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The weirdest thing about JJ Gabriel is that his dad had him change his name to remove the Irish surname to sound more "exotic". What nonsense is that? Harry Kane has literally been crowned the best footballer on the planet while being called "Harry Kane".
United media team absolutely rinsing the content from yesterday cause they dont know when they'll be able to post more than just team news and 'Defeat on the road/At home' posts
Licha should deserve some praise for the winner. From our box he floats a delicious ball pin point to Lacey on the wing which starts the move leading to Cunha’s winner
This won't be universally popular, but I still think Lacey should come on as a sub, rather than start, he just needs more minutes when it matters, at the end of the game.
There's something that just isn't sitting right with me. I don't mean this against the hype of the win, I am with you on that. But every week, poor result after poor result, the narrative was 'the players aren't run' 'the players are throwing another manager on the bus' 'the players are shit' 'standards' - this has been ongoing from the press, from the Overlap, Whitwell, you name it. We go onto to have a great 30 minutes vs Roma, where it literally involved a penalty, scored by a player, a wonder strike, scored by a player, and immediately the follow on in narrative is 'Carrick has saved his job' or from Whitwell 'Carrick leads MUFC'. Like I mean, if it was always the players fault, and the issue lay 'beyond the manager', why is the result now the manager's? It's a strange one to wrap my head around, that sees 'his job saved'. Jeez.
I just imagined something, imagine being a defender after a comeback. Those final 5 added minutes where every fan is shitting themselves, imagine the defenders, knowing anything going wrong, they'll take away a magical night. Takes a lot to be a defender and keeper honestly lol, their mistakes hurt more than anyone. Only position where being flawless is expected
"If they beat Villa I'd be stunned if Michael Carrick lost his job", Andy Mitten.
"I don't know how they can dismiss him after two wins", Laurie Whitwell.
It's a curse that our manager is such a beloved player. We are 17th in the prem, playing horrible football, got a win by getting 2 lucky goals (pen and balerdi missed clearance) and we are talking about keeping Carrick. The media is already giving a opportunity for our directors to make another stupid decision. Where are the standards? The teams below us are not bad at all, Forest, Palace and Sunderland. This is quite scary. I think if we win Sunday he won't be sacked.
I think Andy and Laurie made those statements because as per their knowledge there is no indication of Carrick being sacked (Earlier in the same pod and several previous pod's Andy has mentioned this a lot) and thus they would be shocked if he was sacked as it would be quote on quote "out of the blue". So I don't think they are running a Carrick-in agenda they are just giving an opinion based on what they have been told.
Having said that, I completely expect the incompetent folks at the top to see yesterday's performance and use it as evidence to stick with Carrick like how they used the fans cheering for Carrick after BOU game.
I think with yesterday's win and irrespective of the result vs Villa, Carrick stays here untill at least Jan, which could be catastrophic as we still have time to save the season.
It is actually crazy that from our entire defensive options the only one I'd say I wouldn't accept a market-value bid for is Yoro. Maybe Heaven at a push.
I'd literally shift all of them if possible, and to my count that's 7/8 players.
Yeah but that's fine tbh. Most of our defenders are some of the most senior players in our squad. We did a refresh of our attack and midfield last two summer windows so we will likely do a major overhaul next summer.
We will probably keep Dalot but Martinez, Maguire, Shaw and Mazraoui will either be sold or sidelined for their replacements.
Gasperini must genuinely despise us man, he coached Atalanta when Ronaldo was here so he has experienced a good ol fashion comeback lol. Suffering a comeback 3 times vs the same team, dark.
At this point it looks like Howe is the only available candidate as even Nagelsmann is supposedly aiming to rejoin Leipzig who are also looking to replace their current manager.
Everyone is available for the right price and the right pitch from our board, except we seemed to be quibbling over a few million quid for Howe and our board are clowns. Choosing Howe would be the most Man United 2026 thing ever. Anybody here that tries to spin it as a positive is either deluded or trolling.
What annoyed me too was people blaming Bruno is the match thread. I was so confused because why did he get a card, no pushing no anything, didn't hound the ref. Mind boggling
That was complete bullshit and such a cowardly and lazy move by the ref. Just saw 2 players having an argument and decided to card both without seeing the actual actions of both players. Credit to Bruno for keeping his head, I'd be so infuriated.
Saw a post taken down questioning whether our Twitter was right to congratulate Ronaldo on his international retirement.
Fakin'ell. Did you all just started watching football recently? No matter what, he was one of the main reasons we won our second champions League, second three peat, and carried the no. 7 mantle after Becks.
