The 12 players Manchester United can offload this summer to apparently save £500m
It is a huge summer for Erik ten Hag and Manchester United but the Mailbox continues a quick cheat code to save them £500m for their budget.
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Son overlooked: racism or just lazy footballers?
Hello
Another football awards nomination…another chance for Sonny to get overlooked.
What’s the problem guys, can no one take an Asian footballer seriously? Despite Park bossing the midfield for Man Utd on numerous occasions he was basically reduced to a song about him eating dogs and Scousers eating rats.
Bloody hell guys, he went toe to toe with Mo. He doesn’t take penalties. He plays in front of Holberg – god love him – it’s not like he plays in front of Mr no look pass Tiago.
I wish I didn’t have to write to write this but y’all are racist. You’ll be spilling your hearts out about Ukraine but you can’t put your money where your mouth is for a Korean footballer.
Love you Sonny,
Andrew, Woodford Green.
Fans will remember this Liverpool but will anyone else?
I feel me and Tom G feel a bit of the same sting, albeit from opposing sides, so let me clarify.
As a United fan experiencing the worst season of my known life, it happened to coincide with Liverpool having the best team of my life. Serious team, playing serious football. I had mild ideas Afcon would derail Liverpool’s season, yet they wondered and blustered to each final they could. They even kept signing all the right players too.
Yet, as each final came and went, it became apparent, that if you played a certain way, you could stop Liverpool from scoring with some discipline and a slice of luck, who knows. Most won, one lost. Monkeys don’t have to get in ground fights with tigers to survive after all.
But that too was never the point. The point is, and always will be the record of what was won. The starved tiger who once killed a monkey and almost killed another, is still a starved tiger. Van Nistelrooy hit the crossbar v Arsenal last minute and you now have the invincible’s. Nobody cares about the mm’s there, only the unbeaten.
I say this as a man once scorn. United during the 08-12 period got to 3 Champions League finals in 4 years, yet, after a penalty win vs Chelsea, and losses to a stronger Spanish side on the other finals, that side will not be remembered as fondly as it should in the long run, to me yes, to the rest no.
Granted, this Liverpool team has shown how good second place can be(not a cup team), both in entertainment and guts, and have won both domestic cups(a cup team), but your feelings aside, the champions hold the titles that count.
This isn’t to say memories are built solely on winning. This period of my life will always coincide with the rise and demise of Ole, Rotten Ralf and the Hope of Haag.
Reaching all four finals will be the new measurement of possibility going forward thanks to Liverpool and have given their fans so many memories and deservedly so. They have shown how many points you can consistently get and not win a title. It’s phenomenal either way you look at it.
Football is to be enjoyed as it is entertainment, and this season was exceptional, and Liverpool played their part, but what they did and didn’t do will define them. For success is ultimately measured in titles. When people talk about the best managers, Ancelotti will be among those top of the list, not for his work at Everton, but for what he’s won almost everywhere else. I feel the same will apply elsewhere.
Calvino
Ps. Anderson should never be compared to Zidane or Ronaldo, that’s just silly 🙂
Lockdown = knockdown price
As Pogba’s departure from United has been confirmed, I’ve heard a fair few hilarious wags making the (very obvious) joke that “only Man United could lose a player for free, sign him back for £89m, then lose him for free again”.
It fits in with the wholly accurate portrayal of Man Utd as a clown car crashing headlong into a dumpster fire, however, I don’t think (unlike Phil Jones’ 5 year contract) this is one we can blame the higher ups for.
Paul Pogba, an inconsistent footballer who had to leave an inconsistent football club
Cast your mind back to the before time, early 2020 when Covid wasn’t yet something we were worrying about in England, and Mino, Pogba and the club were all gearing up for his departure to be the transfer saga of the summer. Would it be Real, PSG, Juve? No one knew, but everything was pointing towards a sale. Then the pandemic hit, football finances (especially on the continent) took a battering and everything went out of the window. No one was going to pay a handsome fee and high wages for a player in their late 20s. By the time things started to get back to something resembling normality, he was into the final stages of his contract after picking up yet more injuries, older and continuing his inconsistent form. His leaving on a free then became inevitable.
So yes, feel free to point and laugh at our mismanagement, it’s generally justified, but in this particular instance, I think they actually just fell foul of the timing of events beyond their control.
Lewis, Busby Way
United revamp
This is the summer of change, the summer of hope & the summer to take out the trash at Manchester United. The list of players leaving/should be sold is unreal, and goes on to show how bad even the very basics of economics, football strategy, corporate strategy and overall man management has been at Manchester United. It is still shocking to see an actual corporation, never mind one as big as MUFC, can get even the simplest things so so so so so bad.
The list:
Pogba
Mata
Matic
Jlingz
Andres Periera
Martial
Cavani
Grant
Jones
Baily
Henderson (He deserved better)
Bissaka
This list not including the likes of Telles, Rashford etc who could be sold if the need arises. I would make a very rough estimate that the above 12 players combined to cost United ATLEAST 500 million in transfer fees, wages et etc. That is an INSANE amout of money to be blown just right off the wind. They could have made a pile of 10 dollar bills in the middle of old trafford and burnt it to the ground, would still cost less and be more fun.
This level of incompetence, lack of responsibility and just overall stupidity has been the cause of Manchester United’s downfall. I truly believe that even a high school passout would have more sense than to make such decisions, and it’s still unbelievable that we wasted so so so much money in the last decade.
The idea has to be to start this season anew, make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes again. Because if we do, we may not be able to financially recover from it at some point and be destroyed. It scares me to see such idiocy at the highest level at the club I love.
Regards
Aman
Mata of fact
Juan Mata has finally said goodbye to MUFC. An under appreciated player who always gave his all. The stand out moment for me was his last ditch tackle against salah a couple of years back.
Thanks for everything. You will always be The Special Juan
Ryan
All 4 one
Dear Ed,
I had planned to send a simple short mail saying that the UEFA Nations League coverage on Channel 4 was awesome but then I remembered that it’s literally Death Valley in the Mailbox this time of year so I’ll have a go at a few more words.
The vibe was pure late 90’s Football Mundial. Eurosport and everything that went with it. It was obviously a clear tribute using former people. The subtitles and voice-over. Absolute heaven
Finding out Gus Poyet is now Greece manager by seeing him being interviewed like he’s in a True Crime Podcast about Wall Street scumbags was also fantastic.
I think the guy’s name is Adrian Clarke. It was such a nostalgia overload.
Brian Morrissey. Waterford
Leave play-offs alone
Nick in the Thursday mailbox suggested that play-offs are scrapped. Nonsense.
Watching York City fight their way through them last month breaking league attendance records in the process, and beating two of the top three to get promoted shows the folly of this. It was fun, exciting and squeeky bumb with incredible atmosphere.
That said, it could use some fresh ideas.
Personally, I’d love to see a play-off that also included the means to leapfrog entire leagues, maybe with the winners of one facing the third bottom in the other. Whoever wins gets to be in the upper league, and the loser still ends up in the league they were destined to. Now that would be some jeopardy, and opportunity.
Now can we talk about Liverpool’s relative success this season without it being obfuscated by the CL final ticket fiasco?
Badwolf
Fan service
Somebody check my math please?
2018 – NY Times report LFC supporters returning tickets, unable to make Kyiv final
2019 – LFC play in the final in Madrid. Wikipedia reports no problems
2022 – 30,000 supporters somehow all have fake tickets/arrive late deserve tear-gassing.
I’m not sure this is a Liverpool problem
Brian