought he did fine.

24 Feb 2026 15:50:49
Yes, he works hard. Glad to have him in the team. Great asset. But his assist kind of proves what I'm saying. He is deadly if you give him an open space, which is what he frequently had at Brentford, a counter-attacking team. The move in general was excellent.

Sesko's pass to Cunha, and then his determination to sprint the length of the field, having the defender in his wake, to get into the box to cap it off, was first rate. Without the 4 new signings, we probably lose that game.

24 Feb 2026 16:18:00
Our midfield is very weak, we are not playing well due to that. Attack and defense look good enough, certainly for top 4. Midfield is very, very thin (no depth in case of subs or injuries). We also lack in quality at fullback. Shaw and Dalot are very poor going forward. In these games we need more aggressive overlapping from fullback. Shaw is scared of running forward (covering Maguire? Protecting fitness?).

And Dalot is poor in final ball. I'm sick of the anti-football surrounding the goalkeeper at corners and long throws. I would immediately ban attacking players from the 6 yard box until the ball is kicked. Problem solved. If teams then obstruct the keeper unfairly (pushing over, tripping, etc.) then current laws award free kicks.

24 Feb 2026 18:17:29
Shaw was at his best going forward when he had an actual winger in front of him. He and Rashford did quite well together. We miss Dorgu.

24 Feb 2026 18:58:09
Could've left "And Dalot is poor in final ball" after 4 words.

24 Feb 2026 19:31:48
In fairness to Mbeumo, there were at least two occasions where a very poor through-ball attempt starved him of one-on-one opportunities. He did okay.

24 Feb 2026 22:05:20
Dalot is excellent at getting forward but rubbish at being forward.

25 Feb 2026 00:47:37
RWWD, That's the perfect way to describe him. He's our best player at getting into good positions and our worst player at making the most of good positions. Great high fives though.

25 Feb 2026 01:36:43
Hence the final ball comment. We need attacking fullbacks, and he gets into good positions, but when it is time to do the deed, he is, what's the word, flacid.

25 Feb 2026 13:39:15
Great high gives though. ?

24 Feb 2026 09:20:26
Well that was ugly, but sometimes you have to win ugly games, against ugly teams and my god, Everton are an ugly team to play


The plusses were Lammens who grew in stature last night, and Sesko with another great goal, another player who we can see growing before our eyes.

Apart from that it was poor, misplaced passes, a lack of energy but hey ho, onwards and upwards. I love Mainoo but he needs to get a rocket up him, both he and Cas ambled around all night, showing no real energy or urgency, despite his stellar stats, Bruno was almost anonymous. Maguire suddenly looks like a fixture in the team and deservedly so, Cunha needs to learn to pass the damn ball.

Still, 5 wins out of 6, not playing for 2 weeks is never helpful so hopefully we will see a return to form against Palace.

24 Feb 2026 10:58:23
Yeah, both Mainoo and Cas were out of sorts last night. The game made my eyes bleed, but it was a lovely bit of quality to win it and a great finish. I used to think Everton fans were a bit too moany, but if that's what they do every week, I have a lot of sympathy for their fans.

{Ed025's Note - its like that most weeks Eric, thats what you get when you have a dinosaur like Moyes at the helm mate, he will make you hard to beat but at the cost of any style or substance as im sure you know from his time with you..

24 Feb 2026 11:25:35
Excellent result last night, and it keeps the pressure on for Champions League positions. 5 wins from 6 since Carrick took over, and we would all have taken that. It feels like we have lost some of the early momentum/excitement. However, at this point, we need the wins. Losing Dorgu and his energy has definitely taken something from the team, as did Martinez last night with his progressive passing from the back. There does also seem to be a number of peripheral factors that I think are impacting our performance: - Are we match sharp with so few games? It is great for the recovery, but we do seem to lose something after a break.

- Are we still short on the outside of the first 11, with Carrick relying heavily on the same 11? We have had issues when there is a second game midweek; we are just not used to this, and it hits us. - We seem to be getting games across the whole weekend, from early/late starts, Sunday, Monday! Everything bar 3pm on a Saturday. It should not really matter, but I think it has.

24 Feb 2026 12:06:55
I feel for you and your fellow fans, Ed. I've tried to block Moyes' stint out of my mind. Sadly, when he was in charge, we weren't even hard to beat. ?

{Ed025's Note - hes so pragmatic Eric and his teams are boring to watch, he plays to not get beat rather than win mate and yes hes a safe pair of hands, but my god its hard to watch..

24 Feb 2026 12:08:25
AJH, I'm just going to put it down as a complete off day for us. But most importantly, we came out with the 3 points. What we have seen now is us play both good and bad in 6 games, and we have come out with 16 out of 18 points.

Taking this all day long. 70 points needs to be the aim to get Top 4. I look at the run we have now until Chelsea, and we could really nail this in the coming weeks.

24 Feb 2026 14:51:35
Angel, I hope you're right, but this and the West Ham game were both very poor. We've been lucky in both and could easily have ended up with just one point. I'll take luck all day long. The fear I have is that, whilst Carrick seems better able to set up the team and make changes in the EPL than Amorim, it could be that Amorim's coaching was much better.

I do hope this is wrong, and that Carrick and his staff get the team back on form.

24 Feb 2026 15:38:48
DonRed, nothing to me says that Amorim was a better coach. Literally nothing; I am not sure where you get that. By the way, I'm not saying you're wrong, but nothing has shown me that he is a better coach, based on his time at United.