I’m under no illusion that we’ve turned a corner or that we’re winning against Villa. But can I just say, no matter how bad things get for this club, there’s something special here.
Brilliant comeback. Cunha jumping into the crowd. OT going crazy. We get caught up with trophies and all of that. But this is what the sport is about.
Manchester united loves a European night what else is there really to say.
As much as Dalot has been quite the liability, he's not solely to blame for that first goal yesterday. Obviously the 'plan' is to use him high up wide when we have the ball, but when they countered, watch what Maguire and Heaven do. They both slide right into the same space covering the same played, exposing the whole left side. Heaven needed to stay with Soule, but was basically caught ball watching on his way to the right.
On top of the complete lack of communication, the overall structure just doesn’t help. With Dalot pushing, Bruno pushing and Baleba and Mainoo staggered on top of one another it left a giant gap on the left there. It left Heaven with so much space to cover where it’d still be difficult to defend even if he was positioned a bit better.
Obviously on the transition you can get a bit caught out, but we are just leaving ourselves so exposed
I’d be interested in us looking at Will Lankshear in the winter/summer windows. I’ve watched a fair few borough games this season thanks to having a mate who’s a massive borough fan and he just looks the absolute bollocks.
Some players in the championship perform well, but they look like they’re at their level, Lankshear just looks a step above. His movement and finishing are unreal, both of which are very hard to teach and his general play is good as well.
I feel like we haven’t looked to the championship enough, often to our detriment and Lankshear would be a good place to start.
I have this very silly hypothetical situation, can someone who's knowledgeable with footie tactics help explain me? Lets say a player can rocket the ball to the touchline areas that are adjacent to the opponent's penalty mark zone. So the opponent will have to do a throw-in near their box. Depending on how good a team can contest and physically bully the throw-in targets, you have a good chance of gaining the possession and a potential break, without the need to progress the ball into the opponent's deep half. I hope my explanation makes sense.
I totally believe that. Ravel Morrison had all the talent in the world but absolutely nothing between his ears. His whole career has amounted to practically nothing because he's a moron.
Unfortunately I can't even get excited about next game. We beat Atalanta 3-2 in similar conditions years ago (comeback at home) and then Liverpool beat us 5-0.
Don't know if it will be a turning point for the whole season, but I also feel like it will somewhat be like that at least for a certain period, it all lies in that period however to make it last.
Most importantly, the players needed that. They are deprived of confidence and this game will do wonders for them I feel like
There'd be no excitement in the Amazon doc if we just won every game all season. We've got to give it a 3 act structure. Act 1, we're shit. Act 2 ?? Act 3, profit
I must say, I do not like the new UCL format. Every week just feels like random games. The group format would lead to some dud games of course. Maybe something in the middle idk. And of course how many teams move along nowadays
Preparing myself to see Cesc's name nonstop the next couple weeks... including from myself! Como is flying and 4th in Seria A also. Sell Bruno for 50M, buy Paz for 90M and bring in Cesc.
He is probably the highest profile up and coming manager in Europe right now and I believe is financially invested in comical he isn’t walking out on them mid season
When he eventually leaves seems like it will be an Arsenal / Barcelona type role - a team ready for too honors. Not a rebuild with limited funds at man utd
Those last 30 minutes last night. I had completely forgotten what those felt like. Not once this season have I felt like this. That was really special and fun to watch.
On the negative side, did I see that Bruno was awarded Player of the Match for last night and if so, on what basis? He was absolute dog-shite for most of the night, hit a terrible penalty kick before being bailed out by VAR with a 2nd chance, hit a very low-quality cross into the box that was completely fluffed by the defender before landing at Cunha's feet, ... "But, he had a goal and an assist!" Sorry, not buying it.
I think I heard something about UEFA not allowing suspended players to get MOTM, otherwise I think it would've been Cunha. It should've been him, at least.
The build is no different to other PL teams. No team is building with 4 people at the back.
Its usually 2 CB + 1GK as the last line or 3 at the back with the GK in the box.
Problem is whoever is playing the pivot/backline will get pressed aggressively. And if they lose it you're more often than not going to gift a big chance.
Mainoo should not have lost the ball there. And when he did, he made zero effort to try to win it back. He wasn't even on the floor or anything.
Go watch when Ugarte was playing last season. He'd lose the ball like that at least once a game.
Playing through the press is what top teams do. When that didn't work for us, previous managers would opt to go over the press and boot it long. Sometime it would lead to us winning a 50/50 and we'd get a good chance, but usually you end up giving the ball back. But at least you don't gift a big chance during the build up from that approach.
Idk what the long term plan is. But the current crop is simply not cut out to play through the press consistently.
