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

JRant · 08-02-2026 05:45PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124217361#Comment_124217361

Ugarte was getting very limited minutes, just like Mainoo was, so I don't know what point you are trying to make here. Carrick plays a different formation and that's allowed for the extra man in midfield so Mainoo has come in and done well. That wasn't the case under RA who used Bruno and Casemiro in there almost exclusively. Is Mainoo better than either of them? I doubt anyone thinks that so the comparison to Yoro and Heaven is completely valid.

JRant · 08-02-2026 05:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124217406#Comment_124217406

Mainoo is absolutely entitled to want a move for his own personal reasons and fans are entitled to voice opinions about that because for most fans the club comes first and not individual players.

I'll ask the same question to you, is Mainoo better than Bruno or Casemiro? Because that's who he was competing against.

FourFourRED · 08-02-2026 06:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124217926#Comment_124217926

Criticising Mainoo for wanting a loan move isn’t putting the club first - it’s backing the manager over the player just because. It wasn’t what was right for Man United so you’re actually putting the manager first before anything else.

It’s not about whether Mainoo is better than Casemiro or Bruno. They are three completely different type of midfielders. Are we playing better now with all three in the team? Yes. In the same argument, are we better if we try to force Yoro/Heaven into the team by playing three centre backs? No.

That’s the difference. One decision makes us better. The other doesn’t.

Reading your previous post, you will say that was Amorim’s formation - fair enough, but at that point it became a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face by not making Mainoo fit.

waywill1966 · 08-02-2026 07:23PM

rarely am I happy to see a city win!

AidoEirE · 08-02-2026 07:30PM

A draw would of been ideal but I fkin love seeing pool absolutely **** the bed

FourFourRED · 08-02-2026 07:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218364#Comment_124218364

Mad ending to that game. Always beautiful to see Liverpool lose even if it’s against City. Our top 5 cushion stays at 5 points. May need that buffer over the next 13 games.

The_Kew_Tour · 08-02-2026 07:35PM

Will take that. Good weekend all things considered

mobydopy · 08-02-2026 07:40PM

Great result.

That loss will hurt Liverpool and them being without Szobo who has been one of their best players this season for the next few games is an added bonus

Hopefully we can keep this winning streak going and capitalise

paulbok · 08-02-2026 07:43PM

Comms is going to have a field day with Fester's reaction to that

FourFourRED · 08-02-2026 07:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218486#Comment_124218486

Just misses the one game for that kind of red card.

DrPhilG · 08-02-2026 07:46PM

Would be like Cousin It before it happens...

Acosta · 08-02-2026 07:46PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218411#Comment_124218411

I think City winning might be better. It seems that they're in a tital race, while Liverpool, like United, are in a race for the UCL. How nice it would be, if we get towards the end of the season, with two or three games left, and Champions league is already secure. Results like this help make that happen.

Iseedeadpixels · 08-02-2026 07:48PM

Villa and Pool dropping points, I hope we keep our form up.

AidoEirE · 08-02-2026 07:53PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218518#Comment_124218518

Oh yeah its double edged. A draw woulda been handy as we could of gotten closer to 2nd which id more money in the bank.

billyhead · 08-02-2026 08:11PM

We've a tricky game on Tuesday night.

JRant · 08-02-2026 08:18PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124217988#Comment_124217988

But Mainoo wanted to leave the day before the window closed when the club had no chance to get a replacement in so the team would have been left a player short. You have your opinion on it and I have mine, may as well leave it there on that one.

Yes, the formation dictated that Mainoo was directly competing with Bruno and Casemiro. The same way Yoro and Heaven are directly competing with Maguire and Licha. It's been proven that RA was stubborn to a fault and is gone now because of that stubbornness. Are we suddenly better because Mainoo is in the team? I don't think it's that straightforward being honest.

bucketybuck · 08-02-2026 08:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218651#Comment_124218651

Its a bit nuts to claim that Mainoo only wanted to leave that day as a **** you to his club, when it is far more logical that he had wanted a change for weeks/months and then things obviously become more urgent as the deadline approached. Everybody starts to say the quiet part out loud when time is running out and nothing is changing.

El Gato De Negocios · 08-02-2026 08:43PM

https://twitter.com/i/status/2020567803942650066

#fester

FourFourRED · 08-02-2026 09:02PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218651#Comment_124218651

We’re suddenly better for a few different reasons, and Mainoo is definitely one of them.

2 assists in the last 3 games is good, but he brings so much more than just that. Ball carrying, retention, progressive passing and composure.

And even if you wanted to say Bruno gives us that already - Mainoo being in CM allows Bruno further forward where he has a goal involvement in every game since Amorim left. 7 in 6.

That is fairly straight forward.

johnnyryan89 · 08-02-2026 09:05PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218651#Comment_124218651

Or for all we know Mainoo and his camp had made their feelings known to the club before then and when nothing was happening they went public with it.

