We will come to Spurs v Chelsea later but let’s take a minute to study the absolute sh*t-show at Man Utd. Oh dear.
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Different manager, same old Man Utd
Following the defeat to Forest, it;s resulted in 2 defeats in 4 days for Ruben Amorim, who did mention a storm is coming, but I think it’s only the beginning in terms of the struggles for him and his team. United sit in 13th place in the league table, and providing it’s almost the middle of December, I would say that United would find themselves extremely fortunate to finish in the top half of the league table by the end of the season.
Brighton, Fulham, Newcastle and Villa are all currently better than United in terms of quality and reliability. I would even squeeze Spurs into the argument too, but Spurs are just as inconsistent and shite as United as well.
Yes the new manager has just walked into the door, but the question beckons why on earth the club decided to keep Ten Hag in the summer and didn’t get Amorim in the summer instead so he could have a proper pre-season. United got a new sporting director and others in the summer, so why didn’t they get a new manager at the time too so everyone was on the same page?
Now that Dan Ashworth has walked away, or perhaps didn’t want to work with the new manager and preferred working with Ten Hag, Amorim now finds himself in similar situations previous managers were in, with no sporting or football director in place to help make the signings he needs in improving the team.
On paper, United’s team isn’t terrible and they have a decent number of youngsters and experienced players in the team. But my god, the chemistry between the players is bloody terrible, and the first thing Amorim needs to do is build up the confidence (and make sure that doesn’t turn into negligence), and improve the level of teamwork and quality the players are currently providing. I think Rashford is United’s top scorer in the league with 4 goals to his name. This is borderline relegation form in terms of goals input from the team, and it’s worrying how poor the team are even with a new manager in the door which you would think would somewhat motivate the team.
I think a number of players have already given up on the season and are looking to play the victim card, think its too hard to change how they can play in the middle of the season. The only players this season who seem to be giving it close to 100% and actually showing some quality and consistency are Mazraoui, Hojlund, Ugarte and Amad. That’s it. Oh and maybe Onana at a push, but turned into Onana of last season after yesterday’s display.
I think United will finish 9th or 10th maximum in the league this year, and that’s if the team are bloody lucky. They won’t do anything in Europe or the FA Cup, and I doubt that any player will get above 15 goals in the season.
To say what the next step is for Amorim is already in question, but he needs to find out what players are going to be with him in the long term and which ones to get rid of in the summer. Oh and for goodness sake, sign an actual f**king left back in January.
Shaw and Malacia are about as a reliable as a torn up condom, just damaged goods at this point, and Dalot clearly can’t play left back (I actually think Dalot is a half decent player, but he was abysmal yesterday). I wouldn’t even know what back three should start currently, but Mazraoui has to start at CB with another two alongside him. The guy can actually tackle and be aggressive, unlike 80% of the team.
I would say the other two should probably be Maguire and Yoro. At this point, give the youngster a chance because De Ligt and Martinez need a reality check and should get dropped after the way they have started the season together, they have been bloody crap as a pair starting most matches.
As for the front three starting, it should be Bruno, Hojlund and Amad currently. Garnacho and Rashford can come in some games, but nowhere near reliable enough and have the intelligence in some games to just do the simple things. Things need to change quickly, otherwise its going to be another season of misery and disappointment for the fans, and with United playing City next in the league, despite City playing pretty badly at the moment, may god help United and the sack of potato players we have.
Rami, Dubai
Stop rotating, Ruben
While rotation has merits, especially in relation to many games and fixture congestion, routine rotation with rigid regularity is detrimental. Amorim has persistently employed rotation as a tactical tool in his team selection. A case in point is Amorim team selection against Arsenal which saw in form players like Amad on the bench in the name of rotation.
Amorim must rethink his rotation philosophy and give due consideration to fielding his best performing players who are fit and available. If a player is injured, shows signs of fatigue or otherwise demonstrate unreadiness to play at anytime, then he should be replaced. That is the surest way to success in football, not rotation for the sake of rotation.