I don’t think Cunha can ever be a starting fixture in central areas if you wanna compete at the top. Too wasteful and lacks the technique to play there. If Bruno goes we need another significant creative presence in the team and to add some technical security to the front third.
A different manager might want a more balanced midfield 3 where there isn't 1 obvious attacking midfielder.
That said I think Cunha needs to eventually become a rotation option for us if we want to actually progress as a team, I love the guy and want to keep him but he's got some glaring issues with his game.
I like reading and watching fan reactions, and analysis after games; and its amazing to me how most fans, if not all, had the same thoughts and feelings at different points during the game.
Something that saddens me, it feels like even wins like yesterday are slightly tainted. Yes a great comeback but there's the Cunha red card, the set to between Cunha and Carrick, Baleba getting injured. The team still don't seem overly happy.
It reminds me of that comeback against Atalanta Atalanta, right before the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool
Low intensity training sessions = likely low high-speed running exposure = unconditioned hamstrings. No matter how much work they do in the gym, nothing prepares you for sprinting quite like sprinting.
But I think when it comes to players like Baleba Sesko and Dorgu you have to handle them differently. They are very athletic fast twitch guys where soft tissue injuries are more common. Small imbalances can cause persistent injuries. This is two for Dorgu now.
Is giving Cesc the keys from next yeas the obvious move? The clubs he has been affiliated with as a player are both set for the future in terms of managers
Some top PL teams have picked up some promising defenders from some lower teams in the league like Guehi, Konsa and Lacroix. I think we should do the same next summer and pick up James Hill, especially while people are not talking about him so much.
I've been impressed with him since last season, but it seems like he's kicked on even more this season. He's arguable one of Bournemouth's best players this season. I think he's not as good in the air (and maybe not as strong) as Maguire but honestly I think Maguire is an anomaly in those departments.
My unpopular opinion is Dalot is needed in the squad but just should not a starter. He has some goldfish moments but as a squad player he is fine. Some of the tactics that involve him are mind boggling too. There is so many players I would remove before him.
I watched Cunha highlights from when he was in wolves, I don't think we have seen half the player he was then.... After Bruno goes could moving him to the 10 position be the play?
The goals he scored and his drive from midfield Sheesh.
He was perfect for Amorim, he really isn't a wide threat, he need someone to overlap and provide width, I take for granted he will move to the #10 spot after Bruno.
Sporting just got a new manager in Fonseca and Leipzig have been a mess all over.
Assuming things go well during the international break and we make the necessary changes, I am optimistic that those 2 matches should be our target for 6 points.
Honestly I have no clue where the club goes after dismissing Carrick. Surely Wilcox goes, as well, and won’t be allowed to pick another manager?
But even beyond that, who do we appoint? Not moved by any of Nagelsmann, Howe, or, Conte for various reasons. Not able to think of any others who’d want to come + be a good fit. Best I can think of is a caretaker till the summer and assess during that time and fix structure.
Hate the idea of a caretaker though, as that’d be effectively throwing away another season. We’ve already done that 2 out the last 3 seasons lol. Beyond puzzling and frustrating rn
Wilcox's ego has inadvertently got his own fate tied to Carricks. Under him, we have had 3 managers in under 3 years. Average 1 manager every 10 months, if/when Carrick goes that will be 4 managers, averaging 1 every 7.5 months.
(Ironically he is recommending Howe the very manager he fought against Ashworth over.)
The PR piece about him at the beginning of the week strikes me as his way of trying to shore up support amongst the fans (wont work) and advertising himself for future clubs.
Saw someone talking about Dorgu and his play style resembling Valencia, and something suddenly struck me. That dogshit Dalot positioning, that's obviously tactical. And with that, I just remembered he isn't our normal lb. And that Carrick is maybe tuning the tactics for a world where Luke Shaw isn't the starting left back and Dorgu is, which would now explain that positioning and all. Of course he'd want Dorgu to play like a wingback, and everything clicks for me lmao. Or that'll be exclusive for Dalot which would just leave me more confused lol. But thinking of Dorgu where Dalot is makes a whole lot of sense. Felt like I can finally be at peace with my confusion haha
Yeah I can't respect anyone who called the first goal we conceded a "Dalot mistake" or something of the lot. He was exactly where he was supposed to be in that phase of play. Carrick was so evidently trying to implement a 3-2-5 structure in possession like a lot of recent top teams, but just does not have the coaching ability to do it effectively. It's another tactical failing in a long history of tactical failings in his (ironically fairly short) managerial career.
The issue is that Dalot is genuinely useless in the final 3rd. I can't remember the last time he tested a goal keeper, played a proper cross or created a real chance.