AidoEirE · 08-02-2026 09:16PM

Pool thread not happy

The_Kew_Tour · 08-02-2026 09:23PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218821#Comment_124218821

Give him another billion.......

nachouser · 08-02-2026 09:34PM

If Carrick can get the club back into Europe by the end of the season, then he should get another year. It would be the definition of madness to bin him off and go for another "proven" manager. The players are playing for him in their best positions. The media won't criticise him as much because of who he is. He's probably the best person to adapt to the new "coach" not "manager" role that the club seem to want to move forward with.

And yeah, I thought it was madness to bin off Amorim, but it worked out well. I doubt he'd have had the same results over the last four games. But, if Carrick keeps this up, then it would make sense to keep him on. But, sure, we'll see.

AidoEirE · 08-02-2026 09:43PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218862#Comment_124218862

This summer will be huge for us. So many things need to go right.

Cas is off

Maguire possibly gone

Midfield proper additions

Possibly a new manager

Mainoo's contract (looks positive)

Regular squads lads getting older and need to be replaced soon.

Wilcox and likes will have to plan and get it right.

johnnyryan89 · 08-02-2026 09:52PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218862#Comment_124218862

He's probably the best person to adapt to the new "coach" not "manager" role that the club seem to want to move forward with.

Clubs in Europe have been using this set up for god knows how long.

keane2097 · 09-02-2026 09:40AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124217712#Comment_124217712

These views also seem to come largely from people who didn't think Amorim complaining in a press conference about Vivell and Wilcox not doing their jobs properly was too bad.

keane2097 · 09-02-2026 09:51AM

Mainoo was in a situation where the manager had publicly stated he was competing directly against Bruno for minutes, which is fine I suppose if you accept that getting your best players in the team is less important than making the team fit your formation/approach. But we also had the manager saying publicly after the Fulham game that Bruno's head was gone from missing the penalty and he was playing badly yet Mainoo still didn't get substantial minutes. When there were injuries in the front line he rejigged the team to put Amad to 10 and replaced the wing back instead of the easy option of putting Bruno and Mainoo in their best positions, again giving Mainoo no minutes, all while making the attack anaemic since Amad at wing back was crucial to chance creation.

So you're competing against a guy who never gets injured, doesn't get taken off when playing badly, and never gets moved to a position that he's very good in even when there's an obvious reason to do it. I'm pretty sure Amorim said more than once that he was very happy with how Mainoo applied himself in training etc.

I think it's obvious that there were multiple configurations available that would get minutes for Mainoo that would also improve the functioning of the team - we've seen it now - and Amorim refused to entertain any of those options.

GolfPar · 09-02-2026 10:24AM

Just catching up on the weekend posts here. On the Spurs match we owed them big time, just a pity we couldn't score a few more. Noticeable that he didn't take Casemiro off as early this week. There was no need to in fairness either. A nice touch to give young Fletcher a couple of minutes at the end as well with no pressure on him. Also noticeable how his starting centre half's have played 90 mins in every match. No needless substitutions after 60 mins which we saw so often this season.

On the position of 'Head Coach' for next season, you would have to say Carrick is doing a very good audition for the role currently (along with his backroom staff). He mightn't be the shiny big name a lot of people aspire to but these shiny big names sometimes come with a lot of other issues in the long term.

In terms of timeline and assuming we will have European football of some sort next season, the Club will need to be planning for this from April/May time when the position should be clearer. They also have to factor in a longer run in both Cups to next season and what this all means in terms of the overall playing squad and strength in depth needed for this. The outgoings need to be managed as much as any incomings. To me this rules out anyone involved in the World Cup who will be out of the frame until July at least.

Ineos already went all in on Amorim, allowing him to bring his own coaching team from Portugal without any Premier League experience and we all know how that went. They might want to go for another shiny new toy but if they do and that doesn't work then if could turn out to be another expensive mistake.

I'm not saying Carrick and team are the best in class (maybe they are) but for where the Club is currently, they might be the best option for the here and now. If they qualify us for Champions League again they deserve the chance to take the team into next season. The advantage of that is that is minimises the upheaval and lets the hierarchy focus on improving the squad for next season.

JRant · 09-02-2026 10:35AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124218775#Comment_124218775

That's all very fair to say. I would say that the way Carrick has us set up to play is having a bigger impact than 1 individual player. The 1/2 touch football is genuinely a breathe of fresh air and it's suiting our overall squad more, including Mainoo.

I believe RA was silly to not play Mainoo more and I said as much many times in this very thread. In his head he thought he was doing the right thing but we now know it wasn't.

Caustic · 09-02-2026 10:51AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124219694#Comment_124219694

It's fair to say glasner has shown it wasn't the immediately sacking offence people said he is still trucking on having said things as bad or worse

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

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