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

Or an incredible lack of squad depth for a club lthe size of Manchester United ,that our manager had absolutely no control over maybe ? I thinks it’s possibly a combination of both.

I agree with that… look he obviously isn’t going to be part of our long term future, whatever that may look like under any manager or system. But he’s most definitely doing his job for us at the moment. He’s been the consummate professional since he signed for us.

I agree, as I said earlier though our lack of squad depth in almost all positions is absolutely shocking.

Brilliant

Absolutely horrendous take in my opinion. The stats below are from early November but essentially United are 3 times more likely to concede when Casemiro is not playing. Against Brighton he was taken off at 3-0 and cruising and the midfield crumbled. He has been a quiet presence in DM and we don't have anyone else in the squad who can play better in this position. On a yellow card he cannot be trusted not to do anything rash and get sent off which we have seen a few times.

Casemiro revival proving key to Man Utd's upturn in form

If you rely solely on stats I get how you can get the idea that Casemiro is beyond hope.

But if you've watched any games the difference in midfield with and without Casemiro is utterly comical. While he isn't what he used to be its a fact that without him the midfield disintegrates and thats when Maguire/De Ligt have to really try and hold things together as the defence gets swarmed in waves.

Anyone thinking we play better without Case is playing Fifa.

I did state in the first line the stats were from early November- And since then we picked up 10 points from 18 and scored 8 goals in last 2 games. The defence needs sorting, we all know that, and Casemiro is the best DM we have at the club. Who else would you put in there to do a better job?

Understandable to an extent, but it's a bit strange that the main focus is on the negative of the goals we've conceded.

We've scored 30 in 15 games so far, we only managed 44 in 38 last year. I would be placing a bit more emphasis on that... the ability to score goals is way more important in terms of PL placing than defense solidity is imo.

We've managed that 2 goals per game without a proven CF as well which only gives more scope for improvement.

Don't get me wrong, we need to tighten up at the back... But I rate that easier to do than it is to get a team scoring. Only City have scored more than us, and we're level with Arsenal.

IMO this isn't because Casemiro is particularly good though. IMO his defensive positioning and ability to cover ground is horrific.

But he is still a better defensive presence than Mainoo (who is not a DM imo) and Urgarte has been terrible and too prone to over running the position he should be in. On top of that, as it gets later into games and the opposition are pressing us as we retreat or we are chasing games we in losing, we leave more space - and concede more goals. We concede more goals without Casemiro on the pitch - but IMO it is not BECAUSE Casemiro is not on the pitch, not in large part. And even if it was… him not being able to play out a match, given our reduced schedule, in of itself would be an issue too.

I think if you do an analyse of Casemiro off the ball defensively, his positioning, tracking of runners, his marking selections… its all not good enough.

I do think we massively lack at set pieces without Casemiro - and when you also remove one/both of Maguire and De Ligt, we have basically no solid aerial piece to work off. THAT is a huge miss, and also the one big issue I would have with replacing Casemiro with Gomes in January (for example). Taking Casemiro out weakens us massively on set pieces. In time maybe Sesko can help with that - or maybe Yoro or Heaven improve from their poor base in this regard.

I wasn’t going to say anymore on Casemiro but I just can’t agree with this at all… to say his defensive positioning is “horrific “is just wrong.

He has spent most of his career as a screening number six at the very highest level, his strengths are reading passing lanes and delaying transitions , protecting the centre and stepping in before runs even develop ( largely goes unseen) .

That doesn’t show up as sprinting back 30 yards ( he never did that) but it most certainly still is defensive intelligence .

As I said earlier his positioning doesn’t always look elite in Amorims system as the structure doesn’t support him.
If people think the fact that we are far more vulnerable defensively (and concede a lot more goals) when he’s not on the pitch, is all a big coincidence then I think maybe it’s a case of not appreciating what he contributes to this team imo.

Lammens may not be the finished article, but look on the bright side...

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSRng_eDCpB/?igsh=MTVwbXg4bjJ4bXFwYg==

Downside is that the useless beggar will be back and we'll have to try again to flog him.

Not sure I'd say his confidence is shot. Always felt he was too confident rather than lacking. Like he genuinely couldn't see how dung he was performing as evidenced by his apparent expectation of a new contract with a pay rise last summer.