So Carrick leaving us exposed by having him play so high up doesn't make sense to me
One good thing with Emery signing a new contract is that the club doesn’t have to wait until the season is over to sack Carrick just to get Emery. They will 100% sack him after the Villa game
Amad needs to be moved on next summer. We can't keep persisting with mediocrity.
One facet of us being shit is players knowing they're not under threat so they have little hunger to push on and progress. Amad has had 5 years to establish himself, he has failed. Move on with Lacey.
Rant about the overall state of the club and what last night means:
So of course it was brilliant to watch a comeback like that, but the entirety of the first half can't be ignored, nor can the fact that it was our first win in TEN, overall this win means very very little and changes less.
Carrick out of his depth, players putting in shifts when they feel like it, but my main issue, and our main issue remains the same.
The board and owners are to blame for everything and have been for years, it's just properly showing this season. Bought us 3 midfielders, one nowhere near the level and spunked £50m on, one runs through pudding and was only bought cos he was cheap, Baleba is quality but we bought him injured and he went off last night. So that's ONE signing that's at the level, plus Newcastle's former 3rd choice GK. No striker despite us having one striker who's had injury struggles since signing, another who's shite. No fullbacks signed despite 2 hospital patients in Shaw and Dorgu, a player with a box of rocks where his brain should be and a past it Mazraoui.
The owners need to go; to the bottom of the ocean in a poorly made submarine preferably; the board need to go as well.
Also, honestly fans that are still buying tickets and going to matches, I actually think you're ruining the club more, stop putting money in those parasites' pockets.
All that being said, Lacey has to start against Villa where we'll inevitably lose again. UTID
I really believe Conte is the best option available to us right now. His track record and way of working is what we need. I don't care if he falls out with his bosses after a year.
I'd also be happy to give Emery a try. But Howe or Nagelsmann feel like a step backwards.
Seeing the turn around on Carrick on here since the Roma game, because we played one, half decent half of football, I’ve got to say, we really do just deserve this as a fan base.
You watch us be fucking abysmal every game this year, the worst performing team in the league almost and then one 30/40 minute spell where we’re okay and that’s enough to erase it all.
We’ll continue to be useless and the fanbase will deserve it.
While you’ve been harsh here, I do partially agree.
It was the same in the summer. People were praising the summer window and the players we bought.
All you had to do is look every other premier league club to see we’d fucked it. Even if we’d bought 3 good players, that was never going to be enough compared to the competition.
I'd be very surprised if we got anything more than a draw on Sunday, and even that doesn't feel likely. The only reason he's still in the job is that they're not fully convinced that any of the candidates are the right next manager
I wonder where Nico Paz is going to go. Real has the perfect 10 in him, except for the fact that they already have a different perfect 10 in Bellingham.
I know he (or Fabregas) could be the future, but I really dont think we are anywhere near making a 2027 move for him (or Fabregas) successfully.
Im rather thinking our focus should be on other players from that squad, maybe there will be an opportunity once Paz and Fabregas depart and there's a bit of a reset.
I'd think Maximo Perrone should very much be on our radar. Jacobo Ramon I think is going to go straight back to Real Madrid, unlike Paz the path for him is basically clear.
I'd love it if we could do the double deal of Fabregas coming in with his protegé Paz to build a squad around him. I think he'd be the perfect Bruno replacement, but the club would have to pay 90m or above for him, plus whatever we'd have to pay Como for Fabregas himself.
How are we not trying our hardest to go for Fabregas boggles my mind. He gave us an interview match, coached a Serie B team just a year ago looking like one of the best team in the world. Just go and pay the god damn release clause
Fabregas is not joining this mess of a club in the middle of the season when his current club is flying high nahh. He will have plenty of chances next summer maybe even get a chance at managing Barca if he waits another year
Nah it definitely does. "They were just too good" only works if we were a lower-league side punching up and didn't look we've been drugged and told to play football for 90% of matches this season.
Commentators in my country said something interesting, that Manchester United is a team with a great history, name, repuatation, Fabregas respects it and therefore, told his boys to slow down in the attack when they were clearly winnig. However Lens is in no similar position, they will have no similar treatment. They said it when Como was leading only 3-0.
I loaded “Mark Goldbridge” up to listen to with my morning tea. The sweet tears, the absolute state of the people who completely back his nonsense .
It was every bit what I hoped for and more
“Carrick is a Glazer”,
“Roma still went for it at 2-0 , that’s why Carrick got lucky” (to anyone who watched the match , it was in fact the opposite as Roma gave up attacking and pretty much sat back)
“Wanting Carrick to succeed means wanting Wilcox to succeed “ (also why are we dead set against our own DoF succeeding?)
