One Man Utd regular ‘clueless’ and the rest ‘average’ bar TWO players!
There’s some right rot in that Man Utd squad, though Ruben Amorim did his best at Ipswich to mask the issues. Plus, Mo Salah to stay?
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Man Utd conclusions
Actually happy that we did not really smash Ipswich or even win, as that would just paper over the cracks in the United team. Here are the overall thoughts from the game
– Amorim and his tactics seem good, which was visible in the first 20 mins of the game where we pressed, pushed, rushed and hurried on and off the ball wonderfully.
– Evans, Casemiro, Eriksen need to leave. They are doing a job when required, and are professional in their approach, but the game has gone past them. With them in the team, the midfield was entirely invisible after 20 mins. Ipswich ran riot.
– Playing out of the back looking like a bad joke with this United team. Ipswich managed to get the ball every time we were playing out of the back and then lumping it out when the pressure got too intense. Evans, Dalot majorly guilty of most.
– Onana what a man! After all the jokes and scrutiny, he pulled off two saves of the season in one match. Excellent excellent keeper, and the only reason we came away with a point.
– Delap is 5x better than any striker we have. Wonderful player and would have had a few goals if not for Onana.
– Dalot is the next player who needs to leave. Clueless in this system with neither defense not attack coming off.
– Rashford is average, Zirkzee was terrible once he came one, Garnacho seems badly off form. Hojlund was on and Amad was good. Bruno was average at best. I cannot see a single player bar Amad getting in any of the top 10-12 EPL teams on their current form. Our attack is abysmal and it shows in the stats and overall play.
– I do not know why we got Ugarte. He has not done a single thing till now that shows him to be better than McTominay or even Fred. Hope he comes good, but not a great start by him in a United shirt. Very, very average.
This is just a team of very very average players, who look better together in the 3-4-2-1 system actually. Amorim made all the subs I was screaming for him to make. He was shouting at the players to pass the ball ahead while they kept passing it back to Evans or Onana. I don’t know why the players are so scared to attack. You could see Amorim throw his arms up in the 94th min with 10 seconds left to play, and United’s midfield choosing to play back-passes to the defense instead of just lumping it in the box.
Overall rating:
– Amorim: 8/10
– New Formation:8/10
– Substitutions: 10/10
– Players: 5/10
– First 20 mins: 9/10
– Entire game after that: 2/10.
And again a special mention to Delap, he looks like a proper striker, one sorely lacking at United.
On to the next one,
Aman
Amorim has an Arteta-level challenge
Anyone who expected United to change overnight must be living in a parallel world. The rot within United is so deep and ingrained it will take multiple seasons to eradicate. It is similar to the challenge Arteta inherited, only with more overpaid wastrels.
We had a poor squad when Arteta took over, maybe not in individual positions, but as a whole. We had a malaise of confidence and also effort. There was no risk for anyone. The threat Arteta posed was not seen by players like Aubameyang who thought themselves untouchable, he was wrong and dealt with accordingly. Rubin might want to follow the blueprint. Ditch the dross, play the kids (the fans can tolerate failure with young players finding their feet) and don’t be desperate to buy players from Sporting.
I have every confidence Arsenal will be Ruben’s first scalp. The stars have aligned for him, but I think his challenge is a lot bigger than anyone can imagine. The club needs a modern rebuild to be fit for the future. I actually think they’ll probably do a good job, it just may take some time.
John Matrix AFC
One-game failure
So United’s new team of football experts decided to spend +25M€ on a manager change just to realize that manager was not the problem.
Mat, UEFA A licence plastic fan
MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 Amorim Watch: New Man Utd manager rubs his nose a lot and we get bored
👉 Mailbox: Ruben Amorim at Man Utd: ‘New Manager Thud anyone?’
👉 Good luck Ruben Amorim; Man Utd are ‘a fat, lazy, bloated corpse of a club’
Last day? Let’s win it in January…
As Tenacious D said.. Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee Lee, We’re talking f**king Lee..!
Would rather win by a point on the last day!
Let’s not run away with it..
Are you insane mate?
I would much much rather have the thing won by Xmas and everyone have a disaster and we can relax and thoroughly enjoy ourselves than take it to the final day.
That would be lovely IF WE WON IT.. I get that.. buy why take the risk..
If we can have it won by my Birthday (Late Jan if your asking) then I will be all the happier!
Some weekend that..!
