Amorim not worth the cost to Man Utd as Arne Slot ‘infected by the infantile Kop virus’
It will be far cheaper to sack Ruben Amorim than keep him at Manchester United and Arne Slot has ‘chucked one of his own under the bus’.
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Slot ‘infected by the Kop virus’
It took a while, and I had high hopes for this one too – after all, he appeared to be a grown up, had more than one way of playing, and didn’t need the thick end of a decade to win a league title* like his wildly overrated predecessor.
But then this today:
“I wasn’t completely happy with every single minute how he was on the training ground.”
“In my opinion in certain moments he could do a bit more, to say it mildly, and that’s what we talked about.”
The infantile virus that is the kop have infected him like they do every other manager of This Means More/We Never Do Anything Wrong FC.
Completely unnecessary comments which he used purely to further ingratiate himself with the children who support his team by chucking one of his own under the bus.
Sad, but inevitable I suppose.
RHT/TS
Very, very good or great for Newcastle?
First off, congratulations to Palace and Spurs. Tasting a bit of glory is pretty sweet for long suffering fans. It’s nice if you can win in style, but for a one off game with so much at stake, it’s always about the result and the relief. The fact that those 2 wins (plus Newcastle’s) came against traditional trophy hoovers makes it all the more remarkable.
So all we have now is the last day. As a Toon fan I will leave this season very happy, Newcastle have broken some jinxes (double over Man Utd, a win against Liverpool, and a bloody Cup), played some great football and, particularly once December hit, generated some truly wonderful moments that remind you of the joys of being a fan.
The run in for the last Champions League places is now very tight indeed and the main source of last day drama. Great to be in control of your own destiny – a win at Everton (and a very motivated Pickford) is all that is required. Hopefully Everton will be playing in flip flops, but it has me thinking about the timing of fixtures and runs of form. Villa could not have asked for a better time to play Spurs and Man U, Chelsea could not have asked for a better time to play Liverpool or (again) Man Utd, and I’m a bit annoyed that Newcastle played Bournemouth when they were briefly the in form team in the league, but so it goes. Anyone who played Newcastle in the second half of the season had a much tougher time that those that had an easier game pre-December. I’m just delighted that the form didn’t fall off a cliff after the Cup win, a very good sign for the skills of the management team and the character of the players.
I won’t be too bummed out if circumstances go against us and Newcastle end up in the Europa. It might be a better place to build a bit of European experience, get a few extra wins, and who knows, maybe get to a final or semi, but it would certainly make an Isak exit (Isexit?) more likely. I do think the new Champions League format though is kinder to the low co-efficient teams, you at least to get a few games against teams of your own level. So I think they’ll be more competitive than last time if they do make it to the Champions League. Regardless, its been a very very good season, and could yet be a great one. It will live long in my memory anyway. Have a good summer everyone.
Derek from Dundalk
You English folk are totally perplexing
Disclose – I’m Aussie
Disclosure – You English folk are totally perplexing. Why?
1. You take everything on face value.
Imagine if someone was telling you things they would like you to believe and you were actually dumb enough to believe them! Imagine if a coach made theatrical moves in games he knows he will lose (9v11 Chelsea) to make everyone think that’s just “who we are mate”, only to reveal he doesn’t actually give two s$&ts about anything other than winning in the games that actually matter. How much time do you think Amorim spent in the last two weeks preparing his team for a 5-4-1 low block? (Is it possible Ange is not only a genius but an evil genius?)
2. You value things that don’t actually matter.
If Spurs finished 3rd this year and won zero f$&king trophies all the “clowns” in the UK media would be calling Ange a genius. Yet, in another 17 years nobody would remember sweet f$&k all about the 24/25 Spurs season. Instead Spurs finish 17th (worst case) and win the Europa League (an actual trophy that will be remembered) ensuring Champions League next year and yet you forward thinking types still think sacking him is within the realms of something sensible to consider.
Let’s replay that ……
Don’t win a thing and finish nowhere that actually matters but make Champions League = genius
Actually win something and make Champions League = we should consider sacking this bloke
Dan M – Melbourne AUS
Ange is no tactical genius
I’m really sorry, I don’t know if it’s been said already but Ange is not some tactical genius who saved his great tactical trick for the final.
They scored one of the ugliest, flukiest goals in, undoubtably, the worst ”major” final In living memory.
I understand how he limited United to attacks from wide because they have no threat. It could be argued that they have no threat from anywhere really, so i don’t think it was any tactic tweaks that one it.
A shoddy game was won by a scrappy goal. That’s it. I know 99% of football fans (I even heard an Arsenal ”fan” wanted Spurs to win) I had to check the match stats (which can be misleading) that Spurs hadn’t been peppering Onana’s goal, listening to the commentary.
I’m just saying, I do think Ruben should have made his changes sooner, but I don’t think Ange really got one over on him tactically.
M (I put Ange and Ruben because I’m never sure how to spell their surnames! Amorin/m?!)
The cost of Amorim
Sorry, Tom from Tooting, but no. The issue isn’t just whether Amorim is up to the job, although the last 6 months have given a fairly resounding indication. It’s about the cost to deliver his vision.
