Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 12.02.26

So our of the list we have lost to arsenal, City, Everton, havent played villa and beat the other 5

That Wolves side are probably the worst I've seen in the prem and I was at OT to see that Derby side in the flesh.

Good win all things considered though and nice to score a few for once and could 'enjoy' the last 10-15 mins.

Have a feeling we might see Cunha start to score more soon. Just not coming off for him at the moment but he get's into great positions. We need him and Mount to stay fit while the chaps are away the AFCON.

Mad league table. We really should have at least an additional 6-9 points.

you still need to go and win.
1-4 away from home is a great result in the premier league, even against a poor side.

They stepped up in the second half. You have to give credit where it’s due.

Thought someone posted recently that Amad and Mbeumo were both definitely fine to play Vs Bournemouth. That players don't have to be released until 7 days before their first game with both Ivory Coast and Cameroon not playing until the 24th.

Just trying to catch up with Liverpool

Not everyone, I said if we finish below 6th the season will have been a failure.

And yes, we are sixth, but it is partly cause the league is poor. Now we can say being the 6th best side is all that matters, regardless of context and that is valid.

But imo the reality is we should be higher right now, because the results (and performances) agaisnt West Ham and Everton were utterly unacceptable. I can't forget about those dropped 5 points just because we are where people thought or hoped we might be. If the season was to end today, then fine - the end result is what matters. But we aren't even half way through and if we put in performances like the Everton game during December, and more so January, it is going to be a bloodbath.

It is, imo, stupid to ignore the context of how we are actually playing, because over the course of a season, how you play will largely dictate where you finish.

Fulham, Forest, City, Brentford, Spurs, West Ham, Everton - all very worrying performances. We've played 15 games and imo 7 of them have been worrying, or horrific.

And even within the remaining 8 games, we lost to Arsenal, nearly threw away the Chelsea game and Palace first half was terrible as well.

IMO it shouldn't matter if they believe in him or not.

The type of player that will help Amorim get more for the squad (hopefully) is the same type of player we need to sign regardless of the manager. We could sack Amorim tomorrow and we'd still need midfielders. We could still very much do with Semenyo.

If we dont do anything significant in January, it will be a big failure from the club, for the second January running for Amorim.

Last night was a good example as to why we need another high quality attacking player that could slot in at wingback. Amad's decision making and final ball wasn't on point but we got away with it because Wolves were so poor.

Semenyo would be a perfect addition but he seems to be more heavily linked to other clubs.

Hopefully we can also offload Ugarte in January and bring in a midfielder to replace/rotate with Casemiro.

I'd say Wolves will sell Andre or Gomes to try and fund a "be better than Derby" fightback. Krejci can plug into midfield then for them.

Could we very much do with Semenyo?That's a lot of money for a winger in the hopes that he actually adapts to wing back. If Amorim is gone before next season that's now over £200M you've spent in one season on three players who could be battling it out to play on the wing along with Amad while CM needs multiple signings.

Also you've got the club repeating their mistakes with Hojlund by putting all the burden on a young CF with no second choice CF. Semenyo is a luxury signing at this stage and the squad can't afford to splashing out on luxury.

If we want a quality wing back, we are going to spend a lot of money on them and hope they can adapt to what Amorim wants. no difference.

He can also play L10, R10 or up top, if needs be. And if LWB is fine, he can also play RWB.

If we sack Amorim and we go to a 433 or 4231, we currently only have Cunha as a possibly winger option on the left. So Semenyo is probably a better option there as a winger. He can also play on the right.

And yes, we need Central Midfielders. I'm not arguing otherwise. We need central midfielders AND we need a LWB. they are non-negotiable needs, imo.

Semenyo is not a luxury signing, imo, because right now the alternative is Dalot or Dorgu at LWB. Or Amad backed by Mazraoui at RWB. And if Mbeumo or Cunha are not fit we have no fast, direct, skillful goal scoring threat to come in at either 10 spot.

Semenyos versatility and quality for multiple roles, makes him not a luxury imo.

"If we dont do anything significant in January, it will be a big failure from the club, for the second January running for Amorim."

Since Amorim has come in 13 months ago, we've bought Sesko, Mbuemo, Cunha, Lammens and Dorgu for his vision, and spent about 250m doing so. We have a squad of good, solid, international players to compliment those players already there.

He's done virtually nothing with them in that time. They're poorly coached, poorly organised, play poorly all too regularly, look confused and look dispirited at times. His substitutions tend to be like for like rather than anything tactical, and in-game management tends to be poor. We seem to be getting results in spite of Amroim's coaching, not because of it.

I'm all for backing the manager, but the manager needs to be worth backing. Right now, there's nothing to suggest that if we do sign a player, Amorim will get the best out of him, or that he'll make use of him.

Spending money in January on his system would be stupid, in my opinion.

For one, as above, he needs to prove he's a much, much better coach/manager than what he's dismally shown so far, and manage with what he's got to the best that he can. If he can't coach a squad where half the starting team was brought in for him, and the rest are solid internationals, he shouldn't be manager. Not much point buying talent for a coach that can't coach.

Secondly, the finances need to be balanced. January sees a lot of panic buys, and we have a habit of throwing out stupid money. Target proper players at a proper price and not just over-budget quick fix solutions in January, do what Real/Barca/Bayern/PSG do and go for them around April/May and get the deal done, and have them on board when the season ends.

Third, is Amorim going to be there next season? In all honesty, if the performances and results stay the same until the end of the season, he'll have to go. It's simply pure stubbornness out of INEOS that Amorim is still in the job, any other club would have sacked him already. Do you really want to buy players in January for a manager that will probably be gone in May?

Fourth, we don't have the distraction of European football. In all honesty, we should be able to handle the fixture list with panic buying in January.

Now practically speaking, if a quality midfielder was to become available at a decent prise, then definitely go for him. We're obviously short in that area, Casemiro is going at the end of the season, Mainoo will probably go too, Bruno maybe as well if another big offer comes in from Saudi.

But at the same time, I wouldn't panic buy in January for Amorim's system either. And the last thing we need to be doing is backing Amorim in the transfer market, he's had plenty of backing on the field and off the field, and it's long past time he delivered on that backing.

And if they are going to buy, then buy a player that can midfield for the club for the next few years regardless of who's in charge, and not for Amorim's failing formation and vision.