Al – LFC – Will definitely be getting carried away if we don’t lose next week! I can’t help it
Salah will stay
Throughout the 2021/22 season, everyone said Mo Salah was leaving. He would be sold in the summer as his contract expired in 2023. Then the Saudi money appeared and he was going to be sold in the summer of 2023. Then 2024. And now his current contract is expiring and again, many suspect that he will be off. Once again, I think he will stay.
You have to ask the question, where would he go and who could afford him? The options are slim. Real Madrid is the obvious elite club, but they are already stacked with attacking talent. It’s been a struggle to fit Mbappe into the team, I can’t see them trying to fit Salah in too. Barcelona are already paying one veteran a fortune, I doubt they could afford Salah on the books too. And they have some pretty handy young players in their team, I’m not sure Salah fits in.
If it’s not Spain, then where? In Italy, it’s possible someone like Juventus could stump up the cash, like they did with Ronaldo. But where is the attraction for Salah? A worse league, with little to no chance of winning the Champions League. The same goes for the other team in Europe that could afford him, PSG. But that move makes no sense. Lower profile, poor league, little chance of European success.
The only option then is Saudi. But I don’t see it. Since he joined Liverpool, Salah has been amongst the elite players in world football. This season would indicate he isn’t slowing down anytime soon. He is in incredible shape and could easily play at the top level for another 3 years at least. Salah has always seemed like a player who is motivated to win trophies. I’m sure he appreciates a nice financial package but I don’t see him willing to go into semi-retirement to earn an obscene sum of money, when there are trophies still there to be won.
The players that have gone to Saudi are almost universally past their best, or had a poor attitude anyway. That’s not Salah. With Liverpool on a roll, I would suspect a contract renewal is very much on the cards. Because where else would he go?
Mike, LFC, Dubai
…Five hours after I sent this: “Salah: I’m more out than in.”
I really should stop making predictions.
Mike, LFC, Dubai (I still think he’ll stay)
…I think its ridiculous for us LFC fans to keep speculating what is going on in private negotiations with the club and Salah’s agent. It’s mental how fans are taking sides and blaming the club for it.
Obviously some kind of talks are ongoing, but agent and club have not agreed on a number yet (obviously more than 350k a week) and hence no contract presented to him. It will happen, it just takes time. We are talking big numbers here and LFC has a responsibility for FFP.
Salah coming out like this and pressuring the club to get more money looks cheap and shows he is just after money. Imagine the shitstorm its gonna kick if FSG can’t come to a contract agreement. LFC is bigger than Salah and FSG can take better decisions for the club. Peace out. — Tejas (I would rather have Salah playing in Red next season than someone else though)
Conclusions from the weekend
Liverpool’s 3-2 win over Southampton SPEAKS VOLUMES about Man United i.e. they went to Holland and came back with the wrong bald man. Like a puppy wondering off with the wrong human. Amorim is clearly a fraud because United didn’t even win the league on Saturday!
City’s losing streak shows Pep can only win with Messi. He can’t even get Kyle Walker to not be old. Best spend 60 million on a full back because Haaland is shiiit.
Arsenal did a win but it doesn’t matter because Arteta is a fraud too who only wins when his players score goals.
Palace v Villa drawing 2-2 just seems right for some reason?
Everton, call big Sam!
Alan (awake too early)
The players are knackered
Of the forwards that played in the European Championship final against Spain, only the pair that ply their trade abroad were in the starting 11 against Ireland.
I point this out because as much as we like to think these players are machines paid to entertain us, their workload in 2024 has been nothing short of ridiculous.
Pickford and Guehi don’t have club European football to contend with, and while Walker played, he currently looks a shadow of the player he was just a few months ago.
Maybe get off the players’ backs? Not everyone has a lovely long winter break to look forward to.
Graham Simons, Gooner, Norf London
Peter Drury: Master of Overstatement, Football’s Most Divisive Storyteller
I appreciate that the mailbox will be full of football fans talking about actual football (as a Spurs fan, I have watched this weekend’s highlights at least a dozen times), but is anyone else muting Sky Sports because of Peter Drury?
Ninety seconds into the United-Ipswich game, he described United’s opener as “utopian.” Utopian is broadly defined as “an idealistic or visionary concept of a perfect society or situation.”
I doubt the following 90+ minutes of football would be described as idealistic, visionary, or perfect by any United fans.
The man resorting to pre-written hyperbole is beyond irritating! For the love of God, Sky Sports, bring back Martin Tyler.
DC in Leeds (the title is intentionally hyperbolic)