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31 Dec 2024 09:06:23
Only Hoilund, Mount, Fernandes, Amad, Mainoo (played well against Newcastle) and Ugarte of the midfielders/ forwards are good enough in RA's preferred system. Garnacho and Zirkzee look lost. Rashford could possibly fit, if he was willing. Casemiro is not the player he was and is not adapting to that reality. Eriksen has adapted his game, but lacks the physicality needed in a team not dominating the ball.
Only Amad can play the wing back position effectively and this is the biggest single issue currently
The back 3 positions have more options, with De Ligt ok for the middle and Lindelof and Maguire passable. Yoro looks like he could play across any of the positions in the back 3. Shaw looked good (fleetingly) on the left, though Martinez looks a shadow of his former self. Mazraoui is good on the right of the 3.
The squad is low in confidence, while also lacking critical components to play a wing back system. This is a situation worsened by some of our most adept players for the system succumbing to injury (yet again) .
This situation is made worse by the money that has come in to the EPL following the most recent TV deals being used well by other clubs to bring in good quality managers and players who can all compete against the supposed royalty of the league.
Having watched all of RA's games to date, I think there is hope and also some progress, relative to where we've been. The reality is that we cannot and should not settle for being a counter-attacking team and this is necessary transitional pain. It will pass and results and performances will improve. The crowd at OT needs to be patient and supportive - again, the change in those attending over the past 30 years and the growth in tourists does not help
We need to back the manager - he's doing the right thing and plainly is a good coach based on his achievements. The club need to buy a left wing back in January. this is the single action that will make the biggest difference.
Fans need to remain calm. There's a sense of the mismanagement of the past 15 years coming to a head and being addressed. We need to empower the man tasked with addressing it on the football side - and that applies to the club and the match-going fans.
1.) 31 Dec 2024 09:24:39
Casemeiro and Ericssen need to be moved on this January transfer window. They are ineffectual, well most of the squad is.
I was hoping see Kukonki get some minute's, hopefully I'll see that soon.
2.) 31 Dec 2024 10:18:51
Hojlund has a lot to prove. Young so gets a pass I guess. But he is far far away from a finished article. He’s a big lad but his hold up play is woeful. Mark Hughes must cringe every time he watches him.
3.) 31 Dec 2024 10:41:52
LWB and a striker along with some midfield legs is a necessity in January Rasmus is nowhere near the required standard, followed by a decent GK because Onana is not it
All our centrebacks are useless leaving Yoro aside because he still young and learning, Deligt no better than McGuire, Martinez very poor.
It’s a shocking bunch of players, even Mainoo not got no legs!
4.) 31 Dec 2024 11:39:01
Garnacho and Rashford will come good. You'll see.
26 Apr 2022 20:51:53
Long time reader. First time poster. I have an idea to register dissatisfaction with the first XI and the Glazers, while supporting the club: how about packing out Old Trafford for the Youth Cup final (£1 a ticket), while boycotting the first XI's remaining fixtures?
1.) 26 Apr 2022 22:22:02
I think there’s already 30,000 tickets sold.
2.) 27 Apr 2022 11:09:06
Not so sure that the protests have much effect on the owners but a few things I think/ hope are becoming apparent to them.
I'm not pro Glazer (not really anti either), OK they used hedge funds to acquire the club and then switched the borrowed money of the funds to money secured from the assets of the club. That is just business plus, they have made money available (about £1 billion) to buy players (further assets) . If the assets diminish then I would imagine they would have to cough up the difference in the value of assets to the loan. Just maybe, with so many players going to be out of contract, that the asset is fading.
I think the problem they caused themselves by putting an egotistical maniac (Woodward) in charge as reward for helping them buy the club. They should have been hands on themselves, getting a feeling of what running a football club is about, rather than sitting in the US and letting Woodward take care of things. Things such as keeping the asset value high, probably why DDG is being offered a new contract rather than letting it run down and Pogba also being offered more money to stay.
I just hope they come to realise that the longer the club toils the more likely that their cash cow is likely to starve and even die.
3.) 27 Apr 2022 12:01:36
I hoped the failed super league fiasco would have frightened them off as it was a guaranteed cash cow now unavailable to them.
