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

Fair dues to Jamie Redknapp on sky yesterday btw, his assessment was honest and called himself out with the criticism of Caemiro etc. Was decent analysis from him especially him being a liverpool man.

I would be surprised if we didn't push for top 4 with the current team. 1 game/week whilst all our competitors are in Europe is a huge advantage.

Amorim has put a lot of thought into mitigating the midfield weakness tbf. Last night, Shaw moved into midfield when we were out of possession and Cuhna dropped deeper on the left hand side to cover him. Carrick did a piece covering it on MOTD.

Feck, forgot about AFCON.

Bruno back to 10 and rely on Maz, Dalot, Dorgu to cover RWB I guess?

Although I'd actually prefer Mount to cover the 10. If we're finally improving Bruno in midfield I wouldn't want to teach him bad habits again.

Have to admit looking at the league table is giving me immense pleasure today #AmorIN

Apparently Ancelotti has regiven him the armband for Brazil aswell.

Amazing turnaround.

Nah the way Taylor reffed it yesterday, that was never a foul. Don't mind it if it's consistent.

Sancho subbed on and than subbed back off at Villa today. Can see him playing in Korean or maybe the Saudi league once he's finally gone.

Could get used to this, again

Imagine doing your shopping and the eggs you bought were gone off. You'd be fuming.

Now imagine you bought eggs that you knew were pretty shite and probably off but consistently pay that money every week for them.

🐤🥚🍳=Sancho

Interesting stat. United have conceded 19 goals this season. Only 3 of these goals have been conceded when Casemiro is on the pitch (7 appearances).

I wonder if we'll go for Baleba in January. His patchy form for Brighton might change their calculations. They may not want to risk him having a poor 2nd half of the season and have his value shrink. This is maybe one of the reasons why he's not playing well (even if it's subconscious). He's on a long contract with fairly low wages, so if he keeps playing to his max and refuses to kick up a fuss, then he's strengthening Brighton's position to hold other clubs over a barrel for him. From his pov, this would make it more difficult to leave. And if he did get a move, the buying club would be squeezed to the max for a transfer fee which may have a knock on effect on his wage offering from the buying club (clubs always look at the overall financial package of what a player costs, so upward pressure on the transfer fee will commonly see a downward pressure on the contract offer).

It's not massively surprising that his form has dipped, he's in a complicated situation.

Have to say, Jay Bothroyd is very good on ref watch. I find myself agreeing with him on every decision. He did say Amad should have had a definite penalty though 😀

He doesn’t let Dermot Gallagher off the hook too easily either.

Baleba's poor form might make him more affordable and Brighton more likely to want rid, but it's also a concern to have a player whose form goes out the window when his head is turned.

If he comes to us, will he cope with the pressure if he doesn't have a strong mentality? Or if he does do well, will he then fall apart the first time Real come sniffing?