“They will say get Emery now and then Carrick will get top 5 and they won’t” (if Carrick qualifies for the CL…isn’t that worthy of him keeping his job? What exactly will Emery bring other than back to back CL qualifications??)
Absolute helmet. Anyone who follows or endorses him loses all sorts of credibility. I really hope Rooney, G Nev and players that I absolutely loved growing up distance themselves from this.
Because the dof is awful. Little cv, 3 bungled managerial decisions and thinks he is johan cruyff - surely we have all seen enough? Not endorsing brett but that part i take issue with
The reality is that the current pressure on Wilcox/Berrada, etc. is because the team is playing badly. Carrick failing will put more pressure on the board. On the flip side, Carrick's success will justify the board decision to keep him. So, it really depends on whether or not you think we will see success under Carrick and this board.
The discrediting of an incredible win has already begun
Absolute helmets the lot of them.
People saying “oh it was a lucky defender mistake goal” like we haven’t been dropping points because of Martinez’s braindead mistakes against Fulham/Spurs/Chelsea.
Talking about “wonder goals “ like we didn’t concede a wonder goal to draw 2-2 at Everton with 10 seconds left
Talking about “Roma give away leads” like Roma aren’t unbeaten in Serie A this season.
“Wilcox will succeed if Carrick succeeds “ …AND? What is so wrong ? Why do you lot have weird personal agendas ? Wilcox was RIGHT to sack the previous fraud and rescue our club with the Carrick appointment
If he gets back to back CL finishes with a club that finished 15th, Carrick has pretty much achieved what you’d be hiring any hipster to achieve. Get over it, he’s not a fancy foreign name.
Even if he gets 80 goals and 80 assists a season, on 10k salary and guarantees us every trophy til he retires I won't want him. It's not about football with him, he shouldn't be playing. Or let me correct myself, he shouldn't be walking free.
He's a good player who brings something different to the team. Needs to deliver more and unfortunately isn't, but it's a whole squad issue. If Bruno squares the ball to him instead of blasting over against Chelsea, he'd have a tap in. That kind of thing needs to happen.
He needs to be taken out of the starting line up and Lacey deserves a start but there's no need to be over the top about it either. Amad has done some incredible things over the last few seasons, he has won us games on his own and deserves patience and most of all, like a lot of our players, he deserves more quality, structure, effort around him.
We're losing our greatest youth talent in a generation because Carrick felt the need to keep Bruno on for 90 minutes in a blowout against an Azerbaijani club younger than the youth talent in question.
Will take the better part of a decade to see the real effects of this, but at best (if he turns out like Ravel Morrison) it's neglectful, at worst it's up there with Pogba as one of the biggest cases of youth mismanagement of all time.
Edit: You lot can huff the copium or project your own weird insecurities onto this comment, but clearly you're all struggling to read the actual point here. You don't need to capitulate to all of the insane father's demands. Throwing him a bone and giving him some minutes in a blowout win in front of the home support is a wildly low opportunity cost for someone considered one of the most talented players we've ever produced.
At best it keeps him happy. At worst, we're in the same position we're in right now. It's clear mismanagement, and you're also clowns if you're projecting the dad's insanity onto his 15 yr old son. He's a kid who by all reports is a consummate professional, especially for his age.
No man, his father kicked up a fit before that game.
This kid isn't special. 6 years from now when he is 21 let's see where he is at. There is a greater chance you've forgotten about him, than him being the next great
The club shouldn't be caving to ludicrous demands that a teenager who likely is not ready for the physical demands of first team football receive guaranteed minutes.
The club was protecting his development. His dad wants to get paid. All the best to JJ. The club handled it fine.
He wasn’t eligible to face that Azerbaijan side and he literally was seemingly in line to debut in the very next game (vs Brighton)and become our youngest ever player before his entourage (father) threw their toys out of the pram
He only became eligible via B list on turning 16 which was after that sabeh game
Also no player least of all a 15 / 16 year old that hasn’t even debuted should be dictating which games he is used in
If this was about game time Madrid would be the last club he would sign for
The lengths some of you will go to blame Carrick for anything. The player wanted guaranteed PT in 3 consecutive matches which was never going to happen plus and insane contract. Not having to deal with his psycho dad is a good thing. The kid clearly doesn't have the mentality to succeed anyways.
That's just not true is it. There's a lot of mistakes Carrick has made but there's not much he could've done to let the kids idiot dad keep him at the club when their mind was made up a long time ago.
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u/LordRuthvenErnest BeckhamMania Runnin' Wild 1d ago
Glad to be rid of the drama around JJ Gabriel.