We’re back with another vibes-o-meter reading, and the recent stretch of games reminded us that it’s a fool’s errand to try and read this team’s vibes week in and week out.
In the four games since our last reading, United lost a frustratingly winnable home game against a 10-men Everton side, won an unexpected match at fourth-ranked Crystal Palace, drew another frustratingly winnable home game against West Ham — who are more than flirting with relegation — and a 4-1 win at Wolves that was tied at halftime despite Wolves tracking to be the worst team in the league’s history 33-year history.
Classic Manchester United.
If there is any solace as we look forward to the next run of matches, United have tended to play up or down to the level of competition. Bournemouth are in a poor run of form recently, which has dropped them into 13th place — only five points behind fifth-place United, I might add — but they’re feisty! And Aston Villa is on a hot streak, vaulting all the way to third-place, so maybe United will surprise us as they did with Palace.
Adding to the fluctuation in vibes is the roster’s availability. Mason Mount is looking healthy and playing well, and Lisandro Martinez is finally back on the pitch after missing nearly a year. However, the squad continues to miss Harry Maguire and Benjamin Sesko, and, now, Matthjis de Ligt has missed two games and is doubtful for the match against Bournemouth. The departure of Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo, and Noussair Mazraoui for the African Cup of Nations is also imminent.
This squad is not exactly deep and missing out on those three players on top of the injuries is going to complicate matters.
You know what is cool, though? My prediction for friend of the site Carl Anka’s annual Bad Predictions Amnesty Twitter Thread is looking alright 15 matches into the season!
Kind of makes you wonder what would be possible if Bruno hasn’t had to play out of position all season, yeah?
I’ll finish this piece by reiterating that United has every opportunity to finish well this season and set itself up for a more-continentally-focused 2026-27 campaign. I will also plagiarize myself by running back the final paragraphs of the last vibes-o-meter:
> The holiday period makes or breaks a team’s season, and United have a very favorable schedule on paper. By the time we celebrate the New Year, United will have played Wolves (who are basically already relegated) twice, 17th-place West Ham and 14th-place Newcastle United — and they have relegation-bound Leeds and Burnley waiting for them immediately on the other side of the ball drop. However, United must also overcome a resurgent fourth-place Aston Villa, fifth-place Crystal Palace, and eighth-place Bournemouth.
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> Frankly, if this team wants to play in Europe next season, they can’t play scared in those top-half of the table clashes, especially not when they’re the direct competition for those European places. Of course, it’ll be a taller order considering the fluctuation in squad availability.
The sentiment of what I wrote last time hasn’t changed — even if this team blew it against West Ham — so let’s hope they get it done!
Now, the Manchester United 2025-26 Vibes-O-Meter is a very specific device developed with the most advanced science available to us: our gut.
The Vibes-O-Meter uses a scale of 1-10 based on the contemporary highs and lows of the Post-Fergie era; one being the feelings you might have felt at the final whistle against Everton and 10 being the feelings you might have felt when Mount scored the game winner at Crystal Palace.
* Wins over Crystal Palace (surprising!) and Wolves (thank the maker it was ultimately a blowout!)
* United only have one loss in their last nine matches which is kind of unbelievable, tbh
* Mason Mount, are you back??
* Bruno did Bruno things against Wolves
* The loss against Everton and the draw against West Ham are just so unbelievably frustrating
* Injuries
* The roster availability is about to fluctuate massively over the next month
* Why is this manager making me worry about the future of Mainoo’s future in the team? He’s homegrown AND this midfield is already so void of options.