I do wonder if the clamour for Chelsea at around 3 billion and the expense to build a new stadium on top of that purchase price has shown them now might be a good time to sell with buyers around .
4.) 27 Apr 2022 12:45:45
Already got my tickets for me and my daughter.
Looking forward to it.
30 Aug 2025 20:52:48
Broadly correct. They're playing better than the end of last year, which in turn was better than early 2025/ late 2024. Grimsby was a poor performance, but with a better GK it's an underwhelming win in 90 mins. Cunha and Mbuemo are good players making a clear difference. Yoro is going to be a very good player. Mount is playing very well, Shaw likewise. We need to convert more of the chances and this reflects a degree of neurosis that's there more acutely in the set piece defending.
The team, club, manager and fans need to be patient and keep moving forward, it's too easy to get caught up in the moment and Amorim is as guilty of this as anyone.
Things are getting better. The eye doesn't lie. A better GK and a mobile, tall replacement for the Casemiro role would move us on considerably. Finally, while he can be frustrating at times, history will be kind to Bruno. He has committed the best years of his career to the worst period of United for 30 years. Likewise, one can see that other players really care as well: Dalot and Mbuemo notably.
28 Aug 2025 19:20:53
You could blindfold yourself, stick a pin in a list of all four English football divisions and stand a 90% chance of selecting a better keeper than the current United top 2. I would select Heaton against Burnley and would consider bringing Vitek back from loan as well. One can criticise the overall team performance against Grimsby, but without the GK errors we win. Also, we run the risk of not.
12 May 2025 20:39:49
That's a fabulous post and I couldn't agree more DLIB.
Yesterday was a big disappointment and the first team squad remains a mess of the ownership and several manager's making.
Yesterday, the first 20 mins were ok, but the lack of attacking drive and chance creation (just putting the ball in the box) was striking. I don't know why really in the light of RA's comments post match comments, but it felt like they were scared to cross, even though there were two left footed players on the left and we had plenty of possession. I was also puzzled by RA starting Amad at right wing back on his first start after injury and both goals came from confusion down that flank.
But, as DLIB notes, this is mostly on the owners, not RA (every manager makes hundreds of choices in the run up and during a game and they don't always work out) . I have seen enough this season to think that it will improve and we need to keep pressing on and supporting the team and RA.
One of the things not noted about the difference in performance level from Thursday to Sunday is that OT rocks on Thursdays and is like a garden party on Sunday. That's not the only difference - the general quality of the premiership is the highest I can ever recall team by team, excepting the bottom 3 - but it is significant. Both the team and the crowd seem to shrink into their shell at the first sign of adversity.
28 Apr 2025 10:38:09
I agree that the PL season is dribbling to a close and that the current standard of performance is not good enough in the long term. However, I also think that there has been and continues to be marked improvement in the performances. Most games, United are the better team and would be winning, with better finishing and more refinement in the attacking patterns/ better decision making in the final third.
We have played a sequence of games in recent weeks against teams that beat us comprehensively over the pre and post Xmas period. This has been reversed in 3 months.
You may be right that RA needs to show more tactical flexibility, I would argue he has tweaked a little already. Our biggest problem is scoring goals and the need for Bruno to play 2 or 3 different positions each game to try to create something. By and large the defence is ok, not great but ok, with Yoro likely to be a real asset next year. The midfield is solid, but not very creative, except when Bruno drops deep, and only one of the front 3 (Bruno, again) looks a good fit for the system, in the absence of Amad. The goalkeeper is a liability btw.
I think the jury is out on whether RA is the answer, time will tell, but I see clear progress. We outplayed Bournemouth yesterday for most of the game. At Old Trafford in December they beat us so comprehensively it was embarrassing. That's progress. Not as much as we'd like, but it is progress and I don't see how changing manager again would help, so we need to be patient.
13 Apr 2024 21:57:58
As with all recent games, it was poor, but even within a dreadful team performance Casemiro stood out for one of the worst, lowest effort, lackadaisical, inept performances by a supposedly top class player that I've ever seen. Shameful. He's either injured, in which case he shouldn't be selected, or he's not trying. We would be better playing anyone other than him. What must Eriksen and Mount be thinking sat on the bench? Why not give Dan Gore a go? I don't know what's gone on with Casemiro this year, but he's a disgrace to the club and the shirt at the moment.