Carrick has had 6 games now: 4 of those were good wins, 1 was a win but a bad game, and 1 was a draw and a bad game. Amorim's record speaks for itself, I'm afraid.

24 Feb 2026 15:52:47
I really don't want to rehash this. But we have lots of metrics that show what I'm saying. But it's also not logical to think that the players can go from 14 months of poor coaching to suddenly being fantastic because of a couple of sessions, regardless of how good anyone thinks they are. Again, we won't ever agree on Amorim, except that I think he wasn't learning quickly enough how to set up and adapt to changes in EPL games.

Our running metrics, our expected goals for and against, all showed improvement. When we had our best players, we did well under him. I think we saw yesterday that, without Lisandro Martinez, we struggled to progress the ball, and our CMs don't have tempo players. Amorim tried to solve this with Bruno. Carrick has tried with Martinez. The danger in that approach is that it's much more predictable. I hope I'm wrong, but that's what I'm seeing.

24 Feb 2026 17:48:17
Just watched it today, was out late last night, ended up watching pieces in fast forward. Boring, no exciting football. Everton spoil most games, imo, with the way they play, and we don't have the players to counter that tactic effectively. A couple of surprise good performances in Dalot and Yoro, who were decent. Midfield three, Mainoo was best, imo, but not standout.

I'd take another 10 of them till the end of the season. Effort, commitment, and organisation will get us a long way in this league. Keep winning, secure CL, and finish as high as possible; that is all that matters. 3 points will do Carrick's case no harm, but the performance needs to be better from a few of them. Palace at home next, so 3 points there and we are 1 step closer.

23 Feb 2026 22:34:18
What a master stroke the club has made signing Senne Lammens. He could be our number 1 for years to come, I don't see many weaknesses. He's been pretty unlucky with a few of the worldies he's conceded. Maybe it's just because the previous incumbent was one of the worst I've ever seen, but Senne is calm, a great shot stopper, good in the air, rarely palms it back into danger and is quickly coming to terms with commanding his area. Very impressive. Won us the game tonight, we lose that with Onana in net, not even a question about it.

Having a good goalkeeper also makes everyone else calmer, no surprise Maguire looks good with a top keeper behind him.

The other 3 summer signings combined for the goal and have had good seasons. Another summer like the last but for midfield and a couple of other positions and we will really push on next season, no matter who the manager may be.

23 Feb 2026 23:26:32
Glad he brought Sesko on earlier than vs West Ham. We ground out a result. The top 3 is very achievable. We will drop points, but so will Villa. Very, very outside chance of top 2, imo, as City and Arsenal will drop points, albeit it is highly unlikely they'll drop enough to be overtaken by anyone.

But, us winning points will also force whoever is 2nd to look over their shoulder, and not just who is above them.

23 Feb 2026 23:34:00
With Sesko amongst the goals now, come the end of the season, we could be looking at 4/4 successful signings from the summer, all things considered. When was the last time we could say that lol? 2007/08?

24 Feb 2026 00:15:57
Lammens is definitely in the top 10 keepers in the league, easy for me. I could probably name 6 who are better, but he's improving with every game. He is far from the finished article, but I'm glad we have him.

24 Feb 2026 00:30:54
I don't think I could name 6 that are better. At what exactly? He is strong in all areas. I think we've got a great keeper, and he's young enough to improve.

24 Feb 2026 07:38:48
Good result last night. All four mentioned signings have been good ones. Lammens' best years are still a few years away, as keepers traditionally mature later than outfield players. Midfield signings ahead are probably the most crucial ones we will have had to get right for years.

We struggle, even with Bruno, to beat teams who sit back and defend, so we def need more creativity. We also need a strong defensive box-to-box type player, too.

24 Feb 2026 07:43:41
He was the obvious choice for some that believed in the right approach for UTD, long term. Some called for Martinez. Hopefully it is clear now that those signings are yesteryear.

24 Feb 2026 08:05:24
Agree re all four summer signings, but particularly regarding Senne Lammens. Whoever scouted him has done a grand job.

24 Feb 2026 08:55:32
Nobody has scored more non-penalty goals in the EPL this year. No sub has scored more goals this season. Sesko is doing well. Lammens is very tidy, and gives confidence to those around him. Boom Boom is a very good player and is playing well, albeit slightly out of position.

Cunha is my fav player to watch in the squad. If they buy as well this summer and get 4 or 5 1st-team starters, then we will benefit greatly.

24 Feb 2026 09:32:42
Whose Boom Boom lol?

24 Feb 2026 12:22:11
On the goalkeeper front, Lammens is streets ahead of where de Gea was when he first arrived. All in all, if we were going to sign a young goalie then I don't think we could have done better. We also have Vitek on loan at Bristol City, so we could be well-stocked for the foreseeable future. Now, if only we can get rid of Onana.

24 Feb 2026 17:50:19
A keeper that can catch a ball is a big help. He won that game last night, and that's what good keepers do.

25 Feb 2026 12:13:32
newnameoldideas, to be fair, he is 3 years older than De Gea when he signed. But he is definitely looking the part. I love the fact he is trying to catch absolutely everything possible rather than parry or punch away.

23 Feb 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - SystonVilla has posted a new article entitled, Villa Fans Need Perspective and Positivity