Professor (Dr) David Achanfuo Yeboah
READ: Man United fail to weather storm as Amorim prediction proved right by high-flying Forest
…Firstly, in the Premier League if you don’t give 100% you’ll lose. United were pathetic in “wanting it”. you need to at least equal your opponents and then assume your greater skill will win.
Secondly, Rueben is using league games as training sessions. Different line ups, multiple subs. Probably a good idea in the long term. Give the pundits a orgasm or two in the meantime.
Tony Clarke
Tradition
Manchester United is club of traditions. It matters. This is Manchester United after all. And reassuring to see Amorim already upholding these. Since Alex Ferguson left there has been a proud tradition of allowing journalists to write sentences like: “their first win at old Trafford for X years” or “their first win over Manchester United since Y”. It’s great to see Amorim keeping the flame alive.
Mike, LFC, Dubai
Man Utd have found the rat
Well it’s a good thing we’ve finally identified the big issue with United. The man responsible for 10+ years of inept management has been found and was taken care of. Dan Ashworth’s reign of terror is finally over.
This is comical even by United’s lowest of low standards. Relegation and factory reset should be the aim now, but this club keeps pathetically insisting it just needs a facelift and scapegoating anyone it can find in its vicinity. As long as the fans can keep getting milked for zero return, it’s all coming up Ratcliffe. Long may it continue.
Tom (to be fair, Ashworth’s defending against corners was atrocious), LFC
READ: Manchester United have backed Ruben Amorim at Dan Ashworth’s expense – now it better pay off
…Celebrity sporting directors chased aggressively by a rich club really doesn’t work out in the end, does it?
Paul
Where’s Zola’s backheel goal?
I enjoyed the piece on great backheel goals (though aren’t they always), though in my humble opinion one of the all time greats was missed. Zola vs Norwich in the FA cup. Running full speed to front post from a corner, on the volley into the top corner. Personally I’d rank it well above Giroud’s based on the fact it was completely intentional and a moment of remarkable skill.
He also promised to score a special goal for a young lad dying of a brain tumour a week or so before. Therefore has a ridiculously heart warming background story too. Unbeatable for me!
Gez Errico, Nottingham
Mikel Arteta is a fake AllardyceA few weeks ago, I wrote in and asked the simple question: what would be the point of spending £650k on an in-car ashtray, when your car was missing a functioning accelerator? And when you could have improvised with £2 tinfoil from Poundland instead? A lot of angry Arsenal fans for some reason, wrote in about Havertz (who I never mentioned by name, strange)
Watching Arsenal absolutely dominate Fulham for 80+ minutes at Craven Cottage, all the ball, chance after chance… The only chance for Arsenal to score a goal? Why, a set piece of course! Really beating off them Pulis allegations lads 🤣🤣🤣 Imagine spending all that dosh to become a one-dimensional FAKE ALLARDYCE! Oh the irony, after years of arrogant bollocks from Gooners about “playing the right way” under Wenger eh 😉
And with Arsenal desperately chasing a goal with 20 minutes to go, your £65m ashtray is subbed off. In his place? On comes a £50m balsa-wood bum, a Fake Brazilian “striker”, who cannot get anywhere near the starting 11 for a team clearly desperate for a striker.
The other obvious point was that the pressure was on Arsenal: Liverpool didn’t play and Citeh dropped another 2 points. So naturally, Arsenal and that eternal mentality of choking, was always going to rear its head – Arsenal were never winning after both Citeh and Liverpool didn’t “get” 3 points this weekend. 🙄
Pretty funny to think Isak is on less than half of both Havertz and Jesus’ weekly wages. A serious club would pay Newcastle the requested £115m in January for a player who isn’t cup-tied in Europe and is electric in the league. Therefore, expect Arteta to surprise us all and spaff £74m on another defensive-minded player, of no fixed position 😂
Stewie Griffin (Arsenal need to eventually succeed, just to put an end to this 21-season Farce of a series. What kind of performance art show lasts THIS many seasons! When is the Finale lads?! Even LOST came to an end eventually haha)
…Comparing the current Arsenal to Delap era Stoke is unfair. Stoke could score goals that weren’t from set pieces.
Mel – Dublin, Berlin, Athlone Town