Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 26.09.24

It's an indictment of our joke of a club that there's no one - and I mean no one - who would automatically stand out to replace that clown as a captain. Look at Liverpool, Arsenal, City…they have proper leaders all over the pitch. Who have we got? No one. We are a team without any leaders. The players might fool us once in a while but they are spineless. It's shameful stuff, and batterings off city are no less than we deserve.

I wish that was true but at least it would be a start

31 league games in, 16 defeats, 8 wins, 36 goals scored and 49 conceded.

And still there are lads that won't dare countenance that maybe, just maybe, Rubin Amorim isn't doing a good job.

I know we all wanted him to be good. But ignoring performance just because we wanted something is not a sensible approach.

I wonder how long it will take Chelsea to come up with a tactical plan for the next match.

This isn't all just just on Ruben, although his instance of playing Bruno in the deeper midfield roles is.

But the squad building over the summer is not just at his feet!
If we went back 3 months on this thread we all could identify the 3 key areas for us to recruit in to strengthen this side and push it back up the table.

Those were Striker, Keeper and at least 1 centre midfielder to play the deeper roles.
Berrada and co. planned the summer and either didn't agree with the painfully obvious or did but decided to chase other options because they were "available".

We signed 2 players to play in the 10 roles. Despite having Bruno, Amad, Mount, Mainoo and Zirkzee who could play those roles to a higher standard than what Bruno can play deeper midfield.

We signed a young inexperienced striker who would need time to adapt and learn the league to replace the young inexperienced striker who needed time to adapt and learn the league but failed to do so. I'm not against the Sesko move longer term but it was clear we needed a more experienced head up there.

We needed a keeper - instead we are now playing the 2nd choice keeper from last season who wasn't good enough to keep Onana out of the side. Again, not against the signing of Lammens longer term but it was clear a more experienced and safe pair of hands was needed in nets.

Midfield is what it was last season. There isn't the legs in there and there isn't a player at the club who can play center midfield to the level required.

The wing backs are another conversation but they are also not at the level needed. Multiple times we seen last season that Mazraoui isn't at or near his best at right wing back. Why is he straight back into the team here in that position??

As has been the case at Utd for a while now the failings are at many levels at the club.

We'll ponder on now for a few more weeks and then sack RA in Oct/Nov/Dec time. Bring in a new manager who plays 4231 or 433 etc.. And then we'll be asking why the players look shite in that setup then…

The cycle repeats

The Amorim experiment is over.

He’s a joke of a manager. He’s so far out of his depth it’s unreal.

This isn’t going to get better.

His record in the PL against non-promoted clubs is 26 games, 18 points and 25 goals.

He’s a relegation manager. Get rid, he’s hopeless. Anyone ignoring that basic fact is completely deluded at this stage.

As much as I want him to succeed i cant see this going much longer. Utd are a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of going there at this stage.

I'd love if they could poach Ancelotti.

What's more worrying imo is the decision making of Ineos. Because their track record is not very good.

They passed on both Thomas Frank and Thomas Tuchel as Coach when either could have been hired. Both very good managers with an excellent PL track record and pedigree. But they preferred to bank everything on RA.

The decision to hand ETH the extension in Summer '24 before duly sacking him a few months later was, well, patently silly.

They pursued and hired Dan Ashworth - which involved a very protracted Gardening leave period of about 5 months from his previous club - only to sack him just a couple of short months later. Farcical stuff really.

While some of the summer signings were promising this year, Berrada & Wilcox ignored a clear and obvious problem area in CM.

And then left it far too late in the window to recruit an experienced GK to solve the other notable problem position.

At this point I do worry if another change of manager will inevitably be a disaster.

Does anyone have faith that they will get the next big decision right?

He had the first 10 games to improve and get 20 points. Unless he wins the next 6, he won't be in a job for much longer.

Yeah if the decision makers don’t think he will last the season, it should be done now. Why mess around waiting. There’s more than enough time for someone to come in and compete for 6th/7th. Villa starting terribly is an advantage. This group of players should be capable of getting ahead of Newcastle & Forest who both have European commitments as well.

Win the next six? If he's in charge for the next six games, then United will be in the bottom three.