If we’re talking about rebuilding the club, we’re on the same page. But for us to rebuild it under Amorim means ripping everything up, all the way up and down the age groups, and starting again. Because either he cannot coach these players to the tactic or they just can’t deliver it. The truth is probably somewhere between the two. So that requires, what, 10-12 new players? Even if we managed to sell the players to generate funds – and by god we do need to sell or get rid of a bunch – we’d be able to get half of that to the standard needed, and that wouldn’t be enough. It is an act of self-harm, condemning the club for no good reason. On faith that a guy who’s shown no reason for that faith can turn it around?
The alternative is simple. You find a manager who *can* coach a tactic that uses the majority of the players we decide to retain, while using the Director of Football to oversee the recruitment strategy to bring in the right players. As that role was supposed to.
Remember when that role was implemented with a view that recruitment and tactics was taken out of a single manager’s purview so we didn’t end up in this kind of mess? Was that lip-service or only applied to Ten Hag?
There are players – many thankfully ending their personal endgames – who need to be removed. It’ll still take years to completely reshape and sort the foundations. But the manager has shown nothing to deserve the reward of staying and leading that.
Thank god for Ange for removing any remaining doubt.
Badwolf
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Ferguson clone
Dear Mailbox,
A fellow mailboxer wrote in to describe the type of manager they want installed at the head of the train wreck that is Man Utd.
That’s a joke right? What was described is basically the exact clone of Sir Alex Ferguson. Well good luck with that.
Romulus Shani (belated congratulations to Spurs for winning a European title, well and truly deserved even if it was downright ugly)
Facebook-focused Man Utd
Andy H, Swansea, mentioned (flippantly) that Man Utd may have the most Instagram followers in Kenya, but that it counts for nothing on the pitch. He is completely correct, but it did strike a chord.
I am fortunate enough to own a successful company that whilst it does have a Facebook presence, it is merely a tool – a means to an end – our ‘customers’, however, go to a website, because that is what actually works and makes money.
In this day and age everyone is seemingly hoovering up as many likes as possible as if this is a metric that measures your popularity, personally, and in business. It really really isn’t, despite what the average person thinks (“Look at me, I got 1,000 likes!”). It means absolutely nothing and does not make your business grow one iota, and it takes you away from what you should be doing, plus on top of that you are then forced to deal with the absolute weapons who comment with their ‘correct opinion’.
This is Manchester United. For too long now, they have had the media, former players, (a fair proportion of) fans, and the club itself all shouting “Look at me!” hoovering up platitudes and likes, whilst the club as a Premier League entity has fallen off a cliff into the abyss.
They have been too obsessed with the (successful) history, but that ‘counts for nothing’, as Andy H put it. There are now mails here and countless articles about how to fix Man Utd, but it is really simple (he says): forget the glory years, forget the trophies, forget Ferguson, forget the Class of ’92, just concentrate solely upon what happens on the pitch.
Sure, it will take time, and it will take some doing to stop going on about ’20 times’, ‘marquis signings’, and ‘OGS and stoppage time’; none of that matters anymore. Forget being liked, revered, or whatever the hell you have been craving for, become good at the one fucking thing you should be doing: football.
Do that and STFU about everything else.
Mike D (not even a fan, but it’s starting to get less funny now)
Bruno Fernandes a big fish in a small pond
Interesting to read Bruno Fernandes’ comments about being sold, if the club needs the money.
Ultimately I think he’ll stay. He seems like the type of player who likes being a big fish in a small pond.
Chris, NUFC
We’re all just customers
I read Jim French’s missive on what constitutes a “real fan” with a mixture of amusement and weariness. The arrogance of it is breathtaking. Jim and Jim alone gets to decide whether a persons reason for supporting a team are valid or not.
As a ‘proper fan’ Jim looks with disdain on all those ‘glory hunters’ of northern clubs. When it’s Jim’s team in a final “the result is all that matters” however. It’s ok for Jim to bask in the reflected glory cause he’s a proper fan.
Let me tell you something Jim. There’s no such thing as a “proper fan” certainly not for top tier football. Even if there were – you’re certainly not one.
There are customers. Nothing more. Football has been hollowed out, parcelled up and flogged so as to separate you from as much of your money as is possible. The disgusting devastation of Manchester United – leveraged, allowed to rot and even brought to the verge of bankruptcy – is but an extreme example of the practice.
Oil sheikhs and Russian oligarchs use top tier clubs to wash their reputations as human rights violators or criminals. Others to line their pockets with your money. The television companies offer increasingly dreadful stuff for more and more inflated prices (European final
Between 16th and 17th in the League – and what a game it was!). Match day tickets cost ever higher.
The players earn in a week what would take the average football fan a decade to earn yet many evidently have little professional pride, or drive to succeed. Rashford, Sancho, Pogba on and on and on. Gareth Bale was famously quite happy to get paid by Madrid to play golf. (Look at United and Spurs this season if you need further proof of this). They certainly don’t care about you – the self proclaimed “proper fan”.
Garey Vance is a kindred spirit is he? A “proper fan”? Perhaps if more or these “proper fans” were attending FC Utd of Manchester instead of lining the Glazers pockets Utd wouldn’t be facing an existential crisis. Some fan.
I congratulated two life long Spurs supporters on the win yesterday and I congratulate you Jim. It’s been a long time coming. But drop the delusion you’re somehow better than the rest of us. You’re a customer. Your reasons for buying are no more valid than anyone else’s.
Your Old Pal Stevo
