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

Lad is no short of pennies after the payout he got

Heart sank at the equaliser but felt it was coming. There was parts of the performance to like but there was a lot there which looked like Utd of last season to be honest. Struggled in the build up, players were unsure of pressing triggers etc.

My feeling from the last 2 games prior to today were that they were absolutely made for us but the team put in two fantastic performances of that there is no arguing with.

Fulham are a good/decent side to be fair but they exposed the same issues we had as far back as ETH. Not fair to judge Carrick on it but I think today should serve as a reality check for people. Elements of todays game which were a regression from what we were seeing this season under Amorim.

I'm actually a bit embarrassed at the defending I did of Onana in hindsight. Lammens has been really good.

Delighted for Sesko. Apart from his goal, his hold up play and runs were top notch. Shaw should have played him in at one point too.

3 wins from 3 though and a decent chance to go 4 from 4 up next- that is a fair stick to beat Amorim with.

Look , regular posters on here will know my feelings on Casemiro but I’m going to repeat myself anyway…..

I just don’t buy what you’re saying here at all. Suggesting Casemiro has suddenly remembered how to play because he’s looking for a club or a call up to the Brazilian WC squad feels way off the mark and downright insulting to him as a professional.

Yes his form dipped for a spell last season but that happens, especially in a side that was structurally and tactically trying to find its feet under a new manager. Even during that period a lot of what he does well didn’t show up in highlight reels , screening the back four, cutting off passing lanes, slowing transitions , organising those around him. The sort of stuff that only really gets noticed when he’s not there or when he’s taken off.

For me hes been excellent for United from the minute he walked in the door. He has set standards, brought control to the midfield , scored important goals and done a lot of unseen work that allows others to play .

The idea that he’d suddenly start trying now because of external motivations ignores years of evidence that hes an elite serial winner who takes pride in his performance regardless of circumstance.

Questioning form is fair game, but questioning his professionalism is just way out of order and just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny at all as far as I’m concerned.

And no need for a mosh pit in the six yard box around the keeper to score from said set pieces.

3-4-2-1 😬

Probably a wry smile at Cunha and Sesko finally hitting the target with the same type of efforts we've seen them putting wide all season 😂

I'm actually interested to see how Shaw holds up at left back again, wonder will the reduced workload mean he keeps his good run going?

Thankfully the team looks a lot fitter in general than in recent times but Shaw is one I'd worry about a bit.

I thought Casemiro’s form was mixed last season, it was really the 23/24 season where he was noticeably poor. Had a massive 22/23 debut season, probably wouldn’t have got CL without him but that following season was the stinker and I believe it was within a 4-3-3 too.

Recent form has been very good but (like I mentioned earlier) it feels like the right time to move onto a more long-term solution with presumably substantial funds being freed up.

I really hope he finishes these last months out strong. He’s building more lore with the goals and celebrations.

The roar that went around Old Trafford when Lammens caught a simple cross floating straight at him on his debut said everything.

A goalkeeper catching a ball was greeted with cheers as if we'd scored a goal. Thats how low that Onana had dredged down the bar, the worst first choice by a distance since Roy Carroll had his first choice year (he himself shouldn't even have been over Howard that year tbh). The amount of gaslighting and horseshìt stats celebrating Onana's ability was a weird sort of collective hysteria.

….,

Lads re-evaluating Amorim!

I know it's so so early and it could just be new manager bounce

But Amorim didn't even get new manager bounce!

I liked him and wanted him to succeed but I feel like I was blinded by his charisma!

I kept thinking some of his decisions were daft but that he must be playing 4d chess that I couldn't understand.

But no, was he just a fraud?

47 games to get 3 wins in a row! Once!

Never, ever playing Mainoo!

Playing everybody out of position!

And so so risk averse!

Sorry but that makes no sense at all.

I'm not talking about comments on the players, coach, formation, even the club as a whole.

Just a "thank you for your support" message to the fans.

NDAs are designed to stop the departing staff member from slinging mud or revealing inside info. They're not going to stop him from thanking the supporters.

Plus there was over a week between his departure and Carrick's appointment. Plenty of time for a statement.

An example debuted for second time for Villa today and played very well.

Granted he was signed fully,not on loan.

he definitely let himself go physically for a season, for an elite athlete he looked fat. This season is the best condition he has been in while playing for United.

It is too much to say he was a fraud. He clearly put together a good football team at Sporting, winning two titles and right before joining United that same team put Man City to the sword, winning 4-1. So under the right conditions, the man can clearly coach a good football team.

But its also clear the jump from the Portuguese League (and indeed any European league) to the Premier League is huge. It can be crossed - players like Bruno and managers like Mourinho demonstrate that, but its still a massive increase in difficulty as Gyokeres (and Amorim) have demonstrated.

I would guess Amorim didn't - and couldn't - respect the jump in difficulty. After his first eight PL games, he had lost 5 and only won 2. That should have triggered a rethink by a good coach. Maybe even a sacking by a well run club if the coach wasn't rethinking things. But he publicly refused to adapt to the new challenge. By the end of his reign a year later he was still trusting his old method was correct, the players were wrong. Even while boasting a historically terrible win % for a United manager (for all time, not just post Ferguson) he still took personal offence from a football guy like Wilcox asking him to adapt to the players he had to the extent he engineered his exit from the club.

He is clearly incredibly stubborn. But he is still a relatively young coach. Guys like Moyes have recovered their reputations as managers post-United, he might too. But he will need to learn to adapt.

Thought we were poor for most of that game yesterday. Wasn't the same enthusiasm at all as previous two games. Played in fits and starts. Hopefully the pay rise they get for CL football will keep them motivated to get results, but there's no quick fix here.

We have definitely played better than that under Amorim this season, though often without the result to back it up.